1909] Somaliland and Cyprus 279 



silent, allowing me to attack him without defending him, and I think- 

 in his heart agreeing with me. We went over the whole history of 

 Morley's weakness in the Mahdi's head case, and in that of his feeble 

 opposition to the Boer War and his muddle-headedness about India. 

 I think Churchill will come round to my views about India, for in all 

 essentials he is at one with me ; and he was fired at the description I 

 gave him of his father's doings at the India Office and at our formula, 

 ' The Queen and Native India,' against the covenanted Civil Service. 



" He is sympathetic, too, about the motor car tyranny, and talks 

 of children being collected and carried to school so as to escape the 

 dangers of the road. But he has no scheme of immediate protection 

 for foot-goers, and says that flying machines will have superseded 

 motors in ten years' time as an amusement of the rich. He told me 

 he had a scheme for settling the Somaliland folly on lines precisely 

 the same as those I proposed five years ago — that is to say, by with- 

 drawing the British troops to the seaports, and providing for the 

 ' friendly ' tribes, if they could not agree with the Mullah, elsewhere. 

 I told him about the blood money way of settling accounts. Also 

 he has urged a settlement of the Cyprus trouble by ending the swindle 

 there in regard to the tribute. All this is excellent, and may lead to 

 real Imperial reforms. 



" 4th Oct. — They are all gone, much pleased, I think, with their 

 visit. 



" Farid Bey and Osman Bey Ghaleb arrived from Paris to talk 

 over Egyptian affairs. They intend holding their Congress next year 

 at Constantinople. I think that a good move. There seems to have 

 been an intrigue at this year's meeting at Geneva, the Khedive having 

 got hold of one of their number, Mohammed Fehmi, in the interests of 

 a rival party, the party of the people. It was only Goumah's coura- 

 geous speech that turned the tables against these. 



" 5th Oct. — I have received a letter from Arabi after a long silence, 

 congratulating me on my Congress manifesto. I am glad to get this 

 from him, for it may be the means of putting him right with the young 

 Nationalists. Belloc repeats to me that Gorst seems now quite dis- 

 credited at the Foreign Office. His policy, as he himself admits, hav- 

 ing failed, he wishes to be moved to another post, but there is difficulty 

 in finding any one willing to succeed him. 



" yth Oct. — Churchill has sent me two secret minutes he had 

 printed for the Cabinet two years ago about Somaliland and Cyprus. 

 They are very plain spoken in the sense of our talk. He must have 

 been Under-Secretary for the Colonies at that time. ' There are 

 only two secure alternatives,' it says: ' (a) To occupy the country 

 effectively by holding all the important wells and, in concert with 

 the Italians, to crush the Mullah, or (b) to withdraw to the coast as 



