The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27. NATIONALISM IN EGYPT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 374, 27 April 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27. NATIONALISM IN EGYPT.

Subject races, treated with the consider-] ation the conquerors show to their own! people are nearly always discontented.l Conquered races kept in ignorance give, least trouble, if their precious faiths'i traditions and customs are not inter-, fered with. Britain's extraordinary aptitude for colonisation has followed many conquests, and British <public opinion, has always been strongly oil the side of kindness to the conquered race. Almost invariably Britain's subject races have shared in the commercial expansion following British rule, part rule, or occupation. But since Britain is so fair, she lias always given to the peoples who have been conquered every opportunity to attain education. That is to say, the Hindoo, the Egyptian, and even the Zulu, are given opportunities unthinkable under their old regimes. Under such circumstances the J carefully nurtured native learns his strength. He sees a country developed' by foreign enterprise, 'he shares in the prosperity, and he becomes a nationalist. He has been taught to make his country .prosper, and his gratitude is shown Iby wanting the completed article all to himself. There is room for a good df.nl of concern regarding the position I in Egypt, and it may be declared that' the whole of the trouble comes from the class educated on the European J plan. Since the ejection of the Frenchj in l'SOl .by the British, up to the time ofi Arabi Pasha's exploits, the battle ofi Tel el Kebir and the bombardment of Alexandra, Egypt was left alone. Thej Egyptians pottered along much in the roar of their ancestors who had established a true civilisation seven thousand years 'before the birth of Christ, and until British enterprise (mostly of the engineering kind) took the country in hand it was a fairly hopeless kind ofi territory. The country could not ibe solvent without .production, and so the' British barred the Nile for irrigation purposes, and built the great dams known as the Asswan (sometimes "Assouan") and the Assiut. These have entirely changed the life of Egypt, lorj previously "agriculturists" did what trifling irrigation was then attempted; with tbe donkey and water-bag method' or the more up-to-date donkey "wiiiin'j or "whip." The producers of Eigypt are not discontented, but the carefully nur-j tared English proteges at Cairo are. | The Civil Service is composed of equal j parts of Egyptians, British and other Europeans. The British are one half of the whole, and French and Italian one quarter. There is intense jealousy, and the Civil Service is unquestionably the powder magazine that may set Egypt ablaze. There are about 12,000 schools in Egypt, and they are doing bad work. That is to say, tuey are educating 300,000 young Egyptians toj despise the occupations of their fore-J fathers and to imitate and finally over-': throw, if possible, the people who made modern education 'possible. The native army of Egypt is about 20,000 strong—fine, well-disciplined, ignorant troqis. Britain should keep them ignorant. Any nationalist ideas disseminated by Civil' Servants into the army might make it a menace to the peace of Egyipt. The British forces in Egypt total 4000 men, 1 so that it seems necessary to stop the nationalist movement by the suppression of the native ipress. The British occupation lias meant to 'Egypt, life and prosperity; it has meant that Ejgypt's enormous debts have been paid by British enterprise. It i,s not likely that Britain will allow a few educated fanatics to "nationalise" the ancient land. i