The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03
GERMANY
SUPPORTS
THE PORTE.
Believed to Be Behind
Sultan in Row With
England.
May Endeavor to Bring
About Conference
on Egypt.
Position of Britain Now
Questioned in Some
Quarters.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

LONDON, June 2-The Strengthening
of the British garrison in Egypt, ac-
cording to the Daily Express, may be
taken as, a convincing proof of Eng
lands determination TO effectually
checkmate the Sultan's aggressive
movement in placing ottoman troops on
Egyptian territory There is little
doubt, according to the same paper, that
the Sultan hopes by this new move
to reopen the whole question of the
British occupation of Egypt, and that
he is backed in his schemes by the
Kaiser.
Egypt is by no means an Independent
country She is vassal state, bound
by her obligations to her suzerain, the
Sultan of Turkey. Moreover, her
finances are more or less administered
by an international commission. called
the "Caisse de la Dette.' And Egypt
being part of the Ottoman empire, her
powers are supposed to have their
source from the power of the Sultan.
The great firman (the Sultan's official
decree) of June. 1873, gives the Khedive
a species of sovereignty, subject to the
payment of an annual tribute of
fs75,00o.
The present trouble between Great
Britain and the Sultan in delineating
the Egyptian boundary lies in these So
called .firmans." In the frmans of
February 8 and June l, 1S41 by which
the Sultan Abdul Medjid specified Egypt
as a province of the Ottoman empire.
reference was made to certain official
map. This map seems to have been
mysteriously mislaid. But the Sultan
now claims that the Sinai Peninsula
was marked on this map as not being
part of Egypt because of reference
made to the disputed territory in
telegram from the Khedive to the Grand
Vizier in 1892.
The history of this telegram is GER
tainly one of the most remarkable on
record 1t is indirectly described in
Sir Alfred Miners (now Lord Milner)
book, England in Egypt"
SEEKS EGYPTIAN CONFERENCE.
Throughout the present dispute the
Sultan has maintained that the Sinai
Peninsula has been only administered
by Egypt in the past for the specific
purpose of safeguarding the interests of
Egyptian pilgrims. And the Porte
now maintains that. as there is no need
for Egypt to police the Sinai Peninsula
for this purpose, she will exercise her
suzerainty and revoke any former edict
on the subject In other words. Tur-
key claims the whole of the territory
between the Mediterranean and the Red
Sea. with the exception of that small
piece of land enclosed between the
Mediterranean and a line drawn be-
tween Suez and Ell Arish.
The true meaning of this will be real
lied when it is understood that Ger
many is backing the Sultan in his new
schemes. says the Express. Germany
remembers the manner in which Great
Britain recently sympathized with
France at the Algeciras conference,
and she probably hopes by this new
stroke of diplomacy to open up the
whole question of the British occupa-
tion of Egypt or, at any rate. to score
dipiomatically by endeavoring to OBJ
tain conference on the subject on the
lines of the Algeciras conference. Such
conference would. of course. involve
an acknowled gment on the part of
Great Britain that the powers have to
be reckoned with in Egyptian affairs.
Unfortunately. our whole position in
Egypt is paradox, continues the Ex-
press. The British troops have not the
slightest status in that country. They
oiC itiAlcI SOlQ1erS1 OF the hneQ1Ve nor
foreign soldiers invited by the Khedive
They cannot be the soldiers of a pro-
tecting power. since theoretically there
is no protecting power. AS Lord Miner
says. their presence is an accident, and
their character that of simple visitors
trQm military point of view, they are
OF little Importance owing to the small
ness OF their number. In 1905 they
consisted of 5593 officers and men, but
they have since been reduced to 3243
Their sole value lies in their outward
ana visible sign of British influence.
LORD CRoMER THE CHEF.
Lord cromer. our Minister Plenipo
| tentfary and Consul General. is theo-
retically only the authorized exponent
or tne views and wishes of the British
government But to quote Lord Duff
FERNS famous phrase. "the masterful
hand of the resident is the hand that
rules Egypt
There remain the British off1cials in
the Egyptian Government service.
theoretically. like the other officials,
they are the servants of the Khedive.
with Few exceptions, they are not even
the heads of their departments. but
subject to the wishes of native Minis
ters. But their advice is not like ordi-
! nary advice. 1t is usually taken in the
iignt or command.
1e~'OA ioi tlilo CuilOuo IlctuOO
or procedure lies in the manner in
winch England came to be in Egypt.
In 1882 Arabi Pasha raised his rebel
hon, and the slaughter of Europeans
began in earnest. The British Govern
ment approached the European concert
TO put a stop to it. 1t askdd Turkey
as the suzerain power to step in and
reduce things to order; and finally 1t
onered to combine with France to
cneck the ravages which were taking
place But as no one appeared ready to
do so, we were forced to undertake the
stern duty ourselves. says the Express,
and 1t Is to Great Britain alone, that
thanks are due that Egypt was saved
from anarchy, and that all European
nations were saved incalculable loss in
blood and treasure which would un-
doubtedly have followed any hesitancy
on our part. The end was reached on
september 13, 1882, when Sir Garnet
Woiseley won the battle Of Tel-el-
/ Kebir