Notes for Documenti diplomatici concernenti gli affari di Egitto: Entry #24

Translation

IX. The Royal Officer of Affairs in London to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Il R. Incaricato d’Affari a Londra al Ministro degli Affari Esteri)

Mr. Minister,

Yesterday, the Queen opened the Parliament in person, and according to the custom, the two Houses in that session finished the discussion on the management that everyone will have to present to Her Majesty in response to the speech. The speech of the Queen, given that it was foreseen, leaving in the shadows the internal matters, has principally dealt with those questions of foreign politics, which the Cabinet has to undertake. The Note sent to the Sultan for the pacification of Herzegovina and Bosnia and the purchases of the Khedive’s shares in the enterprise of the Suez canal rightly excelled. For what concerns the Suez matter, the discussion of the management was updated to await the production of the documents that still had not been published. It will occur next Monday, when the Lord Chancellor will ask for the credit for the purchase of the shares. Lord Derby, after making use of the established evidence on the desire to block the entirety of the shares from falling into the hands of the French, worked hard to erase the impression made from his first explanations, in which he had insisted on the purely commercial nature of the transaction. Mr. Disraeli, from his side, highlighted England’s interest in blocking the return of an incident similar to the one that threatened to interrupt the traffic of the canal in 1874, for disagreements with Mr. Di Lesseps on the right of tonnage. But Mr. Disraeli, mentioning the fortresses that Great Britain holds in the Mediterranean and that are like a chain that reconnects the metropolis to India through the Suez canal, has laid claim to the right of England as a “Mediteranean power,” and even though his policies are not aggressive, nor does he desire new provinces, he takes an interest in the distribution of the territories on the shore of that sea, when the liberty of the sea and its control would be in danger. The words of the first minister have a weight that I believe I must warn Your Excellency. In relation to the mission of Mr. Cave, Lord Derby was more explicit than Mr. Disraeli. The Chief Secretary of State alluded to the request made by the Khedive for two men to order his messy finances. Before allowing this, the government thought well about sending whoever could be convinced about the nature of the request and could give advice to the Khedive and at the same time could report to the government of the Queen about the true conditions of the Egyptian finances. Lord Derby then wanted to remove from that mission the appearance of interfering with the internal affairs of Egypt and therefore wanted to reject all responsibility following the affairs of the Khedive. At the same time His Lordship has somewhat risked a part of the mission of Mr. Cave and Mr. Stokes in the Company of the canal. “We negotiate,” Lord Derby said “for a composition of the various questions that have arisen between the Company and those who use the canal, and also for the introduction of an English member in the management.” May it please you, etc.

Signed: R. De Martino