On Thursday Mr. Asquith announced to a deputation from the
British Cotton-Growing Association that the Govern- ment had decided to guarantee the interest on a loan of £3,000,000, to be raised by the Government of the Sudan for the purpose of developing cotton-growing. It is believed that the Gezira plain in the Sudan, which lies to the north of Khartoum between the Blue and the White Niles, is specially well suited for the production of cotton. It is, indeed, already grown there in considerable quantities. The £3,000,000 will be expended on railway extension and irrigation works, of which the principal item is the construction of a barrage across the Blue Nile at Sennar. As a rule we cannot favour the guaranteeing of loans by the British Government. We admit, however, that there is a good deal to be said for an exception in the present case. Owing to reasons which we cannot enter upon just now, the Goverment of the Sudan has not the facilities for borrowing on its own account which it would enjoy were it an ordinary British Crown colony.
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