THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 1936 A TREATY WITH EGYPT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22497, 14 August 1936, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 1936 A TREATY WITH EGYPT

The negotiation of a treaty between Britain and Egypt brings within sight the end of a road long and laboriously trodden since the conditional granting of Egyptian independence in 1922. Full details of the agreement are not available, but from the news that both delegations engaged in completing the preliminary work are satisfied can be gleaned a good deal: while justice has been done to Egypt's claims to freedom from foreign control, the vital interests of Britain have not been sacrificed. Without British tutelage Egypt would long ago have been a prey to many rival ambitions, operating from within and without; at the same time, that tutelage was inspired by British necessity as well as Egypt's, and the harmonising of these necessities has been the crux of the constitutional problem. Onlookers in other countries have never been under any illusion about what was afoot. Said a French newspaper recently: " England has made more than thirty official promises regarding the eventual evacuation of Egypt; they have never been kept, and never will be, so long as London fears another Power's taking her place in Cairo, so long as alliance with the new Egyptian monarchy fails to guarantee the route to India." Except for its suggestion that the breach of promise has been actuated solely by fear of what a third party might do, that way of putting the fact is broadly true. British lack of effective assurance that Egypt could and would be loyal to undertakings has been the rock upon which negotiations have been wrecked, and this assurance has been cardinally requisite. Even if no third Power stepped in immediately Britain stepped out, Egyptian blundering, not to say perfidy, could by itself menace British interests. Consequently, the state of political affairs in Egypt, under the parliamentary system established in 1922 when the constitutional monarchy was created, has always been a decisive factor in the treaty negotiations. Apparently Nahas Pasha, as head of the Government under the regency council acting for young King Farouk, has been able to convince the British delegates of Egypt's ability and readiness to honour the treaty obligations. These obligations, whatever their precise nature in the document now initialled, necessarily relate to British security. Yet it is fundamentally important, in view of the reiterated promises of complete Egyptian independence, that the obligations should be willingly accepted, not forcibly imposed. A friendly Egypt has become, more than ever, indispensable to Britain. The dominance in Abyssinia of a Power not disposed to pay scrupulous respect to British interests in the region has changed the outlook for the worse. From Libya on the west, as well as Abyssinia on the south-east, Italy can make an advantageous assault on the Sudan and Egypt. Until recently there could be little apprehension of such an assault from Libya, and none about one from Abyssinia. But under Marshal Badoglio and General Graziani means to subdue the Senussi tribes in Libya were contrived, and these means took the form of shutting the tribesmen in behind a barbed-wire frontier of 219 miles lest they should escape into Egypt, and of establishing fifteen battalions with motor equipment to line the frontier and overawe the tribesmen. However, in these somewhat sudden developments, unexplained by any rising of the Senussi, was seen a threat to Egypt. Where three years ago were a few half-starved nomads, an elaborate Italian force appeared. Provided with rapid transport, it could be turned all too easily into a thrust at northern Egypt, while from the Abyssinian plateau and the shores of Lake Tsana another thrust could be made with tanks, aircraft and gas, backed by native as well as European forces. A blow could be struck at Khartoum before the British troops now garrisoning Egypt could strike a blow. In Egypt, second only to the Greeks there, the Italians have now the biggest colony —an element of additional danger should such trouble occur. The wisdom of keeping on good terms with Egypt has become axiomatic in British policy.

In the House of Commons some weeks ago Mr. Baldwin was asked a question about Italian propaganda in Egypt. His answer was cautiously restricted to generalities; the position in respect to foreign interference, he explained, remained what, it was in 1922, when the protectorate was terminated and the new order conditionally introduced—any such interference would be an unfriendly act. Comment on this by an authoritative journal, " Great Britain and the East," was calm but cautionary: " Muddy water exists in plenty in the Near East, in Egypt and other countries, and for months it has been Italian policy not only to keep the liquid muddy, but still further to moil it." To counter this propaganda involves good relations with the Egyptian Government, and it is well that the treaty negotiations have been so happily concluded. Some things remain to be done before every detail is complete ; but the most perplexing, that of the legal and fiscal status of foreigners, is to be discussed by an international conference. From the news to-day it is practically certain that the vital interests of the Empire have been secured, with the full concurrence of the Egyptian Government.