The Fabians and the British Empire, Part IV
irregardless of whether they supported the original conquests or not. Thus, Hewins and others believed that only by "permeating" the British Empire, could the Fabians effect great change on how it operated and cause it to be "good." On the other hand it was feared that — if the Fabians rejecting imperialism outright — no change would ever occur, and that bad imperialism would continue.
In addition to this concept of "good" and "bad" imperialism and his support of the notion that imperialism was more efficient, Hewins also viewed the British Empire as a conduit of the sharing of knowledge between mother country and her colonies and dominions. Toward the end of the lecture, Hewins told the audience, "Our colonies have much to teach us in Compulsory Arbitration, Old Age Pensions, State-owned Railways, and the like. We can teach them dearly-learned lessons in the arts of administration." [7] Yet this idea of a diffusion of knowledge and increased understanding through the institution of the British Empire did not enjoy support of all lecturers who spoke on the Empire at Fabian Society meetings during the late 1890s. Although lecturing a year and a half earlier than Hewins, and thus not responding to anything Hewins said during his lecture, H. Margan-Browne argued that cultural understanding through diffusion of knowledge and other means would be very difficult in India for:
- The Indian mind is introspective and metaphysical to the point where the Western mind fails to follow; in England we have been satisfied with a crude religion, having other things to occupy our mental activities. Indian morality has been a speculation; English a foolish practice. The Indian is patient beyond belief; the Englishman is impatient to imprudence and aggressive by plain choice.[8]
In his concluding remarks, Margan-Browne maintained, quite unusual for his time:
- We must recognize that the Indians are not necessarily an inferior race, with a lower form of intelligence, but are a totally different order of things. It is not the case of a civilization and a barbarism, but of two distinct civilizations, with two moral codes. The worst people for failing to realize this are our missionaries. Even the very coolies can see farther into a brick wall than a first-class English missionary.[9]
In an era when such beliefs of British superiority over other subject peoples were commonly held, these remarks are striking. Though not directly saying so, Margan-Browne, in drawing attention to the fact
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