The Daily News. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1924. SAFEGUARDING THE SUDAN

Taranaki Daily News, 15 September 1924, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1924. SAFEGUARDING THE SUDAN

While some may think the need for safeguarding the Sudan from the clutches of Egypt is a matter of not much concern to the Dominions, yet both as a principle and from an Imperial viewpoint this vexed question closely impinges on British justice and Empire interests. Happily the British Premier had the courage and statesmanship to take no heed of the views of the Labour extremists on subjects of this kind, the result being that he firmly and definitely refused to hand over the Sudan to the Egyptians, a decision that has evoked much gratification from all who desire to defend the weak from oppression. It will be noted that the claim for the control of the. Sudan comes from Egypt, not from the Sudanese, and it is desirable that the Dominions should fully understand the facts bearing on the case. A writer in a recent issue of the Spectator rightly points out that a more amazing example of the denial of the principle of self-determina-tion can hardly be examined than the Egyptian claim, for the Egyptian authorities make no demand that the people of the Sudan shall be consulted; they are content to invoke the right of conquest, and what that means can well be imagined. As to their suggestion that Britain acknowledged their rights over the Sudan during the destruction of the Mahdi’s tyranny, it can be dismissed as a mere' purposelyconceived fabrication, the fact being that, from the very beginning of the Nile campaign, Lord Cromer recognised that Egypt was neither fit to rule the Sudan in theory nor in practice. The utmost reliance can be placed upon the views held by Lord Cromer, and it is recalled that he very strongly emphasised the absolute necessity of maintaining British power in the Sudan, besides which he insisted that it would be a most tremendous mistake, and as cruel to the Egyptians as to the Sudanese, to hand the control of the Sudan to the Cairo Government when Britain found it possible or advisable to leave Egypt, for the main reason that if ever such a transfer of control authority were made there would be sure to be at first oppression and misgovernment, and then risings which the Egyptians would never be able to suppress. Such a course would, in the end, inevitably lead to the imperative need for Britain to once more go through a campaign, but under circumstances that would almost surely evoke bitter hostility on the part of both the Egyptians and the Sudanese. Lord Cromer was quite alive to the existence of two dangers to Egypt—the need for water and the invasion of savages down the Nile Valley, because he realised that, if Britain had not gone to Egypt in 1880, there would have been nothing to stop the Dervishes getting right down to Cairo and Alexandria and destroying everything in their progress. The Sudan has acquired many memories of savagery, but that is no reason why it should accumulate more of the same kind—or worse. The dominant consideration that should govern the policy of controlling this area that seethes with trouble at the slightest stirring up of fanaticism, is that if Egypt is to prosper, and the British work of irrigation, road making, railway construction, and if civilization generally is to be preserved, Britain must hold the Sudan as trustee for Egypt, and at the same time ensure the Nile Valley against starvation and invasion. It is only right that Egypt should be i

assured of the benefit of the flow of the Nile, and that adequate protection from the cutting off of the supply by the Sudanese should be guarded against, for Egypt, without the waters of trie. Nile, would inevitably cease to exist. Under all the circumstances it can readily be conceived that it is virtually unthinkable for Britain to retire from the Sudan, and if Mr. MacDonald were to act as wisely in all other outside affairs as he has done relative to the Sudan, he would do well for his country and rank among the foremost Statesmen of the day. His decision not only saves Egypt from possible disaster, but is in the best interests of the Empire.