78 



arranged for the niglit, if pussible, or, at any rate, they should he supplied with a 

 warm wrap, n<> matter liow coarse; old sacks would he better than nothing. 



REFORM OF THE CORVEE SYSTEM. 



When the Engli.sh euj^'ineers Ijoo-an their work, in 1883, the}^ found 

 that all earthwork necessary in the construction and cleaning- of canals 

 was performed by this kind of labor. Tnder the original basin s\'S- 

 teni, before the farmer had a title to the land he cultivated and while 

 he was simply a slave, this practice might have been excusable. There 

 are no good reasons, however, why it should have been continued after 

 the reforms introduced by Moiuunmed Ali were put in operation. 

 Under the old system the farmer had nothing to do when there was no 

 water, and he could do nothing during the flood. Under the perennial 

 system some kind of farm work is in progress throughout the year, 

 and if the farmer is taken aw^ay from his land the results are as serious 

 to the taxjjfatherer as to him. Perennial canals require a great deal 

 more labor to keep them in repair than do the ancient inundation 

 canals. This is because the canals are deeper and carry water through- 

 out the year. The whole agricultural population was formerly 

 employed a large part of the year in keeping these canals in condition, ' 

 although but a small portion of the people so engaged were directly 

 interested in them. 80 long had the system been in force in Egypt 

 that inunediate reform was impossil)le. The increased security to land 

 titles did nuich toward bringing about a change for the better. The 

 first khedival decree relating to the corvee appeared in January, 1881. 

 Articles 1 to 4 of this decree prescribe what works shall be main- 

 tained by the public. 



Article 5 provides that all male inhabitants of the country, of sound 

 health, between the ages of 15 and 50 years, with the exception of 

 those indicated in the following section, are subject to corvee duty. 



Article O: The following persons are exempt from corvee duty: Law 

 students of the Koran; those who recite the Koran; persons engaged 

 in teaching; students of the mosijues and schools; persons attached to 

 charitable institutions, shrines, convents, and hospitals; those in the 

 service of the mosques, tombs, and holy places having distinct offices; 

 priests, monks, rabbis, and persons attached to the service of churches, 

 temples, cemeteries of the various sects and holding permanent posi- 

 tions; people having professions or trades who pay professional taxes 

 and who exercise their calling; also fishermen and boatmen; the 

 watchmen of the villages. 



Article T: Every person who is subject to corvee duty can redeem 

 himself by furnishing a substitute. The following persons can redeem 

 themselves by a payment in cash: Inhabitants of isolated settlements 

 who have been included in the census; Bedouins who own land or cul- 

 tivate the same and who have heretofore been exempt from such labor; 

 the inhabitants of the villages working on the state domain and the 



