68 



gency. There is nothing in the law which would govern the acts of 

 the officials during- times when rotations are necessary. The}' are not 

 authorized to distribute the water so as to save any particular crop or 

 to favor any localit}' or person. AVhen a scarcity of water exists the 

 relations between the governoi-s of the provinces as prescribed liy law 

 have but little force. Water is distrilmted according to plans originat- 

 ing in Cairo and carried into eti'oct ))y the inspectors for Upper ajid 

 Lower Egypt and their subordinates. Even during such periods no 

 attention is given to the necessities of the irrigators. Canals supplying 

 water to the most valual)le crops receive Avater in rotation, and each 

 irrigator may raise and use as nuich as he can while there is water in 

 his canal. If waste occurs, but little attention is })aid to it. Under 

 this system one canal may be favored this year and another the year 

 following, depending upon which serves for the irrigation of the more 

 valuable crops. The irrigator, it will ])e seen, has no recourse should 

 his water supply fail. An a})peal to the officers of the ])rovince might 

 be heeded, but the engineers of the government would not be con- 

 strained to alter their plan of distribution. 



It will ))e seen that the operation of such u system places all respon- 

 sibility on the government. The defect in the system is that the peo- 

 ple are not considered as having any rights. 1)ut are treated solely as 

 a revenue-producing body, and a farmer who receives water one year 

 has no assurance that he will be served the next year. There can be 

 no stability in land vahu^s and no justice in the operation of a land-tax 

 law under such conditions, although the rate of taxation is, to some 

 extent, regulated by the value of the farm products. It seems that 

 the time must come when the distrilmtion will be fixed permanenth\ 

 Under such a S3\stem the farmer would know, :is soon as the stage of 

 the river was reported from Assuan, as to whether he would be sup- 

 plied or not. The completion of the reservoir system will do much 

 toward settling this question. l)ut it will be fifteen or twenty years 

 before the farmers of Egypt can (»xpect to receive entire relief. 



The regulation of Deceml)er, 1885 (see p. 83), fixes the relation 

 between the governors of provinces and the irrigation officials. Sec- 

 tion 1 provides that: " It is the duty of the governor to see that a just 

 distribution of the water is made in the various districts composing 

 his province." This is followed by a sentence which reduces his 

 authority to reporting the needs of irrigators to the irrigation inspec- 

 tors and listening to the complaints of the village chiefs. 



The second section requires the inspectors to report to the govern- 

 ors, as well as to the minister of i)u]>lic works, should it be impossi])]e 

 to satisfy all demands for water. 



Section 3 defines the duties and powers of the inspectors control- 

 ling the distribution of water and permits no gate to l)e operated 

 without written orders from them. If the governor does not approve 



