w i n 1 Curzon finally asked Allenby to see Lloyd George, the only man who might yet dissuade him from the course on which he had embarked As Curzon plaintively wrote
3 but asked that the closing of Zaghlul's house not be insisted upon.
Allenby, in his New Year's message, angrily condemned the 'campaign inJthe3 press and elsewhere which has sought by lies to poison [the] minds of Egyptians against Great Britain and to foster feelings of hatred against Englishmen...' He warned publicly that
1. Allenby to Curzon, May 5, 1923, Desp. No. 296, FO/371/8962.
2. Although this accurately reflected the opinions of many British officials in Egypt Rapp believed that 'Much of this criticism was unfair and ill informed.' Sir Thomas Rapp, Memoirs (ms), STAC, Rapp Papers, pp. 31-2.
3. Allenby to Curzon, December 27, 1922, Tel. No. 445, FO/371/7740. Osborne, in Curzon's absence, replied that the reluctance to close Zaghlul's house, now be lieved to be a haven and centre for agitation, 'gives ground for apprenhension that the latter jNasim] or his sovereign King Fuad is seriously committed to the Zaghloulists.' Osborned favoured closure despite Nasim's plea. Osborne to Allen by, January 2, 1923, Desp. No. 7, FO/371/7740.
Murderers and those who make a profession of engendering hatred where there should be friendship not only bring suffering upon innocent victims, their families and friends but may also cause disorder to their own compatriots. They are the worst enemies of their country.■*-
Additional measures, such as arming the British residents and increased police vigilance, were quickly adopted by the Ministry. Allenby, however, proposed that if the outrages continued further steps should be taken. In a despatch to London he urged that in this event a military governor be appointed for Cairo and Giza, Zaghlul1s house be closed and public meetings banned, a fine be levied on the dis trict in which the attack occurred, British forces carry out simultaneous arms searches in Cairo, suspects and unwilling witnesses be sent to Kharga Oasis, and
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a scheme of compensation for relatives be imposed. The British were again being dragged into Egypt's internal affairs.
It was in this atmosphere that the struggle over the constitution took place. The context for the renewed conflict between the Residency and the Ministry was the altered relations between them. Allenby now did not feel constrained to give
Nasim the same support he had given Tharwat. Nasim, on the other hand, took office as the King's man and all that that implied with respect to the King's authority under the constitution and the King's title to the Sudan. Fuad further complicated the situation by continuing his intrigues and repeatedly voicing dissatisfaction
1. Allenby to Curzon, January 1, 1923, Tel. No. 2, FO/371/8958. Also reported in Times, January 2, 1923. The responses to the outrages was almost unanimously condemnatory. For example, see the leader, 'The Egyptian Murders,' Daily Chronicle, January 2, 1923. Even Zaghlul in exile was forced to condemn them:
'I deeply regret the recent outrages. I consider that they are against the in terests of my country, which abhors the terrorist system, whatever its source
...and I associate myself with the recent protests made by my Wafd...members and other bodies and individuals of every class after hearing of the recent outrage...' Reported in the Times, January 15, 1923.
2. Allenby also examined the idea of a fine of E.250,000 but rejected it because: (a) Egypt was not an enemy country; (b) the enquiries into the murders were largely carried out by Englishmen; and, (c) a fine imposed on the government would have little or no effect on the general public. Allenby to Curzon, February 3, 1923, Desp. No. 64, FO/371/8960.
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with Allenby and his advisors.^
Once again the occasion for the constitutional crisis was the Sudan. In the middle of January, Nasim proposed a comprehensive formula to end the disagreement that had begun in the last months of the Tharwat ministry. He suggested the following text for inclusion in the constitution:
The present constitution is applicable in all Egyptian territory with the exception of Soudan.
The provision contained in preceTding paragraph must not be held to infringe rights of sovereignty or any other rights possessed by Egypt in Soudan.2
With respect to Fuad's title as King of Egypt and the Sudan, Nasim expressed the hope that the British would not press for its omission from the constitution.
At first Allenby was inclined to accept the proposed formula, but he was reluc tant to agree to Fuad's title. Still, if British intransigence were to provoke an inopportune rupture with the Ministry 'it might be well...to consider propriety of acquiescing in adoption of title of "Sovere-ign of the Sudan" (which was borne by
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ex-Khedrve) in addition to that of King of Egypt.’ However, in the event dramatic action against the Ministry was contemplated, Allenby recommended informing Nasim that adoption of his text would result in its formal and public rejection by the British government. Furthermore, since such action by the Ministry would imply an Egyptian repudiation of the 1899 Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Convention, Britain should state that in future negotiations stipulations in that convention favouring Egypt might be disregarded.
In London, Murray and Lindsay believed that the Egyptian proposals went much too far and Curzon was astonished to know that Lord Allenby 'should even contemplate
1. Fuad was particularly bitter in his attacks on Allenby and those whom he thought were the High Commissioner's supporters, such as Amos and Selby. On December 11, 1922, he was reported to have told a professor at Cairo University that 'Sir Sheldon Amos, whom he {Fuad3 regarded as a dangerous and untrustworthy person, was "leading Lord Allenby by the nose," whilst at the Foreign Office, Mr. Selby...was most unwisely supporting Amos, and, he feared, creating difficulties.' Then on
January 21, the professor reported that Fuad had told him that 'It was...much to be regretted that Lord Allenby allowed himself ky s^-r Sheldon Amos and Mr. Kerr, intriguers both.' SIS Report No. — - , January 10, 1923, FO/371/8967, and SIS Report N o . S
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2. Allenby to Curzon, January 14, 1923, Tel. No. 24, FO/371/8959. 3. Ibid.
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