Financial Reconstruction 153
nibals would always sooner climb one pass summa dili-
gentid than cross the Alps on the top of a diligence.
The policy of the Gladstone Government had been to
" crush the military mutiny," then to introduce such
reforms as might be immediately applicable, and there-
after to withdraw altogether. But this policy could not
be put through against the philanthropic, financial, and
patriotic opposition to withdrawal, and in view of the
danger that the Mahdi might replace Arabi. In this
difficulty they summoned a conference in London (April
19, 1884), °f which the agenda was agreed with France,
which renounced the re-establishment of the control in
return for our undertaking to evacuate by 1888. This
conference met, but was broken up by Bismarck (August
2, 1884)—the German representative insisting on intro-
ducing awkward issues riot on the agenda (Fitzmaurice,
vol. iL, p. 334). The Government then had recourse to
the usual expedient, and sent out Lord Northbrook as
Special Commissioner, to suggest a solution (November,
1884). His report pleased no one. The immediate
financial pressure was relieved by the Powers agreeing
to guarantee a loan of ,£9,000,000 at three per cent.
(March, 1885), and soon after the Liberal Government
went out of office.
Lord Salisbury, on succeeding (June, -1885), again had
recourse to Turkish sovereignty and soldiery. It seems
possible that in this his object was rather to gain time
than to get a real solution. Sir H. Drummond Wolff was
sent as Special Commissioner to negotiate with the
Sultan an arrangement by which, broadly speaking,
Turkish authority and the Turkish army were to keep
down Arabi-ism and to keep out Mahdi-ism, while the
Powers were to revise the Capitulations in return for a
British promise to evacuate, A preliminary convention on