The daily gazette., 1882-09-04
DEMOCRATIC COUNTY TICKET.
The sltaatlon ln Elrypt.

1t Il becoming aban1antly manifested
that the task allotted TO Sir Garnet WOlseley |
in Egypt is one that win tax his powers to |
the utmost, and that when executed win |
leave the solution Of the problem Of Egypt
ian administration as far of as ever, At
the same time the ill-timed sneers OF pro
fessed continental critics that Wolseley
ought long ere this to have driven Arabi's
"rabble" into the desert, must be set down
for what IL Is worth, viz the outpouring of
imp0tent jealousy and abstract ignora-
ance Of the topography of the canal region.
If any commander could be found In
Europe more likely TO settle the issue with
a dash, 1t would be Sir Garnet WOlseley-
but Sir Garnet is a tactician as well as
soldier and ia fully capable of estimating
the effect of a possible British repulse in eK- |
citing wholesale rising among the Mussul- |
man population Of Egypt. In our own |
country and our own times, fredericksburg, |
SpOttsylvania and Cold Harbor have shown |
how terrible thing 1t is TO expose the |
hest infantry to the deadly fre of
rihed arms piled m security by
cntrenched troops. Pleyna cost Russia
at least $4,000 men in this way At
Laing's Neck the Beers taught the British
an equally severe lesson. And In this con-
nection it might be well remembered that
Turkish and Egyptian soldery exhibit a
peculiarity not common TO other nations
with which they have come In conflict.
whole Turkish division fled at Balaclava at
the mere sight of few squadrons of Russian
cavalry moving towards them. But the
same people behind intrenchments as
at Plevna, or stone walls-as at Silistria,
will fight to the death. Arabi has
probably 25,0O0 of such men strongly In
trenched at Tel-el- kebr, and 1t would be
idle to attempt to carry the intrenchments
with anything less than two diVisions-say
of 5000 men each-and this only after
the enemys infantry had been shaken by
artillery fire. Here again Sir Garnet has
already found to his cost that not even his
best troops can be got to face the
deadly hail poured Into them BY
men furnished with arms of precision
on the repeating principle. Under
such fire the attacking force would be
swept away by brigades and the dsorgani-
zation of the invading army follows as a
matter of course. 1t is far more probable
that General Wolseley while announcing his
intention to attack may convert such a
movement into a mere feint and either seek
TO turn Arabps position or to execute some
such surprising combination as the seizure
OF the canal while 1t was believed he was
about to attack Aboukir.
The worst enemy with which the English
have to contend with is the climate. On
the Mediterranean shores, or at Carlo. and
In fact at all the settled cities, the conditions
OF health are fairly good, but In the desert
region where water is scarce and sanitation
necessarily imperfect, the semi-tropical sur
sirs up deadly mischief Dysentery
diarrh9a and sunstroke will work NOR,
destruction IN few weeks than would b,
dealt out In severe battle. Wolseley i
perfectly capable of estimating thes
risks and also the effect of every day,
delay in imparting confidence to Arab an,
fomenting insurrection In other quarters
1t is then with him question of tn
butchers bill' inevitably attendant on tn
storming of entertainments held by troop
furnished with repeating rifles, and tn
wasting away of gallant army by tn
the former would certainly be .hc least oil
Jectionable to a soldier, and Wolseley lis
soldier, trle and proved. He has, however
far more serious enemy to contend wit
than King Koffee AMI the colored savag,
of Ashantee. The precision of the Egyptia
fire, the discipline which has BEEN in 8
short time infused into the wild Ara
levies, proves the presence of Europea
officers In Arabi's camp, quite possibly
high command, and, 1t is quite certain
with the tacit sympathy of the couutri,
to which they belong. A crushing blow {
Arab is Sir Garnet's unavoidable cours
but even If that blow were successful
dealt, 1t is more than probable that one {
more of the Powers would step In as di
Great Britain with Russia at Adrianople an
say, THUS far shalt thou go and !
- further"