PREFACE

it. The opening of the Siidan to the world is one of Lord

Cromer's greatest successes.

It is easy for sentimental philo-Egyptians to criticize and to find

fault with details in the administration of the Siidan by a Govern- ment which is only a few years old, and equally easy to complain

that its motive power is too self-centred and autocratic, but

every one who has lived in the country even for a few months

at a time, and seen this machinery built up, knows that none

but an autocrat, who was at the same time patient, wise, and

strong, could do what Lord Cromer has done there. The results

already achieved prove that the Sudan is now ruled and

administered with due regard to the welfare of the countr}'

;

for the first time in history its peoples have been regarded as

worthy of consideration. Those of us who have seen the manner

in which Lord Cromer's policy has been carried out by Lord

Kitchener, Sir Reginald Wingate, and their picked soldiers and

civilians, and know how discipline is maintained, and the taxes

collected, and the law administered, and education fostered, and

trade encouraged, and the people protected against themselves,

also know, especially when they are acquainted with the main

facts of the history of the Sudan, that none of its conquerors

have ruled it with such patience, justice, and humanity, and

with such true regard for beliefs and customs of its peoples, and

that none have served it with such whole-hearted devotion and

integrity as the British. The truth is that the Sudani folk cannot

govern themselves, and that they will not be able to do so for many generations to come ; in the meantime they must be ruled

firmly but kindly if their countr}- is to be developed. The great

merit of British administration there is due to the fact that the Government not only rules but develops the country ; for those who make its laws and give effect to them do not regard it as a

gold mine, and a breeding ground of slaves, as conquerors in the

past have done, but as a possession which under just and humane

guidance may be made to support its inhabitants in comfort, and

to play an important part in the civilization of Eastern Africa.

The work of the Administration both in Egypt and in the

Sudan, which are in reality only one country, is already very hard, and it is made harder by the writings of irresponsible critics who

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