Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-05-17
BRITAIN SHOWS HAND
As MASTER IN EGYPT
Dispute With Turkey Over the Port
Of Tabah to Cut on Last
Rival Claim.

WASHINOfON--l Inc uoupic oS
tween Turkey and Great Britain in
wolves the boundary line between
Asia ard Africa which the sultan has
taken the liberty OF changing in or
der that he may have the use OF the
port Of Aknba, or Tabah. as some OF
the maps nave 1t, to send troops to
suppress the rebellion In the prov
ince OF Yemen. in southern Arabia
Originally the boundary between
Egypt and Arabia, which is the same
as between Asia and Africa. was a di-
rect line running from Suez, at the
northern end of the Gulf of Suez, to
The port of Bl Arish on the Mediter-
raaean. When the sultan OF Turkey
recognized the semi-independence OF
Egypt many years ago he shifted this
boundary 200 miles to the eastward
and drew the line that now divides
the continents, from El Arish TO AKA
ba or Taban, at the head of the Gulf
OF Akaba, which is the southern end
OF the Red Sea. The sultan always
has motive for doing things good or
bad, and in this case his purpose was
to place upon the khedive the respon-
sibility OF protecting the caravans OF
pilgrims from Egypt and other North
African states which crossed the
Peninsula of Arabia Petraea. AT that
time nearly all OF the pilgrims went
by caravan. Now most of them go
by steamer through the Suez canal,
the Gulf of Suez, and the Red Sea, to
.Iedda, the port of the Holy City.
Therefore there is no longer any need
of protection and the sultan has very
serious need of n port at the head OF
the Gulf of Akaba
For this reason he sent a body OF
troops about the middle of March TO
take possession of the port OF Akaba
and his officials. with or without his
Instructions. took the liberty to re-
move the pillars of stone which
marked the boundary between that
place and El Arish, When this was
reported to the Egyptian authorities
Lord Cromer, who nominally Is only
consul general of Great Britain at
Cairo, but is really the ruler of Egypt,
. and is called "the Greatest Of the
Phnraohs" notified his government In
London. The British ambassador at
Constantinople acted promptly, as
usual and the sultan, according to his
for the unfortunate occurrence, prom
). lsed to comply Immediately with the
demands of Great Britain, and gave
directions for the restoration of the
boundary stones. Whether his orders
have been or will be obeyed Is doubt
full. He never fulfills n promise un
less he Is absolutely forced to do so
and at the latest reports Turkish
troops still occupied the disputed port
OF Akaba. AS you nave seen by the
dispatches. the British government
has given him 10 days to quit and II
he has not withdrawn his forces and
restored the boundar, at the end oi
that time the British fleet in the
Mediterranean will begin business.
The sultan has placed himself In
a very embarrassing predicament,
for this ENHANCEMENT compels him
to fight Great Britain or admit the
Jurisdiction of that government over
Egypt and Arabia Petraea. Although
Egypt Is really as much part of
the British Empire as Canada, 1t is a
polite fiction to speak of the Occupa-
tion of that country as Temporary.
The khedive is supposed to be the
ruler of his people and his ministers
are theoretically exercising independ-
ent powers, but each of them always
has an English adviser at mis- ell
how, and the khedive would scarcely
bny pair of horses or new suit
of clothes without consulting the con-
sui general. This episode will, there
fore, bring the Egyptian fiction to an
end and establish the jurisdiction of
King Edward VII. over the Land of
the Pharaohs.
As l have already told you in prev
ious letters. the sultan has been
building railroad from Damascus
southwark through the valley east of
the Jordan and the Dead Sea for the
ostensible purpose OF transporting
pilgrims TO Mecca. But an addition
al and more important reason for its
construction is the necessity of send
ing large military forces to suppress
the chronic rebellion in southern
Arabia. The reasons for these re-
bellions | will give in another letter.
This railway mas already been COM
pleted so far as Maan, about 100
miles south of the Dead Sea and
about 60 miles from the disputed port
of Akaba. II is to be extended far
tner southward to Medina and Mecca,
the Bethlehem and Jerusalem of the
MDhammedan world. The work is
being done by Italian contractors un-
der the direction of German engi-
neers, and the rails were purchased
from the American steel trust In
order to have another string to his
bow the sultan has determined to
make a second terminus OF the road
at Akaba, where troops transported
from Damascus and other northern
points by railroad can be transferred
to steamships and sent down to Ye-
men without being compelled to cross