The Under-Secretary selected for the post was Mr. S.O. Samuelson. This painstaking officer, with an unsurpassed knowledge of the Zulu language and customs, did a vast amount of useful and varied work under difficult conditions. During his long tenure of office, which extended from 1893 to 1909, there were several changes of ministry and, with each, came a new Minister of Native Affairs, holding views sometimes, as it happened, widely differing from those of his predecessor. It seemed so strange to the Natives to have movable ministers in charge of their affairs, that they tended to focus their attention rather on Mr. Samuelson than on the minister, with the result that the former stood constantly in a false light, as unfair to himself as to the people. This mutation of ministers and frequent introduction of new policies, were radical defects in the Constitution Act of 1893. They opened the door, not only to modifications arising out of the personal predilections of the minister, but, what is far more important, to those dictated by the party in power for the time being in Parliament. As this party depended on the support of their constituents, needless to say, the latter, with brains ever active in devising solutions of the Native problem, and not unnaturally anxious to promote their own interests, brought pressure, through their members, to bear on highly-placed officials, and, through these, on Magistrates and other established officers, not excluding Native Chiefs--all with the cumulative effect of unsteadying the entire fabric of Native administration and imperilling the general welfare of the people. After Zululand was annexed to Natal (December, 1897), the office of Resident Commissioner and Chief Magistrate of that territory was converted into one of Commissioner for Native Affairs. Under the Under-Secretary and Commissioner came the Magistrates, the thirty[33] of Natal proper, as _ex-officio_ Administrators of Native law, coming under the former, and the eleven of Zululand under the latter, officer. After the Magistrates came the Chiefs of tribes, 238 in Natal proper,[34] and 83 in Zululand. Salaries and allowances were paid to 227 of the Natal Chiefs,[35] and stipends to seven of those in Zululand.[36] All Chiefs were required to control their tribes in accordance with the tribal system and keep in close touch with the Magistrates of their respective wards. Some attempt must now be made to describe the tribal or patriarchal system (analogous in many respects to that of the ancient Jews), the very backbone of Native administration and still the most prominent and radical feature of the South African Native population.[37]