a vast deal of opinion in Egypt, which would be only too delighted to hear of a dervish victory. You won't find that opinion up in Dongola, or even here in Halfa, where the people have tried what a raid feels like, and if the dervishes were to invade Egypt you wouldn't find it anywhere else very long; but at present it exists, and it unsettles things. Egypt will never quite sit down beneath our rule as long as we have an enemy unbeaten in the south; and the very being of Mahdism forbids the possibility that the enemy should ever be a friend. So that the sooner it's over and done with the better for Egypt and everybody. Until then Egypt can do nothing, because Egypt will be a beggar. When that is done, the weirs at the Barrage and the new barrages at Assouan and Assiut will be her chief work for the next years. We have heard vaguely up here that the contract for these is already signed; though where the money is to come from, the meagre telegrams do not say. Another work of importance is the readjust INTERNATIONAL BURDENS. 281 ment of the land-tax, which is arbitrary and inequitable: I do not quite understand why this has not been done before. After that there is still plenty and plenty of work to be done, especially in the way of education. The administration of the railways, again, strikes a stranger as very bad; while in the domain of justice the Egyptian, much improved, has still to learn enough for very many years. But the country will not top the Nile difficulty until it can get its international burdens off its back. The inability to tax foreigners adequately, the inability to bring them to trial, the inability to spend her own moneythe Capitulations, the Mixed Tribunals, and the Caisse de la Dette-must all go sooner or later. Internally their abolition would at last give Egypt a free hand. She has had a free hand in her history before, and for the last fifteen years she has had a prudent and honest government; but she has never yet had both together. When she gets them we shall see what can be done with her. Externally, the Capitulations, the Mixed Courts, and the Caisse contribute to a curious deadlock. While they exist Egypt is in tutelage; their existence is sufficient evidence in itself that the civilised world does not consider her fit for independent self-government. Therefore so long as they exist it is vain to ask us to evacuate the country. If Egypt can be trusted, we shall answer, Knock off her fetters. If she cannot, then we stay; for after our past sacrifices we shall assuredly not hand over the work to be worse done by somebody else. There is no chance of Europe knocking off the fetters, and there is no chance, therefore, of our leaving Egypt. I do not think that we shall ever leave. This is awkward, because we promised to- gave a perfectly sincere promise which we have not been able to fulfil. I do not think we ever shall be able to fulfil it without wasting an enormous deal of splendid work which we shall not do. Some day, perhaps, we shall square the situation, either by agreement or after a war. |