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MILNER, ALFRED MILNER, VISCOUNT (1854– )

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 478 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MILNER, See also:ALFRED MILNER, See also:VISCOUNT (1854– ) , See also:British statesman and colonial See also:administrator, was See also:born at See also:Bonn on the 23rd of See also:March 1854, the only son of See also:Charles Milner, M.D., whose wife was a daughter of See also:Major-See also:General Ready, sometime See also:governor of the Isle of See also:Man. His paternal grandfather, an Englishman, settled in See also:Germany and married a See also:German See also:lady; and their son, Charles Milner, practised as a physician in See also:London and became later Reader in See also:English at See also:Tubingen University. Alfred Milner was educated first at Tubingen, then at See also:King's See also:College, London, and under See also:Jowett as a See also:scholar of Balliol College, See also:Oxford, from 1872 to 1876. He graduated in 1877, with a first class in See also:classics, having won the See also:Hertford, See also:Craven, See also:Eldon and See also:Derby scholarships, and was elected to a fellowship of New College. At Oxford he formed a See also:close friendship with See also:Arnold See also:Toynbee, and was associated with his schemes of social See also:work; and subsequently he wrote a See also:tribute to his friend, Arnold Toynbee: a See also:Reminiscence (1895). In 1881 he was called`to the See also:bar at the Inner See also:Temple and joined the See also:staff of the See also:Pall Mall See also:Gazette under See also:John See also:Morley, becoming assistant editor under W. T. See also:Stead. In 1885 he abandoned journalism, and became Liberal See also:candidate for the See also:Harrow See also:division of See also:Middlesex at the general See also:election, but was defeated. He acted as private secretary to Mr (afterwards See also:Lord) See also:Goschen, and in 1887, when Goschen became See also:chancellor of the See also:exchequer, was appointed his See also:principal private secretary. It was by Goschen's See also:influence that in 1889 he was made under-secretary of See also:finance in See also:Egypt. He remained in Egypt four years, his See also:period of See also:office coinciding with the first See also:great reforms, after the danger of See also:bankruptcy had been avoided.

Milner returned to See also:

England in 1892, and was appointed chairman of the See also:Board of Inland See also:Revenue, being made C.B. in 1894 and K.C.B. in 1895. Shortly after his return to England he published his England in Egypt, which at once became the authoritative See also:account of the work done since the British occupation. See also:Sir Alfred Milner remained at the Board of Inland Revenue until 1897. He was regarded as one of the clearest-headed and most judicious officials in the British service, and his position as a man of moderate Liberal views, who had been so closely associated with Goschen at the See also:Treasury, See also:Cromer in Egypt and See also:Hicks-See also:Beach (Lord St Aldwyn) and Sir W. See also:Harcourt while at the Inland Revenue, marked him out as one in whom all parties might have confidence. The moment for testing his capacity in the highest degree had now come. In See also:April Lord See also:Rosmead resigned his posts of high See also:commissioner for See also:South See also:Africa and governor of Cape See also:Colony. The situation resulting from the See also:Jameson See also:raid (see See also:TRANSVAAL and SOUTH AFRICA) was one of the greatest delicacy and difficulty, and Mr See also:Chamberlain, now colonial secretary, selected Milner as Lord Rosmead's successor. The choice was cordially approved by the leaders of the Liberal party, and warmly recognized at a farewell See also:dinner presided over by Mr See also:Asquith (March 28th, 1897). The See also:appointment was avowedly made in See also:order that an acceptable British statesman, in whom public confidence was reposed, might go to South Africa to consider all the circumstances, and to formulate a policy which should combine the upholding of British interests with the See also:attempt to See also:deal justly with the Transvaal and See also:Orange See also:Free See also:State governments. Sir Alfred Milner reached the Cape in May 1897, and after the difficulties with See also:President See also:Kruger over the Aliens' See also:Law had been patched up he was free by See also:August to make himself personally acquainted with the See also:country and peoples before deciding on the lines of policy to be adopted. Between August 1897 and May 1898 he travelled through Cape Colony, the See also:Bechuanaland See also:Protectorate, See also:Rhodesia and See also:Basutoland.

The better to understand the point of view of the Cape Dutch and the burghers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State, Milner also during this period learned both Dutch and the South See also:

