BRITISH IN EGYPT.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 13706, 22 September 1908, Page 6

BRITISH IN EGYPT.

ft DEAN FITCHErrS LECTUBE. W&A • small- audienc» ygrah>d a -Mary'& last evening to lialea to a lec||ire- on the British occupation of Egypt,. by tho Very Rev. Dean FHchctt, of .at the requtbt of St. Mary'o Men's Society. The lecture . wa<s '■mt- : V [ W ™" le«orer, r and and, from his personal observation. Sd a. high tribute to the importance and ffiune of the work done by the British .in llpjeaai JJjpofee for,*a|>out' an "Jiour interestdng anjd informing conhistory of Egypt for the last bun yeairi or so, in so far .as it. bowti n|wn»Kt questions why Iwypt, what they w«''*d«ny therej atid jgjSr • Jbng they expected *to stay thtre. -gCTobably all that he could tell them they reacf already, -his advantage watt that |j|r had lately! vobio 'time in'- Egypt, had obtained a very vivid idea of the extraordinary • political situation exSong there. There was nothing like it JpMwhere in the world, and probably never M. : been" anything ; like it before. * Egypt Jim' Indirectly a part of the British cjnWfei yet th« seeming head of it wan Tur.which received a tribute of three;Jparters of-a million bteriing every year, 9B*F. i »bdTit one-tenth of the revenue, and did intrigue fof'inalcooent prt«ent pout iqd poah ton, oVstrrbed. Ttf form Egypt was a selfgpverning State, with a constitutional monarch and two elective assemblies, and a-native army. But beside the Khedive be? taken, the subordinate rulers *we 0-kiT advis«iis, whose advicv.must be taken, on any important matter. Another fefUnre was that various foreign nations haj] acquired important rights for their aw|ect(i (called "capitulations"), prior to tbef British - occupation, and th»e had to bur taken into account in tb<i Jhaiiagentent of-the country. The lectun* ttiea proctfdcd to sketch the' intervention in Egypt, beginning with the irtv»6ion of the country by Napoleon in 1798, as "a step towards India, Kelson'e dltttrncuoD of lire fleet at Abuukir Bay, and the aimy that jijidetkfe eyent» w%ife most »nply wcribjja). * Then "cam. k tm h|rne*a much tempt to tfctabtiah a mail service to India r|k Sue/, and then the great change biought aboat by the opening of the Sikz De iti> originator, >aid the'canal could only be used bv sailing ve>*elt, as the cost ot' coai at Suez wonid be prohil»|tivjc. .. Xow, , the canal vu a - great" steam canal. The lecturer next deakjwithi^Uw, fim pi the Mebemet All, a sort ofNai>oUpn of the East, his massacre of the Mameluke*, and his subsequent efforts to dfvclop the country by employing French engineers. abo nude |'reach .the diplomatic%r langrpge* of i the country. The filth Khedive, Ismail, who reigned from Hj66> to 18TO; had; an hnportant influence luture, "by hj» reckless and clumsy borrowings. In 13 years he increased the national debt by 89 millions, and. there was .very little to show for it. The' result was that Egypt was bankrupt; taxation was increajgwl till the people were in misery, the army wa* not paid, iM etlrythSif:, iris ihi such a muddle that foreign intervention bvaine iMTitabie. i could \ not -be permitted to go to ruin, because of tbw»e valuable ">capitulations" already mentioned. Bti tain and France agreed to intervene jointly.. Th« Khedive resisted, but the Sultan dtpowrd him, and Jus son Tewfik took his place. Then eta*/ tin rubeOion under Aribi. who was supported by the Sultan. In t this connection the lecturer animadverted on the weakness of Mr Glad-tone's foreign policy. (A Gladstone Ministry w-ai then in pow«-ri. Mr Glad-lone and all associated, with him had a horror of militanr operation* anywhere. They tried to gft the European concert—fwhich al«*j» play* »»ut. of tune'*—to interfere, »in| and restore order? At length a Briti-h lltel bombarded Alexandiw. the French rKt that, w»» to have cooperatetl withdrawing.* That seemed an extraordinary thing in View of the fact that moot of the foreigne'rV in Kgypt were Frem-h. and that a,large aovounC of French capital wtf Masted there. Tt mu-t b.- renumbered, however, that the Franco-Prowian had happened only twelve years l>efore, and* the idf* of a war of revenue •Was %till*n<miin*nt in France. »o that the people thought, it unwixr to expend men and war material in Egypt. The British were therefore kit. to *<-t alone, and in dae 'time- came' the crushing .Weat of Arabi at'Tet el'Ktbir.. Tlv British army wa| sent .to .FgytJ^-dimply to rector.- thanthority'.of tlw Khedite, ami was then to W.wfthdrmwn : 'the .idea of a |)crnwnrnt occypajkw'wa* the Ja?t that would have ocvurred-"io the-Brittsh-Government. For this reason, they refused to. have anvfhhijfto jdo-'with the JSotklan, a va»t mrion at thei' head; of the NIVr. Arabi*. rebellion wag Wloweil bv •■'revolt -of a S«nda»w!>« "MaM?* ,, or'Moslem 4 fanatic. Tlv Bri t|<h»'f*<rreTmhrnt- said*they^woultl m*t in with him": -yet*the" whole of the lawcquciii. prooeedioge" tamed' upon' Uiai at*.

