Report of the Special Mission to Egypt under Lord Milner, and related papers [‎6v] (12/473)

10
rescue of the Egyptian garrisons and the defence of Egypt, which was in danger of
being overrun by the Mahdist hordes.
Since the reconquest of the country by British and Egyptian forces under British
leadership in 1896-8, the Government of the Soudan, which under the Convention of
1899 takes the form of an Anglo-Egyptian Protectorate, has been virtually in British
hands. The Governor-General, though appointed by the Sultan (formerly the Khedive)
of Egypt, is nominated by the British Government, and all the Governors of Provinces
and principal officials are British.
Under this system of government, the progress of the Soudan in all respects,
material and moral, has been remarkable. When full allowance is made for the
simplicity of the problem, viz., the introduction of the first principles of orderly and
civilised government among a very primitive people, the great success actually
achieved during the long Governor-Generalship of Sir R. Wingate is one of the
brightest pages in the history of British rule over backward races. The present
administration is popular in the Soudan and, with few exceptions, peaceful and
progressive conditions prevail throughout the country.
A\ hile Egypt and the Soudan are essentially separate countries, and are bound to
develop on very different lines, Egypt will always have one interest of supreme
importance in the Soudan. The Nile, upon which the very existence of Egypt depends,
flows for hundreds of miles through the Soudan, and it is vital to Egypt to prevent
any such diversion of water from the Nile as might diminish her present cultivable
area or preclude the reclamation of that portion of her soil, some 2,000,00(J acres
in extent, which is capable of being brought under cultivation, when, by means of
storage, the present supply of water available for irrigation has been increased.
Hitherto the amount of water drawn from the Nile in its passage through the
Soudan has been of negligible amount, but as the population of the Soudan increases
that country will require more water for its own development and a conflict of interest
between it and Egypt might arise. At the same time there is every reason to hope
that, properly conserved and distributed, the Nile will suffice for the irrigation of all
the lands, whether in Egypt or the Soudan, which are ever likely to need it.
The natural arbiter in this matter is Great Britain, which not only commands the
sources of the White Nile, but is equally interested in the welfare and development of
both Egypt and the Soudan, and has a special interest of her own in the increase of
the cultivation of cotton, the most valuable product of the soil of Egypt and one which
certain portions of the Soudan are likewise well fitted to supply.
A number of large engineering works for the storage of water and for raising the
level of the river will have to be undertaken in the Soudan, and ultimately perhaps
also in Uganda, in order that the Nile may yield the maximum benefit in respect of
irrigation to the countries through which it flows. Plans for two such works in the
Soudan are already projected, and these schemes, which have given rise to much
controversy, are at present the subject of enquiry by a commission of technical
experts.
The control of the waters of the Nile for purposes of irrigation is a matter of
such paramount importance and the technical and other problems involved are so
difficult and intricate that it is, in our opinion, necessary to set up a permanent
commission, composed on the one hand of experts of the highest authority and on the
other hand of representatives of all the countries affected—Egypt, the Soudan and
Uganda—to settle all questions affecting the regulation of the river and to ensure the
fair distribution of the water.
While the contiguity of Egypt and the Soudan and their common interest in the
Nile make it desirable that some political nexus between the two countries should
always be maintained, it is out of the question that this connection should take the
form of the subjection of the Soudan to Egypt. The former country is capable of
and entitled to independent development in accordance with its own character and
requirements.
It is ftmch too early to attempt to determine the ultimate political status of the
Soudan. For present purposes that status is sufficiently defined by the Convention of
1899 between Great Britain and Egypt, w r hich provides for the necessary political
connection between Egypt and the Soudan without hampering the independent
development of the latter country.
\\ hile it is absolutely necessary for the present to maintain a single supreme
authority over the whole of the Soudan, it is not desirable that the government of that
country should be highly centralised. Having regard to its vast extent and the varied
character of its inhabitants, the administration of its different parts should be left, as