Whether Mr. Carter gave any unnecessary cause of offence to
the authorities we cannot say ; certainly no adequate cause for their behaviour has been stated in any of the newspapers, and we can only sympathise with him in the fact that his long and ungrudging service to archaeology in Egypt should have been so ill-requited. The explanation given in some English newspapers that the trouble is largely the result of the " monopoly " given to the Times palpably does not meet the case. Mr. Carter could not be impeded in his work by crowds of journalists, and the plan by which the Times correspon- dent was alone admitted on the understanding that he should give his information freely to everybody who wanted it has worked very well. This was not in any proper sense of the word a " monopoly." A better explanation of all the unpleasantness would be to say that Egypt has changed, and that the change has not been sufficiently recognised by non-Egyptians. In Lord Cromer's day Egyptian officials would not have been allowed to behave in such a futile, meddlesome and offensive manner, but they now have the power to behave as they like. Englishmen, therefore, are hardly justified in being either surprised or annoyed. A thing cannot be and not be at the same time. When we made Egypt free we might have known what to expect.
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