Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-23
Military
Motive,

London Is announced by cable. A later
cable announces the appointment Of Lord
Kitchener as the successor Of Sir Eldon
Gorst. The troublous outlook In the Medi-
terranean would seem to indicate in such
an appointment OF military genius q
to anticipate any possible stu
alton.
Sir Eldon Gorst's administration. it is
certain. has been far less despotic than
that of his predecessor. Lord Cromer.
The latters administration. it is recalled.
eliminated in an incident known in Egypt
as the 'crime Of Denshawi." for which,
on the plea of ill health Lord Cromer
was retired in 1907.
In contradistinction to this policy. that
Of the late Sir Eldon is outlined in the
conclusion Of his report in language which
includes caustic reference to an inter-
ference which excited no little comment.
especially because of its ridiculous side
Sir Eldon writes:
The task of one race controlling the
destinies of another race Of entirely diff
ferent qualities is one of extreme DELI
cacy and complexity. and cannot. unfor-
tunately, be solved by copy-book maxims
and high-sounding pIatitudes. Success
severance in the endeavor to base the
relations OF the two on spirit Of mutual
confidence and good will. even when cir
cumstances are most unfavorabIe. To
abandon the present system because a
small section of the population has taken
up an attitude of violent hostility to the
occupation, and to rule the Egyptians
with rod OF iron. as has been suggested
by some whose knowledge of the coun-
Try and OF the difficulties of the situation
was, to say the least, extremely superb
ciai' would be sad confession of failure -
iy stated in a few lines by the Cairo
journal. the Misr-el- Fatat which saws:
Everybody expected the report to he
just what ii is. The English do not wish
to evacuate Egypt. and the Egyptians
only wish evacuation"
been in Egypt since July Is, 1852 The
boinbardment and burn
England'S ing Of Alexandria in its
r1.:. inception was mere police
n' duty which England per-
formed with the consent Of Turkey and
the interested powers. France protested
and refrained from participating. The
bonbardment ended the dual control OF
England and France and has served as a
pretext for military occupation which has
lasted twenty-nine years. but which
might have terminated in as many hours.
England has continually apologized for
her prolonged presence in Egypt. Lord
Granville first, then Lord Salisbury. re-
iterated England'S promises. The latter
said in parliament June 10, 1877:
1T would be Injurious to us to assume
the protectorate Of Egypt, supposing even
that such an act would be in accord with
international laws and the interests Of
our country. 1t was not proper for US
to act thus. because the government had
constantly and without cessation bound
herself not to accomplish such an act"
Mr.. Gladstone reafflrmed this declara-
ton. May / 1893, and more recently, on
October "a, 1908, Sir Eldon Gorst declared
Great Britain has engaged herself by
official agreement with Turkey and the
European mowers to respect the suzerainty
of the sultan in Egypt. She will keep
her engagements"
The report under the head Of General
subjects refers to the ASA ssination of
Boutros Pacha. 1t is a plea pro domo.
precisely as we might imagine the Egypt
ians advocating the counter argument.
namely. the crime Of Denshawi." which
they maintain was one OF the factors in
the assassination of Boutros.
Sir Eldon repeats that British policy
in Egypt Is not merely to give Egypt the
blessings of good administration. but to
train the Egyptians to take a gradually
increasing share In their own govern
ment."
Sir Eldon expresses the belief that not
withstanding over a quarter of CEN
fury OF efforts something
Liberal was fundamentally wrong
n.,. in the British policy. With
1oAicy' the approval Of the British
government, Sir Eldon had endeavored to
introduce some practical but modest and
not adventurous steps to further express
ed intentions in that direction"
Egyptian ministers and officials have
been encouraged to take more response
bility and initiative In the affairs Of the
country. The existing legislative council
and the general assembly have been rec
ognized: the provincial councils have been
developed and enabled to become q real
factor in local government, especially as
regards education.
The report claims that the general as
sembly in 1909 displayed a tendency to
become mere instruments OF the nation
alist agitation against the occupation
Their repeated demands for full constitu-
tionaI government. the acrimonious at
tacks on the government in connection
with the budget and the Sudan and the
unreasonable hostility and suspicion dis
played In the discussion Of the Suez ca
nal scheme were in their essence mani
festations of Anglophobia stirred up by
the nationalist party. The main idea,
according to the report. was to bring
the occupation to an end by making its
task an impossibility, and the methods
were to undermine the influence Of the
Anglo Egyptian officials by constant
abuse.
The conclusions under this head are
pessfmistic But Sir Eldon nevertheless
declares: Indeed, l am still OF opinion
that the Egyptians have Intellectually
reached a stage when they should be
quite capable of utilizing. with advantage,
the facilities accorded to them for CO.
operating in the administration of the
country. Nevertheless 1t cannot be denied
that the recent experiment has. SO far as
the legislative council and general as
sembly are concerned. proved a failure.
and that the results derived from II have
not been in accordance with our inten-
tons or hopes"
Sir Eldon gives his reason for the fall
ure, which was that the British motives
were misinterpreted and led to the erro-
neous impression that the aspirations OF
those who are in favor Of the immedi-
ate establishment of full representative
would be furthered by an
agitation directed against the British oc-
cupation.
We cannot fail to be astonished at this
argument. The Egyptians are spoken Of