W
:
唔
out of touch with the West.
529
While thus absent it is ad-
visable that he should have a capable officer to represent
him to carry on the routine work of his office, and to hear
any complaints which may have come from an equally distant
point. It is moreover desirable that when in a detached
district, either the District Officer of the Assistant Dis-
trict Officer should be able to deal with all questions
which may arise there, including Land questions which are
intimately associated with administrative questions, and thus
obviate the necessity of a separate visit from the Assis-
tant Land Officer. on a matter which might easily have been
settled by the District Officer.
8.
Finally, in my view the most im-
portant object of these proposals is to promote continuity
of policy and method. This is a vital factor in the suc-
cessful administration of an ignorant and primitive people,
and promotes contentment and acquiescence in the system em-
ployed. This is at least as important among Chinese pea-
santry as among the African races of whom I have experience,
for they are a conservative race, tenacious of traditional
customs (of which a knowledge is essential to the officer
placed over them) resentful of innovation and of changes of
method, but not difficult to control and guide by officers
whom they have learned to trust, and by methods to which
they