BRITISH POLICY 459 necessary for the British Government to compel obedience, but this emergency is as far as possible to be avoided.

The powers of native chiefs are defined, as are the powers of the native courts, for which warrants are now issued in all the Mohammedan emirates, and it is interesting to observe that in the elaboration of the details of this system the opinions and advice of the emirs and their leading native counsellors have been sought and willingly given. In many discussions British officers have been struck by the acuteness and ability with which the weak or distasteful point of a proposal is discerned, and arguments in favour of a preferred alternative sustained. The readiness of the emirs to co-operate in the construction of a new system of government has been extremely helpful, and where it has been possible their wishes have been gladly deferred to.