revolt. The Egyptian Government scnC against the Mahdi - an army of 10,000, under an English General, Hicks, but the army was no army at all, and it was entirely destroyed, and the Soudan was lo>t. There was still a garr>>on army of 55.C00 in the Soudan, and the problem was how to get it out of the- country. After the destruction of Hicks' army the British Government. said they must help out that garrison, and for* this task they sent to. Kharlouni just tiro] men, General Gordon and. Colonel .Stewart. The terrible tragedy associated wi It that, movement was well known. T*Jievlccturcr liere expressed strong disapproval of some of the criticisms on Gordon's conduct and satirical remarks on hi* character, to be found in Lord .Cromer's great book; and he condemned •6 a great blot upon Mr Gladstone's administration his action and inaction in regard to the Gordon expedition. The result was that the relief even.ually sent t«i Khartoum arrived two day*, too late. Gordon had been slain by the funa tic*, and his <sepulchr« was unknown. The words of the poem on the burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna would not fit this case, but Tennyson's epitaph was quoted, and the audience applauded. Tim teen years later, when the Khalifa had succeeded the Madhi, Omdurman avenged Gordon, relieved the Soudan of a scourge that bad destroyed three-fourths of the population, and opened up the counlrv to tKe influences of civilisation. Looking at the history of the British occupation at large, it t-ecmed to belong rather to comic opera than to serious national life. The British did not want to go there, , tn^-.JP*PP| e . did not want . ihem; the » : to have gone'too. but lei the British go alono {and well too, for had they gone jointly they would orlately have quarrelled*. The at temps that were made to obtain a pionit-e that Kngland would iix a time for leaving were described, and the failure of lhc-e becauae th* Sultan thought the time years suggested too long. The Buiish could not leave, for, I hey had undertaken 1 with the French, and for the'benefit and wrth the concurrence of other nations interested, to remain until they had tstab lished a stable government "and a reign of progress ( That "there* a divinitv ithat s sbape» our ends, rough hew tbeiii how we will," was well ill us t ra ed bv tb* fcftwy of the British in Egypt, The result of our occupation bad lA.en most admirable, as one could Had in inanv books about Kgypt. .Some of these le suits the lecturer graphically describedthe improvement in the condition of tin fellaheen or peasants, by .he abolition ■ u- "Kourbash," or lax gatherer*-. whip: and of 1 he corvee, o,- forced and unpaid labour; and by his rescue from 'he hands of tl*e usurer through a svstcm of State loans teembling our "advuiicts lo settlers." "Sergeant \Vhat*i»n»me." a* Kipling had told, had transformed the army. "making linemen out of mud." until the Egyptian annv to-dav was quite ht to sand beside Britj-h troop*, as was proved by ihe way" jlkv heljied t „ win. back the Soudan. A g lC at woik had been done in urigation. and die lcctuiei rle&cribed with mate in cresting detail the different Kvmeut, of irrigation re«,uiicd f.u the Nile Valley and the Delia, with their different crop*. Fiench enginceis conMiue.ed a gnat barrage or dam at )„ head of the Delta, but this broke down, and the Khedive was about to cnur into costly con nut,, for pumping when Hi, British stepped in and repaired th- barrage. Another huge bairagc had bc-n bun, on the t pp,. .\.l e iU .\v-»ua!i. and a* a result of the improvement hi .lie means of irrigation, the export* had been enormously u.cicasvd. Nothing but good had io>ulnd u> Kgypt from .'he Buti-h occupation, but ihe Fundi ami the Egyptian* themselves were kecnlv anxious that it should cease. 11... Fivm-Ji tried togvt j„ bv „, e |, K . k , i((M1 ~,„ l-a-.rh.nJa. and lit,.- two nation* «.,. „..„„ going to war ovci it. |„ 190,. ,•„„,„/„ the agency of -the most, effici. Nt ofnYer u, the *tv.ee of the. L„,pi u ., Kinß ~,,„„„ VJI- —applause;-th, French' -,.., ~| nvver .