EGYPT. 



289 



telegraph lines belonging to the Government 

 at the end of 1887 had a total length of 3,172 

 miles. The Government has established a tele- 

 phone line 140 miles long, extending from Cai- 

 ro to the petroleum-wells on the Red Sea, con- 

 sisting of a bare iron wire, running along the 

 sand without poles or insulators. 



The post-office carried 7.620,000 inland and 

 5.' i7o,000 foreign letters during 1836. In 1887 

 the number of internal letters was 8,174,000, 

 and the total correspondence 12,916,000. 



The Suez Canal. The number of vessels that 

 1 through the Suez Canal in 1886 was 

 3,100, with a gross tonnage of 8,183,313. Of 

 these 2,331, of tf.254.417 tons, were British; 

 227. of 699,194 tons, French; 161, of 314.715 

 tons, German ; 127, of 312.964 tons Dutch ; 

 77, of 191.333 tons, Austrian; 69, of 184,960 

 tons, Italian ; 25, of 88,076 tons, Spanish ; 24. 

 of 58,288 tons, Russian; 28, of 47,991 tons, 

 Norwegian; 6, of 3,363 tons, Turkish: 4, of 

 3,056 tons, Egyptian; and 1, of 1,292 tons, 

 Belgian. The deepening of the canal to 8 

 metres has been completed. 



The gross receipts of the company in 1886 

 were 2,241,095, as compared with 2,601,998 

 in 1885; 2.57*5,083 in 1884; 2,645,506 in 

 1883 ; and 2.53(3,343 in 1882. The net profits 

 in 18<S5 were 1,301,150. yielding a dividend 

 to the shareholders, after providing for the 

 sinking-fund, of 17'08 per cent. The statutes 

 provide that of all net earnings over 5 pel- 

 Cent., 71 per cent, shall go to the general share- 

 holders, 15 per cent, to the Egyptian Govern- 

 ment, 10 per cent, to the founders' shares. 2 

 per cent, to the employes, and 2 per cent, to 

 the managing directors. Of the 395,840 shares 

 that were issued. 17<V>02 were taken by the 

 Khedive of Egypt, and were by him transferred 

 to the British Government in 1875 for the sum 

 of 3,976,582. The dividends on these shares 

 up to the year 1894 he had already alienated, 

 sitrning them over to the Suez Canal Company. 

 The share capital of the canal amounts to 197.- 

 920,000 francs, and the bonded debt of various 

 descriptions to 177.292.426 francs. 



A convention defining the status of the Suez 

 Canal was arranged in the early part of 1888 

 between Great Britain, France, and Turkey, 

 and agreed to by all the powers. Turkey ob- 

 tained modifications giving her the presidency 

 at the annual meetings and permit'ing the 

 transportation at all times of troops to the 

 eastern shore of the Red Sea. When the time 

 came to ratify the convention, the Porte asked 

 permission to add an explanatory protocol de- 

 nying the view expressed by the Italian Gov- 

 ernment as to its bearing on the dispute be- 

 tween Turkey and Italy with regard to Mu~- 

 sowah and other Italian posts on the African 

 Red Sea coast, hut the powers would not a~- 

 sent-to the Turkish view. The convention was 

 finally signed at the Porte on October 29. The 

 first three articles are devoted to the subjects 

 of the neutrality of the canal and the security 

 of the works and material of the company, and 

 VOL. xxvin. 19 A 



the next four to the position of belligerents in 

 the canal and its ports of access. The canal is 

 declared free for the transportation of war ma- 

 terial and the passage of ships of war in war 

 times as well as in times of peace. The eighth 

 article specifies the duties of foreign diplomatic 

 agents in Etrypt. and confers on the Porte the 

 presidency at the annual meetings. The ninth 

 and tenth articles establish the responsibility of 

 the Khedive, and define the conditions under 

 which he will have to appeal to the the Sultan 

 and the right of Turkey to provide for the de- 

 fense of the eastern coast of the Red Sea. The 

 next three articles sanction the territorial 

 rights of Turkey and the sovereign prerogatives 

 of the Sultan and of the Khedive outside of 

 the obligations of the treaty. Ihe remaining 

 articles declare that the treaty is not limited 

 to the duration of the Suez Canal concessions, 

 and provide for the exchange of ratifications 

 within a month of the date of signature. 



Finance. The English have been unable to 

 ingraft on Egypt the Indian methods of ad- 

 ministration, and have been compelled to aban- 

 don their efforts to govern the people in their 

 own way. Their general direction of the in- 

 ternal policy of the Central Government has 

 resulted in important reforms, yet these have 

 tailed to win the affection ot the people, and 

 have been attended with increased burdens. 

 English reformers have improved the irrigation 

 works, abolished the coitee, reformed the pris- 

 ons, and to a large extent done away with i.rlii- 

 trary imprisonment and the use of the kour- 

 ba-h, and have introduced ameliorations in the 

 railroad service and throughout the judicial 

 and civil administration : and yet anarchy and 

 impoverishment are worse than ever before, and 

 the financial situation is still critical, although 

 there has been an improvement of public credit, 

 as compared with the period of bankruptcy and 

 disorganization that followed the burning of 

 Alexandria and the British war of occupation. 

 During 1882 and 1883 a floating debt of nearly 

 6,000,000 was contracted. The debt in 1884 

 stood at 101,000.000. Since then it r.as 

 grown to 103,028,000, but nearly the whr.le 

 of the increase was still available in the begin- 

 ning of 1888, when there remained unexpended 

 of the international loan 1.251,000, with a 

 casli reserve of 415,000 in the coffers of the 

 de la Dette, and 76.000 of cash in the 

 Government treasury. Excepting more rigor- 

 ous exactions of the land or irrigation taxes, the 

 only increase of taxation in four years have been 

 taxes on Europeans previously exempt and an 

 increase in the tobacco duties. The annual in- 

 terest on the debt, amounting to 4,250,000, 

 has been paid without any deduction from the 

 coupon. The interest payable abroad, with the 

 Turkish tribute of nearly 700,000, makes a 

 sum of 4,750,000 that the country has to pro- 

 vide annually to meet foreign claims. The 

 average gross value of the exports of cotton, 

 sugar, beans, and wheat between 1880 and 1884 

 -11,367,000 per annum, not counting the 



