14 APRIL 1928, Page 2

The outcome of the recent exchanges of Notes between Britain

and Egypt is that the situation is exactly as it was before the negotiations began. The Declaration of 1922 which gave Egypt her independence subject to certain reservations remains unmodified. There need not, therefore, be any further trouble unless the new Prime Minister, Nahas Pasha, should try to force through the Legislature the measures to which Sir Austen Chamberlain objected. It cannot be made too clear to the Egyptians that Sir Austen would not have objected to any of these measures if Egypt had accepted the Treaty, for the Treaty would have provided Britain with adequate means of carrying out her obligations, par- ticularly to the foreign communities, whatever, new opportunities for maladministration had been given to local authorities. When the Treaty was rejected, however, the measures now before the Legislature became of vital concern. * * *