§ 1. Sir WILLIAM BYLESasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is yet able to give the House further information as to the existence, nature, or extent of the sedition in Egypt which has recently made it necessary to suspend an important newspaper and to condemn a young Nationalist to ten years' imprisonment?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir Edward Grey)I have never suggested that extensive sedition exists in Egypt at the present time, and it is for the purpose of preventing sedition, rather than suppressing it, that it has been found necessary to take the action to which my hon. Friend refers. The conviction of Ahmed Mukhtar was due to his being discovered to be in possession of sixty copies of a seditious manifesto, containing a violent appeal to the memory of Wardani, the assassin of Boutros Pasha, and recommendations that secret terrorist societies should be formed to act against the authorities of the Egyptian Government. In these circumstances I see no reason for any intervention on the part of His Majesty's Government, especially as the case comes 494 just after a conspiracy against the lives of the Khedive, the Prime Minister, and Lord Kitchener.
§ Sir W. BYLESWhat I desire to know is whether these things are to go on without the House knowing anything about them, and whether it is the view of the Government that everything should be left to the man on the spot and to his dictatorship?
§ Sir E. GREYIt is impossible to have these cases brought before the House before they are dealt with.