England's good Work in Egypt.

Manawatu Herald, 8 March 1898, Page 3

England's good Work in Egypt.

♦ " The Hod. Fredrick G. Penfie'cl, luie Uuitc-a States Diplomats Agert in Egypt, writes s>o artio'p in the "North American Be?iew," He

Fays J — Are' the people of Egypt materially benefited by English rule ? Unquestionable tbey are. Unpopular as it is with nearly every c'as3 in Egypt, and condemned throughout Europe, the occupation has done vast good. No fair in* vestigator can witness the present condition or the Egyptian fellaheen, knowing what it was before tbe ' advent of the English, without con- ' ceding this. For half a dozen years Egypt has fairly bristled with prosperity, The story of that country's emergence from practial bankruptcy, ! until its securities are quoted nearly J as high as English consols, read 3 like a romance: and there is no better example of economical progress, thorough administrative reform, than is present by Egypt under ! British rule. England possesses a i capacity for conducting colonies, and rehabilitating exhausted countries, which amount to genius. Overbearing and arrogant sa the British functionary out of England j often appears, he mu3t be scrupulously honest and capable. la Egypt capable of self-govern-" ment? The candour prompting one ' who ha 3 made a long and disinterested j study of Egyptain matters in the j country to say that England has performed her self-appointed task in Egypt better than any other nation could, likewise compels one to state that Egypt is not capable of complete self -government at the present time, for she has no class of officials trained in the higher ranges of administrative work. Certainly no other nation should ever be permitted to supplant the English as administrators or " occupiers " of Egypt. In the close of the article, Mr Penfield says :— lt is no reckless hazard, however, to predic' that a dozen years hence all that portion- of the Nile Valley extending from, the Mediterranean to Khartoum will be British soil. If so, Arabi Pasha should be liberated from his exile in ' Ceylon, and hailed as one of the i makers of England's proud Empire.