The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-05-21 00:00:00

ToE EGYPTIAN NEGOTIATIONS.
DATE OF EVACUATION.

A correspondent of the Standard, said to be well-
informed, gives the following details respecting the
negotiations for the evacuation of Egypt: "It has
been agreed between England and Turkey that the
evacuation of Egypt shall take place at the expiration
of three years, but it must be understood that the
evacuation is subordinate to the fulfilment of certain
conditions insisted upon by England. These are prin-
cipally connected with the command of the Egyptian
army, which must be officered in each a way as to en-
sure efficiency and security. This, it is expected, will
be arrived at by d ividing the command between officers
of English and of Turkish nationality in a given pro-
portion. The fixing of a date has been a matter of some
difficulty, and was arrived at only after somewhat
lengthy negotiations. At first the British Govern-
ment declined to assign any date for the evacrntion,
but subsequently proposed a term of five years, which
the Sultan thought too long; in fact, he was desirous
that 18 months should be the limit. To this the
British Government would not assent, and they pro-
posed that the evacuation should be progressive, part
of Egypt being evacuated at the end of the three
years, and the other part at the end of four. Finally,
the term of three years was agreed upon, at the end
of which period the English troops are to be withdrawn
from Egypt, subject, as I have already said, to the
fulfilment of the conditions proposed by England.
The negotiations are now 'progressing, and it is
thought that they will shortly be brought to a satis-
factory conclusion, as there seems to be a disposition
on the part of England to come promptly to a definite
underrtanding with the Porte."

Tills diary is only ruled out for January, said a
gentleman in a book shop —Yes, replied the stationer,
our experience in the business has taught us that no
one ever gets beyond the first month.
THE pugilists deal each other some terrible blows,
and one of them receives a severe cut in the face
which brings blood. The referee, who decides that
the blow was not given fairly, approaches tin
wounded wan, who is sponging off his face, and res
marks encouragingly: That blow doesn't count, my
friend: yo,..needn't sponge it

TWO VIEWS OF THE POLITICAL
SITUATION,
MR. GOSCHEN AT THE CECIL CLUB.
At a dinner given in London by the Cecil Club on
Saturday, Lord Lytton presiding, the Chancellor of
the Exchequer was the guest of the evening.
Mr. Goschen, on rising to acknowledge the toast to
his own health, was warmly received. He began by
apologising to the company for delivering a political
harangue as an after-dinner speech, especially before
an audience in which he recognised so many qualified
critics. The circumstances, however, were excep-
tional. A great cause was at stake, and the patience
of its defenders would be sorely tried, and their
valour put severely to the test. His hearers had
heard from a great authority among their opponents
that the movement with which they were in conflict
must inevitably be successful—that the - Unionists
themselves were conscious that it must succeed. They
admitted nothing of the sort. This they knew, that
they were determined, if their efforts could shape the
course of events, that this movement should fail. For
the moment the Irish question had swept everything
before it; the rush of the waters bad deadened the
ear to every other sound, and carried away in their
impetuous flood the old landmarks by which even
the experienced pilot would have been guided in
his course. But the Irish question was only one
aspect of a larger problem. In the democratic move-
ment which had taken place of late, this country had
passed through difficulties without parallel. In France
new wine had been put into old bottles, and the
botth s had been broken; in our Colonies there were
no bottles into which the wine had to be put. But
we were trying to bottle our new wine and to keep the
old bottles intact. The raw levies of new voters
brought under fire, so to speak, for the first time,
might with firm, and experienced generalship have
done well as raw levies had done before, but the
generalship was lacking. They came into action in a
time of excitement, of confusion, of party disorganisa-
tion. A largely increased body of very clever men
were returned from Ireland, bent on setting the forma
of the House at defiance; while the unprecedented
fall in the value of agricultural produce in Ireland
had largely aggravated the difficulties of the situation.
But there was no reason for despondency. On every
side there were evidences of that Conservative feeling
in the country—using the term Conservative not
in its party, but in its broader sense—on
which English Statesmen must rely. Their
opponents were good enough to admit that the
Unionist party—the National party—monopolised the
culture, the experience, he might say the wisdom, of
the nation, but they claimed that the working classes
were on their side. With regard to the first point,
the Unionists might accept the compliment paid
them, but with respect to the other he would make
no such admission. The National party recognised
the working classes as a great force in politics, and
trusted 441 the soundness of their instincts, though
they could not attempt to bid against the Radicals in
appealing to the cupidity of any stratum of society.
They could trust them as a great and powerful class,
worthy of every consideration; but they would appeal
to their reason, and not to the passions of any section
among them. Powerful as they were, they were not
the only class to be considered. What about the ten.
pound householder, who was once the idol of the
Radical party? What about the small struggling
tradesman and the overworked clerk? Were they to
be left altogether out ot account? He believed that
even if their numbers were considered these men
formed a solid phalanx which could make its weight
felt at the poll. He repudiated the doctrine of sur-
!snider : the idea that with each extension of the
suffrage it was only the newly-enfranchised classes
whose welfare it should be the object of statesmen to
compass. Their object should be to bring all classes
irto union; not to teach one class that its aims were
attainable at the expense of another. There was a
great force in this country which was essentially non-
political, a great class which cared nothing at all
about politics, or regarded it as a mere game in which
parties played for power and office, sometimes winning
and sometimes losing. How was this class to be won
over? By maintaining the character of statesman-
ship, by proving that the men who aspired to lead
were men of serious conviction, animated by serious
motives, and not amenable to the mere momentary
considerations of Party expediency. No doubt
we had moved on rapidly of recent years, as it was
necessary and right that we should do. Could Sir
Robert Peel come back to the House of Commons and
bear a prominent Conservative of to-day making a
speech, he would probably—if Conservatives would for-
give him for saying so—look round him to see who was
to reply to this Radical orator. At one time the main-
tenance of large estates had appeared to the Conserva-
tive Pe.ety as absolutely essential to the welfare of
society; DOW the multiplication of small holdings had
become almost a Conservative doctrine. But this
and the improvement of the dwellings of the labouring
classes were questions which had been obscured by
the great controversy of the day. There was one
personal point on which he might touch. He re-
pudiated tho idea which had sometimes been ex-
pressed in regard to him that he was devoid of
enthusiasm.or wanting in sympathy. He believed, as
the Chairman had well said, that there was such a
thing as genuine enthusiasm for moderate principles,
and of this he claimed his share. And it was to this
love of moderation in the country, and to the political
common-sense which, as he was convinced, was com-
mon to all classes of Englishmen, that the Govern-
ment could safely leave the great questions which ar e
now at stake.