HC Deb 04 August 1851 vol 118 cc1858-9
MR. URQUHART

wished to ascertain from the noble Lord the course which the British Government intended to take with respect to the formation of a railway between Cairo and Alexandria, and whether the making of that railway would not saddle Egypt with a foreign debt? He also desired to know whether the English Government were bound to give the Pasha of Egypt any compensation for the formation of that railway; and whether the proposition laid down in the treaty of the 15th of July, 1841, for securing the integrity and independence of the Ottoman empire, and by which a hereditary succession was secured to the Pasha of Egypt, was to be affected in any way that would interfere with the rights of the Sultan; and whether the discrepancy of opinion that had taken place between the representatives of the British Government at Constantinople and Alexandria was the result of their own proper motion, or the result of instructions from home?

VISCOUNT PALMERSTON

In the first place, with regard to the railway, I believe the Pasha of Egypt intends to construct, out of his own revenues, a railway from Alexandria to Cairo. It is the opinion of the Government that such railway is an expedient undertaking; that it will contribute to the prosperity of Egypt, and be advantageous to all other countries that have commercial intercourse with that pro- vince. The English Government never entered into any engagement or guarantee of any kind in regard to the construction of that railroad; but, undoubtedly, it is the opinion of the English Government that the Pasha of Egypt is entitled to make that railway out of his own funds, according to the terms of the firman granting to him the hereditary investiture in 1841.

MR. URQUHART

Then, as to the discrepancy?

VISCOUNT PALMERSTON

If the hon. Gentleman will tell me what he means by discrepancy, I will answer him.

MR. URQUHART

One supporting the Pashalic interest; the other supporting the Sultan.

VISCOUNT PALMERSTON

Both act under instructions from the same source, and their acts are necessarily in the same spirit, and to the same purpose.

MR. URQUHART

Will the noble Lord tell me whether the conditions laid down in the treaty of 1841, for establishing the hereditary Pashalic in the family of the Pasha, are to be interpreted as interfering with the authority of the Porte?

VISCOUNT PALMERSTON

That firman laid down certain conditions on which the family of Mehemet Ali were invested with the hereditary Pashalic of Egypt, and there is no change in those conditions; of course, they must be observed by the Sultan on the one hand, and the Pasha on the other.