New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-04
BLUE BOOK STUDIES.
British Rule on The Nae-The Scot
fish Churches and Evolution
London. April 90.

genius for administration writes report on the
reforms wrought by engineering science and en-
Hehtered rule in Egypt and the Soudan' there
Is d conspicuous exception 10 the rule of official
,,,a5socrity and drudgery. Lord Cromer rep
r,eents the practical. unsentimental spirit Of
sgtr5.isrn. which justides by good government
he interference Of a superior race in the des-
ti3ses CT an inferior one. Without having the
enlendid audacity of the great viceroys who
established British dominion in India, he has
The scientific ardor requisite for working out
stage by stage the redemption of misgoverned
and benighted country. When he reports prog
ress in an annual review there is neither as
sumption Of virtue nor sounding Of trUmpets
Results are recorded with precision as details
Of Snance. tax leyies and investments in ma
rianaI works. There are 10 mock heroics over
The white mans burdens. There is no far
1aeo Of religious fervor. official zeal and
humane civilization. The changes effected
bv wise and progressive administration IN
Egypt and the Soudan are explained as
ol.ietlv IS though Lord Cromer were reducing
q complex aIsebraic problem to its simplest
terms. Yet when his report is closed. every
thing which England has done in the Nile val
ley since the suppression OF the revolt of Arab
is justified: the pledges for the withdrawal OF
the foreign garrison are dismissed as Vagary
Of misguided craftsmanship; and q chapter Of
British history which was begun feebly and
tragicaly is completed with dignity and power
II is a record OF continuous progress, increas-
ing prosperity, rising revenue, expansion or
river traffic and foreign commerce. successful
onarsrion of public works. and gradual intro
auction Of sanitary reforms. The outlying en-
r.re Of the Soudan where the Egyptian garrl-
sons were massacred after Tel-el-Kebir and
he aervishes conducted a campaign of pillage
slave trading and fanaticism until Lord kitch-
ener entered Khartoum, is now completely tran
cuflized. except, possibly, the remote quarter
~ The Bahr-eI-GhazaL The slave trade has
been broken up; Gordon College has become
centre of native education; IawIessness has
ceased: low taxes are yielding a satisfactory
revenue: the area of land under cultivation has
largely increased: the railway between the Nile
and the Red Sea viii be finished in another
wear: irrigation works have been planned on a
large scale, and the construction of new har-
Tor more accessible than Suallm has been
undertaken In Egypt the Assouan dam has
brought 1276000 acres under systematic If
Tteation and largely added TO rental and sale
values and by subsidiary works in the con-
version Of Nile basins into perennial sources OF
water supply, and in the construction Of drains
and canals 451 600 acres viii be treated in
the course Of a few years. a series of excep-
1ionaIIy good cotton crops, the expansion Of
river traffic with the Soudan and large invest
r7ents Of European capital since the conclusion
Of the Anglo French agreement have combined
TO make Egypt a prosperous country. Lord
Croners report contains cumulative proof that
The Nile countries above and below Assouan are
well governed, and that irrigation works. road
making and sanitary measures do not involve
heavy taxation With foreign garrison Of
3 500 men In Khartoum, Cairo, Alexandria and
other towns. all European interests are secure,
and the population has settled down to cotton
raising and other forms of agriculture with a
nontented mind British occupation has been
an tfnnixed gain to foreigners and natives alike,
The withdrawal Of the garrfsons would be little
Efort of q crime against civilization If it were
ia interrupt the work of British administration
LORD Crouler forecasts the sequel, which must
FOLLOW some day the Anglo-French agreement
This IS The transfer to Great Britain Of tie
legislative functions which are now exercised
collectively by fourteen powers. Its position IN
she country has been legalized by the French
declaration that no limit is to be fixed for Brit
fish OCCUPATION; but under the capitulations, ana
with the mixed tribunals, legislation cannot be
conducted except with prolonged diplomatic Ge-
laws and unsatisfactory results. The prosperity
al The country and the magnitude Of foreign
interests require the abandonment Of a. cumber-
some system Of legislation for Europeans with
,ae consent Of so large a body Of diplomatists;
and the British government is committed by its
own traditions and colonial policies to the princi-
Die of creating local chambers and courts, which
n carry out the wishes Of the Egyptians them
salvrs in the administration. Lord Cromer
,-~olarlv speaks more hopefully than the cir
r71nss+ances warrant OF the possibility Of modify
sra- the capitulations and arrning Great Britain
with mower 10 introduce genuine measures Of
zeIf-governnent in Egypt; but his optimism
gives the finishing touch TO the altruism Of his
ra7ort England occupied Lower Egypt pri--
--arf,,y because the security of the Suez Canal
~eaairad the restoration of order in Cairo; and
her intervention has been justified by the recon-
quest Of the Soudan. the construction of great
engineering works and the improvement Of the
administration. A great work has been done
for civilization in a practical way, and it Will
be completed whenever Egypt is ready for an
enlightened system Of home rule.
The report OF the Scottish Church Commission
shows that good law may be poor sense When
the House Of Lords, by a close construction of
the law Of trusts, handed over TO a few High
land CONGREGATIONS S50.O00O00 Of ecclesiastical
properties, it brought about impasse which
involved the necessity for relief by act of Par
Lament The commission has reported that the
successful minority the remnant of the original
Free Church is incapable of carrying out its
legal OBLIGATIONS, owing to its slender MEMBER
ship and the poverty of its resources. 1t recon-
u1ends 2. permanent commission, which shall eH-
er-ise full control over all the funds and prop
erty Of the Free Church in existence at the Tune
OF The analgamation with the United Presby-
terrain Church; and as there is no other practl-
cal solution the enabling act will be passed
without doubt by Parliament. This will IN
y,olve an appeal from the law TO the facts. since
the remnant Of the Free Church cannot dis
charge its trust the United Free Church Will De