With old Mr. Harrison, the novel introduces a Colonel Blimp-type figure, a man whose one idea is that anything that isn't English isn't much good, a limited man who is happy with his limitations because he never has to think. Mr. Harrison says the natives should be "put in their place." As for unions? Nonsense, don't allow them. Crime? Get more police and give the criminals stiffer sentences. And so on and on. One cannot reason with such a man. He is the traditional stone wall — firm and unyielding, but dense.
In Arthur Jarvis' manuscript, again there is a note of quiet reason; there is no ranting or raving or blaming. He was a sensible man trying to bring reason to bear on the racial problem rather than resorting to prejudice and emotionalism. He emphasized the inconsistency of people who believe that God gave man capacities and gifts to use, yet who deny the Africans the full use of their capacities; who believe in the brotherhood of man, except where Africans are involved; who believe in helping the underdog — unless he is African. These and many other inconsistencies, Arthur wrote, are the major source of the South African dilemma.
The chapter continues the analogies between Arthur Jarvis and Abraham Lincoln. Both men were concerned for the downtrodden, the victims of society, yet compassionate toward the people who had abused these victims. Both died at the hands of assassins before their works were finished. And whether he recognizes it at the moment or not, this similarity is likely one of the things that impresses Mr. Jarvis.
