EGYPT'S SPHINX.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 130, 3 June 1926, Page 6

EGYPT'S SPHINX.

Britain has no evidence of any change in Zaghlul Pasha's anti-British attitude, says the "Daily Express" correspondent, ; and meantime ehe is drawing the attention of this modern Sphinx to the j independence reservations made in 1922. j These reservations include the security jof communications, defence of -Egypt I against aggression, the protection of foreign interests, and the Sudan question. Zaghlul refused to accept these reservations, and after the murder of Sir Lee Stack, Zaghlul was expelled from office and a dictatorship was estabtished. The British Government has now" made it clear that the vote at the general election will not be regarded as granting a free license to the exPremier to defy Britain again. The Government has proved its anxiety to recognise the independence of Egypt, and to permit it to govern itself, but naturally it cannot act in direct opposition to its own safety, hence its insistence upon the terms it imposed two years ago. So far the Egyptians have completely failed to prove that they are fit to govern themselves, especially by their Inability to recognise how British control since 1885 has lifted the country from its condition of poverty, misrule and corruption to prosperity, peace, and the rule of justice. Britain has proved her sincerity; the Egyptians have not yet proved that democratic ideals have permeated the nation, and ' until safeguards are offered, it is not likely that the constitution will function in its entirety, especially as the present leader of the dominant political party has proved that the mainspring of his policy is not co-operation with, but defiance of, the nation which has done so much for the fellaheen.