Editing Joseph Chamberlain (section)

====Concentration camps scandal====
{{Main|Second Boer War concentration camps}}
Publicly, Chamberlain called for greater deference to Roberts's military judgment and administration, insisting upon the separation of civil and military authority. However public pressure on Chamberlain and the civilian government to intervene intensified following the exposition of concentration camps and the poor conditions therein. Chamberlain had originally questioned the wisdom of establishing the camps, intended to house refugee families, but tolerated them out of deference to the military.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

As the scandal intensified in the autumn of 1901 Chamberlain strengthened civilian administration, though he refused to criticise the military publicly. He outlined to Milner the importance of making the camps as habitable as possible, asking whether the governor-general considered medical provisions adequate. Chamberlain also stipulated that unhealthy camps should be evacuated, overruling the Army where necessary. By 1902 the death rate in the camps had halved, ultimately falling below the usual mortality rate in rural South Africa.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}