A method for administration in an object-oriented data processing environment is provided, for use in a distributed messaging system comprising a local computer system, a remote computer system having a remote queue object to be administered and a network. A query object is sent to the remote queue object in order to obtain a first copy of the remote queue object. Once the first copy is received, a second copy of the remote queue object is made at the local computer system and an administrator uses this second copy to make one or more updates. The updates and the first copy are then sent to the remote queue object. The remote queue object in its current state is compared to the first copy, in order to determine whether they match. If a match occurs, the administrator's updates are processed and the remote queue object is replaced with the updated version.