Report of the Special Mission to Egypt under Lord Milner, and related papers [‎145v] (293/473)

4
organised antagonism. Telegrams poured in announcing the intention of the senders ^
to go on strike as a protest against our presence. Many ol these were despatched by
schoolboys and students, but others came from public bodies, such as Provincial
Councils, a lew from Government officials, and a considerable number Irom corpora
tions or communities of greater or less importance. We received in all 1,131 such
messages during our stay, while only twenty-nine telegrams ol welcome were
received, mostly from private persons acquainted with individual members ol the
Mission^ The Egyptian vernacular press, with rare exceptions, exhausted the
repertory of vituperation and inuendo, proclaiming that any recognition of the
Mission w'ould be interpreted as an acceptance of the existing situation and that
any Egyptian who had dealings with its members would be guilty ot treason to his
country. The majority of writers consistently maintained that Zaghlul Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
at Paris was the accredited representative of the Egyptian people, and the Mission
was recommended to address itself to him. A series ol short strikes were declared • >
by students, lawyers, tramwaymen, cab drivers and shopkeepers, and processions of
strikers, reinforced by numbers of schoolboys and the rougher elements of the city,
paraded the streets with banners, denouncing the Mission and Lord Milner in
particular, and acclaiming Zaghlul Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. and the il Complete Independence
of Egypt.” Nor were such demonstrations conlined to the male population.
The Cairene ladies availed themselves of this occasion to abandon their
seclusion and to drive through the streets with similar war cries. This
procession, however unwonted, was orderly enough, but the schoolboys and hooligans
were frankly riotous, and but for the admirable order maintained by the police
with occasional military support there would have been considerable destruction of
property and even bloodshed. As it was, beyond the wrecking of a few tramcars,
little damage to property actually resulted. And after the first week or two disorder
in Cairo gradually subsided, though throughout our stay occasional attacks upon
British soldiers and three successive attempts to assassinate members of the
Ministry showed that the criminal element was still active, especially among a section
of the student class.
It seems needless to dwell at greater length upon the many manifestations of
hostility to the Mission and its object. Mention should, however, be made of two of
(them, which as indicative of the strength of the popular current appeared to be of
special importance. In the second week after our arrival the heads of the El Azhar
University, the centre of Mahommedan religious teaching, addressed a manifesto
to the High Commissioner, which set forth the claims of Egypt to complete indepen
dence and demanded the withdrawal of the British. There was some reason to
believe that the religious leaders who actually signed this document were not
particularly enamoured of the political course on which they thus found themselves
embarked, but yielded to the pressure of the teachers and students, among whom
anti-British propaganda had for some time been increasingly active. This manifesto
was followed a little later by a similar declaration, signed by six Princes of
the family of Mohammed Ali, near relatives of the Sultan, which was contained in
a letter to Lord Milner and simultaneously published in the press. The action of
the Princes may have been prompted by various motives, but the dominant one was
undoubtedly their desire to gain popularity by identifying themselves with a
movement which at the moment was sweeping like a tidal wave over the country.
The immediate object of the promoters of this movement was to prevent the
members of the Mission from coming into friendly touch with representative
Egyptians and thus ascertaining for themselves how much substance there was in
the demand for “ complete independence,” and in the ceaseless denunciations of “ the « t
Protectorate.” With this end in view the headquarters of the Mission were constantly
watched by unostentatious pickets. The visit of any Egyptian of note was at once
communicated to the press and became the subject of minatory comment. Moreover,
the offender was liable to be subjected to a domiciliary visit in his own house from a it »
group of students, demanding an explanation of his conduct, which generally ended
in his making a profuse profession of his Nationalist faith and affirming that in his
conversation with the Mission he had been careful in no wise to depart from it. Only
in one or two cases did the person thus visited have the courage to tell the intruders to
mind their own business. Meantime, the movements of members of the Mission were
carefully followed, especially when any of us went into the provinces. Emissaries
would be immediately despatched from Cairo to dog our footsteps, to try to prevent
our getting into touch with the local people, especially the fellatiin, and to arrange
demonstrations calculated to impress us with the solidarity of Egyptian opinion.
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