EGYPT. 



277 



The railroad network in 1889 comprised 165 

 miles of double and 944 miles of single lines, in 

 all 1,109 miles, of which 956 miles were in opera- 

 tion. The gross receipts in 1889 amounted to 

 1,301,529 Egyptian pounds, and the expenses to 

 585,000 pounds. 



Navigation. During 1888 the number of ves- 

 sels arriving at the port of Alexandria was 2,283, 

 of 1,587,392 tons, and the number cleared was 

 2,129, of 1,582,169 tons. Of the arrivals 547, of 

 693.102 tons, were British ; 1,015, of 252,566 tons, 

 Turkish ; 148, of 251,477 tons, French ; 131. of 163,- 

 980 tons, Austrian ; 81, of 115,936 tons, Russian ; 

 67, of 57,277 tons, Italian ; 136, of 30,900 tons, 

 Greek; 9, of 10,717 tons, Swedish; 31, of 5,926 

 tons, Norwegian ; 2, of 2,798 tons, Belgian ; and 

 3, of 2,683 tons, German At the port of Suez 

 463 vessels, of 912,940 tons, and at Port Said 807 

 vessels, of 917,538 tons, were entered in'1888. 



The Suez Canal. In 1888 the number of 

 vessels that passed through the canal was 3,440, 

 with a gross tonnage of 8,183,313 tons. Of these, 

 2,625, of 7,335,062 tons, were British; 187, of 

 576,993 tons, French ; 163, of 393,318 tons, Ger- 

 man ; 146, of 395,624 tons, Italian ; 121, of 295,- 

 719 tons, Dutch ; 58, of 173,212 tons, Austrian ; 

 39, of 67,956 tons, Norwegian ; 26, of 99,080 tons, 

 Spanish ; 16, of 45,401 tons, Russian ; and 29, of 

 31,694 tons, Turkish. The remainder comprised 

 10 Egyptian, 7 Portuguese, 6 Chinese, and 3 

 Japanese vessels, and 1 each from the United 

 States, Belgium, Denmark, and Hawaii. In 1889 

 the total number of vessels was 3.425 and their 

 aggregate tonnage 9,606,000, 78-91 per cent, of 

 which was British, 5-33 per cent. French, 4'27 

 per cent. German, 3'87 per cent. Dutch, and 2'76 

 per cent. Italian. The working expenses are 

 only 11 per cent, of the revenue. The receipts 

 in 1889 were 69,000,000 francs, and the expenses, 

 including 5 per cent, interest and redemptions, 

 were 32,000,000 francs, leaving a net profit of 

 37,000,000 francs. The average time of passage 

 has been reduced to 26 hours and 44 minutes. 

 The deepening of the canal to 8^ metres has been 

 completed, and since April 1, 1890, vessels draw- 

 ing 7'80 metres, or 26 feet, have been able to pass 

 through. The work of widening the canal is 

 going forward. Improvements have cost 51,- 

 000,000 francs. A part of the French share- 

 holders have contended persistently against the 

 reduction of the tariff in the interest of British 

 ship-owners that the, board agreed to in 1886. 

 This opposition had no success at the meeting of 

 June 3, 1890, in view of the dividend of 91 francs, 

 or more than 18 per cent., that was declared. 



General Condition. The native courts, once 

 so corrupt that rich and poor alike avoided liti- 

 gation, have been so far reformed that now their 

 dockets are full, although much remains to be 

 done before the administration of justice shall 

 be equal, intelligent, inexpensive, and free from 

 the undue influence of the great. The educa- 

 tional system is still almost worthless, and less 

 attention is paid to it than Mehemet Ali gave. 

 There are not more than 200,000 persons in all 

 Egypt who can read and write. .The representa- 

 tive system instituted in 1883 is a mere sham, 

 nor will it be permitted to become a reality so 

 long as the English desire to maintain their 

 grasp on Egypt and the direction of the govern- 

 ment is confided to Indian administrators. The 



reform in sanitation that was the first thing 

 promised when the English assumed control and 

 abolished the old Sanitary Board, managed by 

 Frenchmen and Italians, has been totally neg- 

 lected ; the towns and the rural districts are in a 

 more filthy condition, the hospitals more dilapi- 



Lg 



higher than under the old 

 board ; and when Egypt was threatened with 

 cholera in the summer of 1890 the highly paid 

 English sanitary officials were all absent in Eu- 

 rope attending to other business. The incidence 

 of the land taxes is extremely unequal, and yet 

 a survey and revaluation after they were begun 

 were abandoned. The people themselves, in spite 

 of certain benefits that- they are conscious of 

 having derived from the English administration 

 of the finances and public works and the grati- 

 tude that they feel for the suppression of flogging 

 and the corvee, are imbued with the national 

 spirit and feel the foreign yoke more galling 

 than when they rose against the joint control. 

 The increase of crime is a significant symptom 

 of the failure of British rule, when it is remem- 

 bered that under Ismail robbery and violence 

 were practically unknown and that security was 

 established in town and country and even in the 

 wastes of the desert. The introduction of the 

 new tribunals into upper Egypt in 1889, re- 

 placing the jurisdiction of the mudirs, mamours, 

 and sheiks, was followed by an epidemic of 

 brigandage. A reform of the criminal courts of 

 Egypt has been undertaken, and the assistance 

 of Justice Scott, of Bombay, has been secured. 

 During the ministry of Riaz Pasha the railroad 

 budget has been increased for the extension of 

 the network by 52,000 pounds; the foreign post- 

 offices, excepting the French, have been done 

 away with ;" carrier delivery has been introduced 

 in Cairo and Alexandria, and postal routes have 

 been enlarged ; a municipality has been estab- 

 lished in Alexandria, and the harbor entrance 

 has been improved ; the octrois have been abol- 

 ished in Damietta and Rosetta, and the rice tax 

 and other taxes have been remitted to the 

 amount of 121,000 pounds, which is the first re- 

 duction of taxation ever known in Egypt; Euro- 

 peans have been subjected to the house and land 

 taxes ; many new schools have been erected ; the 

 salaries of teachers and petty officials have been 

 raised ; the rate of interest has been lowered 

 from 7| to 5| and 5 per cent. ; and, chief of all 

 the achievements of the minister and his Eng- 

 lish coadjutors, the barrage has been completed, 

 the canals have been extended by many hundred 

 miles, and reservoirs and sluices built, 1,000,000 

 pounds having been spent for these objects in 

 the year 1889 alone. 



The Barrage. The improvement in the 

 Egyptian revenue and the restoration of the 

 financial equilibrium are the result of the exten- 

 sion of cotton culture, and this would not have 

 been nearly so great if Sir Colin Scott Moncrieff 

 had not decided to restore the barrage. The 

 Nile barrage consists of two dams placed across 

 the river where it divides into two branches 

 which flow into the sea, one at Rosetta and one 

 at Damietta. This gigantic work, designed by 

 French engineers and begun in 1843 under the 

 direction of Mougel Bey, was eighteen years in 



