Try-Out by the Canal
Attention in this country is focused on the banks of the Suez Canal. It is there that British and Egyptians face each other and that tragedies could occur. But in the long run it is over the Sudan that the real struggle will come. For the Sudan offers a greater material prize, and while there are probably many Egyptians who, in their hearts, would be quite glad to think that British troops were available for the defence of their country, there are virtually none who would not welcome an effective union between Egypt and the Sudan. So far all that the Egyptian Government has been able to do with regard to the Sudan is to declare that Farouk is king of it and to close down the agency of the Sudanese Government in Cairo. Neither of these does anything towards making Egyptian influence in the Sudan more real. The only other line of action open to the Egyptians is to stimulate excitement in the Sudan in the hope that the resulting uncertainty will produce something to their advantage. But this is a dangerously uncertain course. It would mean passing the political initiative to groups which are only very doubtfully sub- ject to control by the Wafd. In one sense, therefore, it is possible to view the present manoeuvring by the banks of the Suez Canal as a try-otit for offensive against the Sudan. The next few weeks in the Canal zone should show how resolute the British intend to be in the defence of their interests, how far Egyptian patriotic sentiments can be translated into action..how well this action "can be controlled by the Government, and, not least important, what world opinion thinks about it all.
