EGYPT. 



267 



payment of the next coupon of the unified 

 debt, so long as the claims upon the Govern- 

 ment, recognized by the judicial decisions of 

 the international tribunals, remained unpaid. 



On the 25th of October the princes and 

 princesses of the Khedive's family completed, 

 according to the formalities of the Mussulman 

 law, the act of ceding their property to the 

 state. The Khedive issued a decree, counter- 

 signed by the President of the Council of Min- 

 isters, formally confirming the session, and 

 transferring the property to the state in per- 

 petuity. The Minister of Finance was author- 

 ized to contract a five per cent, loan, not ex- 

 ceeding 8,500,000, guaranteed by the ceded 

 property, the deficiency, in case this security 

 should prove insufficient, to be covered by an 

 appropriation from the general Egyptian rev- 

 enue. Mr. Rivers "Wilson and M. de Blignieres 

 entered upon their duties as Minister of Fi- 

 nance and Minister of Public Works, and the 

 Cabinet was completed, on the last day of No- 

 vember. Previous to reaching Egypt to as- 

 sume his office, Mr. Wilson had visited Paris 

 and concluded an arrangement with the Credit 

 Foncier and the French syndicate under which 

 the large amount of Egyptian securities held 

 by those two bodies was not to be placed on 

 the market until after the lapse of a period of 

 sufficient duration to secure a breathing-time 



for the revival of Egyptian credit and the work- 

 ing of the new administration. 



The Council of Foreign Bondholders on the 

 last of November published a statement of 

 the Egyptian revenues received in the first 

 nine months of the year, as compared with the 

 corresponding period of 1877, from which it 

 appeared that the total receipts to the end of 

 September, 1878, were 4,811,395, against 5,- 

 995,735 in the first nine months of 1877. 



The Egyptian Council of Ministers, acting 

 in concert with the Caisse of the Public Debt, 

 have decided upon the amalgamation of the 

 functions of the English and French comptrol- 

 lers-general. One comptroller-general will be 

 appointed by the Minister of Finance, but in 

 order still further to strengthen the guarantees 

 given to the Egyptian bondholders by the Khe- 

 dive's decrees of May 7 and November 18, 

 1876, respecting the provinces specially set 

 apart for the service of the debt, a delegate of 

 the Caisse of the Public Debt will act as appro- 

 priation auditor, in order to see that each item 

 of personal taxation is passed in accordance 

 with the respective budget items. 



A question has been started as to the com- 

 petency of the Egyptian railways to contribute 

 what is expected of them toward the service 

 of the preferred debt. They fell short in 1877, 

 having contributed only 670,000 when they 



THE CATACOMBS OF THEBES. 



should have contributed 780,000. A detailed 

 report issued in June, by the President of the 

 Council of the Egyptian Railway Commission, 

 shows that the falling off was due to excep- 

 tional circumstances, and to serious defects in 

 the system of administration. From its figures 

 the inference was drawn that, the year 1877 

 having been a year of great commercial de- 

 pression, its railway income must be treated 

 as a minimum ; and that in an ordinary year 

 and with a fair start the net income of the rail- 

 ways ought to exceed 750,000 a year. Im- 

 provements had been or were to be introduced 

 in the management, including greater regular- 

 ity in the train service, the preparation for re- 



pairs on the spot instead of having everything 

 brought from Europe, the substitution of one 

 or two types only in the engines and rolling 

 stock for the great variety now in use, from 

 which improved financial results were antici- 

 pated. 



In the beginning of June Sherif Pasha, the 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Justice, re- 

 signed his position. The cause of his resigna- 

 tion was a summons by the Commission of In- 

 quiry to give evidence as to the administration 

 of local justice. Sherif refused to appear, and 

 the Commission appealed to the Viceroy. 

 Sherif anticipated the Viceroy's decision by 

 resignation, which strengthened the Commis- 



