MAHOMMEDAN SELF-GOVERNMENT. (To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR. "]
SIR,—In your last number, there is a very able criticism upon the English scheme for Egyptian self-government, and a very interesting letter from Mr. Malcolm MacColl upon the inability of Mahommedan nations to govern themselves. It strikes me, knowing something of the state of affairs in Egypt, that the scheme proposed by Lord Granville for the future organisation of the Khedive's dominions exactly meets the difficulty suggested by Mr. Malcolm MacColl. We do not leave the Egyptians to themselves. The question of the Mahommedan capacity for self-government would have been distinctly raised by our acceptance of Arabi's programme. But this programme was not accepted, and the Egyptians were brought completely under European control by our English victories last summer. The great questions of debt-paying and judicial reform are now in safe hands. No mere native effort,. in the new Legislative Council, can upset the strong administration which the Khedive has established, under European advice. England has provided his Highness with experienced officers, to com- mand his army and gendarmerie. The Custom House, the Post Office, and the Railways are directed by Englishmen of approved ability. Every great Department of State is more or less controlled by Europeans. The coastguard service, the lighthouses, and the Canal are all under European guidance. Then, too, there are the International Tribunals (with distin- guished foreign Judges), which give full security to foreign creditors, not only against the indebted Fellaheen, but against the Egyptian State itself. These things are important, in their bearing upon the nominal independence of any Egyptian Ministry. We English can well afford to keep as far as pos- sible in the background, and to give our ally the Khedive a fair chance of directing purely native affairs. We have so much power in the country, that we need not be anxious about mere names and outward forms. I think that though Lord Gran- ville's cautious policy may make the English influence a little slower in filtering through to improve the condition of the Fellaheen, yet that if we thereby avoid graVe European compli- cations, it is our positive duty to wait. We Europeans, doubt- less, owe it to our national honour to make Egypt happier and better in the long-run for our presence upon Egyptian soil. Bnt this progress, so much to be desired, will surely, if slowly, follow upon what has already been established. The old oppression, the severe exactions, and cruel beatings of former days cannot be con- tinued under a system of police officered by Englishmen. There is certainly much yet to do; but we are bound to deal fairly by the Khedive, and bound to step very carefully in reforming a country where the foreign, non-English, population is so power- ful. This foreign population has an immense capital invested in farms and factories, in hotels and warehouses, besides the better known and less sympathetic claims of the village money- lenders. These foreigners are secured in their various rights by our English victories, and so long as the directing influence of England is prudently kept in the background, they will be con- tent to let us role. But they will not so easily tolerate our avowed authority, and Lord Granville has adopted the only possible plan for giving Egypt a fair chance of improvement, without risking a great war on that account.—I am, Sir, &c., [Mr. Skinner is entitled to be heard, but where, when the troops have gone, is his guarantee for anything, even the lives of the Europeans? Why should Egyptian Sepoys not kill officers, like Indian Sepoys ?—ED. Spectator.]
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