"Easier"

"Easier"

The week's news from the land of the Sphinx:

Parliament. King Fuad, in order to give Premier Ahmed Ziwar Pasha* a free hand to cope with the delicate situation arising out of the murder of the Sirdar (TIME, Dec. 1), prorogued the Egyptian Parliament until Christmas Day.

Students. Shortly after having accepted the Premiership from his King, Ahmed Ziwar Pasha motored to the home of ex-Premier Saad Zaghlul Pasha, who cordially received him. During the Premier's visit, students/- in the street called "Yehia Saad Zaghlul!" (Long live Saad Zaghlul.) The ex-Premier sent one of his colleagues to tell them to stop and later he warned them that if they wished him to remain their leader they must return to their classes, resume their occupations, refrain from agitating. The students, known as "Zaghlul Pasha's Army," departed.

Protest. To the League of Nations the Egyptian Chamber of Deputies sent the following protest:

"Confronted with the recent aggressions committed by the British Government, the Egyptian Chamber of Deputies proclaims:

"Firstly, its insistence upon the complete independence of Egypt and the Sudan which constitutes the same country, one and indivisible.

"Secondly, that despite the satisfaction given by the Egyptian Government concerning the assassination of Sir Lee Stack, the Chamber regrets to note that the British Government has seen fit to exploit this sad incident for the benefit of its imperialistic aims and to wreak vengeance upon a pacific nation which can only rely upon the justice and right of its cause.

"These aggressions, which encroach upon Egyptian independence, violate its Constitution and are a menace to its economic life, have no precedent in history.

"For these motives the Egyptian Chamber of Deputies protests against the iniquitous acts, in fact and absolutely illegal, and calls to witness all civilized nations of the enormity of such imperialistic cupidity."

League. The League of Nations decided not to act on the protest. Sir Eric Drummond, Secretary General of the League, made the position clear:

"As the League is an official agency of the Governments, based on the theory of complete national sovereignty, it has been found essential to establish certain general rules regarding petitions and protests in order that the League might not be carried outside proper competence.

"Among these is the provision that such protests are distributed automatically to the States and members of the League only if they come from some Government through regular channels, although certain exceptions, as under minorities and treaties, are possible.

"The Egyptian protest was apparently a circular telegram sent by the Egyptian Lower House to the other Parliaments and to the League, and it did not therefore fall within the limits set.

"Meanwhile the text has been made available for the press here. Whether the matter comes before the League depends on whether any Government presents it."

Later, the League changed its opinion and decided to bring the protest to the attention of the Council. It was not certain, however, if this would be done at the next meeting which takes place this month in Rome.

Arrests. Abdur Rahman Fahmy Bey, Mahmud Nekrashy Effendi, Makrum Obeid Effendi and Barakat Pasha, all prominent members of Zaghlul's party organization and still Deputies of Parliament, were arrested in their homes by British soldiers for plotting against the British. The following day 35 more arrests were effected. A great cry went up protesting that the four Deputies enjoyed parliamentary immunity from arrest and that the British had acted illegally.

The British, however, handed over all the prisoners to the Egyptian judicial authorities. The Government issued a communique to the people urging them to be calm and saying in part: "The public, however, must also consider the grave and exceptional motives, leaving the Government to interpret the Constitution in a manner which, though justified by legal reasons, appears at first sight to restrict Parliamentary rights. The Government is obliged to take account not only of the gravity of the accusations against the Deputies concerned, but also of the necessity of safeguarding, as far as is still possible, the independence of the nation by avoiding, as far as it is able, the giving of grounds for foreign authority to believe itself justified in infringing the liberties of citizens.

"Furthermore it is for Parliament to settle the question definitely, and when it does so, the detention of the Deputies must end unless Parliament has decided otherwise."

Revolt. Two platoons of the Eleventh Sudanese Regiment at Khartum in the Sudan mutinied, started to march to Gordon College. Near the Egyptian military hospital in the Khedivial Avenue they bumped into two platoons of a British Egyptian regiment; both came to a halt. The British officer went forward, exhorted the Sudanese to obey orders, but the Sudanese refused. At this moment the acting Sirdar, Colonel Huddleston, rode up and went forward in front of the British troops to urge sanity on the Sudanese. But the Sudanese merely declined to recognize the Sirdar. Orders were then given to round up the mutineers.

The Sudanese then, apparently, rushed to the hospital, killing one British doctor and two Syrian orderlies. They barricaded themselves in the compound of the hospital and remained there until the artillery was brought up and began to fire. Then they surrendered. Casualties: two British officers killed, nine men wounded; the Sudanese lost one officer and 14 men.

Policy. From Britain came a reiteration of British policy. The voice was that of Austen Chamberlain, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and the place was Birmingham. Said he:

"We are not going to pursue any aggressive foreign policy and any suggestion that what has happened in Egypt is merely a veiled attempt to destroy the independence which we gave to Egypt some time ago is founded either upon misunderstanding or else upon deliberate misrepresentation.

"But nothing is more likely to lead this country into friction and into war with other powers than to allow them to think that we do not mean what we say. That is not aggression, that is not pugnacity; it is a business arrangement so that everybody may know that when we say a thing we mean it.

"We are not going to allow leniency on our part to be misinterpreted as weakness. We are not going to allow the British name to be dragged in the dirt. We are not going to allow British officers to be murdered with impunity. We are not going to allow obligations which are due to us to be flouted.

"That being said, we desire--and I believe we shall succeed--to maintain friendly relations with all the world. And I believe, indeed, that it is only by a mixture of firmness and restraint that we can restore confidence and order in all the King's Dominions."

Submission. All week long the British authorities in Cairo conferred with Premier Ziwar over the British demands as contained in the ultimatum delivered by Lord Allenby. In the end the Egyptian Premier agreed to accept all the British demands. Whereupon the British evacuated the Alexandria Customs House which they had seized when Premier Zaghlul refused to accept in toto the British ultimatum. Lord Allenby, British High Commissioner for Egypt and the Sudan, reported the situation "in good order," conditions "easier and satisfactory."

* Pasha is a title, superior to that of Bey, and was formerly granted only by the Sultan of Turkey and, by delegation, by the Khedive of Egypt.

Bey was once the Turkish title given to the administrator of a district. It is now a purely honorary title, one degree lower than that of Pasha.

Effendi corresponds roughly to the English Sir. Actually it means master or lord and is given to members of the professions and upper classes who have no higher rank. Effendim (my master) is used by servants to their employers.

/- In Egypt, owing to the ignorance of the fellahin (peasants) who form a majority of the population, the students have acquired influence through being the only part of the population that can voice intelligent criticism and play upon the feelings of the uneducated masses. In Cairo, which has long been the chief centre of Moslem learning, they have become the loudest protagonists of nationalism and the most active in agitating against Britain.