In the House of Lords on Tuesday the South Africa.
Con- stitution Bill was read a second time. general Botha, Dr. Jameson, Sir J. H. de Villiers, Mr. Moor, and Mr. Merriman were present on the steps of the throne. Lord Crewe explained the Act in detail, and dwelt at length on the native problem. It will be remembered that the Act confines eligibility to the Senate and House of Assembly to men of " European descent." It leaves the Cape Colony native franchise, but it does not adopt the provisions which have made it possible for a native to be elected to Parliament in Cape Colony. As a matter of fact, no native ever has sat in that Parliament. Lord Courtney of Penwith announced that he should move in Committee to delete the clause about " European descent." But Lord Curzon, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Lansdowne all preferred to rely upon what we are sure is the only right and sound principle,—that the advancement of the natives must be brought about, not by interventions from Downing Street, but by the enlightened opinion and sympathy of the white men responding to the natives' gradual development.
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