The Evening Star TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1929. EGYPT AND NORTH AFRICA.

Evening Star, Issue 20312, 22 October 1929, Page 8

The Evening Star TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1929. EGYPT AND NORTH AFRICA.

The fate of the treaty which the British Labour Government has offered Egypt is still m tho -lap of tho gods. The Egyptian Prime Minister who accepted it and recommended it to his people has since gone out of office, which is not a good sign. An election will be held next month, at which a triumph for the Wal'd (Nationalist) Party is taken for granted, and it will be for that party to say whether it will confirm the treaty or trust to renewed agitation and obstreperonsness to obtain more. If the Nationalists are wise Mr Henderson’s warning that the offer which has been made marks the limit of concessions by the British Government will deter them from that course. Tho European correspondent of the New York ‘ Outlook,’ after analysing the treaty, lias observed in elfect that if the Egyptians wish to be polite the most they need say to the offer is “Thank you for nothing, ’’ since it docs not, in his view, make any appreciable extension of their independence. That judgment is, however, deliberately rejected by the editorial opinion of his journal, which declares that “ the proposed treaty is as altruistic as cold circumstances permit.” More altruistic than safe has been the British Conservative verdict. If the treaty should bo ratified British troops will be withdrawn from Cairo, Alexandria, and other points, but they will remain in the canal zone, which is not a satisfactory military arrangement. It is provided, however, that tho King of Egypt will, “in the event of war or the menace of war, furnish His Britannic Majesty on Egyptian territory all facilities and assistance within his power, including the use of aerodromes and means of communication.” We shall trust the safety of tho Empire, not to one-party control of the great waterway which makes its jugular vein, but to the good faith of the Egyptians and their loyalty to the treaty. The Sudan is not mentioned in the new proposals. It will not reverb to Egypt, and there is no reason why it should The “ cold circumstances ” which prevent greater concessions to the Egyptians are not to be ignored, and it is something to have evidence of a growing disposition to recognise them on the part of the Nationalists themselves The new High Commissioner, Sir Percy Loraino, has recorded the impression that “ leaders of Egyptian thought have an appreciation of the problems which Britain and Egypt have solved and tho advantages of the closest understanding, and that these leaders will guide the Egyptian people, whose verdict on tho issue will bo decisive.”

Great Britain might get out of Egypt to-morrow, and leave not a shadow of her control there ■ but for two considerations. The first is its • strategic position in relation to tho safety of the British Empire, and tho second is that the Egyptians would be not in any way benefited by the exit of British influence from Egypt if the next development should be what might bo quite naturally expected, in the event of new troubles by the Nile—that of some other country stepping in. . Italy requires room for the expansion of her people, and she has been finding it on tho north coast of Africa, nearest to Egypt. Further west France has her great African empire, in which a vast policy is at present being worked

out. Distances will bo annihilated by new railways and air linos which the French are planning. Irrigation is not being neglected. The logical end ot the French policy, it has been said, is that of a new Roman empire, with rts e centre not in Romo, but in Paris, with Africa as a granary and supply depot both for men and materials. It aspires to make Frenchmen of the natives, to all intents and purposes. Mixed marriages are welcomed; the ideas of Islam are not encouraged. A- writer in the ‘Round Table,’ who discusses the subject at length, believes that the native is likely in the long run to prove stronger than the European. British policy, on the other hand, has been always tolerant of Islam. . It has hover attempted to mould natives to its own pattern. On the whole it goes with the trend of their aspirations, not against it. And the more intelligent leaders in Egypt and elsewhere, , this writer believes, are appreciative of that sympathy. The conclusion agrees entirely with Sir Percy Loraine’s impression. fn any case North Africa is not going to bo stationary. Things will move quickly there, unless. all signs mislead, in the next score of years. It would be foolish of Great Britain to surrender such powers as she still retains iu. Egypt till it can be seen how they are likly to move.