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less serious strikes. The Nationalists misunderstood Allenby's clemency, they took his tolerance for weakness, and jumped to the conclusion that he had no strong support in London. The attitude of native officials in consequence became more hectoring and arrogant, and they refused to return to work until Rushdy Pasha agreed to the following conditions: (1) Zaghlul Pasha and his Committee to be declared by the Egyptian Government to represent the Egyptian nation. (2) The creation of the present Cabinet not to be taken as implying acceptance of the British Protectorate. (3) The removal of British guards and patrols in Cairo and entrusting public security to the Egyptian army and police.

The recalcitrant officials adopted a dictatorial, disrespectful, exalted tone in discussions with Ministers, and arrogant addresses frequently deteriorated into gratuitous insults. Young Egyptian civil servants, who had spent a year or so in Paris, Marseilles, and Vienna, became extremely bumptious. In the mean time strikes, dislocation of traffic, and a general feeling of uncertainty detrimentally affecting the price of foodstuffs and clothing and interfering with supply and inconveniencing trade, added to the general unrest. The Egyptian peasant is no economist, and cares nothing for the fact that every one else is paying more. He regards high prices, when he has to pay them, as unjust, and his smouldering dissatisfaction made him an easy prey to a skilful agitator. In addition, a small clique of lawyers and students established a reign of terror among the officials and private employers and took the name of the 'Black Hand.' They intimidated, and exacted obedience from all classes of the population. On April 21, Rushdy Pasha resigned. Owing to the attitude of the officials he could no longer at the same time maintain his dignity and retain his office. Allenby's proclamation ordering them to resume work or be dismissed caused a split in their camp, accentuated by President Wilson's recognition of Egypt as a British Protectorate. The extremists had depended on support from America, and Wilson's recognition of the Protectorate was a great blow. Mohamad Pasha Mahmood was at the head of a Committee watching the interests of the Zaghlul Committee; and another

Committee was formed ostensibly for the unification of Egyptian demands, but really to enable unrest to continue while relieving the Zaghlul party of the odium so as not to handicap his mission at the Peace Conference. Following Rushdy's resignation there was no Cabinet, and at the beginning of May, the Under-Secretaries of each Ministry were given authority to exercise all the powers and functions of Ministers.

On May 15, Egypt was the subject of important Debates in the Houses of Lords and Commons, but the speeches of Lord Curzon and the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs made no impression on the Egyptians, who were fully alive to the fact that though democracy can govern a State it can never rule an Empire. They thought British Imperialism was dead, and that they had only to wait the coming of the Labour Party into power to obtain satisfaction for their most exorbitant demands. In this belief they had been encouraged by statements made by irresponsible members of that party. They failed to realise that the maintenance of the British Empire is as dear to the hearts of the Labour Party as it is to the most imperial-minded subject of the King, and that democratic government is reserved for home consumption and does not concern itself with Imperial interests.

On May 25, Mohamad Pasha Said was charged with the formation of a new ministry. To render it more acceptable to the agitators it was called a business Ministry. This did not prevent them, on Sept. 25, from throwing a bomb at Mohamad Said to demonstrate that under the present revolutionary conditions the post of Prime Minister was no sinecure. In June many of the Nationalist delegates returned from Paris owing to disagreements with Zaghlul, most of which were of a personal nature and connected with the disposal of the Party funds, on which they had been having the time of their lives. When Zaghlul managed to secure possession of these funds, he became too autocratic for his fellow delegates, and refused disbursements for the gratification of personal extravagance and dissipation. This led to open rupture, but he soon filled up his ranks with extremists, who were of a more economical turn of mind and more subservient to his will. By this time

it had been announced that the British Government intended to send a Special Mission to Egypt, but the Egyptian politicians, having made up their minds that its object would be the extinction of Nationalism, concentrated on limiting the sphere of its activities by an organised boycott. They were greatly encouraged in this by the protest of Mohamad Said, the Prime Minister, against its arrival before the peace with Turkey had been signed, and this was intensified by his resignation which followed the overruling of his protest. Mohamad Pasha Said was succeeded as Prime Minister by Wahba Pasha, and his Ministry was in office during the whole time the Milner Mission was in Egypt. It was of no distinct political colour, and was indisposed to take any decided line with regard to the burning question of the future of Egypt. The Mission arrived in Cairo on Dec. 7, 1919. With Lord Milner as its chairman it was admirably composed, made up as it was of men representing diverse shades of English political opinion. Its object was to reconcile the aspirations of the Egyptian people with the special interest which Great Britain has in Egypt and with the maintenance of the legitimate rights of all foreign residents in the country. It sought to establish the relations of Great Britain and Egypt on a basis of friendly accord which would put an end to friction and enable the Egyptian people to devote the whole of their energies to the development of their country under self-governing institutions.

