LORD CROMER'S REPORT.
LORD CROMER'S annual Reports on the condition -of Egypt are always among' the most interesting and valuable State .papers issued by British rulers and 'administra- tors, but that pat issued—the Report for 1898—is of special moment. It 1/3 the record not only of a great administrative achievement, but of two new departures of the first import= anal As Lord Cromer himself points out, those responsible for the management of Egyptian affairs have always-kept tie rpain. objects *tore their eyes,—the reoccupation of Khar- toum, and the ttorage of the Nile water for • p. 'see of irrigation. Daring the; past, year not •enly has : artpnm been taken,. but the work of damming 'the Nile and storing the Nile water has been begun. No doubt for the present the-SoMlan is Of little value, and as yet only the preliminary. Work isis been.. 'acoomplish. ed in regard to the 'Amman reservoirs In both .Cases, however,: the foundations have been well and truly laid, and we do not donlit. that Lord Kitchener's structure will in the end prove as sormdsnd. as well able_ to resist external fords as Messrs. Aird's granite blocks and concrete walls. Another extremely interesting subject dealt with in the Report is that of internationalism inEgypt. Lord Cromer shows that internationalism-that i the interference of the GreatPowers in.a large 'number of Egyptian Departments—lays a burden on the country of at least £1,750,000 a year. That is, if internationalism could he get rid of, and with lathe cumbrous and expensive system Of International Boards which it involves; there would be a saving of between One and 'a- half and two milikins every" year: Bñt this is a; stun which would. enable Egypt, with* any -:further taxation, 'to carry - out a vast number of internal 'improvements. It is:'clear, then, that the waste. -of internatienalisni will sooner or later have to be faced. . We should fail in our duty to the Egyptians- if we permanently allowed this -drain on the retOurces of the country. As far as the British Government atid. people are- -concerned internationalism matters -very little.'. It does not touch the Army, or render Egypt, at all less useful to us as the half-way house of - our Empire or as plice-Of arms in the-Mediterranean: If, then, we were purely 'cynical in our attitude toward- Egypt we need net trouble ourselves about internationalism, but if We are. determined to . do our best for Egypt we shall. be obliged at last to grasp the nettle. There is, of course, no reason for precipitate action in the matter, but gradually we ono-ht to try to reduce the number of International Boards, and to.the.*den. of Egypt. If our rulers fix their minds Upon this matter, and keep this object before ;their eyes as they- didthereeonquest Of the Soudan and the storing of the Nile water, we do not doubt, that the results will be siMilar. Internationalism will fall before Lord Cromer's fixed resolve just as did the city. of Omdurman.
.We cannot find space . to deal. in detail with. Lord Cromer's Report, but we desire to point out how it is: that Lord Cromer has been able to record so many. successes. There never was a case in which mere good fortune played so small a • part. We have had very few strokes 'cif 'luck. in Egypt. Every triumph has been carefully. thought out. beforehand and has been the result ofSt,m•-:dy. dev.otiorr_ to certain fixed principles. It is as to the nature of the principles of government adopted by Lord Cromer that we desire to .speak. The-first and most important principle upon 'which Lord .Cromer has. acted has always been—the benefit of Egypt. Though Lord Cromer is not a Dian Who ever intoxicates himself with the heady rhetoric of pbilanthro-py, be has invariablyy, kept before him the development and improvement of Egypt. He has not tried to create posts for deserving Englishmen, or to " run" Egypt in the interests of England, but has made it his prime duty to call into existence a well-ordered polity. where, even if the taxes are high owing to former mis- government, a man may live in peace and security,-Where justieeis done to rich and poor alike, and where the natives of: the land may take the share they are fitted to take in the government. The next principle of action, and indeed all the other principles of action with which we shall have to deal, are in truth subsidiary to that just stated, but we shall, nevertheless, deal with them as if they were not contained in thaprinciple of doing the best possible for Egypt. Though it., is °difficult to put the matter into exact words, Lord. Cromer has always founded his :action on the principle of: frpe,dora. , His policy, that is, has been in the true sense a liberal policy. You can see by the way in.which he approaches: and has approached every main issue of government that he believes in freedom and in the carrying out of liberal ideas. Without losing in the least his firmness of grip, he has always kept before him the need of liberal, as opposed to oppressive, action. No doubt we shall be told that this is absurd, because every one knows that the Egyptian Govern- ment is, in fact, purely deapetic ; but, nevertheless, we main- tan our assertion. Anyone_Who has watched administrative work at close quarters knows that howeyeianthoritative, and even arbitrary; it:may be in theory, it can still be infused by a liberal spirit. • A bureaucracy can. be inspired to look at matters in a. large. and .just,,_and so - free; spirit, or -it can be rendered. small, miggling;:jealous, and pedantic.