tion should not contain a color bar, nearly all realized that it was politically
impracticable to attempt to alter the wishes of the four self-governing
colonies. Indeed, the crucial decision had been made in 19°2. The political
color bars in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony constitutions, and
the color bars in.the draft South African constitution, were natural conse-
quences of Milner's decision to appease the fighting men of the republics at
the expense of the black population.
Both major British parties were extremely anxious for a solution to the
South African problem. Among the 670 members of the House of Com-
mons, a few Liberal backbenchers, Irish nationalists, and Labour members
fought the color bars, but no amendment received more than fifty-seven
votes. In the House of Lords no amendment was pressed to a vote. The
South Africa Act (19°9), as enacted by Parliament, was substantially the
same as the document produced in South Africa. Prime Minister H. H.
Asquith summed up the dominant mood-one
of regret covered with a
strong dose of wishful thinking: "Any control or interference from out-
side ...
is in the very worst interests of the natives themselves....
I antici-
pate that, as one of the incidental advantages which the Union of South