The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-07-03 00:00:00

ctourbriby Obetter.

SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1886.
LUiZMAH AND EGYPT.

eft E greater imminence of the Trish gneF-ti:m. !
Intl the turmoil of the political crit:is,
4erved to withdraw for some time past.
-nations attention from matters in Bile mai
and Egypt, though but a few months back
all eyes were turned eastward with anxious
interest. It does not seem likely though—
the General Election notwithstanding—that
, either Egypt or garmah will allow Great
Britain to let them get far out of sight.
Ever since the annexation of Upper Bueinah
, there have been reports of rampant dacoitry
reaching us by almost each succeeding mail;
and Much blood has been . shed in the at-
tempt to suppress the lawless native gangs
Then a great deal of resistance to English
authority, since the deposition of -Theebaw,
has been evinced, and cortinual conflicts
have occurred between the Beitish and Bur-
mese, in which a number of lives have been
lost on either side. A telegram just received
tells of a fight between two English artillery
batteries and a force of some 1500 Burmese.
The engagement laetel several hours, and
the natives 'could not be moved frem their
position. Such a -censorship is exercised
over newspaper correspondents in Barmah
that only meagre and fitful accounts of
events there are allowed to reach England,
so that the public am o kept in ignorance of
'much that is happening. Sufficient is known,
however, to give us assurance that the sitta.
:tion is a grave one. Deaths of officers and
men go into the Gazette, and families are
plunged into mo-arnieg, and yet the situation
is very little changed. The Burmese are
evidently not at all inclined to submit to any
inadequate force. If we are to hold Bar-
ma,h, therefore, we must materially
strengthen the resources of the General in
command. He must have sufficient men to
.enable him to put an end both to dacoitry
and insurrection. Vigour is wanted at the
War Office in re this matter. It should net
be allowed to drift disastrously along as at
present, or we shall forfeit the esteem of
other Powers, as well as the fear of those
among the Burnr.se natives who are inclined
to defy authority. There would have been
nno orea ised disaffection if we had noted
with spirit. Prendergast walked into Man-
dalay, and his progress along the Irrawaddy
was so easy that we were deceived into
thinking that thereby Burmah - was subin-
aated. But the Burmese prove to have been
e -
made of sterner stuff than we had estima.ted,
and we shall have to treat them accordingly
The sooner the situation is grasped and rp-
propriate acti,,n taken the better it will be.
For the sake of the honour of British arms.
the gocd of Barmah, and the safety of olr
Eastern Empire, Government ought to move
with firmness and without delay. Then, r a
to Egypt, the outlook is far from satisfap-
tory. After an inglorious campaign against
the Sondanese, numbers of our brave soldiers
have been left in Nile-land without a rational
purpose to endure all the terrors incident le
the heat of a scorchine. summer. We are
glad to note that all too tardily Cie
strength of the army of occupation in Egypt
is being now greatly lessened. Apoplexy
has more than decimated the ranks of on
young soldiers on the Assonan station. Tin-
malarious climate is far more deadly f(,
. English troops than the savage onshinglihF
,of the Mandi's men. Had it been really
necessary to keep up a big military invest ai.e
in Nileland, the troops- should have
changed at such intervals as would have
checked such a terrible death-rate as 17 pee
cent. But it is not necessary, England
has had well-nigh enough of this Egyptiln
business, Why should our men be offeimi
up wholesale on the altar of friendship to a.
rotten State, or be sacrificed because f
British interest in Egyptian finance?
there were a tangible, intelligible reaton f..)r
the military operations, Or, rather, inactivity'.
in Egypt, we might regard matters with
grater patience. But there is not.
Egypt is in danger of an Arab invasion from
the south, as would appear to be the idf-,a
favoured by garrisoning Assonan, what is the
use . of a handful of Englishmen there?
Rendered almost prostrate by sunstroke an'
attacks of cholera, the poor fellows w0u.,1
fall an easy prey to any heavy forwa:.:l
march of rebel troops. Ten thentand thei
were wanted to win Tel-el-Kebir, and double
that number wereinot enough awhile ago to
reduce the Mandi to nought. Who shall
say, then, that the leaving of a British gar-
rison to perish under a leddies Eastern I
sky will have any repressive effect on the.
swarthy- sons of the desert ? It is a big
military blander, and the sooner every
Eaglish soldier in Egypt is withdrawn the
better. The sight of the erne,eiated troops
now ordered home should rouse opinion in
the matter; and if it does not, then the
merrory of the many poor fellows lying
buried under the tropical sun—their precion,; ,
lives cruelly and aimlessly thrown away— I
ought to stir up Englishmen to demand a
speedy and final evacuation of Nile-land, as
far as their soldiery are concerned What
hoe the Soudan campaigh to show, save the
harrowing memories of a murdered Gordon,
and the deaths in gallant fight of Earle all
Stewart, and Burnaby and a hot of
valiant Britons? Nothino.. Egypt st ruls
on no surer foundation than bef0.,..-). he i
not a whit wealthier, no puter, and no more
grateful to the land which watered her
desert sands with the heart's blood of its
bravest sons. Egyptian integrity has van-
ished, the condition of -the fellaheen is da low
as ever, corruption reigns wherever Egypt
rules. We have not checked the slave trade
of the interior to any appreciable degree.
Nothing has been gained but opportunities
for military activity at England's cost. The
interference of our land in Egyptian affairs
will indeed furnish a gloomy chapter to the
truthful historian of the nineteenth century.

COJIMENTS ON CURRENT TOPICS.

ELECTION excitement had its evil resuL.;
even before the actual commencement of the
polling. A candidate for a metropolitan
constituency, Mr. Lluellyn‘ indelicate health,
was subjected a few days back to rough
treatment at a public meeting, and has since
died, his demise being doubtless accelerated
by the nervous shock he received when he
himself was hustled by excited ruffians, and
' the Duke of Norfolk was taken by the throat
and held to the wall. The editor of a Bir-
mingham journal expired on the platform
' immediately after speaking in support of a
candidate for one of the divisions of the Mid-
land metropolis. His ailment was an affec.
tion of the heart, and he certainly, poor
fellow, was much to blame for mixing up in
political excitement under the eh cumstances.
Then again, a mm at Colchester got worked
up to high mental pitch at a Liberal meeting
and dropped down dead immediately he got
home. Men ehonld endeavour to keep their
political agitation within reasonable bounds,
especially if they are liable to sudden attacks
of heart or other serious disease.

IT is satisfactory to note that one election
rowdy in London iN paying the penalty of
his brutality by having to indulgu in hard
labour for a month, Those disturber* of
election inatotiu.s who howl and interrapt
intlijeriininaW4 are bad oLtQaiiii,