Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-13
EGYPT AND The CAPITULATIONS.

commander who fs leading his forces to
success The reciamatlons of Turkey
In. the Ssnli peninsula, with the prob
ability, perhaps certainty. that they are
inspired by Germany, Engiands impla-
cable rival, together with a violent al
most mutinous. spirit of the Arab element
In Egypt. necessitating considerable aug
mentatfon of British garrisons there are
not pleasant or reassuring reflections. There
are other things that cast shadows over tho
present and future outlook, notably the
Assouan dam, which is said TO be a disas-
trous faiure
The London Times of March II contains
the statement that the base of the dam
Is being secured away and the engineers
are confronted by a problem which they
had not considered and that is The oues-
ton whether more pressure behind the
dam would blow 1t up because OF the up
ward pressure of the water In the slulce-
ways through the base of the dam These
are $50 in number and each Is about Il
feet wide and 20 feet high, rectangular In
shape and pass thriugh the dam The
water rushing through them 'exerts an up
ward pressure on thin ceilings, which COM
bined present surface OF about 100, 900
square feet. The Egyptian treasury ad-
vanced the cash as required. and the syn
dictate was not limited as to amount and
unloaded the whole sum on the public a
year ago, the more the dam cost the more
advantageous the financial part of the en-
terprise to all parties except the Egyptian
taxpayers"
Whether the dam is a failure as to its
construction or not 1t is confessedly Insult
fcient, and 1t is proposed by British engi-
neers to utilize Wadi Ralyan. an ancient
reservoir with an area of $50 square miles,
rediscoyered and proposed in 1887 by an
American engineer, Mr.. Cope Whitehouse.
When the American discovered that his
genius and labor were to be appropra ed
by the Anglo-Egyptian control without
gard to the laws of Egypt under which he
had obtained the concession, he appealed
for protection to the State Department
and Congress, before which the matter is
now pending.
*
Referring to the Soudan, Lord Cromer
says: las compared to Egypt the Soudan
starts with one supreme
startling advantage In the race for
Pronosition regeneration; 1t Is relieved
from the incubus of Inter-
nationalism. 1t was an suspicious day
not only for the Soudan, but also
for Egypt, when the eminent states
man who presided over the foreign office
seven years ago decided to brush aside
all the numerous theoretical objections
which could be urged against the Anglo
Egyptian convention of January 10, 1899
1t was at the time foreseen that the crea-
ton of a status hitherto unknown in the
political or diplomatic world would in prac-
tice give rise to numerous obstacles but
Lord Salisbury held that any inconveni-
ence arising from these anomalies was OF
trifiing Importance when compared with
the advantages which the three countries
principally concerned-Great Britain, Egypt
and the Soudan-would derive from the ac-
QUESTION of freedom from the compli-
Gated network of International institutions
in which the Egyptian administration was
and to a great degree Is still entangled.'
Among the theoretical objections, "anom-
alies, and International institutions in the
Soudan which Lord Salisbury decided to
hY1Ia ton dnr will he SrIrr1 iSp6 10
learn was nothing less than a treaty with
the King of Uganda dated July 10. 1874,
duly communicated to the powers, where
by Uganda was annexed to Egypt and the
frontiers of that country extended south to
the equator.
But to return to Egypt Lord Cromer
declares that: ''It is conceivable that at
some future time well-intentioned efforts
to foster somewhat too rapidly the growth
of elf-goyerning institutions might re-
suit in the re-establishment in another form
of personal power of the kind which at
very remote date did so much harm to the
country, and which has left behind its
habits and traditions as yet far from being
extinct. This contingency, however para
doXfcal it may appear to many of my own
countrymen will scarcely be considered al
together fanciful by those who have lived
in the east and who have made a spe-
cial study Of Egyptian character. To the
latter there would indeed be nothing as
toniShing in the fact that in the country
which has been aptly termed the Land of
Paradox a return to the exercise of per-
sonal power Of an oriental type should as
sumo in the first instance the attractive
garb of a movement in the direction OF
self-government"
After twenty-four years of British rule in
Egypt the British agent and consul gen.
eral thus frankly avows that his govern
ment is not liked by the Arab, but that
they want home rule and Egypt for the
Egyptians"
Lord Cromer expresses his opinion for
the benefit OF his English reader rather
than the Egyptian, on the
The Governing general character of the
Svs+em system under which Egypt
is governed: "I have Of
ten heard that system described as 'benevo-
lent despotism.' If the despotsm is in
tended to imply an absence of control over
the alleged despot, it is very far from be-
ing accurate. Although the precise at
tributes of the British government in this
country are incapable of definition and al
though / am very clearly of the opinion
that nothing but harm could result from
any attempt to define them, I do not for
a moment deny that they consider
able. But it would be altogether erro-
neous to suppose that these powers are not
subject to control In the first place, the
British agent and consul general in Egypt
is an executive officer of the British gov
troll of the secretary of state for foreign
affairs as any other member Of the diplo-
matte service. In the second place behind
the secretary of state lies the control which
can at all times be exercised, of the Brit
ish parliament and OF British public opln-
lon"
The writer knows Lord Cromer person
ally and freely accords him the merit that
is his. He has been great in his office he
has displayed marked genius and ability
for government but there are some things
which lie beyond the ken OF man even with
all the power Of government behind Lord
Cromer recognizes this, and his proposition
to abrogate the capitulations must be taken
as bluff, maneuver to cover and conceal
defeat.
The effort to absorb Egypt Is illusory, and
Lord Cromer's report manifestly confesses
that fact. The present situation is avowed
as full of uncertainty and danger and that
the people IN this Lana of the Paradox
even now contemplate a return to the old
order of things, presumably to the condo
minimum. the dual government of England
and France during the reign of Thewfk
tlS79-1SS2). an administration which may
be said to be the best that Egypt ever had.
1t enforced the wise, economical and benef-
fcent reforms which. 1t Is justice to say,
were projected by Isuafl Pasha Khedive
but which had been rendered abortfve by
bad minister, Nubar, whom Gen Gordon
publicly denounced as the Mephisto who
had caused Isnails financial ruin
Tha 0f no