Report of the Special Mission to Egypt under Lord Milner, and related papers [‎201r] (404/473)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
No. 1.—SECRETARY OF STATE.
EGYPT AND SOUDAN.
[March 31.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
Section 5.
[E 3853/260/16] No. 1 .
Field-May'shal Viscount Allenby to Earl Curzon.—{Received March 31.)
(No. 225.)
My Lord, Cairo, March 18, 1921.
IN my telegram No. 175 of the 17th March I had the honour to report to your
Lordship the composition of the new Ministry in Egypt under the leadership of Adly
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. . I will now review the events which led up to this development.
On receipt of your telegram No. 119 of the 22n;l February, 1 asked for an audience
with the Sultan and visited him on the following day, the 24th February, accompanied
by Mr. Selby, First Secretary, Mr. Scott, Councillor at the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. , being absent on
a few days’ leave in Upper Egypt. I handed to His Highness a typewritten copy of
the decision of His Majesty’s Government, with a French translation. At the same
time, in order to remind His Highness of the wishes of His Majesty’s Government as
regards the procedure to be followed in the appointment of the official delegation, I
gave him a further copy of the aide-memoire I had communicated to him on the
1st July, which embodied the views expressed in your Lordship’s telegram No. 585
of the 30th June last.
Having regard to the considerable concession made by His Majesty’s Government,
I was surprised to see that His Highness did not show any special gratification on
reading the terms of the message. He expressed the opinion that it did not advance
matters to any appreciable extent, and he seemed to consider he would have difficulty
in forming a delegation on the basis of it. He urged that it would be undesirable in
the existing circumstances that it should become known in Egypt, and suggested that
it would be preferable from every point of view that action should be postponed, at all
events till the summer, when he seemed to consider that prospects would be more
favourable. He asked for twenty-four hours to consider the matter, and at the same
time suggested the desirability of resubmitting the point to Flis Majesty’s Government.
I did not give him an immediate reply. On thinking matters over afterwards, however,
L came to the conclusion that the idea of a postponement had arisen in the Sultan’s
mind for the reason that he hoped that his prestige, which had risen considerably in
the country in the last few months, would later on he still further increased, and that
he would be better able, say, in Julv next, to achieve the objects aimed at by His
Majesty’s Government on his own conditions, rather than on those of the leaders he
would have to approach.
Proceeding to discuss the composition of the delegation, the Sultan said that if
action must be taken forthwith on the decision of His Majesty’s Government, he
proposed to approach Mazloum Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , President of the Legislative Assembly ; Tewfik
Nessim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , Prime Minister ; Adly, Mohammed Said, Rouchdy, Wahba and Sirry
Pashas. As regards Adly Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , he was not of opinion th it he represented any real
party in the country, and expatiated on the danger of relying too mucli on him.
Parties in Egypt, in the sense generally accepted in Western countries, were, in His
Highness’s view, non-existent, and Adly Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. could not be regarded as coinrolling a
coherent and important section of Egyptian public opinion.
A t the close of the interview the Sultan impressed on me that he was only desirous
of acting in accordance with the wishes of His Majesty’s Government, and told me I
could rely on him to do everything in his power to facilitate the realisation of the
wishes of His Majesty’s Government as regards the carrying out of their policy. I
took leave of His Highness, telling him 1 would consider the points he had raised and
return with an answer on the following day.
The same evening I received a visit from the Prime Minister, Tewfik Nessim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. ,
who came on behalf of the Sultan to urge the case for delay as regards taking action on
the decision of His Majesty’s Government. By that time I had had time to review the
position, and had decided that no postponement was possible or desirable. I was aware
that the concession which had been made by His Majesty’s Government as regards the
protectorate was the utmost limit to which they could be expected to go in the matter
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