trained in the Colonial Service. And as Lord Carnarvon has well shown, three of our most successful governors-Lords Monk, Lisgar, and Normanby-served their time as whips in the House of Commons. It is necessary, however, to bear in mind that a colonial service is indispensable to the empire. There are, exclusive of the great military fortresses, forty-four distinct administrations or governments, which may be practically grouped, according to salaries, thus: 13 in which the salary is 5,000l. and above, between 2,000l. and 5,000l. In nine of these there is self-government on the 'responsible' system, and in most of the others some form of representative government. In this latter' Crown' category are included thirteen governments in which the governor's salary exceeds 3,000l. (six of them exceeding 5,000l.). In all of these the governor is the government in greater or lesser degree; in all, he should possess knowledge of the financial, legislative, and executive methods authorised in crown colonies; in all he must be a man of resource and energy, a man capable of carrying on the direct administration of the colony, a man with the requisite special experience and knowledge. Moreover, in all of these colonies there are the head men of the Civil Service, the men who are the right hands of the governor, and the best among them come to be colonial secretaries and look eventually to become governors. This service has hitherto been recruited in thoroughly English fashion, that is to say, on no particular system, and yet the results have been, on the whole, excellent. Many men have been started in this colonial career under the best of auspices, but conspicuous incapacity has speedily stranded them at their proper level. Some few have, by their merits, reached the top rungs of the ladder. But there is no service on the hard and fast lines of the Diplomatic Service, for instance; no conditions of entry which imply continued employment from the very first, or steady promotion to the highest places. It is not within the present purview to discuss the arguments for and against the inauguration of such a service, but, even assuming it did exist, I am convinced that the highest prizes offered to it should be confined, as a general rule, to some, and to some only, of the higher governorships in crown colonies; and in only exceptional instances should promotion be continued to our great, self-governing colonies. In these latter colonies all the conditions are different. In them, the governor is the crown in a parliamentary system. He must not belong to any party within the colony; he should not have ties of politics, of family, of business, or of property within the colony. Within the colony he is, as it were, the governor of an engine, only capable of properly doing its work so long as it has no special con nection with any one among the other parts of the machinery, or any one or other of the individual forces at play. Within the colony, the governor has to hold the balance evenly between all parties and all interests, and is thus, and thus alone, of incalculable value to the colony. He is the soul of the corporation which never dies. But he is even more than this. Besides his duty to the colony per se, and within its own frontiers, he is charged with representing the interests of the colony in relation to the other component portions of the empire. It is on his instruction and by his sanction that action is supported or taken in upholding the interests of his own colony in competition with those of other colonies. Again, within the colony he is the representative of the empire. He has to see that nothing is done by or in his colony which shall adversely affect any other colony or part of the empire, or any foreign state. He is commissioned to exercise powers of suspension or veto in regard to any legislation affecting matters which are the common concern of the empire; matters touching the currency, the army and navy, differential duties, foreign treaties, and any enactments of an unusual nature touching the prerogative or the right of her Majesty's subjects not resident in the colony.' The governor is also expected to take the lead in the social, educational, and literary life of the community, and keep it in touch with the best political and other traditions and sentiments of the nation. There is besides a not unnatural desire to secure a governor who may be able of his own experience to afford information as to the practices and sentiments of the mother of parliaments, or to advise in the important technical details of the defences. Such being his duties, it is little wonder that the residents in these large, self-growing colonies expect that their governors may be selected from men who have made themselves famous as soldiers, sailors, or diplomatists, or in the House of Lords or the House of Commons. It is little wonder that mere official experience in colonies, or in subordinate offices, is held at a discount, and that no welcome is offered to those who are in mid-career in the colonial service as governor of some small colony. A full recognition of these acknowledged attributes of governor would render almost unnecessary any argument as to the feasibility of colonies having a voice in the choice. It is true that, from time to time and in divers places, the question of local election of governor is mooted. But it is objected that, except in extremely rare cases, no local man could well be chosen there is also the danger that interested but objectionable persons from the outside would negotiate with one or other of the local political parties for the post; and any colony endeavouring to make a good choice would find itself even more hampered than is the Colonial Office at present, by the unwillingness of men with the requisite qualifications to accept such posts. : The difficulties, incongruities, and impracticabilities of responsible consultation between the Imperial and the local governments as to the choice of a governor have been recently ably expressed both by the Secretary of State and by the Premier of Victoria. The local ministry can only give a strictly party support to any particular nomination; and what they approve is pro tanto disapproved of by their opponents, who might be again in power before a newly appointed governor had had time to reach their shores. Such official consultation would involve a division of responsibility that would turn out absolutely unworkable in practice. For instance, suppose there was decided difference of opinion between the Imperial and the local governments as to some act of the governors, who is then to take the responsibility of censure or dismissal? Again, who is to determine, supposing the two selecting parties fail to agree in original choice? Happily, however, there would appear to be no need whatever for the introduction of any