African " See also:Taal." He came to the conclusion that there could be no See also:hope of See also:peace and progress in South Africa while there remained the " permanent subjection of British to Dutch in one of the Republics." He also realized—as was shown by the triumphant re-election of Mr Kruger to the See also:presidency of the Transvaal in See also:February 1898—that the See also:Pretoria See also:government would never on its own initiative redress the grievances of the " Uitlanders." In a speech delivered at Graaf Reinet, s See also:Bond stronghold, on the 3rd of March 1898, he made it clear that he was determined to secure freedom and equality for the British subjects in the Transvaal, and he urged the Dutch colonists to induce the Pretoria government to assimilate its institutions, and the See also:temper and spirit of its See also:administration, to those of the free communities of South Africa. The effect of this pronouncement was great, and it alarmed the Afrikanders, who at this See also:time viewed with See also:apprehension the virtual resumption by See also:Cecil See also:Rhodes of his leadership of the Progressive (British) party at the Cape. That Milner had See also:good grounds for his view of the situation is shown in a See also:letter written (March 11) by Mr J. X. See also:Merriman to President See also:Steyn of the Free State: " The greatest danger (wrote Mr Merriman) lies in the attitude of President Kruger and his vain hope of See also:building up a State on a See also:foundation of a narrow unenlightened minority, and his obstinate rejection of all prospect of using the materials which See also:lie ready to his See also:hand to establish a true See also:republic on a broad liberal basis. Such a state of affairs cannot last. It must break down from inherent rottenness." Though this was recognized by the more far-seeing of the Bond leaders, they were ready to support Kruger, whether or not he granted reforms, and they sought to make Milner's position impossible. His difficulties were increased when at the general election in Cape Colony the Bond obtained a See also:majority. Acting strictly in a constitutional manner, Milner thereupon (Oct. 1898) called upon Mr W. P. Schreiner to See also:form a See also:ministry, though aware that such a ministry would be opposed to any See also:direct intervention of Great See also:Britain in the Transvaal.

Convinced that the existing state of affairs, if continued, would end in the loss of South Africa by Britain, Milner came to England in See also:

November 1898. He returned to the Cape in February 1899 fully assured of the support of Mr Chamberlain, though the government still clung to the hope that the moderate See also:section of the Cape and Free State Dutch would induce Kruger to deal justly with the Uitlanders. He found the situation more See also:critical than when he had See also:left, ten See also:weeks previously. See also:Johannesburg was in a ferment, while General Sir See also:William See also:Butler, who acted as high commissioner in Milner's See also:absence, had allowed it to be seen that he did not take a favourable view of the Uitlander grievances. On the 4th of May Milner penned a memorable despatch to the Colonial Office, in which he insisted that the remedy for the unrest in the Transvaal was to strike at the See also:root of the evil—the See also:political See also:impotence of the injured. " It may seem a See also:paradox," he wrote, " but it is true that the only way for protecting our subjects is to help them to cease to be our subjects." The policy of leaving things alone only led from See also:bad to worse, and " the See also:case for intervention is overwhelming." Milner See also:felt that only the enfranchisement of the Uitlanders in the Transvaalwould give stability to the South African situation. He had not based his case against the Transvaal on the letter of the Conventions, and regarded the employment of the word " See also:suzerainty " merely as an " etymological question," but he realized keenly that the spectacle of thousands of British subjects in the Transvaal in the See also:condition of " See also:helots " (as he expressed it) was undermining the See also:prestige of Great Britain throughout South Africa, and he called for " some striking See also:proof " of the intention of the British government not to be ousted from its predominant position. This despatch was telegraphed to London, and was intended for immediate publication; but it was kept private for a time by the See also:home government. Its See also:tenor was known, however, to the leading politicians at the Cape, and at the instance of J. H. See also:Hofmeyr a See also:conference was held (May 31–See also:June 5) at See also:Bloemfontein between the high commissioner and the president of the Transvaal. Milner then made the enactment by the Transvaal of a See also:franchise law which would at once give the Johannesburgers a See also:share in the government of the country his See also:main, and practically his only, demand.

The conference ended without any agreement being reached, and the See also:

diplomatic discussion which followed (see TRANSVAAL) gradually became more and more contentious. When See also:war See also:broke out, See also:October 1899, Milner rendered the military authorities " unfailing support and See also:wise counsels," being, in Lord See also:Roberts's phrase " one whose courage never faltered." In February 1901 he was called upon to undertake the administration of the two See also:Boer states, both now annexed to the British See also:Empire, though the war was still in progress. He thereupon resigned the governorship of Cape Colony, while retaining the See also:post of high commissioner. The work of reconstructing the See also:civil administration in the Transvaal and Orange See also:River Colony could only be carried on to a limited extent while operations continued in the See also:field. Milner therefore returned to England to spend a " hard-begged See also:holiday," which was, however, mainly occupied in work at the Colonial Office. He reached London on the 24th of May 1901, had an See also:audience with the king on the same See also:day, was made a G.C.B. and privy councillor, and was raised to the See also:peerage with the See also:title of See also:Baron Milner of St See also:James's and Cape See also:Town. Speaking next day at a See also:luncheon given in his See also:honour, answering critics who alleged that with more time and See also:patience on the See also:part of Great Britain war might have been avoided, he asserted that what they were asked to " conciliate " was " panoplied hatred, insensate ambition, invincible See also:ignorance." Meanwhile the See also:diplomacy of 1899 and the conduct of the war had caused a great See also:change in the attitude of the Liberal party in England towards Lord Milner, whom Mr Leonard See also:Courtney even characterized as " a lost mind." A violent agitation for his recall, in which Sir See also:Henry See also:Campbell-Bannerman joined, was organized, but without success, and in August he returned to South Africa, where he plunged into the herculean task of remodelling the administration. In the negotiations for peace he was associated with Lord See also:Kitchener, and the terms of surrender, signed at Pretoria oh the 31st of May 1902, were drafted by him. In recognition of his services he was, on the 15th of See also:July, made a viscount. Immediately following the conclusion of peace Milner published (June 21) the Letters Patent establishing the See also:system of See also:crown colony government in the Transvaal and Orange River colonies, and exchanging his title of administrator to that of governor. The reconstructive work necessary after the ravages of the war was enormous. He provided a steady revenue by the levying of a tax of 1o% on the See also:annual See also:net produce of the See also:gold mines, and devoted See also:special See also:attention to the repatriation of the Boers, See also:land See also:settlement by British colonists, See also:education, See also:justice, the constabulary, and the development of See also:railways.

