and was
listened to with a great deal of attention.

Herzl was asked to submit a written expose. Then he asked for
permission to have Leopold J. Greenberg go to Egypt and confer with
Lord Cromer. Lord Lansdowne said that he would arrange for such a
meeting. Greenberg discussed the matter with Lord Cromer in Cairo.
There were objections raised by both Lord Cromer and the Egyptian
Prime Minister on the ground that an attempted Jewish economy,
undertaken in 1891-2 in the region of ancient Midian, had been a
pitiful failure. There had been political complications and border
disputes with Turkey.

A definitive reply was received by Herzl on December 18, 1902 written
on behalf of Lord Lansdowne by Sir T.H. Sanderson, permanent
Undersecretary. Lord Lansdowne had heard from Lord Cromer, who favored
the sending of a small commission to the Sinai Peninsula to report on
conditions and prospects, but Lord Cromer feared that no sanguine
hopes of success should be entertained, but if the report of the
Commission turned out favorable, the Egyptian Government would
certainly offer liberal terms for Jewish colonization.

On the other hand, however, the Zionists should understand that they
would be expected to meet the cost of a defense corps and to guarantee
the administration. In Lord Cromer's opinion, the most important
question was that of the rights which Herzl expected for the projected
settlement. He wrote: "In your letter of the 12th ult. you remark that
you will become great and promising by the granting of this right of
colonization. Your letter does not make clear what is to be understood
by these words, and what kind of rights the colonists will expect."

Lord Lansdowne also touched on the question of the new citizenship of
the settlers. Herzl had believed that he would have only Englishmen to
deal with, since England had become more and more the master of Egypt.
It was apparent, however, that the Egyptian Government also played an
important part in the discussions.

Lord Cromer confirmed that the Egyptian Government would make it an
essential condition that the new settlers become Turkish subjects
bound by Egyptian law, but while the British occupation continued the
settlers would always be certain of fair treatment.

Herzl was satisfied with this letter and described it as a historic
document. The British Government had recognized Herzl as the Zionist
leader, and the movement represented by him as a negotiating part