72 



and its banks under certain restrictions, but assumes no responsibilit}^ 

 and no rlaini can l)e ])rouoht against it should the crops be lost or 

 damaged. If the bank is needed for a highway or other purposes, no 

 procedure is necessarj- in order to convert it into such, and the farmer 

 who may have planted crops thereon has no recourse. 



The articles relating to oii'enses and prescribing penalties therefor 

 indicate that the engineers who framed the law desired to cover all 

 ofl'enses which had been called to their attention during the previous 

 ten or twelve years. The sections referring to navigation are inter- 

 esting in so far as the}' show the importance of the canals to the internal 

 commerce of the country. The decree is given in full in Appendix I. 



INSTALLATION OF WATER-RAISING DEVICES. 



The decree of March 8, 1881, relative to the installation of machines 

 for raising water, propelled by steam, by a current of water, or by 

 the wind, provides that persons intending to erect such devices shall 

 first apply for a permit, which application is approved or rejected, as 

 the minister of public works or the head of the technical commission 

 may decide. The decree exhi))its plainly the attitude of the govern- 

 ment toward the user of water. In article 7 it is stated that the 

 approval of the permit carries with it no assurance from the govern- 

 ment that water will be supplied the water-raising device. In other 

 words, the government mav approve of the installation of a water- 

 raising device on a canal or a branch of the Nile where the water sup- 

 ply is inadcijuate. The government does not keep itself informed as 

 to the actual discharge of the various waterways which serve the irri- 

 gator, nor do the irrigation offic-ials know the capacity of the water- 

 raising devices which are alread}^ in operation. After application has 

 been made for a permit to establish a water-raising device one of the 

 officials of the technical department makes an examination of the s'te 

 where it is proposed to erect the machine. The approval or rejection 

 of the application generally depends upon the report of this officer. 

 AVhcn the application is granted a permit is given the applicant. The 

 technical department keeps a supply of the permit l)lanks, which are 

 l)Ound in book form. The stul)s of these blanks contain the permit in 

 full, one side of the sheet being printed in French and the other side 

 in Aral)ic. The permit itself, which is torn from the stub when the 

 application is approved, is printed in Aiabic only. On the reverse of 

 the permit are extracts from the law relating to the installation of 

 machines for raising water. These extracts are taken from the decree 

 of :\Iarch 8, 1881, and fi-om the decree of April G, 1881. The form of 

 permit is as follows: 



