BOOKS OF THE DAT.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2120, 11 April 1914, Page 9

BOOKS OF THE DAT.

, THE NEW EGYPTIAN. Mr.'Clayton'Sedgwiok'Oooper, the author of. "The 'Man of Egypt" (Hodder and • Stoughton; per /Whitcombo- and Jombs and S:>nd W. Mackay), is an American' gentleman, who- has ■ 6pent' some' considerable time in.Egypt, and las made a special study of the political, industrial, and.social conditions,in the 'Land of the Pharaohs," spe-. cia Iy interested. in '.the young Egyptian, 'The • Coming Man of Egypt." Mr. Cooper gives a long and well-written account' of \ how' Egypt is governed, by : the Turkish Sultan, the Wi.edive.. the Egyptian Ministries, , f/he,' Legislative Council and Assembly, and last, but assuredly not : 'least in importanco and actual power, tho British Consul-General and his Office. Mr. Cooper's the general efficiency'of British administration' in Egypt is. uaqu*alified..What he says as to the straightening but of the tangled web of Egyptian State finance is too long to'quote,. but here'are some general observations upon' the'prabtical oenofite of British rule:—

The British occupation, moreover, recognised by the Porte, maintains and protects Islam as the official religion of the country. The Western visitor is at first well-nigh etartled by the marvellous jtblerahco displayed religiously, towards the Moslem ■by the.British. Indeed, no;one. can live in Egypt for. a period of months, as 1., .without feeling like forgitfingj .Britain/ihany mistakes, in the; ljglit. of 'herdifficulties, and;in vieiyv.'pf.-the. achievements already registered in ', a' backward country. . '.''These Britishers have'ab'olish'ed the. corvee (forced, ■ unpaid; labour)*;', they, have established agricultural schools and experiiaental.stations, where'the youth, of the country;may .learn'the best land tenure, and.the development and the advai^ced, methods of 'they haVe relieved and have protected the .fellaheen againstthe raven-, olis bribery of the villago sheikhs *nd: pashas;, they,have made possible 'some'tning' likojustioe in the ' Egyptian courts; they have brought sanitation, hospitals, canals, and education; they have witnessed Egypt grow, in, population from seven to- nine millions in less Ithan''thirty years;. they .have made- impossible seventh 'century barbarism, like the crucifixion "of criminals,' and the flogging,'or even killing, of men and women for apostacy. . In short, they have .maintained.in the- shadow ■ oil the .red-coafed.soldieTs.a' civilisation.; which.' will ; bear with that of Eur6pean''Sta'tes; '■' ■ "."'' ',

'Lord' Kitchener the' -American author. styles "Egypt's New. Pharaoh;'. , -; Hie; he; says; is the''hand'of a , master, Of'the most, jndustriqas, firm,' jiist, , and capable of misters, but, still a ■mastef.- ,-After quoting Roosevelt's, advice; to. the ;Enghsh in.Egypt Egypt, go on;and rule r it.-' If not,; step' out and • let fsdmeone ;else do;the .iob,'. ; Mr. Cooper remarks:' 'lEnglandvliiis not stepped' o\it Jot sure mm, never will)'i : btii' she has'fStanfl Egypt a> ruler who is. almost .as.-.diplomatic..as f the Easterner himself,"'as -he' stretches outto-Pas'hadom and Fellaheen alike the gloved "hand that ..within- is ...all;, ;ron and -As an' instance-. -of,'KiS mingled "strategy and 'resdur.cefulness, Mr- Gcoper-,quotes a reply.'made by Kitohlner' to certain chiefs.of Bedouin tribes .who went to. him expressing their wish to gather a number of their warlike brethren and join forces with their fellow Mussulmen.in guerilla warfare in Tripoli. 1 .: Mr. Cooper says:— Now. it must" be • remembered that.;-the ■Egyptian; for'good" and sufficient. reason; - dreads conscrip-tion-in-the army more than :all otherills combined, and the nomads-•■ have been exempted. Upon receiv-, ing -this; announcement—therefore, the 'soldier of Khartoum faced these- i Bedouins «>lemnly, saying that'.he was , sorry 'that, he had heretofore overlooked their . warlike and' soldierly propensities, and that he'would immediately see that Egypt: would'not lose these,, heroes thirsting for.-glory upon the battlefield, but would have them'all en- " rolled at once in the/ Egyptian Army under the same conditions as

the Fellaheen. It is. stated, on presumably good' authority, that, the duet that rose from beneath.the flying-.feet of those. Bedouin chiefs was Tike upto that which sometimes covers Cairo from a thick "Kham-seenV-rthe wind that blows in blinding" dust the sands of the Sahara.

Mr. Cooper devotee sereral chapters to the Egyptian education system - . The Young Egyptians have; he says,'a perfect passion for education, and splendid work is i being done by the British officials in trailing the. youth of a nation, at one time almost universally illiterate. As education spreads, a higher intellectual' forco. will arise amongst the young men, land how this may, in time, affect the political situation, and in particular, the pormanenco of the British occupation,' is a subject which the 'American observer has evidently studied with much care. The Egyptian young .men .of to-day are already determined, he says, that "the foreign Syrian or Greek or European shall not filch from them much longer the prizes ef and national citizenship." / When a few thousand more of ■these same Egyptian youths are .; turned out from the modern schools of business and law and practical .training, carrying with them this' new. knowledge and these new ideals into the valley of the Upper and .Lower Nile, recruiting, broadening, leavening, and creating a new period of citizenship, as well as a now age of industry—then let Britain, with her policy, "What wo have we hold," bo ready for new adjustments (as certainly she has shown herself ready in Canada, Australia, India,"and elsewhere, for Egypt will speak, and Europe and the Nations of the Earth will hear." —"Egypt is now aroused, she is seeing the dawn of desire,- in this lies her , hope. ; • ....... Meanwhile Mr. Cooper . makes it abundantly clear, Britain, is riobly fulfilling'her task as the country's financial, commercial, arid political protector her instructor in all the arts of peace and her mentor in the ways of useful and honest administration. ' More than this she cannot do. The book contains » large' number of interesting and wellproduced illustrations, many from specially taken photographs. (Price, 65.)