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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 5, Issue 2 (June 2, 1930)

Ol Man River

Ol Man River.

The Anglo-Egyptian negotiations to settle the terms of Egypt's independence did not produce an agreement. It is, however, only the first round. In that round, each party has carefully tested the strength and the weaknesses of the other party. Some people might have thought that Egypt was mainly employed in looking seaward towards the Suez Canal, and that she was not much concerned to look inland (up-river) at the Sudan. But the conference proceedings indicate that, after a demonstration along the canal, the Egyptian tacticians de-veloped a strong movement towards digging-in on the Upper Nile, wherefore control of the Sudan dominated the closing phases of the Sudan dominated the closing phases of the nego-tiations. Egypt's concern about the higher reaches of the Nile is understandable enough. The Suez Canal has been called the jugular vein of the Empire; if so, the Nile is no less the jugular vein of Egypt. If the lower Waikato were in New Zealand, if Hamilton and Arapuni were in the Sudan, and if Lake Taupo was in Abyssinia or Uganda, New Zealand would be able to realise only faintly what Egypt feels. But, in law, can it be said that Egypt's case in the Sudan is any stronger than Britain's in Egypt?

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