NEWS OF THE WEEK .
AGRAVE incident has occurred in Egypt. The young Khedive, who allows his anti-English feeling to be -most plainly seen, has been travelling in Upper Egypt, and at Wady Haifa, the furthermost military station, in- -suited all the European officers. Their regiments, he said, quite untruly, were in a disgraceful state, while the regiments -commanded by Egyptians were in admirable order. General Kitchener at once resigned, and, although he has been per- suaded to remain, it has been decided that the Under Secre- tary for War, who was on the spot, must be dismissed, and that the Khedive must issue a General Order acknowledging the excellent condition of the frontier forces. It is not yet known whether Abbas II. will fully comply with the demand —though the latest reports point to his submission—and if he does not it will be necessary either to remove him or to limit his authority. It is simply impossible to maintain dis- cipline in the face of such speeches, and it is not quite certain that the last one was a mere explosion of ill-temper and dis- like for the foreigner. The Khedive may have meant some- thing even more serious, namely, to reprimand the Soudanese Regiments, who are attached to the English, and praise the Egyptian Regiments, whom he supposes to be devoted to himself. This seems to be the impression of the French in Egypt, and their Minister, to the general surprise, has pro- nounced the Khedive's conduct inexcusable. Even he does not wish for a military mutiny, sure to be directed in the end against the whole European colony.
Previous page
