Imperial statesmen claimed a distinct category of problems for colonized peoples.

Evidence

On June 13, 1910, Arthur James Balfour lectured the House of Commons on “the problems with which we have to deal in Egypt.” These, he said, “belong to a wholly different category” than those “affecting the Isle of Wight or the West Riding of Yorkshire.” … He spoke with the authority of a long-time member of Parliament, former private secretary to Lord Salisbury, former chief secretary for Ireland, former secretary for Scotland, former prime minister, veteran of numerous overseas crises, achievements, and changes. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 104

Categorization

• XREF: Sets up the Orientalism field’s core premise that colonial rule rested on a claimed epistemic authority; connects to later Islamophobia readings on how colonial administrators positioned themselves as knowing the native better than the native.
• DEFINE: Establishes the rhetorical move of categorizing colonial problems as categorically different from domestic ones — a definitional brick in Said’s edifice of Orientalist knowledge.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 104