The Government announced last week, in reply to a Parlia-
mentary question, that they had studied Lord Milner's Report, and had informed the Sultan of Egypt " that the status of protectorate is not a satisfactory relation in which Egypt should continue to stand to Great Britain." They had invited the Sultan to nominate delegates to confer with them regarding the Report. Their object was " if possible to substitute for the Protectorate a relationship which would, while securing the special interests of Great Britain, and enabling her to offer adequate guarantees to foreign Powers, meet the legitimate aspirations of Egypt and the Egyptian people." The small educated minority in Egypt is still divided in its aims, and the negotiations will therefore not be easy or brief. We can only hope that the Government, while upholding British interests, will not leave the millions of peasantry to the tender mercies of the Pashas and the intriguers in the towns whom the British rulers have kept in check for forty years.
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