Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-09

There are two sides to every story;
all newsmongers so discover early in
their experiences. SO, it appears that
| the controversy which has arisen be.
tween Great Britain and Egypt over
independence of the latter, is not an
exception to the rule. Last week this
column told the story of British
suzerainty over the land of the
Pharaohs, and certain Egyptians de-
clare it was related mainly from the
British standpoint" To declarations
| that the data were not obtained from
British observation-disclosures so reticent
that it deafens even the silence of
Armistice day-but was mainly gotten
from standard literature. the Egyptian
retort was, But the English write the
literature, and Americans never hear
the Egyptian side"
Therefore, with an impartiality that
would do credit to a Supreme Court
justice, let the reader know the
Egyptian story of conditions which
lead to an international crisis.
Why and how did Great Britain Sc
| cure her grip on Egypt. and what has
she done for-or to-that country,
while it has been in her control? Has
she managed the Egyptian finances in
manner to benefit Egypt? Has she
aided her in progress to attain high adj
vancement in civilization and educa-
| ton and modern development of ma
tive resources? Has she shown the
spirit of World War idealism, in ex-
| panding self government of the weak
err races? Has she trained native
! Egyptians in high finance, so as to
make them capable of solving their
national problems? To all of these
test questions. the Egyptian answer is
an emphatic negative.
| X X X
| From 1917 up to the Napoleonic
! conquest in 1898 Egypt was a prov
ince of Turkey. Napoleon took it
over to French dominion, until the
English conquered him, and in 1901 re-
stored it to the Turk. Under Turkey,
Mehemet Ali. an Albanian. was made
| governor in 1905. The English evacu-
ated the country completely in 1907,
leaving Mehemet Ali in power. as a
| Turkish governor. Mehemet then
| turned to French influence and be-
came master of all Egypt. annexed
| Nubia and part of Sudan and Syria.
| rtehemet was succeeded in 1848 by his
son, Ibrahim. Then followed the rule
| of Mehemet's grandson, Abbas /, and,
later, by his third grandson, Said, un-
der whose rule OS54-1S63) De Lesseps
| obtained the grant Of right to build
| the SueZ Canal, opened in 1869. Said
was succeeded in 1863 by his nephew,
! Ismail, son of Ibrahim. who purchased
| from the Sultan of Turkey the heredi-
| tary title Of Khedive. Egypt con.
| tinued to pay tribute to Turkey. The
Khedive. Ismail, was progressive even
to the point of plunging in improve
ments for his country. building roads,
| railroads, telegraphs and harbors--
| the latter notably at Port Said and
| Alexandria. He introduced mixed
courts of law, so as to insure interna.
tional justice within his kingdom
| But all this required money, beyond
| the possibility of current taxes, for
| the overcrOwded Egyptians, as a PEG.
| pie, have never been prosperous in
| modern times. So In 1875 Khedive Is.
mail sold to Great Britain $4,000
| shares in the Suez Canal for S20, 600, !.
| 900. and consented to receiving the
advice and lead of the English and
| French financial joint counsel.
X i y X
Great Britain being creditor, and
| France having an interest as the
| builder of the Suez Canal thereupon
| practically controlled the policies of
government. until Great Britain bar
| gained with France, giving her free
| hand elsewhere, in consideration of
her Withdrawing from the dual con.
| troll of Egypt. Then in 1879 Great
Britain deposed Ismail and set his
son Tewik on the throne-to be con.
trolled by the British--which led to
native revolt. led by Arab. This re.
volt gave the Sudanese their Opportu.
| nifty to throw off the Egyptian hold on
| Sudan. and ultimately Arab was de.
feated and banished. It was In this
Sudan rebellion that Gen. "Chinese"
| Gordon was killed.
The status of Gen. Gordon in that
night Is disputed. the Egyptians con-
tending that he and all other British
officers were merely officers In the