New-York tribune., 1884-02-26
ENGLAND IN EGYPT.
AND WHAT THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT 10
RESPONSIBLE FOR.


paola,s dofeat A debate on Egypt began at ohce'
no, a, all in consequence Of this i'll news put III
,,rs,.nco ~ notice given some days ago py MI
Tou,le who was Lord Beaconsfeld's Under Secre-
t.rv for Foreign Affairs. MIR. Bourke maze weah
statement of strong case. The House "ouiu n's
listen to him. Members strolled into the iobny'anu
presently went home TO dine. when MI boo'he
sat down. nobody rose from the oPPos"0
side 10 answer him. 1t had peeh az
ranged--theSe matters are always "I"nso"
hr tho rbips-that Sir Charles Dixie was to answer
ssr pourte Int was not to rise till half-past nine
Between Mr. Bourke's ending and Sir Charles
mixes beginning. the debate was expected to take
ora ~ itself The interval was the dnner-hour;
drearv period of wasted time when bores and uulm-
portant members find chanceof airing their oratory'
Rut for once they were not ready. Baron de WORMS
was ready. but soon gave out, and to the general
CONSERVATION the Speaker put the question, tne
division-bells rang, the contingent always kepV
within reach for emergencies rushed IN trom inc
tea-rooms and dinng-rooms, and Mr.. BourKes
Fgvptihn amendment to the Address involving GEN.
snre ON the Ministry, was ANONYMOUSLY snuhed OUT
nv a vote of II to 22-lcss than one sixth OF the
House.
For tbe moment. therefore, the Government has
.sconed a debate on Egypt. Mr. Gladstone says
they are sorry and had rather have had deDa'e
than not. No doubt nor is the wrangle whlch
arose ont of this incident next day very Important
save. perhaps. as exhibiting the Tory party from
Sir Stafford Northcote down to Messrs Ashmead-
BARTLETT and WartOn, in the position OF following
Lord Randolph Churchils lead. Lord Randoiphs
violent language and Mr.. Chaphn's violent IAN
cnage are regarded of no man. For technlcal rea-
sons. Egypt cannot again DC discussed on the Au-
dress; it is put off until the Report is brought up
There are niceties of Parliamentary etiquette whch
Iv iDfarfere 0t times, with the C0nUucI
of business.
But there is debate which the Speaker cannot
stop. and that is the debate in the public press
That goes on, and so does the debate Ill pnVate'
The movement of public opinion does not wait lot
the slow operation of the rules OF the House OF
(emmons 1t did not wait for the House 10 meet
In one way or another it has made Itself tet during
the recess. 1t stopped the withdrawal Oh troops
from Cairo. II sent General Gordon to Egypt, to
Khartoum, should he ever get there Inc news "
4be destruction of General Bakers force near Irln-
,-ito+ hos set in motion other forces here in Eng
Land Of which Ministers will have time to
+ake account before they have to commit
themselves to definite declaration IN PaFlla-
ment of their future policy. Meanwhile
let us see for ourselves how matters stand ana "ha'
the real position of this Government with respect TO
Egypt is, and what its responsibility IS.
Nothing marks their distress more clearly aud less
credltablv than the effort of Ministers and then
nartisans to escape from this responsibility with re-
spect TO Egypt and to reduce II as muchaS possible.
The langnace which they put into the mouth Of the
Oueen is itself an evasion. IranSiatmg ITS sun
nhraseoloQv into the plain language Of everyday
life. this is what we find Ministers saying: The
FnCIish troops were ordered away from Cairo be-
cause Erypt was tranquil and the progress made IN
+be establishment of orderly institutions had been
satisfactory But when Hicks Pacha and his army
in the Soudan were destroyed, the order was re-
called The disaster in the SOudan threatened the
newly established tranquility in Egypt proper and
the satisfactory progress OF orderly INSTITUTIONS
We still mean TO withdraw the troops Ii was an
unforeseen necessity which caused the suspension
OF the order"
All that is plausible enough until it Is confronted
with the facts of the case 1t makes everything
turn on the disaster to Hicks Pacha. Bntthe Enghsh
Ministry strongly advised the Khedive not to send
Hicks pacha and his army into the Soudan NlyI
Because they did not believe lie could succeed.
They foresaw the catastrophe which they now
describe as unforeseen. But that Is not the grayest
nor the most damaging charge against the Ministry.
The heaviest responsibility against which they
ya,nly struggle is their responsibility for the
Hicks Pacha expedition. They seek 10 relieve
themselves of it by urging that they advised
the Kbedive not to dispatch this army into the Sou
dan. Undoubtedly they did. But the accusation
i mean the general accusation of the pubic
against Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues IS that
they did not enforce their advice. On the most
critical question of policy which has arisen III
Egypt. they hid themselves behind the fiction,
which everybody knows 10 be fiction, that the
Khedive not only reigus bat governs.
lido not stop to argue that England and not the
Khedive is all-powerful in Egypt. Everybody
knows that. Egypt, as Lord Salisbury SAID, is in
the hollow of England's hand. Sir Evelyn Barring
bss absolute authority In Cairo subject only to the
authority of Downing-st in London. If Downing
st. and Sir Evelyn Barring agree, there is no power
anywhere IN Egypt to say themnay. They didagr
in disappearing the expedition to the SOudan. Not
even Mr.. Gladstone, with his Incompatible skill III
drawing distinctions, will undertake to deny that
he could have compelled the Khedive to obey in
this matter as lie daily compes him. and ever since
Tel-el-Kebir has compelled him, to obey IN other
matters
What has to be said Is that the Ministry have ex-
rresslv and in terms admitted the responsibility
they now seek to disown. Lord Granville Secre-
tary for Foreign Affairs is III all Egyptian matters
the rnouthpiece of the Ministry, and Lord Gran
Vile has admitted it. On the fourth of January
Lord Granville wrote TO Sir Evelyn Barring thus:
at should be made clear to the Egyptian Minis
ters and Governors of Provinces that the response
bility which for the time being rests ON
England Oblges Her Majestys Government
20 insist on the adoption of the policy
which they recommend, and that 1t will be neceS-
sary that those Ministers and Governors who do
not follow this course should cease to hold their
offices"
Has ANYTHING happened in Egypt to increase the
authority Of England between the time when Hicks
Pacha was allowed to so to his doom and the time
when these words were writtens If anything, the
English public have not been permitted to know it,
z hat Wft.K V4tgA fnfl
Granyile's declaration as aconfessiOn that the Eng
lish Ministry had the power to stop the expedition