The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-02-20
THE CAUSE OF THE WAR.
English Greed at the Bottom of the Costly
and Bloody Struggle.

Chicago Tribune.
The present occupation of Egypt by England
and her operations in the Soudan, when traced
to their original source, grow out of her financial
relations to that country. After the purchase of
her interest in the Suez canal, the English in
vested largely in Egyptian bonds. which had
beer sold at 30 or GO per cent of their face by
the dissolute and extravagant Khedive, Ismal
Pasha, without the consent OF the Egyptian peo-
pie. The money was squandered in fast living
and folly. In their efforts to meet the extortion-
ate interest these bonds. the working people
were ruined by terrible taxation, and the country
was bankrupted. The Egyptians revolted and
refused to pay the shylock bondholders their
pound of flesh The Egyptian army under Arab
Pasha joined the people in their resistance to the
extortion of the bondholders. and the new gov
ernment undertook to scale the debt The
bondholders appealed to France and England
for an enforcement Of their pound of flesh.
France wisely refused to send an army to en-
force the unrighteous claim. either alone or in
conjunction with England. The British govern
ment pretended that the Suez canal was in dan
ger If the revolution of the people led by Arab
Pasha was not crushed and ordered fleet of
ironclads to lombard and capture Alexandria,
the New York of Egypt-and dispatched Lord
d,
overthrow Arab Pasha and the Egyptian army.
The rest of the story is known.
Ismail Pasha was deposed and is now lux
urious spendthrift in Paris, living upon the rem
nants OF his stealings, and his unidentified son.
Tewfk, tool of the bondholders was placed on
the throne. cloud of clerks tax gatherers and
agents was sent to Egypt, who eating up the
country like locusts and consuming the sub
stance of the fellahin farmers in enormous sala-
RES The burdens of the people are intolerable,
but they can't help themselves.
Immediately after England had placed Tewfk
Pasha upon the throne she guaranteed to protect
him until he could take care of himself which
he has never been able to do. After Arab was
suppressed, the Khedive was AS helpless as ever,
and England occupied the country with a mill
tary force to restore order, agreeing with the
other European powers to leave it when it was
safe to do So In the meantime a new danger
arose in the Soudan. The Mahdi or False
Prophet appeared near Khartoum and many
of the tribes in Lower Egypt, headed by Osman
Digna, rose and murdered some of the Egyp-
tian garrisons The English overcame the lat
ter, but they had hardly returned from their en-
counters before fresh atrocities occurred. The
Mahdis revolt rapidly spread and threatened
Egypt Gordon, who very popular with
the chiefs on the upper Nile was dispatched
TO khartoum to bring order out
of chaos, with what result is already
known. Unless the Mahdi could be put down,
there was danger that his religious fanatacsm
would occasion general uprising among the
oI LSypb anu threaten the au-
thority of the Khedive. Under these circum-
stances, in pursuance of her agreement with the
Khedive, and in revenge for the murder of
Gordon, England has now organized the Khar-
toum expedition for the purpose of crushing the
Mahdi.
The entire operations of England in Egypt
from 1875 to the present time are simply part
and parcel of her plan to collect unjust interest
for the benefit of syndicate of shyiocks who
have bled the Egyptian people at every pore
That's the core of the question in plain English
Greed is at the bottom oft ALL If Ismail Pasha
had not plunged his people into debt to crafty
his selfish and sensual nature the English and
French taskmasters would never have scourged
the wreched fellahin year after year to collect
blood money from them, and the battles of Tel
el-Kebir, and Teb and Abu Klea would not have
been fought.