Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-02
Written for The Evening Star by Karl Atwood.

written for The Evening Star by Karl Atwood.
Copyright, 1904. by T. C. MeClure.)
In 1888, after Arab Pasha's rebellion had
been crushed by the British, a major of en-
CHEERS. named Evelyn Barring, was made
British agent and consul general in Egypt.
Soon after he took up his duties a Turkish
merchant called at the majors Office in
Cairo and was astonished to find that It
was unnecessary to bride him in order to
secure attention and get business done.
Gratified by this fact, he gave the English
man what he thought was good advice.
Depart from this country" he said. Il
perceive that you are an honest man who
has come into a nest of scoundrels. You
can do no good here. Everything In the
government of this country is rotten. JUS
tice Is bought at price, and the very
Judges are worse thieves than those whom
they punish. The starving 'fellaheen'
(peasantry) are fiogged into paying their
taxes. but the rich landowners need pay no
taxes at all, provided they bride the OFF,
Gals
II am here TO change all that" Barring re-
piled.
You cannot. Every one of the officials
is vampire who lives by draining our life
blood Do you think they will let you spoil
their feast? They will kill you, rather
II will stay and fight them. You follow
the Prophet, and you must believe, as do,
that the sword of Azrael falls when Allah
wills"
Allah shuts his eyes to fool" snapped
the Turk, quoting a favorite Mahommedan
proverb. Within the year l shall see your
funeral pass my door,"
That was twenty years ago Evelyn Bar
ing still lives, but he is now the Earl of
Cromer. p. c., G. c. B., G. c. NJ. g., K. G.
g. l.. c. I. E., d. c. L., and most OF the re-
mainder of the alphabet. During those
twenty years he has not only managed to
keep himself alive in the midst of hundreds
Of enemies who yearned to eliminate him
from the scene, but he has justly earned his
proudest title THE Maker of Modern
Egypt"
How Egypt is Ruled.
So far as its government is concerned
Egypt is an anomaly The khedive, Abbas
Hilmi. Is supposed to be its ruler, under
the suzerainty OF the Sultan of Turkey; but
since 1888 the country has been practically
a dependency of Great Britain. The khe-
dive. the sultan, and even the British gov
eminent. are merely figureheads. Lord
Cromer rules as beneficent autocrat,
doing exactly as he thinks best in all the
details OF administration and even in
greater international crises. He is Egypt's
uncrowned king
When Barring was made British agent in
1883, he was, comparatively speaking, I'M
known. Most people thought a more dis
tlngushed man should have been chosen
for such an important post He was a ma
Jor of engineers, known only to the banking
world for his financial talent as a commis-
sioner of the Egyptian public debt and
financial member of the viceroy's council
In India.
He is an interesting example Of the power
of heredity. His father, Henry Barring the
well-known banker, wanted him to become
great soldier. He gave him purely mill
tary education and put him into the Royal
Engineers as a subaltern in 1858. But he
never rose above the rank of major, while
his subsequent civilian career as hnancier
diplomat and ruler, has made him unuues-