The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-07-20 00:00:00

7,-77

of administration which shall make a better
11843 of the advantages possessed by the State,
and provide it with the conditions of order and
security essential for the development of its
great naturA wealth. The 6°w:inn:teats of
England and Fi , recognising the neccssity
for a beneficial chaitge, have hitherto strenuously
supported the Commission of Inquiry, and at
this point it becomes interesting to ask how far
this invited support will be extended in the face
of recent events.

It must have long been obvious to all who
have studied the affairs of Eaypt that throutabh-
' out his reign the ruling principle of the
Khedive's policy has been to secure his own
independence by playing upon the antagonism
of English and French interests in the Levant
The reluctance of the two countries to agree
upon any common cause of action was.for many
. years patent to the world. Egypt has been a
battle ground between the two countries in
more senses than one. Bonaparte'a expedition
there at the end of last century had to be
stamped out, and the naval victory which won
for Nelson a peerage was secured at the Nile.
But it is not only in time of war that the
interests of the two nations have clashed when
the fortunes of Egypt had been concerned.
When M. Lesseps, an eminent French engineer,
projected the Suez Canal, Lord Palmerston,
who was Prime Minister at the time, strongly
opposed it, declaring that even if the scheme
were not impracticable, it would lead to the
extension of French influence in Egypt. When
the Canal was found to be a success, and the
British Government purchased four millions'
worth of shares in it, the French were not pre-
cisely pleased at the transaction. It is equally
certain that the English annexation of Cyprus
has given great offence to France, and has re-
awakened the old jealousy of English o.seendan cy
in the Lwant. That jealousy was at its height
when M. Thiers was Louis Philipppe's First
Minister, and it nearly brought us to the brink
of war. So far as Cyprus is concerned, there
can be no question that its possession. and the
assumption of a Protectorate over Asiatic
Turkey confers upon Great Britain an authority
in Egypt far greater than that wielded by any
other Power, or than any which we ourseivea
have ever held heretofore. When once our
occupation of Cyprus is complete, a British flee:
and a British army will be permanently sta-
tioned within little more than a days' sail of
Alexandria and Port Sail. In consequence, we
could at any moment occupy Egypt long before
any other Power could possibly interfere with
the execution of our purpose. Cyprus com-
mands the northern entrance to the Canal as
effectively as Aden and Perim command the
southern entrance to the Red Sea. With
Gibraltar, Malta, and Cyprus in our hands, we
become virtully the one dominant Power in the
Levant. Egypt especially lies within our
grasp ; and if any real or imaginary necessity
for its occupation should arise, we are now in a
position to carry out that purpose without the
possibility of any other Power coming to the
protection of the Egyptian Government until
long after we were in possession.
So much for Egypt, so far as it is affected by
the annexation of Cyprus. Our new acquisition
has at the same time brought us into closer
connection with Turkey. This, in the eyes of
a large proportion of our counlryaien may not
be desirable, seeing that the rule of the 'Dirk
has blighted the prosperity of the lands over
which he has ruled. Still, while the Protector-
ate which we have resumed over Asiatic Turkey
gives us new responsibilities, it has undoubtedly
increased British influence in the Councils of
Constantinople. After the Crimean war, when
Russia was hound down by the restrictive
clauses of the Treaty of 1856, her authority with
the advisers of the Porte practically ceased.
But in November, 1870, when Franco was
prostrate at the feet of Germany, Russia took
occasion to repudiate the Black Sea clauses of
that Treaty. By the Convention of 1871, the
other Powers by ratifying that repudiation,
virtually acknowledged the justice of removing
the restriction. Thenceforward France, which
half a generation previously had joined England
in hostilities against Russia in order to curb
the influence in the Ter zish capital, attended
mainly to her own affairs, and Eugland and
Russia were competitors for diplomatlc ascend-
ancy at Constantinople. When the Treaty of
San Stefano was concluded at the very gates of
that city, it was supposed that Russian influence
had triumphed in the East ; but the work of
the Congress, and the separate convention with
Turkey, have modified the tendency of many of
its provisions. If not paramount in the East,
the authority of Great Britain will now be very
considerable, and it will be the wish of all
parties that a Power whose ships carry civilise.- I
lion and the Gospel to the uttermost parts of
the sea, will discharge its duties in a manner
worthy of the home of liberty and tne mother of
free Parliaments.