The nationalist struggle against Strickland’s administration 1899-1902

Abstract

The fin de siecle imperialism, a sharp, heady reaction against Little England and laissez faire, saw old idols broken in a sudden conversion to the new religion of possession and race: "Darwin's survival of the fittest was being elevated from a biological theory to a political precept. ... In some, the admiration of Prussianism, the policy of efficiency and 'thorough', began to march with a distrust in parliamentary institutions." Joseph Chamberlain, the colonial minister from 1895 to 1903, had not much faith in parliamentary institutions in colonies, as his adamant refusal to concede the elective principle in Trinidad soon after he assumed office indicated. The Anglo-Boer war in Transvaal (1899-1902) was indicative of the times: anti-imperialism reached new heights as nationalist leaders, such as Henri Bourassa in Quebec, used the war to attack Britain. Had it been for Chamberlain, Malta would not have been granted representative government: 'I would never have granted it', he wrote in 1900, 'but it is a strong thing to take it away and we cannot do it without a very clear case. My policy is to give the Maltese agitators all the rope possible'. Strickland was increasingly in his element; and the new governor, General (later Field-Marshal) Grenfell (1899-1903) was, like his predecessors, prepared to grant Strickland his fiat in administrative affairs.