File of printed papers marked 'Egyptian negotiation' between Curzon and Adly Pasha and the Egyptian delegation [‎29v] (58/178)

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not prepared to discuss the findings of the Court, but the fact remained that the riot
had taken place, that the situation had been saved by British troops, and the same
might occur again.
Adly Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. would not admit it could not have been stopped without the help of
British troops. If the British troops were not there the Egyptian troops would be
better prepared to keep order. The knowledge that they could always apply to the
British in the last resort interfered with their attaining to complete efficiency. He
asked whether Lord Curzon meant to imply that the Egyptians would never be able to
maintain order in their own country.
Lord Cur/on replied that he did not mean to imply this ; that the time would no
doubt come when they would be perfectly well able to do so, but it had not yet arrived,
and it was with the present that he had to deal.
Adly Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. was forced to admit that the disturbances at Alexandria had
considerably frightened the foreign population, but he was not prepared to admit that
they constituted sufficient reason for upsetting the whole principle on which it had been
intended to proceed.
Lord Curzon pointed out that the Milner memorandum stated that Great Britain
should support Egypt in defence of her frontiers, and did they mean to suggest that we
should only send troops to Egypt for this purpose after war had broken out ?
Adly replied that that was the general procedure between Allies.
Lord Curzon enquired whether they expected that British aerodromes should be
abandoned in peace time.
Adly replied in the negative, but added that it was not necessary to guard
aerodromes in peace time.
Xord Cuizon said that there was no doubt that the military authorities would take
a different view of this question.
Kushdi Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. said that the situation of the aerodromes and the number of troops
guarding them should be considered, and that the presence of such guards was not
incompatible with the idea of independence.
Lord Curzon so id that they must not be slaves to words, or say that certain things
are inconsistent with ideas of independence. The fact was that Great Britain had
certain obligations in Egypt, and that it was necessary to maintain troops there in order
to carry out those obligations.
Adly Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. said that Lord Milner had always recognised that troops should be in
Egypt, not as an army of occupation. He said that with regard to all these matters
the delegation were anxious to find a solution which would be acceptable to the
Egyptian people and Legislative Assembly.
Lord Curzon replied that His Majesty’s Government had much the same object in.
view, and had equally to consider the opinions of the British public and of Parliament.
A tremendous step had already been tiken by the abolition of the protectorate. Could
the delegation expect Great Britain to go further, and to trust that all would be well in
Egypt after the withdrawal of British forces ? The delegation should realise that in
the retention of British troops lay Egypt’s best hope of developing her independence on
her own lines. Lord Curzon then asked the delegation to express their views with
regard to the number of troops and the places where t hey should be maintained.
Adly replied that he would prefer any proposals on this subject to come from
Lord Curzon in the first instance. In the past, however, it had always been desired
that troops should be stationed on the Suez Canal, and, if elsewhere, not in a town.
The nearer the troops were to the Canal the less unacceptable their presence would be
to the Egyptian people.
[TVicre teas then an interval for tea.]
On resuming negotiations, Lord Curzon said that he had been endeavouring to
explain the object of His Majesty’s Government in maintaining troops in Egypt; that
His Majesty’s Government were ready to show the greatest regard for the natural
susceptibilities of the Egyptian people in this matter. They had no desire for the
- troops to form a garrison or an army of occupation, but it was before all things
important that the delegation should agree as to the reasons for their presence. He
was inclined to think that the matter should be settled in general terms under the
treaty, and that the settlement of the details should be left to friendly consultation
between the two Governments, but the right of free passage to Biitish troops and of
their maintenance for such periods and in such places as may from time to time be
necessary must be secured. ' Incidents such as those that had recently occurred at