EGYPT. 



tion, and exempt from taxation. Said Pasha 

 finally imposed a tax, which he fixed at a rate 

 representing one tenth of the produce; hence 

 they came to be known as Ushuri, the name 

 applied in conquered countries to the lands of 

 the true believers, which are subject only to 

 the religious tithes. Mr. Rowsell, who inves- 

 tigated the land question at the request of 

 Nubar Pasha, reported that there are in 

 Upper Egypt 1,607,787 feddans of Kharadji, 

 on which the average tax is 119 piasters per 

 feddan, and 436,907 feddans of Ushuri, which 

 pays an average rate of only 37'22 piasters; 

 and in Lower Egypt 1,738,693 feddans of 

 Kharadji, paying 138*8 piasters per feddan, and 

 871,019 feddans of Ushuri, paying 59'39 pias- 

 ters. The tax placed upon the Ushuri by Said 

 Pasha was one half the usual rate, but in the 

 course of time the proportion has changed to 

 the disadvantage of the poorer proprietors of 

 the Kharadji lands. 



The Financial Question. The English found, 

 their hands bound by the bankruptcy of the 

 Egyptian Treasury, which resulted from their 

 military and political interference, and the 

 manner in which it was carried out. Whatever 

 slight improvements were wrought in the ad- 

 ministration before the summer of 1883, came 

 to a stand-still. From that time lawlessness 

 and crime increased. English officials, who 

 were appointed in the place of Egyptians, were 

 less competent than they to check the tide of 

 anarchy. The disastrous expeditions of Gen- 

 eral Hicks and General Baker not only added 

 to the financial difficulties, but the policy of 

 abandoning the Soudan, insisted upon by the 

 British Government, alienated the governing 

 class, and increased the hatred of the people 

 toward the English. This policy had its 

 grounds in the insolvent condition of Egypt. 

 Besides, the English were not interested in 

 having the Soudan remain under Egyptian 

 authority, though they were in establishing 

 their prestige independently in that fertile re- 

 gion, rich in its own productive capacity, and 

 in its trade-routes to inner Africa. 



The accumulated deficits of the Treasury for 

 three years amounted to about 8,000,000, be- 

 sides an estimated deficit for 1884 of 512,000. 

 The Alexandria indemnities made 3,950,000 

 of the deficit, 300,000 of the indemnities 

 having already been paid by the Treasury. 

 The estimated cost of the evacuation of the 

 Soudan made 1,000,000 more. The charge 

 for the British army of occupation added a 

 large annual sum to the expenses of the 

 Egyptian Government. The British Govern- 

 ment proposed to meet the deficit by a new 

 loan, but was embarrassed by the Law of Li- 

 quidation, which sequestered the most produc- 

 tive revenues for the service of the existing 

 debt. In the settlement oi the debt, arranged 

 by the International Commission in 1879, Eng- 

 land, France, Germany, Austria, and Italy 

 were parties. The receipts of the state rail- 

 roads and telegraphs, and the port dues of 



Alexandria, were hypothecated for the pay- 

 ment of the interest on the preference debt. 

 To the service of the unified debt were as- 

 signed the tax receipts of Garbieh, Menoufieh, 

 Behara, and Siout, four of the richest provinces 

 of Egypt, subject to a charge of 7 per cent, 

 for collection. The ordinary or non-assigned 

 revenues were also subject to fixed charges for 

 the tribute to the Sultan, the interest on the 

 Suez Canal shares purchased by the British 

 Government, a subvention to the Daira rev- 

 enues, and the amnesty for payment of the 

 Moukabala claims, amounting altogether to 

 1,060,000 per annum. The assigned revenues 

 met the interest charges on the preference and 

 unified stocks, and yielded besides an annual 

 surplus, which was applied to the payment of 

 the principal under the Law of Liquidation. 

 During the three years, 1881-'83, nearly 2,- 

 000,000 of the debt was extinguished by this 

 sinking fund. The estimated surplus for 1884 

 was 400,000. The total income from the 

 non-assigned revenues in 1881, the year before 

 the war, was 4,454,000. The estimated or- 

 dinary revenue for 1884 was 4,738,000. The 

 proposed loan of 8,000,000 sterling would 

 provide for future expenditure 1,000,000 for 

 the projected improvements in the irrigation 

 canals, besides an equal amount for the evacu- 

 ation of the southern provinces. According to 

 the reports of Edgar Vincent, the English 

 financial adviser of the Egyptian Government, 

 the deficit of the Egyptian budget in 1882 was 

 850,000 Egyptian pounds, and in 1883 1,635,- 

 000 Egyptian pounds, making, with the esti- 

 mated deficit for 1884, 2,997,000 Egyptian 

 pounds. The extraordinary expenditures at 

 the time of Arabi's rebellion amounted to 751,- 

 000 Egyptian pounds. The campaign of Gen- 

 eral Hicks in Kordofan cost about 500,000 

 Egyptian pounds. The expenditure for the 

 British military occupation was 174,000 Egyp- 

 tian pounds in 1882, 425,000 in 1883, and 360,- 

 000 in 1884, not including about 100,000 

 Egyptian pounds a year for camp and barrack 

 expenses, requisitions of produce, etc. The 

 reform experiments in the gendarmerie, the 

 police, the tribunals, inspectors of the adminis- 

 tration, etc., entailed during the three years the 

 expenditure of about 200,000 Egyptian pounds. 

 The Suakin campaign cost about 150,000, 

 General Gordon's mission 200,000 Egyptian 

 pounds. The salaries of the English officials 

 added 70,000 or 80,000 Egyptian pounds a year 

 to the cost of the administration. 



Anglo-French Agreement. To extricate Egypt 

 from the financial difficulties into which she 

 had fallen under English control, the British 

 Cabinet found it necessary to appeal to the 

 powers to authorize a revision of the Liquida- 

 tion Laws, which would increase the disposable 

 revenue and improve the credit of the Egyp- 

 tian Government. It was deemed reasonable 

 that th*o bondholders should sacrifice a part of 

 their interest for the sake of re-establishing 

 a stable order and restoring public credit in 