-Mja.n to tlu , ~ | if „ it „, ■ be fax.-ti for (1,.- iiritWi occupation „. n. any way to hauler Bnti-h action ii, i' I,MI -'S' 1 -"'-"' „„,i i.gulan-.ed our after that th-re ai.«- c what «..> ~.11.d ', nation,|,,t m„vuihnt ajii.nu; th Egyptian, with the aim of making the Briti-h ,„,.; tion untenable. A new Government had yoriu „„., ,*,„,,. , n hnslfUldt <IIU] h . " «•<> thought to hj, ~,..,, -Mjuecwbl." than :,, ~,«.|,^r >r. }U , tLm . much fooUh t..|k in tl,.- lt,,ti>l, p.,,|i, m-m. much f„,,!i,h u . r i„ llK m ,|„. H , it ,:,, i re-, ,},c > ; . crc d, lC>> „i mt ' loaAl ~, I'uau«. n « th.,t ctieouracci tl.m. I!,. >,•• tan to Mipjnnt th™. and -.en ~„ army ~.,•,.. .s, nj|tl , ~,„„„„,., „ to tell the Sukan to «... „..i 1, - ha I !,. ~., Ih* cm~<l .nt.-t>.- .x. it men; ~.„..„•,• .1,.fanatfal M.»l,tn* >n Kgvpt. «!... .... r , ie( Jt a-, an inpuh t.. rl, c }, r „\ „ ( .}„", „ ■*•'•« Ih..t *am. y.-..r -...,„.. 11-.-H, ~f tl.ti-s Mh<> w*r.- out -hooting „„.. ~„ N-iult.-Jt jrw | .-«.■. Capta.n Hull. «... J.,|i. ,| riK- murderrr- w, ~. brought to ~*-!•„• „,i 'he nngkad.,- .x..-, 1t .,1 ..ftcr ~„,,, , \ r ,,\ ■wd in ar.-..rdan.- «ith the 1..« H,. Kgypti,m I'no- .ontitiiid t„ „,,i.. ~, •i.iy ,l-, iu t -ih- trim.- of I), n -.| M , M ,- „„ ~„ '"g hot the mur-W-r of CA|^.,i n }t tl j|, \, xt , !h<- exeution of hh» mur.l-i.r-: .n.i | i,... I»»h jMj-rr-. and KoffiiAh.booi,. j,.„| ~£, trc-rt-nl it in that ni.mrx r. Iha .:,, ,<i.- n! «•»-•* ma<JV mneh of hy i tnjlietot--, !-, jn .. native J'r.- m <*.,,,„'.,, , t ».„„,.].. ( ,f'.i* ttek'-d* «-*■ j'nd . rt!«-!f\ ;, n ',| t\t.inn\ ..f \\ ir Nrit:-.h .Kcupation. ' An.l th... fh.'.ugi. «.. wxu. :!icrc only for ;hc;r

British were bearing the white mans burden there, and getting do thanks for it. from tlw official cl«i©s, but> their hatred onlv. from the Khedive downwards. The Egyptians were not yet' tit for self-govern-ment, and if left to themselves it would soon b<: nco.eßary to interfere again. The lecturer then described two annual festival, in which extraordinary cnthucia-sin for the Khedive wire manifested —lese lor bis sake than as an exhibition of feeling against the British. "Hie lecturer <?xpr<.fc£x:d a strong opinion that the native Pi ess ought to be strictly censored: it was doing a great deal of mischief, and British notions of the liberty of the Press were out of place in the circumstances. Then there should be a clear, demonstration of our intention to stay and do our work. There was no reason why we should not. The French were in Tunis and in Algeria. We were governing the country for the country's good, and for the benefit* of the world. It was impossible to '"neutralise" ths country, as some people recommended; the neutrality would vanish immediately Egypt went to war, as De Lesseps was told by Arabi, when the latter claimed that the canal was neutral. The British must keep control of Egypt, in order to • keep control of the canal, and it was perfectly plain that for this reason she must remain in Egypt, as Lord Cromer had said,* "for one or two generation?," and it might be left at that. The lecturer concluded with an eulogy. of Lord Cromer, whom he classed witii other great men named; including Sir George Grey, and he was warmly applauded on resuming his seat. Mr "Craigie moved a vote of thanks, and in doing - so expressed his admiration of the strong note of patriotism that had been heard throughout the discourse, his approval of what had been done in Egypt; and his recognition of the instructive value of the lecture, which had been admirable in both matter and manner. Mr R. C. Tennent seconded; Mr Simpson added the thanks of the Young Men's Society; and the chairman expressed a hope that the lecture be repeated to a larger, audicDoe. The motion was carried by acclamation, and the lJeanV .acknowledgement r ek-8-1 a bvM inu resting, evcuiug for .tbp:.e 'present.- '. ■-. '■■.'.' '■:■-'■. '■■■ ; "