Mehmed Ali was more pragmatic than British naval commanders about soldiers’ sexual needs

Evidence

By giving way to the soldiers’ needs on that front Mehmed Ali proved to be more flexible and pragmatic than the contemporary British naval commanders who were aiming at a moral standard “altogether too high for the people with whom it dealt … [especially by insisting on] the whole illogical system of indiscriminate pressing with its corollary of not allowing the men shore-leave when in port.” Allowing women to join their husbands in Syria, however, created hygiene problems which certainly contributed to the spread of syphilis and other venereal diseases among the soldiery and which the authorities now found difficult to address. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1162

Categorization

• XREF: Direct comparison between Egyptian and British military management ties to the reader’s interest in Ottoman Pashas versus British Lords.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1162