Lord Allenby stated last week, on his return from the
Sudart, that he had assured the Sudanese chiefs of our intention to maintain British rule. Sir Sayed Ali Morghani and other leading chiefs had declared that the Sudan was distinct from Egypt, with a nationality of its own, and should be allowed to develop in its own way under British guidance. It is well that this should be made clear, for the Egyptian Nationalists, not content with the grant of independence, are now claiming the control of the Sudan. They ignore the fact that the'Sudanese tribes are wholly unlike the Egyptians, though there is, of course, much Arab blood in both peoples. They fail also to remember that Egyptian rule in the Sudan under Ismail proved a most lamentable failure and led to the uprising of the misgoverned people under the Mandi. Since 1878 a. handful of British soldiers and officials have made the Sudan peaceful and pros- perous. It would be a crime to try to hand the country back
to the corrupt Pashas, for the Sudanese would assuredly never bear the Egyptian yoke again.
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