THE NEW POLICY IN EGYPT.

Hokitika Guardian, 7 August 1926, Page 4

THE NEW POLICY IN EGYPT.

BRITISH PRESTIGE RESTORED

(Gr. Ward Price in “Daily Mail.”) CAIRO, June 17. Hav'e we at last laid the Egyptian bogey ? Nothing more than one firm gesture was needed to do it at any time; but ever since the war British authority in Egypt ltad seemed to be held in that helpless immobility that occurs in nightmares, unable to defend itself even against such contemptible attacks anil insults as it constantly endured. IP we had been so feeble in other parts of the world we should have lostmost of our Imperial Dependencies long ago. From November 1918, when Zaghlul. first demanded complete Egyptian independence, to November 1924, when tho Sirdar, Sir Lee Stack, was murdered, our record in Egypt

appears as ono of those periods of temporary ineffectiveness that happen quito unaccountably in tbe -lives of otherwise efficient and States and individuals.

During all Iliac time—with more thin no-rmal strength at our command, for in this part of the world victory in the Great War had been won solely by ourselves—we submitted to be bullied and bamboozled by ail insignificant set, of second-rate, Egyptian politicians who but for Britain would have stil! belonged to a virtual slave-State oF the Turkish Empire. At the time when tho British Government was disarming Germany, seizing the capital of Turkey, and putting down rebellion in linl ia. with a heavy hand, here, in this second-rate city of Cairo, whose sole importance is that, oi a tourist town, British rights and interests were being defied by scrubby students: a British Field-Alanshnl. counted among the victorious commanders of the war, had to arm in his own Residency against, threats of attack by street-

ardhs in white iiiglitgo ns, stirred up by sneaking Egyptian \ lliticians; and Hie presence of a stro' ' British garrison was insufficient, tanks to one nerveless policy, to pr ‘ act the lives of British subjects wal'ing in broad daylight- through tho st ''ets. MURDER CAAD JIGN.

Twenty deliberate nub dors of Englishmen is the memorial 9*? those shameful years. Only eigliL CP the assassins met their deserts, and They were underlings. The craven Egyptian politicians who planned and paid for the killings have gone free, and are to be seen strutting securely about Cairo streets to-day. To such adversaries and such tactics those responsible for British interests in Egypt gave in again and again. They stroked the hands that were shooting Britons in the back. They tried to pacify with concessions a set of ruffians whom they could have terrified with a single stern word. And if ever a firm step was taken it was soon timidly withdrawn. AATiat individuals were actually responsible for the abject- behaviour of British representatives in Egypt during the seven years that followed the war is only recorded in the Foreign Office files, hut they brought as much humiliation on the British Empire ,ns the most incompetent officials in our history. The change of High Commissioner in Egypt- which took place when Lord Lloyd arrived at Cairo last October was fortunately accompanied by .1 complete change of policy. Lord Lloyd, with a successful record of administration in Bombay behind him, knew one fundamental fact—that the secret of British success in dealing with Oriental peoples is not suppleness of wits but strength of character. ITe did not try to be more Byzantine than, the Byzantines ; his advisers at the Residency were no longer allowed to play tho tricky part of trying to outwit the Egyptian.at his own game; the policy of cajolery and compromise with tile forces of evil w.ns abandoned, and, with great pain to British credit in this land of wily Levantines, British policy in Egypt was placed on firmer ground. Knowing that right was 011 our side, and that by Britain’s grant of an independent Constitution to -a nation which actually lay entirely in her power our country had done more for Egypt than one State had ever done for another before. Lord Lloyd had the courage to announce firmly what British interest required, and to declare that he meant to see that this minimum was obtained. EN GLISHAAT) A TEN NOW SAFE. That simple gesture was enough. Without any material pressure, without any infringement of those premature political privileges which we J

have given to this ignorant and irresponsible Egyptian nation, the antiBritish plans of Zaghlul and his criminally compromised associates faded away. The insolence inherent in their character changed to its counterpart ef servility, and they began to vie with each other in assurances of friendship for Britain. T-lms in the first real crisis of his regime. Lord Lloyd has established a definite moral dominance for the Glovernment he represents in Egypt. Tho change in atmosphere is most striking since I was last here, directly after the murder of Sir Lee Stack. Then the British and other foreign residents in Egypt’were hot with indignation .at the supine fecklessness of the British Residency. Officers and civilians alike were carrying revolvers about- with them. No Englishwoman was secure against insult in the streets from o-roups of Egvptian effendis. Now, ! without any addition to the resources of which the High Commissioner disposes, but- thanks solely to a new spirit and tone, the situation is entirely altered. Gre.it Britain is respected instead of being flouted; Britons and foreigners in Egypt are safe. 1

The “Daily Mail” can take credit' for having seen plainly where the faults- of the former system lay, and, for having accurately foretold the certain effects of the methods now in operation. If no mistaken sentimentalism or uninformed interference on the part of politicians at home obstructs the present British policy in Eoypt, wo may look forward to a peaceful prolongation of the unsatisfactory situation which wo ourselves created there by our mistaken grant of independence. Clamour is bound to recur from time to time. Children left to themselves will always bo mischievous! but the wise nurse does not, take sides among her ill-behaved charges she asserts her authority without argument.

That is the policy which the. new High Commissioner in Egypt has clear]v K et himself to follow. It is in the best British tradition, and has the additional merit of being certain of success. for nothing controls a hectic, hysterical people like the Egyptians so effectively as calm, confident strength.