264 



EGYPT. 



tect all the interests involved ; and in a very 

 plain-spoken protest they criticised the Gov- 

 ernment very severely. The suit of the Com- 

 missioners was in the beginning of March de- 

 cided in their favor by the court of the first 

 instance. On March 30th the Khedive sanc- 

 tioned the appointment of a commission of in- 

 quiry into the finances of the country. Its 

 history in brief is as follows : In the fall of 

 1877 claims on Egypt were advanced outside 

 the funded debt amounting to about 4,000,- 

 000 ; at the same time the Egyptian Govern- 

 ment maintained that the resources of the 

 country could not meet the demands of the 

 public creditors unless the interest of the na- 

 tional debt were reduced. The European finan- 

 cial officers then all went to London to consult 

 Messrs. Goschen and Joubert. It was finally 

 decided that Egypt must submit to a thorough 

 investigation of her expenditures and receipts 

 before the proposal of a reduced interest could 

 be entertained. In January, 1 878, the Khedive, 

 after much negotiation, sanctioned an inquiry 

 into the receipts, but refused to submit the 

 expenditures to any examination whatever. 

 Finally, however, through the representations 

 of Mr. Vivian, the British Consul-General, the 

 Khedive consented to a full examination. The 

 decree, one of the most important documents 

 ever issued by Ismail Pasha, was as fol- 

 lows: 



We, Khedive of Egypt with respect to our decree 

 of the 27th of January, 1878, instituting a superior 

 Commission of Inquiry, considering that it is the 

 duty of that Commission to prepare ;md submit for 

 pur sanction regulations to secure the regular work- 

 ing of the public services, and to give a just satis- 

 faction to the interests of the country, and to the 

 public creditors have decreed and decree 



ARTICLE 1. The widest powers (les pouvoirs les plus 

 (tendus) are given to the Commission we establish. 



ART. 2. The investigations of the Commission of 

 Inquiry will embrace all the elements of the financial 

 situation, always respecting the legitimate rights of 

 the Government. 



ART. 3. The ministers and officials of our Govern- 

 ment will be bound to furnish directly to the Com- 

 mission, at its request and without delay, all infor- 

 mation required from them. 



ART. 4. Are named members of the superior Com- 

 mission of Inquiry President, M. Ferdinand de Les- 

 seps; Vice-President, Mr. Eivers Wilson; Vice- 

 President, his Excellency Riaz Pasha; M. Baravelli, 

 Mr. Baring, M. de Blignieres, M. de Kremer. 



ART. 5. A credit necessary for the expenses of the 

 Commission will be opened on the budget of 1878, 

 in accordance with the report which the President 

 will present to us. ISMAIL. 



CAIRO, March 30, 1878. 



A new difficulty arose when the May cou- 

 pons of the public debt came due. Two days 

 before pay-day 500,000 were still wanting, 

 and the provinces could pay no more. In this 

 extremity a group of bankers advanced the 

 money, and the coupons were paid. The se- 

 curity for repayment was, first, the whole of 

 the taxes of the provinces whence would come 

 the next grain crop ; and, secondly, the personal 

 pledges of several of the royal princes. The 

 Goschen decree, however, forbids such antici- 



pation of taxes, and consequently the European 

 comptrollers have protested against it, and the 

 Commissioners of Public Debt declined to coun- 

 tenance it. They accepted the money as paid 

 by the Minister of Finance, but they totally 

 refused to acknowledge the validity of the se- 

 curity. In order to overcome these difficulties, 

 the plan was submitted to the British Parlia- 

 ment then in session, and its approval was se- 

 cured. 



On August 20th Mr. Eivers Wilson presented 

 to the Khedive the report of the Commission 

 of Inquiry. The first part of the report opened 

 with an explanation of the system of accounts 

 adopted by the Egyptian Government. The 

 next chapter is directed to an explanation of 

 the system of taxation. On this subject the 

 Commission reported : 



To know in virtue of what law a certain tax is lev- 

 ied is the very last thought of the tax-gatherer. The 

 Sheik executes the order of the Moudir, the Moudir 

 of the Inspector-General, and the Inspector- General 

 acts by ordre superieur. This ordre superieur is the 

 law. The agents of the Government conform to it, 

 even if verbal, and it never enters the mind of the 

 tax-payer either to contest its existence or to protest 

 against its action. " The fellah can not protest." said 

 the Inspector-General of Upper Egypt; " he knows 

 that we act by ordre superieur. It is the Government 

 its'elf who claims. To whom should he complain? 

 . . . We may say, in fact, that in general the natives 

 will pay every tax which is imposed, whether legal 

 or illegal, without inquiry. The Europeans, on the 

 contrary, frequently refuse to pay, and the Govern- 

 ment, called upon to justify their claims, are com- 

 pelled to abandon them." 



Leaving the subject of general taxation, the 

 Commission discuss three of the most radical 

 evils of the country the corvee, the military 

 conscription, and the water laws. The report 

 acknowledges the necessity of forced labor in 

 works of public utility, and in cases of sudden 

 emergency, such as an overflow of the Nile ; 

 but it insists that this also should be subject 

 to as complete a revision as other more direct 

 taxes. As regards military conscription, they 

 condemn emphatically the system by which 

 the Government agents name according to 

 their pleasure the men destined for service; 

 the abuses of such a system are too manifest, 

 especially when it is added that the time of 

 service is unlimited, that exemption costs 80 

 for a new recruit, and that this amount, instead 

 of decreasing in consideration of service, ac- 

 tually increases, the soldier being debited, so 

 to speak, with the expenses which the Gov- 

 ernment has been put to on his behalf for 

 military education. The first portion of the 

 report closes with a somewhat severe criticism 

 on the method in which the Goschen-Joubert 

 reforms have been carried out by the Comptrol- 

 lers-General. The second portion of the re- 

 port, termed situation fiudjetaire, commences 

 by a separate statement drawn up by Messrs. 

 Baring and Kremer, who were formed into a 

 sub-committee for the purpose of estimating 

 the non -consolidated liabilities. The summary 

 of the floating debt is given as follows : 