While this work of reconstruction was in progress domestic politics in England were convulsed by the See also:

tariff reform See also:movement and Mr Chamberlain's resignation. Milner, who was then spending a brief holiday in See also:Europe, was urged by Mr See also:Balfour to take the vacant post of secretary of state for the colonies. This offer he declined (Oct. 1, 1903), considering it more important to See also:complete his work in South Africa, where economic depression was becoming pronounced. He was back in Johannesburg in See also:December 1903, and had to consider the crisis in the gold-See also:mining See also:industry caused by the shortage of native labour. Reluctantly he agreed, with the assent of the home government, to the proposal of the mineowners to import See also:Chinese coolies on a three years' See also:contract, the first batch of Chinese reaching the See also:Rand in June 1904. In the latter part of 1904 and the See also:early months of 1905 Lord Milner was engaged on the elaboration of a See also:scheme to provide the Transvaal with a system of " representative " government, a See also:half-way See also:house between crown colony administration and that of self-government. Letters patent providing for representative government were issued on the 31st of March 1905.1 For some time he had suffered in See also:health from the incessant See also:strain of work, and he determined to retire. He left Pretoria on the 2nd of April and sailed for Europe on the following day. Speaking at Johannesburg on the See also:eve of his departure, he re-commended to all concerned the promotion of the material prosperity of the country and the treatment of Dutch and British on an See also:absolute equality. Having referred to his share in the war, he added: " What I should prefer to be remembered by is a tremendous effort subsequent to the war not only to repair the ravages of that calamity but to re-start the colonies on a higher See also:plane of See also:civilization than they have ever previously attained." He left South Africa while the economic crisis was still acute and at a time when the See also:voice of the critic was audible everywhere; but, in the words of the colonial secretary (Mr Alfred See also:Lyttelton) he had in the eight eventful years of his administration " laid deep and strong the foundation upon which a See also:united South Africa would arise to become one of the great states of the empire." On his return home his university honoured him with the honorary degree of D.C.L. Experience in South Africa had shown him that underlying the difficulties of the situation there was the wider problem of imperial unity.

In his farewell speech at Johannesburg he concluded with a reference to the subject. " When we who See also:

call ourselves Imperialists talk of the British Empire we think of a See also:group of states See also:bound, not in an See also:alliance—for alliances can be made and unmade—but in a permanent organic See also:union. Of such a union the dominions of the See also:sovereign as they exist to-day are only the raw material." This thesis he further See also:developed in a See also:magazine See also:article written in view of the colonial conference held in London in 1907. He advocated the creation of a permanent deliberative imperial See also:council, and favoured preferential See also:trade relations between the United See also:Kingdom and the other members of the empire; and in later years he took an active part in advocating the cause of tariff reform and colonial preference. In March 1906 a See also:motion censuring Lord Milner for an infraction of the Chinese labour See also:ordinance, in not forbidding See also:light See also:corporal See also:punishment of coolies for See also:minor offences in lieu of imprisonment, was moved by a See also:Radical member of the House of See also:Commons. On behalf of the Liberal government an See also:amendment was moved, stating that " This House, while recording its condemnation of the flogging of Chinese coolies in See also:breach of the law, desires, in the interests of peace and conciliation in South Africa, to refrain from passing censure upon individuals." The amendment was carried by 355 votes to 135. As a result of this left-handed censure, a See also:counter-demonstration was organized, led by Sir Bartle See also:Frere, and .a public address, signed by over 370,000 persons, was presented to Lord Milner expressing high appreciation of the services rendered by him in Africa to the crown and empire. See also E. B. Iwan-See also:Muller, Lord Milner and South Africa (London, 1902) ; W. B. Worsfold, Lord Milner's Work in South Africa (London, 1906) ; W.

T. Stead, " Sir Alfred Milner," in The See also:

Review of Reviews, vol. xx. (1899); and the bibliography to SOUTH AFRICA.

End of Article: MILNER, ALFRED MILNER, VISCOUNT (1854– )

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