THE GERMAN PRESS ON EGYPT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1844, 1 May 1884, Page 4

THE GERMAN PRESS ON EGYPT.

The special correspondent of the London Tunes, writing from Berlin on February 10, gives the following as the opinion of the Continental Press on the Egyptian question' : — " I do not know whether there are any English organs of public opinion winch still es«ay to vindicate the Gladstonian policy in Euypt, but certainly there arc none in Geimany. Even in official qiitirtuis here, Mr Gladstone's lcputation as a pmctical statesman never stood high : and now it is several degrees below /eio. The following extracts from the (iennan Pre^s will show what the nation at lugi 1 thiuks of the British Premier and his Egyptian policy. " The Conservative and semi-official Post i emarks :—: — "Kngluul must now appear on the seat of war with her own power, if she is minded not to jcapoidise all her possessions in the .Mahomedan world. Prepaiations, indeed, it stems, are being made to display her power, but all depends on whether her arms and her gold combined will succeed in keeping oil the Mahdi fiom the Red Sea and from Egypt pioper. Should she not succeed in doing this, she would, at any rate be able to maintain hei3«lf, in all circumstances, in certain stiong places and ports of Egypt, but all tin* same the weakness of the force which holds together the largest Empire m the woild would become so conspicuous to all eyes, that the visible decline of English power would date for this momen j. . . For England it is not a question of rcconqueiing (the Soudan), but of inflicting such a blow on the Mahdi th.it he will thenceforth leave Egypt alone, not only the Nile Delta, but also Upper and Lower Egypt, fiom the Sahara to the Red Sea.' " Hcie, again, is the opinion of the Piogicbbist Vossiche Zeitnng :—: — " ' This ideal policy (of Mr Gladstone) can no longer hold its ground against icalities. The English Premier and his personal oigans are opposed by the public opinion of England and of all Europe. Alone and uninvited, England entered Egypt, when the interests ot Europe had to b" piotected, and her action was at the time appioved by the Euiopean Powers. But now the same interests, as well as civilisation itself, are again at stake in the rebellious Soudan. England, who undeitook to pi ovule for the security and the fature of Egypt, must peifoim the whole of her tnsk, and she must ans\> er tor it to all Em ope if the gates arc again opened to barbaiism in Noith Afnc.i. . . Mr Gladstone will no longer be able to resist the piessure of public opinion.' " The Liberal National Zeitung says :—: — " ' But all these questions (electoral, etc.) aie of no matenal account for the existence of the Cabinet. The \ ital question for it is the Egyptian one, and in tins respect things look exceeding precarious for the Gladstone Ministry. Mr Gladstone, it is tine, is not only a paity leaner, in the usual English sense of the woid, but until quite lecently, even, he was a soit of idol to Luge niimln>s in England. But his feeble undecided attitude to the Egyptian question has most deeply wounded the public opinion of the nation, without distinction of pai ties. For not only has tins attitrde of his compromised England in the eyes of the woild, but also undermined hei influence and piejudiecd her commeicial interests in Africa. . . The standpoint from which the European Poweis legaid the position of England is this— that, as dc facto possessor of Egypt she is bound to preserve and maintain it in its iutegiity.' '"The coin tly and Conservative Kreuz Zeitunp wiites :—: — "'The times are over, and will not soon letuiu, when a speech from the Bnti&h Tin one passed for an event of woild-widc impoitauce. That in the late opening speech fiom the throne Mr Gladstone sought as much as possible to cloak the faihues of his foieign policy, to sustain the iiction of a hcuty understanding with Fiance, and piove piogress in the tianquilli/ation of Ireland — iacts which aie perceived by no one else— is not to bi> wondered at; all that belonging as it does to ' the business,' and being indispensable to the theory of Parliamentaiy iiiajonties. Indeed, the Whig Minister himself w ill seal cely attach decided impoitauce to these general phrases and assertions as to the consistency of his Egyptian policy. The interest of the matte i lies elsewhere, to wit, in the last section of the opening speech, which deals with electoial form, whereby 2,0(0,000 more Biitish voteis are to be gained over to the Glad&tonian Liberalism.' ' j lie Libeial Cologne Gazette writes : " 'Nowheie in the woild is there any point wheie J'ntibh intciests so imperiously demand the display ot imposing nnlitaiy power as in that liver delta which dominates the highway to India, and oil c of the great tiade loutcs to Cential Afuca Two systems have collapsed at Tokar ami Koioako — Egyptian supiemacy over the Soudan, and the English attempt to get the Egyptian out of the Soudan with gold. Kioin these catastrophes the moveHunt of the Mahdi will duiw fiehh force, foi success, which swift-footed rumour nowhere can ieß so quick fiom mouth to month as in the deserts of the East, will seem to be divine judgment, for which all hesitating minds hay c been waiting. . . The flood ofiebelhon, like the breakers of the sea, w ill now sweep ov er the 40,000 Egyptians and the numerous Europeans scattered about over the Soudon. An enemy which knows no mercy and gives no pardon will now pass a bloody sponge over the extensive tracts won to civilization by the painful labour of GO 3'ears. Bnt all the lesponsibility is on England, who could not bring herself to do what was indispensable at the right moment, and with her lamentable makeshifts let J the valuable time slip by.' " Wjie.v a hen mopes around with hang ing wings, and appears in distress, goes often to the nest, but does not lay, she is egg-bound, and tliefhst treatment should be a large dose, say two tablespoonfuls of castor oil. If this does not give relief inject sweet oil into the oviduct. A great many fields, especially those that are long and nariow, aie always ploughed the same way. An exchange, leferrnig to this practice, suggests that simply changing the direction of working will often make a great increase in productiveness. The furrow cut across the old lines of furrows is not stopped by the same stones, whilst new soil is opened to the growth of phnt roots. Charles Dickens, Jxtnior, at the Bar. — The late Charles Dickens, when he had written some of his most famous novels,, and was already arrived at middle age, entered himself at the Inns of Court, ate his dinners, and seriously contemplated studying for actual practice at the Bar. He gave up the idea somewhat reluctantly, and left to his son, Henry Fielding Dickens, the forensic career which, in spite of all his satire, always exercised a singular fascination for him. Mr H. F Dickens, though still a comparatively young man, has won a good position upon his circuit, and has recently been appointed to aßecordership, aposition which is usually reserved for older men. His genial mauner, not less than his honoured name, makes him a favourite amongst the Bar. But he naturally falls in for a consideiable amount of badinage in the way of references to Ins father's books. Vice-Chan-cellor Malms once quoted the case of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce to him, and when, two or three days ago, at the Under-SherifFs Court in Red Lion square, he appeared as counsel for the plaintiff in a breach of promise case, and called a Mr Welter as witness — it was impossible to resist a host of references to the case of Bardell v, Pickwick, in which the immortal "Sammivel" gave his testimony in a manner ao unsatisfactory to th? party which subpeentad him.