THE NEW EGYPT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 224, 1 March 1915, Page 6

THE NEW EGYPT.

IvSDEi!. 151! IT ISII VKOTECTIOX. (By a tr.ombiT of (he Niw Zoa-aml la-pcditionai-y Fcreo). The Indians luivo a provn-]) \vh'.v.;i snys: 'The patience of the iJritisii as long as a. siinifiit-r day, but their arm is as Ion;; as a winter night.'' The New Zealandors now serving in Egypt have an evidence of the length of Britain's anil, which should raise them out of the mire of insularity into which we have been told we have fallen, for they have seen something of their empire's mi'dit and have assisted in 1:1 epoch-making event in British colonisation. They have helped to proclaim Ihe land of the Pharonhs a Briti.-h prolee! orate, and to end the sway of the "sick man of Europe, as the English Egyptian press remarks . The mortmain, the dead hand of Tnrkev, can no lomrer (xercise its blighting influence ovor what should bo one of the most progressive, as it is one of the most fertib lands of the world. The future of Egypt lies before it in brilliant prospective." 1 1

It is perhaps only to be expected that the section of Egypt's press which is controlled by Englishmen should voice such sentiments, but it is more than gratifying to find that the leaders among journals printed in Arabic, andeirculating solely among the natives of the country, should support the new regime as unreservedly and in almost identical terms. Such" is the case, and it is a monument to (he moderation and wisdom which handles so difficult, a problem as is the government of Egypt. And just how difficult, this workis can be appreciated only by one who has seen the cosmopolitan complexity of Egvpt, and sensed (,1m strength of the religious prejudices which bind the native Egyptian. The outstanding tea'lire of the reremoval of Turkey's ruzornintv aivvv among that section'which was looked on as the only one from which opposition might have been exp-cted. To the Mohammcdans of Eirvpt Turker appear,>d as the pearl of this great religion, and the gradual present and prospective curtailing of the Sultan's power in Asia might well have looked to them like a blow at the root of their faith. Tinend of the suzerainty of the Sultan certainly left them headless in Egvpt, There is every evidence, however, that the Mohammedans realise the benefits of British protection, a' J understand that under that protection their religion will be as much respected as are the numerous prejudices of caste and creed in our mighty Indian Empire.

HOW IT WAS DONE.

The events which led up to the step taken was the defection of the Khedive, Abbas ITiliuv. an event which, f-limigh regarded with amazement bo'h i" Egypt and elsewhere, is yet regarded more in -Trow than in anger by Uie leaders of Egyptian politics. The fallen Khedive (like many of his pivle. eessors) had di: "avert an extraordinary instability and political impetuosity ever since he suceeded his father. Tewfik, in 15f1.2, and. as the irress r.f the country puts it. "several little incidents stand out from the otherwise r.lieecspfiil record of bis reign." He was deluded b"' German "enltiir--" and bedazzled by Prussian guile. So the Khedive was formally deposed, anil, in his stead. Hussein T.. Sultan of E-7v.it was invested with office on November 2rt. The new Sultan, who "was the second son of the Khedive Ismail, and is now a man of middle age. brines to l-is high office a record of clean, public service and of personal integrity, which makes him a welcome successor, and the e heirs of his people as he drove through the crowded streets of Cairo after bw investiture were evidence of his po*m-larit-v. '

NEW .ZEALAND'S I'ART.

/flip, proclamation was published on November If), and on tlie evening of that day, several companies of New Zealand infantry, the Taranaki company, slept all night in their clothe, and equipment in the camp at Zeitoun, ready in casoo f any hostile demonstration. The night was as all others, however, much to the disgust of the fireeaters among ns. On Sunday, November 20, the official investment, a biu ceremony, took place in Cairo. Tile New Zealand force was represented among the many thousands of troops present by the Wellington and Otago Infantry regiments, who were detailed to line the streets through which tinnew Sultan's triumphal procession wv to pass. On each side of the stre-t they stood, bayonets fixed, and behind them the cosmopolitan population craned its collective necks. Finally, the procession arrived, the new Sultan being escorted by Egyptian lancers, English cavalry (territorial) and quaint Egyptian foot-guards and Soudanese troops. Cheers greeted him from all sides, and cries of ''For ever England" heralded the approach of the high English officials and staff officer-!, includiiw (jenerai Maxwell (Egypt) and Oenera) Sir A. (.odlcy. Not a discordant note was struck, and we returned to camp and handed in our round of ball ammunition to the quarter-master. On the following Wednesday, came a demonstration of force in Cairo wh >n the whole New Zealand division and Australian troops marched through the city, winding for two hours through r maze of native slums, in streets so narrow as to leave scant room for our '•lours' abreast, past erow'ds of wondering natives held back by tlie efficient Egyptian police, and thence back (e camp Via Abassia and picturesque !!<•] lopolis. So Egypt is now a BritMi I roteetorate, and the "control" of Turkey is at an end—.stamped out like a pestilence.

TIES DRAWN CLOSER. The Australasian troops in Egy.,t have done something which, in the light of the feelings of the mass of the lower class Egyptians, in the early stag, o! the «'■■»'. one would hardlv have o V pected to result from the increase oi the Army of Occupation here. Thev have drawn Britisher ami Egyptian closer together, and have brought about a cordiality of feeling greater, perhaps than has yet been known .sin,,, England appeared on the Egyptian seme. Tfcec olonial visitors, with their breezy manners (and open-handed spending have found their way to all hearts "f the classes in Egypt without lowering the respect which every Englishman m Egypt must demand. French lips are frequently heard to say:—"Ah, qu-llc magnifique jeimessc. que cello de ccs Aus rahans ! A native newspaperAMlo.ujad—compares our men mo-d favorably with the Turkish troops of former days. This is doubtless to seme extent due to a revulsion of [celing against Turkey,, but it is none V'c ' illt, '.y, "I'd should our troop, 'lo nothing else, they have done well tins f„, the greatest strength of J!ri--11 1 iT" iU,t 1VI '" worn though t e, that the sun never sets upon her u cll-governcd and loyal dominions