The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-08-09 00:00:00

be ,-toutbribge ObserVel •

-;ATUNIYAY. At-Tx-UST Sth, 1884.

IN THE LAND OF EGYPT.

• As the session of Parliament began so ts, ill
it close. It has been considering the condi-
tion of Egypt in the commencement, mid-
way, and at the end. The legislative yeal
has through this cause been one of the most
remarkable of modern times. Not that
Egypt can be held exclusively responsiblE
for the devastation which has fallen upon
the proposals of the Government and of
private members. There have been. inter-
vals in which Parliament has had brae to
devote itself to domestic affairs, and, so far
as the Commons are concerned, to pass at
least one important measure. But the
Lords have refused to accept the Franchise
Bill, and The other legislative projects of
the Cabinet have been scattered to the
winds. London Government, Merchant
Shipping, Railway Regulation, Irish Land
Act Amendment, Criminal Law Amend-
ment, Scotch Police Administration and a
host of other subjects have, to use a familiar
expression, "gone by the board," and of all
the sessions of Parliament remembered with-
in recent political history, this is the one
most fruitless in its work, and most barren
11 result.

In the Egyptian difficulty, which the
Cabinet is once more called upon seriously
to face, seldom has there been a more com-
plete illustration of the fact that the begin-
ning of strife is like the letting out of water.
Three years ago when the two Houses of
Parliament were adjusting their differences
over the Irish Land Bill, Egypt NVELS but
little talked of in this country. Those who
knew most about it were the students of
Biblical history, who had read the interest-
ing narrative of the history of Joseph, the
story of the ten plagues and thEsrecord of
the years of famine and of plenty. The
overthrow of the Egyptian hosts in the ,
waters of the Red Sea was more familiar
than the wrongs of the fellaheen. Gradually
the name of Arabi Pasha became a prominent
one in the newspapers as the leader of a
movement against the established order of
things in the land of the Pharaohs. By his
admirers this personage was described as
the Garibaldi of Egypt; it was his mission
to release the people from that house of
bondage. For a few months Arabi had
things all his own way in the country of the
Ptolemies. He placed himself at the head
of an insurrectionary force, which became so
formidable as to menace the existence of
the Egyptian system of government. The
.discontent which he represented took a very
practical form. But when the masaacres at
Alexandria v ere reported here the voice of
Arabi's supporters was drowned by a de-
mand for intervention. It would never do-
to allow the ministry of the Khedive to be
upset by a military adventurer, who would,
were it in his .power, think nothing of seiz-
ing the Suez Canal, and thus:cutting off the
direct route to India. A cry arose for
Arabi's suppression. Mr. Joseph Cowen,
M.P. for Newcastle, who was strongly op-
posed to our interference, has since declared
in the House of Commons that the war
which we conducted in Egypt two years ago
was a people's war, and that it would be
shabby not to reward those who had taken
part in it. The demand for the suppression
of Arabi became so irresitible that Mr Glad-
stone, albeit a man of peace, felt compelled
to yield to it. In doing so he made a very
heavy sacrifice, the lose nf Mr. Bright from
his Cabinet. But that the war was a-populat
one was clear enough from the enthusiasm
which greeted the intelligence of the victory
at Tel-el-Kebir, the surrender of Arabi, and
the return of the troops from Egypt. It was
then that the troubles of the English Minis-
try really began.
The
.refusal of France to participate in
the warlike operations which we were com-
pelled alone to undertake, no doubt acted
prejudically on the proposals of the Govern-
ment to submit the Egyptian question to a
Conference of the European Powers, in
which France naturally took part. We are
now told by the Premier and the Foreign
Secretary that France has put forward pro-
posals in the Conferenca which are totally
inadmissable ; hence the breakdown which
was announced by Mr. Gladstone in the
House of Commons on Saturday evening.
This is on more grounds than one a matter
for profound regret. In the first place for
the Ambassadors of the Great European
Powers to hold several consultations upon
any subject whatever without being able to
agree upon a reasonable policy, seems a lame
and impotent conclusion. Far more serious
is its effect likely to be upon the prospects
of our domestic legislation. In the opening
hours of the meeting of Parliament on the
sth of February, Mr. Bourke moved an
amendment to the Queen's Speech with
Egypt as its watchword, and such is the
song which Parliament continues to sing,
amid the dying embers of this singular ses-
sion. Mr. Gladstone has told us that the
session which will begin in the middle of
October is to be devoted exclusively to the
consideration of the Franchise Bill; but in
the face of the breakdown of the Conference,
this may be regarded as somewhat doubt-
ful.