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Reports and papers of the Egyptian Administration Committee [‎3v] (6/108)

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The record is made up of 1 file (54 folios). It was created in 2 Sep 1917-20 Feb 1918. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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I
6
b? available to give up bis whole time to Egyptian affairs. Lord E. Cecil s strictures
regarding the administrative incompetence of the Eoreign Office point to an
immediate change, but I may be permitted to observe that at the present moment,
and probably until the end of the war, there will be a Permanent Under-Secretary,
who has been Viceroy of India, and an Assistant Under-Secretary with 10 years’
experience of Egyptian administration, both in normal times and, as it is at present,
under military law, during which latter period he represented the G.O.C. with
the native administration.
As regards the future Head of the new Near Eastern or Egyptian Department,
I believe that it will be found necessary that he should have some knowledge of
foreign politics; further, as Egyptian and Arab notables, few of whom speak
English, will expect to be received bv him when they*"visit London! "it is desirable
that he should possess a good colloquial knowledge of French and, if possible, of the
Arabic language also.
September 2, 1917.
P. G
\
The whole case of Lord E. Cecil's memorandum is, as he himself admits,
dependent upon whether the need of a more effective control of Egyptian affairs is
accepted or not.
Ihe combination of Foreign Office control of policy with a free hand for local
recommendation of measures is the system under which Egypt has been gradually
brought into the British Empire and has reached its present flourishing condition.
That system has, up to date, been approved by Anglo-Egyptian opinion. The
question now raised is one of such far-reaching importance that the dictum of
Lord E. Cecil alone is not sufficient to carry conviction, and before any decision is
taken the opinions of those responsible for the administration in Egypt and of
others in England who have a fundamental knowledge gained by experience of the
system of Government in that country should be invoked.
Consequently the first question that arises is whether a more effective control
from home than that exercised at present over the administration of Egypt is either
desired by Parliament and public opinion or is to the advantage of the Empire and
°f Egyptian interests in their present phase. As far as Parliamentary control is
concerned it is difficult to see how the scheme propounded by Lord E. Cecil makes
it more effective than now. Parliamentary control does not depend upon whether
a department is inside or outside of the walls of the Foreign Office, while
administrative control is more likely to be efficient when exercised by a body
experienced in the tactful handling of delicate matters than by a hybrid body
recruited from Heaven knows where and with but little or no such experience.
Whether the present control of Egypt is “ defective and inadequate ” or not the
fact remains that Egypt has now been in British occupation for 35 years, and has
developed under our administration into one of the most prosperous and contented
of countries. It must be conceded that the progress and development of Egypt
during that period constitute one of the brightest pages in the records of the Foreign
Office. In writing this I have no desire to claim that this prosperity and content
ment are primarily due to Foreign Office control, although the Foreign Office and
Diplomatic service have contributed a considerable proportion of officers to the
little band of administrators who have succeeded in making the Government of
Egypt a success. The Foreign Office has never claimed to be a body organised for
the detailed control of administration carried on in foreign lands,' but it has the
advantage, perhaps from the training of its members, of being able to assimilate its
views to foreign conditions and thus to inspire sympathy and confidence with the
minimum of intereference in administrative details. This has succeeded admirably
in the past, and it is interesting to note that a very large slice of Africa now under
the control of the Colonial Office, consisting of Somaliland, Uganda, Zanzibar, and
Nigeria, has during a stage of transition been under the control of the Foreign
Office with beneficial results. Egypt is still passing through that transitiorral
period which will not have closed until a definite decision has been taken as to the
future status of Egypt and the Sudan, whether as a Protectorate or as an annexed
territory, which in view of the Sultan’s health cannot be long deferred, and until
agreements have been concluded with foreign Powers for the abolition of the Caisse
de la Dette, the Capitulations and extraterritorial jurisdiction which now hamper
the progresive development of Egypt.
1
\

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Content

The file contains copies of memoranda and reports relating to the government and administration of Egypt. Included are memoranda produced by the War Cabinet on the subject and minutes of four meetings held by the Egyptian Administration Committee during September and October 1917.

Extent and format
1 file (54 folios)
Arrangement

The file is arranged in chronological order, from the front to the rear.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 54, these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 1-54; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Reports and papers of the Egyptian Administration Committee [‎3v] (6/108), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/258, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100075212980.0x000007> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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