It is often asked why are we in Egypt? That country, though not in theory actually a part of the Empire, is of vital importance to our whole Imperial system. Its immense land and sea frontiers render it very vulnerable to external aggression, and alone it would be quite unable to defend itself. Under British guidance it has attained a new level of civilisation, from which it would be dangerous to allow it to relapse. It must ever in fact be part and parcel of the British Empire. It is a corridor country, and the Suez Canal which runs through its territory is the connecting link between England and her Dominions east of Suez. It is our great trade route; and that the links which bind it to Great Britain should be strong are just as important to Labour as they are to Capital, both in England and the Dominions. In times

of peace the amount of British tonnage which traverses the Canal far exceeds that of all other nations. Out of a population of 400,000,000 of His Majesty's subjects, 300,000,000 are east of Suez, and over 1,000,000 troops from Australia, India, and New Zealand passed through the Canal during the war. This was only rendered possible by the British Occupation of Egypt. It has been said by people who have not studied the question with sufficient care that the Canal could be detached from Egypt and form a separate zone. This is impossible. Egypt and the Canal are one indissoluble whole owing to the fresh-water canal which supplies the towns of Port Said and Suez, which are situated at its two extremities, being controlled from Cairo, and for that reason there must be a British force in that city. Since the British Occupation in 1882, a large number of foreigners have been attracted to Egypt on account of the security which the Occupation afforded. They have acquired vast interests in the country, which at the same time they have greatly benefited by their industry, initiative, and enterprise. Their governments would not allow these interests to be jeopardised, and if England ever decided to abandon her position of predominance, her place would at once be taken by a foreign Power. For Nationalist aspirations the geographical position of the country is unfortunate, and it is obvious to any reasonable Egyptian that those aspirations must be subordinated to the greater interests of Great Britain, who has incidentally created modern Egypt. She has given to the Egyptian politician of to-day, without any effort on his part, the wealth which has afforded him the requisite leisure to plot and intrigue against his benefactor.

The Milner Mission left Egypt at the end of the first week of March 1920, after having thoroughly sifted the situation in Egypt. The issue of its report was delayed owing to the prospect of the Mission coming into direct contact with Zaghlul Pasha, who arrived in London on June 7 accompanied by seven members of the Delegation. In spite of many difficulties, the outlines of a settlement were finally drafted with which both parties were more or less satisfied. The compromise lacked one essential condition, and that was, that Zaghlul and his associates

would undertake to use all their influence to obtain its
acceptance by the people of Egypt. Eventually four
members of the Delegation proceeded to Egypt to
ascertain the public mind of that country. On the
whole the project was well received, and the agreement
that had been reached, and which included, as a starting-
point, a Treaty between Great Britain and Egypt, might
have resulted in a permanent settlement between the
two countries had not Zaghlul, with his usual lack of
statesmanship and good faith, suddenly turned hostile
to the project. He was quick to see that its acceptance
meant his own eclipse in public affairs, and that was
more than his personal vanity could tolerate. Lord
Milner had made a great and statesmanlike effort, but
he had only succeeded once more in proving the utter
impossibility of negotiating with Egyptians.
In any
negotiations with them it must be remembered, and if
England is wise she will not forget it, that any agreement
to be effective must be imposed, and further, that she must
always be in a position to enforce its terms.

On March 22, 1921, the judgment in the Society of Vengeance case was promulgated. Seven of the prisoners were sentenced to death, and sixteen others to various terms of penal servitude. Needless to say, under Allenby's régime none of them were hanged, and there is not a single member of the gang who has not been a free man for many years past. The lives of his fellow-countrymen apparently counted little with the Special High Commissioner, whose balance of mercy always went down on the wrong side.

On April 4, Zaghlul Pasha arrived from Europe and received an ovation that a Roman Emperor might have envied. At a banquet given at Alexandria on the evening of his arrival, he made a speech in which he repudiated the Milner agreement, which he said was a Protectorate, thereby proving the absolute insincerity of his attitude throughout the negotiations. He characterised the existing Cabinet of which Adly was Prime Minister as essentially a British creation, and declared that the Egyptian Delegation alone represented the country. This declaration was the cause of demonstrations, on May 18, by the riff-raff of Cairo, led by students in Zaghlul's pay. Fanatical, anti-Christian, and anti

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