- Lord Cromer has managed, though dealing with a bureaucracy, to develop a liberal- Spifit-,=-X-Spitit-Which does not resent criticism as one of the seven deadly. sins, -which knows and tries to guard against the evils of absolutism, and which does not aim at narrowing and fussy protection of the governed. For example, though, for what are really military reasons; the Soudan has to be closed for the present, Lord Cromer states most emphatically that when it is • opened there will be no paternal despotism as regards trade 'and commerce, but that perfect freedom will be allowed.' The Government, it is clear, will not try to snatch at monopoly rights, and so impair what is after all the main source of every nation's wealth,— an unrestricted pursuit of trade and commerce. , The same spirit is shown in- Lord. Cromer's handling (in the present Report) of the' difficalt • question of the establishment of cotton factmies. If thtv.were• started 'without an excise being levied on Egyptian-made • cottons,- they would - at -once become protected' industries, as there 'is an import duty on cottons..: But - the establishment of such an artificially fostered industry'would in: reality, if not in appearance; be contrary to the interests'of Egypt,. and might when the time came to reduce the Cotton-duties place her under the-necessity-of 'destroying the home industry. The only plan, then, is to make Egyptian 'cottons contribute to' the revenue as much' as do the imported cottons. 'Yet another principle of action observed by Lord Cromer is that of " slow and sure." He has never allowed himself to be hurried into, premature action either by panic, or by what is as bad, the excitement of a. prospective prosperity. He never shows any desire to "boom" things, but believes instead in growth is . and development. An example of this s to be found in Lord' Cromer's plea for time and patience in regard to the Soudan. " Tinie," he says, "is above all things req,ire& The main condition of ultimate success is, I venture totlink, that whatever measures are taken should be 'deliberate, and that the work of refOrm 'should not be hurried. It has taken sixteen years to elevate, Egypt to US present relative degree of prosperity. For te moment, the main point which it would seem necessary to bear in mind in connection With the Soudan is that it is not much more than as many weeks since Lord Kitchener's brilliant victory at Omdurnaan opened out the way fin' the action of the civil reformer,' One more principle deserves special notice. • It is that of using English heads but Egyptian hands. In practice this means the policy of never putting an Englishman into any post which could not be just as well filled by a native. In other words, the Englishman is only used in the administra,, tiott where he is indispensable. Where he is not, the native, as is only just and right, is employed. The outcome of this is that Lord Cromer's work in Egypt has been carried-out by "a body of officials who certainly do not exceed one hundred in number, and might possibly, if the figures were rigorously examined, • be somewhat lower." Lord Cromer adds, however, that " these - hundred have been selected with the greatest care." In fact, the principle has been,— never employ. an Englishman unless it is necessary in the interests of good government to do so, but then employ a first,class :man. The result is that the in-- spirmg force, in every Department of the Egyptian State is a. first-class English brain, and yet the natives are not de- pressed by being deprived of their share of the administra- tion. The Egyptians, that is, do not feel the legitimate grievance that is felt by the Tunisians and Algerians when they see even 'little posts of a couple of hundred a_ year filled by Frenchmen.
We 'have tried, imperfectly enough, to analyse some of the principles of action adopted by Lord Cromer, but above them all, or rather penetrating them. all, is the character of the Man, • They; .are excellent principles no doubt, but they would, have been of little avail to -bring happiness and•Tpros.; petity to Egypt and honour • to the British people but for Lerd. Cromer's own personality. , It in the last resort, because he is a man who -is both just and strong, who has tha. brain stO, know what is wanted, and the strength of character to achieve it, that Lord Cromer his succeeded. He is besides a man of absolute rectitude and integrity of pqrpoSe, Lastly, his is, as we have said, always a. libel* mind. It is not blighted by panic or dulled by prejudice, —the qualities that most destroy that equanimity which is essential to a ruler. He knows the value of freedom as of justice. Hence he never fails to take large views and to preserve a wide and fearless outlook on the field of work before him.
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