The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-10
WHO SHALL OWN THE NILE?
An Answer That Is Expressed In a
British Blue Book.

London, Oct. 9.-The foreign office has
issued Fashoda blue book, giving the
correspondence between the French and
British governments.
1t begins with a dispatch dated Dec.
10, 1897, from Sir Edmund Monson, the
British ambassador at Paris, to Lord
Salisbury, referring to rumors of the
massacre of the Marchand expedition
and expressing the ambassadors salts
faction that he is allowed to acquaint
NJ. HanotauX, French foreign minister
of that day, with Lord Salisbury's VOW
that, if other questions are adjusted,
Great Britain will make no difficulty
regarding the French claim on the
northern and eastern shores of Lake
Tchad. The dispatch shows, however,
THAT the ambassador made 1t clear this
concession must not he understood as
admitting the right of any European
power except Great Britain to occupy
any part of the Nile valley.
NJ. Hanotaux replied on Dec. "a, in a
long dispatch of respectful protest
against Lord SaliSbury'S views.
On Aug. 2 of this year, Lord Sails
bury wrote Lord Cramer, British diplo-
matte agent at Cairo, giving him in
structions that, after the capture of
Khartoum, two fiotillas should ascend
! to Fashoda and go up the Blue Nile as
far as it should prove navigable for
steamers. Under these instructions the
Sirdar was personally to command the
Fashoda flotilla and to take few
troops if he should consider it desirable,
the object being to assert Great Brit
aims sphere of influence in the Nile val
ley. On Sept. Z Sir Edmund Monson
reported to Lord Salisbury a CONVEX
sation in which NJ. Del Casse, French
| foreign minister, announced that Mar
chand had no authority to decide on
questions OF right, and had been in
structed to abstain from any action
likely to lead to local conflict. NJ. Del
Casse further expressed a conviction
| that the matter was SuScept bic. OF ar
rangement by means of discussion
To this Lord Salisbury replied, on
| Sept g. that Great Britain regarded
the operations of the Sirdar General
Kitchener) as placing all the territories
of Khalifa Abdullah, by right of con-
quest, in the hands of the British and
/ Egyptian governments, and insisted
/ that this contention admitted of no
discussion.
Then follows various dispatches re-
1 corling the discussion before Sir Ed
mund Monson and NJ. Del Casse, the
/ latter explaining that Marchand was
now virtually a lieutenant to the Lio-
: tard expedition, and that, therefore,
! the situation at Fashoda, even if Mar
] cnanQ WAS COQlQ IOI OC do CeNiA-
] gerous as Sir Edmund Monson mad
/ represented.
On September 25, still following the
! blue book. the Sirdar reported the re-
suits of his expedition to Fashoda, fully
! confirming the announcements already
hcabled to the Associated Press. including
| the fact that General Kitchener's re-
movaI there prevented second Der
wish attack on Narchand The French
La INF ir60 tl1nr ho
! had conclude0 a treaty, which ne had
sent to France for ratification, whereby
/ the Shi.lock chiefs had placed the
country under French protection
Marchand replied in the negative to
( General Kitchener's question whether
he was prepared to resist the hosting
4 Of the Egyptian flag, but he main
tanned that he had orders from the
French government to occupy FashCda-
On the departure of the British
forces General Kitchener notified Ma
jor Marchand in writing that all trans
portation of war material on the Nile
was absolutely prohibited.
The Sirdar's dispatch concludes as
follows:
Z The chief Shillocks came to our camp
and positively denied that they had
& concluded any treaty with Marchand,
while all the Shillocks declared their
\ allegiance to the British government
Moreover, Marchand was in such pre-
carious position that nothing could
nave prevented his annihilation by tee
j. Dervishes had we been a fortnight
later in crushing the Khalifa.
Other dispatches indicate that NJ Del
Casse declined Great Britain's request
for the immedinate recall of Major
Marchand, and that Great Britain
agreed to disoatch message for the
French government to Marchand as a
q matter of courtesy, without accepting
any responsibility for the results delay
might entail, and still maintaining that
the matter admitted of no compromise
In the final dispatch appearing in
the blue book, Lord Salisbury, under
date of Oct. 8. instructs Sir Edmund
Monson to inform NJ. Del Case that the
latters message to Major Marchand has
been sent, but that Great Britain views
the Marchand mission as having nc
political significance whatever.
Crows Nest All Right.
Vancouver, B. c., Oct. Sir William
Non Horne rracideDt of tho Canadian