such system. The attributes looked for in the governor of a self-governing colony are well known, and there exist a hundred and one ways of learning whether any particular individual would be acceptable or not to a particular colony. So far as history tells us, we have no case of disapproval that was not based on grounds obvious to those who understood the attributes that must be secured in the governor of a self-governing colony. Parliamentary experience, social standing, a distinguished career, or great reputation-these are the credentials expected in such a case, and of recognised advantage to the colony. A choice made within these limits, and after judicious inquiries, would never be questioned, or even criticised. Nor would grave injury be done to the reputation or prospects of one properly nominated to a post for which only his public reputation did not proclaim his fitness. Full consideration shows that the contentions of the Secretary of State are correct. But the larger colonies are perhaps not sufficiently aware that there may be at times a difficulty of obtaining the services, as governor, of some leading public man of proved capacity and requisite reputation. On occasion the Secretary of State may be forced to go further afield, and to offer the post to those whom he knows, of his own knowledge, to be peculiarly fitted for the post. Unfortunately, however, occasionally such choice may light upon some one fully qualified in all respects, save that of popular reputation or previous career. The Secretary of State may know of some one who, in tact and capacity, in social charm and intellectual ability, would make a useful governor for a colony; but if the colony itself is ignorant of these things, if the colony itself only judges the man by his public form-knows of him, not by what he can do in the future, but by what he has been given to do in the past-the nomination may cause the gravest trouble. A rough and ready rule may be seen actually in work, if we VOL. XXIV.-No. 142. 3 P judge by results. Self-governing colonies welcome as governor a member of the Imperial government, a peer, an admiral or general, or the governor of some other first-class colony. I am convinced that if selection is, as a general rule, confined to these or similar categories, there will never be raised the question of the desirability of giving these colonies that direct share in the choice of governor which some hasty men seem to think they need. In the House of Lords the other day Lord Dunraven stated: "It was scarcely an exaggeration to say that if a colony had a right to select a governor it had an equal right to choose the sovereign.' This is, of course, stating the theory in its extremest aspect. But all those who know will cordially reciprocate the wise opinion of the Premier of Victoria. He pointed out the inconvenience which would arise if the Imperial Ministers declined to endorse a colonial selection. A deadlock would ensue, and he was confident that the less colony insisted upon the power to appoint or nominate a governor the better for the colony. The status of the larger colonies has entirely changed. The very fact that they enjoy responsible government proves that this change is fully recognised in England. Governors are primarily selected by the political head of the colonial department in the Imperial government, and he is assisted by his political assistant, the Under Secretary of State. In these days, even if these two political chiefs do not enjoy the advantage of personal knowledge of the colonies themselves, they have none the less freely at their disposal the knowledge of those who do. There are numerous channels by which it can become customary for these political chiefs to discover for themselves the feelings and aspirations of each colony, without reverting to any complicating schemes of more direct consultation or to other perplexing necessities of joint action and divided responsibility. The public can readily grasp what are the respective duties of the governor of selfgoverning and Crown colonies; what the just and proper requirements which each colony looks for in its governor. The present Secretary of State is peculiarly fitted, by experience and full knowledge, to advise the Prime Minister aright. It is perhaps well that this Queensland episode should have arisen, if it only serves to clear up a point of such great import in the relations in which the mother country stands to the colonies and the colonies stand to the mother country and to one another. GEORGE BADEN-POWELL. THE BEOTHUKS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. THERE are few of our colonies whose name is better known, and about which people are so ignorant, as 'the ancient and loyal colony of Newfoundland.' In England, if pictured at all, it is usually thought of as a small rocky island, situated somewhere in the direction of the arctic regions, incapable of producing anything but codfish, seals, and misunderstandings with France, but with a certain interest as being the home of the magnificent white and black dogs to whose race Landseer gave worldwide renown in his great picture of A Member of the Royal Humane Society.' In point of fact, the island is larger than Ireland; the greater portion is covered with thick and almost impenetrable forests of spruce and pine trees, interspersed with birch, larch, and poplar. The forests give way at intervals to open spaces, known locally as 'barrens.' They are covered with a dense carpet of mosses, which, in places, attains a depth of from one to two feet. There is a great variety of mosses, and some of them are of much beauty. Long trails of stag's-horn moss strike the eye amongst the velvety greens and deep olives, and the delicate grey and intricate tracery of the reindeer lichen gives a pleasing contrast of colour and form. Besides mosses, the barrens are rich in bilberries or hurts, partridge-berries, swamp-berries, and berries of various other kinds in extraordinary abundance. In summer, flowers are not wanting, and the rosecoloured kalmia and azaleas afford a pleasing variety to the pervading sombre tones of green and grey. Innumerable lakes, or as they are called in Newfoundland ponds,' are thickly dotted over the country, and though there is nothing that can be called a mountain in the island (the highest elevation being only 2,400 feet) there are hills from one of which no less than 180 lakes or ponds have been counted. Large rivers traverse the island in various directions, but none are navigable, for any distance, for craft larger than a canoe, as they are broken by falls and rapids, and soon become shallow. The two principal rivers are the Humber, running westwards into Bay of Islands, and the Exploits, which falls into Notre-Dame Bay to the north-east. As to its arctic position, the most northern point, Cape Bauld, is |