But in spite of all these difficulties and objections, Lord Milner and those who hold with him may take heart of grace in so far as their campaign against the extravagances of the party system is concerned.  It may well be that no special organisation will enable the non-party partisans to occupy the position of umpires, but the steady pressure of public opinion and the stern exposure of the abuses of the party system will probably in time mitigate existing evils, and will possibly in some degree purge other issues, besides those connected with foreign affairs, from the rancour of the party spirit.  As a contribution to this end Lord Milner’s utterances are to be heartily welcomed.

[Footnote 79:  This statement is incorrect.  The saying quoted above occurs in Mr. J.R.  Lowell’s address at the memorial meeting to Dean Stanley, Dec. 13, 1881.  He introduces it as “a proverbial phrase which we have in America and which, I believe, we carried from England.”]

XIII

THE FRENCH IN ALGERIA[80]

"The Spectator,” May 31, 1913

In the very interesting account which Mrs. Devereux Roy has given of the present condition of Algeria, she says that France “is now about to embark upon a radical change of policy in regard to her African colonies.”  If it be thought presumptuous for a foreigner who has no local knowledge of Algerian affairs to make certain suggestions as to the direction which those changes might profitably assume, an apology must be found in Mrs. Roy’s very true remark that England “can no more afford to be indifferent to the relations of France with her Moslem subjects than she can disregard the trend of our policy in Egypt and India.”  It is, indeed, manifest that somewhat drastic reforms of a liberal character will have to be undertaken in Algeria.  The French Government have adopted the only policy which is worthy of a civilised nation.  They have educated the Algerians, albeit Mrs. Roy tells us that grants for educational purposes have been doled out “with a very sparing hand.”  They must bear the consequences of the generous policy which they have pursued.  They must recognise, as Macaulay said years ago, that it is impossible to impart knowledge without stimulating ambition.  Reforms are, therefore, imposed by the necessities of the situation.

These reforms may be classified under three heads, namely, fiscal, judicial, and political.  The order in which changes under each head should be undertaken would appear to be a matter of vital importance.  If responsible French statesmen make a mistake in this matter—­if, to use the language of proverbial philosophy, they put the cart before the horse—­they may not improbably lay the seeds of very great trouble for their countrymen in the future.  Prince Bismarck once said:  “Mistakes committed in statesmanship are not always punished at once, but they always do harm in the end.  The logic of history is a more exact and a more exacting accountant than is the strictest national auditing department.”