392 
EUROPE AND AFRICA 
Sudan is at bottom only imperialism — the peoples of the 
Sudan have not only no common feeling of nationality with 
the Egyptians, but the great majority are not even of the 
same race and entertain an active dislike for the Egyptians. 
Egypt has vital interests in preserving her right to the use 
of great quantities of Nile water; but it must not be for- 
gotten that the Sudan also has rights, and that Uganda 
and Abyssinia, from which come considerable quantities of 
the total available supply, have their rights. The water 
question has been too often discussed by people who have 
apparently never seen a great river in flood and who do not 
realize that engineering works far mightier than man has 
ever undertaken would be required to “cut off the waters 
of the Nile from Egypt.” 
The British may well be criticized for several aspects of 
their action and inaction in regard to Egypt since the war. 
For instance, it does not seem that even a government com- 
mission such as Lord Milner’s should require nearly two 
years to make a report. But if the British have been 
dilatory and uncertain in their policy and too drastic and 
not sufficiently firm, it must be said also that the Egyptian 
leaders have shown themselves theorists and not practical 
statesmen. As so often happens, these politicians have 
catered to those voters who believe that the more extreme 
the agitator’s demand the greater his ability and the nobler 
his patriotism.