Report of the Special Mission to Egypt under Lord Milner, and related papers [‎218r] (438/473)

;This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty s Government.]
EGYPT AND SOUDAN.
[June 27.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
Section 2.
[E 7320/260/16] No. 1 .
Field-Marshal Viscount Allenby to Earl Curzon.—{Received June 27.)
(No.’ 530.)
My Lord, s Cairo, June 17, 1921.
WITH reference to my despatch No. 311 of the 16th April, I have the honour
to transmit to your Lordship herewith a copy of an interesting memorandum vvhich
has been communicated to me by Sir William Hayter, legal adviser to the Ministry
of Finance and 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. , in regard to the prospects of a settlement on the lines
and in accordance with the procedure contemplated as a result of the report of Lord
Milner s Mission.
Sir William Hayter expresses the opinion that no Egyptian could at the present
moment consent to become a party to a permanent arrangement between Great
Britain and Egypt, which fell short of securing complete independence for the
latter, with any ^prospect of securing the approval of his countrymen for such an
arrangement. That consequently there is little prospect of a successful issue to the
impending negotiations, and that some other solution must be found. He suggests
a provisional arrangement for a period of ten years, and seems to think that, provided
it were clearly understood that the arrangement was provisional, it might be possible
to secure acquiescence in conditions on which His Majesty's Government must be
expected to insist.
Should it prove impossible to secure Egyptian agreement to the modus vivendi
he suggests, he expresses the opinion that the policy upon which His Majesty’s
Government may decide should be put in force by proclamation of His Majesty, and
he seems to consider that if a policy on the lines of his modus vivendi were adopted
it would be generally accepted as satisfactory.
I consider that the views expressed by Sir William Hayter are worthy of the
serious consideration of your Lordship. I have on many occasions recently indicated
my belief that a settlement of the Egyptian problem in accordance with the present
contemplated procedure was not within the bounds of practical politics, and that
His Majesty’s Government must accordingly be prepared with an alternative policy
which they may have to enforce without preliminary agreement from the Egyptian
side.
Sir William Hayter’s scheme is in general accord with the principles of the
policy advocated by Lord Milner, and I see no reason why the adoption of something
on the lines he suggests'should not be attended with ultimate success should the
failure of the present negotiations which I contemplate as possible be realised.
Sir William Hayter defines British responsibilities. It is of vital importance
that this should be done without much further delay, since it is not too much to say
that the entire reorganisation of the Egyptian Government, on which depends the
proper and efficient administration of the country, is in suspense pending the now
long-awaited decision on the main question of policy.
I have, &c.
ALLENBY, F.M.,
High Commissioner.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Memorandum on a Political Settlement in Egypt.
WHEN the proposals of Lord Milner's Commission were first published, they
were received by Egyptians with something like enthusiasm; while public opinion
in England was certainly not unfavourably impressed. There is no doubt that
those proposals served one verv good purpose in that they were accepted in Egypt
as an amende honorable for feelings which had been a good deal hurt by recent
events. Much of the bitter hostility of 1919 has now disappeared, partly as a result
[6384 dd— 2 ] B