England and Egypt 297 war poverty of the many. This social discontent was used to some extent by the nationalist organisers, and contributed, as we have seen, to the success of their strike tactics. It is also clear that during the general ferment of the years after the war Bolshevist ideas made for a short time some impression both on the foreign workers and on the more class-conscious of the native proletariat. But there never was established in Egypt, as in Turkey and China, a definite alliance between the Communist International and the local nationalist leaders. Egyptian nationalism had indeed scarcely any socialism in its propaganda. It never, as in China, organised the workers as such for a definite programme, It is remarkable that the principal effort to cope with real grievances should have come from the foreign com- munities. These set up a Conciliation Board in Alexan- dria (1919) that did good work in settling disputes, prin- cipally those between employers and workers in the European enterprises. This Board during its first quarter settled no less than twenty-four important disputes, and applications for its assistance multiplied so much that it had eventually to be divided into two sections. Again, to go further back, it was Mr. Brailsford's report on conditions of child labour in the ginning mills (1908) that first caused legislation to be passed in spite of the difficulties due to the Capitulations. And this legislation, all too little as it is, is to-day very laxly enforced. Mrs. Travers Symons, writing of recent conditions (British and Egypt, p. 267) reports :