IN THE MASTERTON LIBRARY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8459, 8 June 1907, Page 5

IN THE MASTERTON LIBRARY.

(Specially Written for the Wairarapa Age.) No. IV. ENGLAND IN EGYPT. —Alfred Lord Milner. Everybody knows that England has a great and active interest in the affairs of Egypt; that there exists what is called "The Veiled Protectorate"; that British, and Egyptian troops—both under British officers — have for years been operating in the country; that Kitchener re-conquered the Soudan; that British engineers are harnessing the Nile, and that British officers practically control the civil administration. How many are there, however, who are aware that England has practically no official status in the country; that the British troops, in the eye of International law, are mere casual visitors ; that Egypt is under the suzerainty, not at all of England, but of Turkey; and that the whole of our status in the country, as sutamed up in 1883 by a despatch of Lord Granville, consists, "in the duty of giving advice with th.j object of securing that the order cf things'to be established shall be of a satisfactory character and possess the elements of stability and progress." In the book, the subject of - this article, the distinguished author tells the story of how the occupation of 1882 came about, and of what England has done j up to 1899 in the performance of her self-imposed duty of permanently restoring order. A few year? prior to 1882 Ismail Pasha, the then Khedive, having borrowed tremendous sums of money from European Powers, had reduced his country to actual I bankruptcy, and, in 1879, the European Powers set up a sort of National Receivership in Ba> kruptcy, for the protection of the creditors, England and France bsing the main controlling in 1882 Egypt was convulsed by- the Arabist Rebellion, and England, after waiting in vain for help from the other Powers, was obliged to step in alone to restore order. The task of in fact restoring order seemed comparatively simple, arid so it proved. But what ■ England did not realise until after she got into Egypt was that the actual quelling of the rebellion would be work wasted unless a thorough permanent reformation was also effected. The failuu to appreciate the full position at lh-3 outset led England into an error that was subsequently productive of great waste of power, time, and money. Had she, at the outset, declared an absolute Protectorate over Egypt, she would have had a defined and commanding status. This step, however, she was loth to take for fear of unduly provoking the animosity of the other Powers, espeqia ,y of France. The interests of th« other Powers : n Egypt were, undoubtedly, very great. In the first ;! a «, their peoples were creditors of the rupt state—and in the second place their numerous subjects resident' in Egypt were peculiarly protected under what are known as "The Capitulations." These capitulations were originally trading concessions granted by powerful Turkish Sultans in the fifteenth and subsequent centuries to various Western nations whose traders desired to found trading colonies within the Ottoman Empire, ana required some protection from Moslem ianaticism. The chief benefits conferred by the capitulations were immunity from local taxation and from Turkish Process of Law. As Tuucey became we.k and the Western nations strong, the capitulations became of great importance, and wnen,' ih 1882, England entered upon her task of regeneration, no less than fifteen nations held capitulations in Egypt. With respect to France, there was the Suez Canal as an additional bone of contention. The embarrassments that arose through England respecting all existing forms of authority cannot be explained in the course of any single article, but the two following instances will serve as illustrations:—Prior to 1882 elaborate provisions had been made for the payment of a large portion of Egyptian revenue into the hands of an international committee of receivers who had also certain rights in particular circumstances that practically amounted to a veto in regard to # expenditure. The task of pulling "the finances round by the onfy possible method—that of spending money on reproductive public works—was thus obviously hampered to an extraord;:ary degree. The second illustration refers to the capitulations. Egypt swarmed with foreigners, who claimed the protection of their various Consols under one capitulation or another, and any law bringing the liabilities of foreigners into line with the liabilities of the natives required the consent of no less, than fourteen Powers. It will thus be seen, from these two instances, alone, that England entered upon her task of regenerating Egypt under peculiarly difficult conditions. The main objects that, from the outset, the British agents set themselves to attain were: — 1. To establish peace and train the Egyptian soldiers to a state of efficiency. 2. To increase the national revenue, and at the same time lighten the taxes. 3. To sweep away a most corrupt administration of all departments of the State. 4. To educate the people and trainthem in self-reliance, and to teach them the material advantages of an honest Government. The first step was to endeavour to obtain money to carry out the reforms. Climatically and physically Egypt is a most remarkable country. She has practically no rainfall, and her fertility depends absolutely upon the beneficient floods of the Nile. In the words of Shakespeare—"The higher Nilus swells "The more it promises:—As it ebbs the seedsman "Upon the slime and Ooze scatters his grain, "And shortly comes to harvest." The Golden Key to open the gates of prosperity was obviously a scientific system of irrigation. The magnificent efforts in this direction, and the remarkable financial results that followed are clearly and graphically told. The crown of the work, however —the now completed Assuam dam —had only been started when the

last was written. The"convery mi uf the army from an undisciplined and apparently cowardly rabble into a fighting machine. _ of high efficiency, the reforms in police administration and in tho Courts of Justice, the successful efforts in the encouragement of education, and the manner in which the country, in.t- K * teeth of the erhfaWl'SlSsing "law of liquidation, ha'B been pulled out of a Btate of insolvency—all these things are told in the book by a writer who, it is needless to say, has a thorough knowledge of his subject, and who, moreover, is possessed of high literary powers of arrangement and graphic expression. Space does not admit of any detailed reference to the various methods adopted in carrying them to a successful issue. The great increase of success that has attended the work, however, is conveniently illustrated by the fact that Egyptian unified 4 per cent, stock, which had been as low as 27, touched 103J before the year 1899. The main feeling of the reader upon putting aown Lord Milner's book can only be one of intense pride in the patience, tact, ability and high honour displayed by the famous band of men who, in the face of having their powers limited and their plans constantly thwarted in a most embarrassing manner, have succeeded in what seemed the impossible task of dragging an alien and unwilling country from a state ot bankruptcy and placing it well on' the high road to prosperity.