ANOTHER EGYPTIAN CRISIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 79, 3 April 1928, Page 6

ANOTHER EGYPTIAN CRISIS.

When Nahas Pasha, the political heir of Zaghlul, succecded to power in Egypt a few "weeks ago, it was hoped that the responsibilities of office might teach him moderation. But cither his own convictions are just as extieme as the most violent Nationalists could desire, or he has made up his mind to "play politics" in a Nationalist sense for the purpose of winning the next election. Whatever be the cause, the dispatched by Nahas in reply to Biitain s recent warnings was an uncompromising rejection of Britain's claims, and Nahas must now either force through the legislation which the British Government has vetoed, or he must, as the "Daily Express" puts it, commit political suicide by submission. Tlide is something paUietic in the obvious sincerity of the Nationalist assertion of Egypt's right to complete freedom and independence. But the Note says a great deal more for the patriotic fervour of the Egyptians than for the political judgment of their leaders. Nahas asserts that Egypt wiil be satisfied with nothing less than complete emancipation from foreign control. He maintains that Egypt is able and willing to defend the Suez Canal with her own army and navy, and that Britain has no excuse for interfering there, unless invited to do so. More than this, he insists that Egypt is now a sovereign State in her own right, and is therefore no longer an alien dependency of Britain, but an ally! Characteristically enough, Nahas has not attempted to face the two most difficult problems with which Britain is concerned— the safety of Egypt on the side of the Sudan, and the protection of foreign rights and interests. The demand for the withdrawal of all British officers and the reorganisation of the Egyptian army on Nationalist lines really means that Egypt is to be left exposed to future invasions from the Sudan, with little hope of defence or escape; and the "Sunday Express" holds that Britain's only course now is to dismiss the Egyptian troops altogether and place the Sudan entirely under British military protection. As to the proposed abolition of the capitulatory Courts, it is certain that, whatever Britain may do, the European Powers will never consent to leave their nationals to the guardian care of the Egyptian Government. The programme outlined by Nahas in his Note is therefore hopelessly impracticable. But these considerations may not deter him from attempting to appeal to the extreme section of the Nationalists with the object of carrying the elections "on a wave of frenzied Chauvinism."