VISCOUNT ALLENBY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19032, 1 June 1925, Page 8

VISCOUNT ALLENBY.

Having recently resigned his position as High Commissioner in Egypt Viscount Allenby has now been given an elaborate official farewell in Cairo. Ho held a difficult position in peculiarly difficult times. Fresh from the triumphant campaign in Palestine, where he wrote his name indelibly in British military records as commander-in-chief of the forces which finally- broke the power of Turkey and freed the Holy Land, Lord Allenby was called upon to assume duty in Egypt, then seething with unrest and discontent. The High Commissioner's task was onerous. A soldier by instinct and training, he was given a post requiring the exercise of the highest diplomatic skill. * What is more, he was handed a forlorn hope, for it has since become manifest that no matter what man did the conditions existing then could not be maintained". ' Egypt was a declared protectorate, under martial law, and restive \mder it. Points of contact between military authorities and the native administration occurred everywhere. Eriction occurred almost everywhere. The situation became charged with explosives. A spai'k might have caused a catastrophe. Britain met the position by an act which some declare a disgraceful, retreat, others a masterly stroke of statesmanship. History will decide between the two views. The association of Lord Allenby with the move is that'it was after he had been to London and had given his direct' personal advice to the Government that the sovereignty of Egypt was declared. In that business and the subsequent period of transition he held a post beset with difficulties. Following the recent assassination of the Sirdar, Sir Lee Stack, he was called upon to translate into action the firm stand which Britain took in restraint of murder and violence. Lord Allenby has played a difficult role in troubled times. To leave it is doubtless a relief. Certainly he has earned the right to a period of quietness after a long term of anxiety and responsibility.