Public-order reasoning justified both noninterference and intervention in African custom

Evidence

Considerations of public order had, in the case of civil law, dictated little interference in African custom; now the same considerations were being evoked to justify intervention. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 1167

Categorization

• QUESTION: A revealing internal contradiction in colonial logic: the same stated motive produced opposite policies across civil and customary jurisdiction.