284 



EGYPT. 



increase of the police force by 3,000 men. The 

 navy consisted, in 1881, of 13 steamers, poorly 

 armored. 



Commerce and Navigation. The reported value 

 of the exports rose from 2,750,000 Egyptian 

 pounds in 1855 to 10,280,000 in 1875, 12,980,- 

 000 in 1880, 12,980,000 in 1881, 10,840,000 in 

 1882, and 12,310,000 in 1883, not including the 

 duty-free transit trade with Turkey. The value 

 of the foreign trade with various countries was 

 in 1883 as follows, in Egyptian pounds: 



The non- dutiable exports to Turkey, re- 

 exported merchandise on which duty has been 

 paid in Egypt, amounted to 182,810 pounds, 

 and the imports from Turkey of the same class 

 to 1,268,110 pounds, making the total value of 

 the exports 12,309,880 pounds, and of the im- 

 ports 8,596,970 pounds. 



The value of raw cotton and other textile 

 materials exported was 7,546,000 pounds; of 

 cotton-seed, 1,697,000 ; of cereals, 1,644,000 ; 

 of sugar, 394,000. The value of the import of 

 textile manufactures was 3,021,000 pounds; 

 of coal, 915,000 ; of drugs, dyes, and chemi- 

 cals, 459,000 ; of fermented liquors, 342,000 ; 

 of metals and metal manufactures, 275,000 ; of 

 wood, etc., 283,000. 



The total tonnage entered at Alexandria, 

 Port Said, Suez, and other Egyptian ports in 

 1880 was 3,242,022 tons, of which 294,183 tons 

 were under the Egyptian flag. The steam ton- 

 nage was 2.845,738. The total tonnage cleared 

 was 3,255,614 tons, the steam tonnage 2,865,- 

 293. The .Government owns 16 packet-boats, 

 which ply between various ports in the Red 

 Sea and the Mediterranean. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The total 

 length of railroads in operation in 1883 was 

 1,518 kilometres, all state property. 



The number of letters forwarded in 1883 

 was 2,497,000 ; of registered letters, 213,069; 

 of postal-cards, 109,000 ; of newspapers, 1,340,- 

 000 ; the value of postal-orders, 565,027 Egyp- 

 tian pounds; of money shipments, 898,017 

 pounds; the number of international letters 

 and postal-cards, 2,177,000 ; receipts in 1883, 

 80,665 pounds ; expenses, 58,618. 



The length of telegraph lines completed in 

 1878 was 7,841 kilometres ; of wires, 12,040, 

 of which 8,097 were in Egypt proper, and 

 8,943 in the Soudan. 



Finances. The revenue is derived chiefly 

 from a land-tax which ia exceedingly heavy, 

 approaching in amount the rent paid to pro- 

 prietors in other countries, but for which the 



cultivators receive a partial return in the irri- 

 gation works constructed and maintained by 

 the Government. The revenues of four of the 

 provinces, together with the customs and to- 

 bacco duties, are assigned to the service of the 

 unified debt; the railway receipts and port 

 dues of Alexandria to that of the preference 

 debt. The yield of the land-tax in all the prov- 

 inces within the past few years has varied from 

 4,250,000 to 5,250,000, the latter amount 

 representing an average tax of $5 an acre, 

 taking the cutivated area at 5J million feddans 

 or acres. The revenues assigned to the unified 

 debt produced, in 1880, 3,262,599 Egyptian 

 pounds (1 Egyptian pound = $5) ; in 1881, 

 3,310,302 Egyptian pounds. Those assigned 

 to the preferred debt yielded in 1880 1,281,621 

 Egyptian pounds; in 1881, 1,391,353 Egyp- 

 tian pounds. The total yield of the assigned 

 revenues was 4,544,220 Egyptian pounds in 

 1880, and 4,701,655 in 1881. The unassigned 

 revenue, or ordinary revenue, available for the 

 expenditures of the Government, subject to 

 certain prior charges, comprises the land-taxes 

 of the other provinces, the taxes of Cairo, Alex- 

 andria, and the six town governorships, the 

 receipts of the tribunals of reform, of the mail- 

 steamers and post-office, the salt-tax, and rev- 

 enues from other sources. The unassigned 

 revenues yielded, in 1880, 4,391,078 Egyptian 

 pounds ; in 1881, 4,310,116 pounds; making the 

 total revenue, in 1880, 8,935,298 ; in 1881, 9,- 

 011,771 Egyptian pounds. Until the rebellion of 

 Arabi, and the British occupation, the ordinary 

 as well as the assigned revenues showed a sur- 

 plus. The events of 1882 left a deficit of 191,- 

 487 Egyptian pounds, besides 97,754 pounds 

 required to make up the interest of the domain 

 loan and the expenses of the British occupa- 

 tion, which amounted to about 700,000 pounds. 

 The budget for that year estimated the receipts 

 at 8,746,556 pounds, and the expenditures at 

 8,463,968 pounds. The budget for 1883 placed 

 the total receipts at 8,804,627 pounds sterling, 

 and the total expenditures at 8,581,918 pounds 

 sterling. The unassigned revenues yielded, as 

 usual, a surplus ; but the expenditures, under 

 English protection, increased while the revenue 

 declined, so that instead of a surplus the budg- 

 et showed again a deficit. The closed accounts 

 showed the total receipts to be 8,934,075 Egyp- 

 tian pounds, and the total expenditures 9,156,- 

 989 Egyptian pounds. The chief heads of ex- 

 penditure were as follow : Turkish tribute, 

 678,612 pounds ; interest on the public debt, 

 8,746,961 pounds ; civil list, 314,503 pounds ; 

 the Khedive's Cabinet, 61,977 pounds; rail- 

 roads and telegraphs, 530,240 pounds; port of 

 Alexandria, 31,040 pounds; Ministry of War, 

 164,710 pounds. Of the total revenues, 4,918,- 

 353 pounds were derived from the land-tax ; 

 78,234 pounds from the Alexandria harbor 

 dues ; 1,233,960 pounds from the railroads and 

 telegraphs ; and 758,095 pounds from customs. 

 The net proceeds of the last three sources of 

 revenue and 2,482,251 pounds of the land-tax 



