EGYPT. 



289 



Egypt. Nearly all the Egyptian bond a were 

 held on the Continent of Europe, principally 

 in France and in Germany. The English Gov- 

 ernment desired to limit the discussion to the 

 financial question, but as this involved the ques- 

 tions of the duration of British occupation, of 

 the present methods of administration, of the 

 administrative reforms to be introduced, and 

 of the guarantees for the stability of the order 

 of things to be established, it was impossible 

 to confine the powers to that subject. On the 

 19th of April Lord Granville sent a circular 

 dispatch to all the great powers, and to the 

 Porte, inviting them to a conference in London 

 to consider whether there was not ground to 

 modify the Law of Liquidation and consult upon 

 the kind of modification that was advisable. 

 Austria, Germany, Kussia, and Italy accepted 

 the proposal without reserve ; France accepted 

 the principle of a conference, but requested a 

 preliminary exchange of views. 



This was the first communication on Egyp- 

 tian affairs between the English and French 

 Governments since the refusal of M. Duclerc 

 to recognize the abolition of the dual control 

 when he broke off negotiations, Jan. 4, 1883, 

 with the declaration that France resumed her 

 freedom of action. As the result of negotia- 

 tions between M. Waddington and Earl Gran- 

 ville, an understanding was reached which was 

 formulated in two notes expressing the mutual 

 engagements of the two governments with 

 reference to Egypt. In M. Waddington's note, 

 dated June 15, the French Republic, for the 

 first time,formallyrenounced the condominium, 

 and disavowed any intention to seek to re- 

 establish the dual control. It also promised 

 never to undertake a military intervention in 

 the Delta of the Nile without the consent of 

 Great Britain. In Lord Granville's note, bear- 

 ing date of June 16, the English Government 

 promised to withdraw the troops from Egypt 

 before the beginning of 1888, or in case it be 

 deemed necessary for the security of Egypt to 

 have them remain longer, to obtain the con- 

 sent of the powers to a prolongation of the 

 term of occupation. Great Britain agreed, 

 moreover, to give the Commission of the Caisse 

 de la Dette Ptiblique, under the presidency of 

 an Englishman, a consultative voice in the 

 preparation of the budget, to be modeled after 

 a normal budget which the English Govern- 

 ment would submit to the Conference; also, 

 the right of veto over any items of expenditure 

 that would prove an excess, except extraor- 

 dinary expenditures required for the preser- 

 vation of order in times of public peril. After 

 the withdrawal of the British troops the Caisse 

 would exercise the additional power of reve- 

 nue inspection. The English Government prom- 

 ised also to submit to the powers and to the 

 Porte, at or before the expiration of the mili- 

 tary occupation, a scheme for the neutraliza- 

 tion of Egypt, on the basis of the principles 

 applied to Belgium, and proposals for the 

 neutralization of the Suez Canal in con- 

 VOL. xxiv. 19 A 



formity with the English circular of January 

 3d, 1883. 



The system that the English ministry pur- 

 posed establishing in Egypt was one in which 

 the administration of the government and le- 

 gislation should be in Egyptian hands, in ac- 

 cordance with the principles of Lord JDufferin's 

 neglected scheme, but the finances should re- 

 main under the supervision of Europeans. The 

 scheme of financial control proposed in the 

 Anglo-French agreement was based upon a 

 dispatch from Sir Evelyn Baring, dated June 

 2, in which a final arrangement of the finances 

 was declared desirable, to insure which a con- 

 trol over the expenditures of the Egyptian 

 Government should be exercised through the 

 agency of Europeans. The powers that would 

 be intrusted to the Public Debt Commission, 

 under the provisional understanding with 

 France, are nearly the same as those formerly 

 exercised by the Dual Control, excepting the 

 right of sitting at Cabinet councils, which re- 

 sulted in the dictation of the controllers in 

 political matters. The Commission of the 

 Caisse consisted of an Austrian, an English, 

 a French, and an Italian member. It was the 

 intention to give the other powers representa- 

 tion when the functions of the body were ex- 

 tended as proposed. The scheme was described 

 by its opponents as a multiple control, which 

 would be divided by rivalry and discord. The 

 Anglo-French agreement was disliked in Eng- 

 land by the Tory party and by the considerable 

 section of the Liberal party which desired to 

 perpetuate in one form or another the exclu- 

 sive British authority over Egypt. 



The Conference. The Egyptian Conference 

 met in London, June 28. Since the prelimi- 

 nary agreement with France covered the po- 

 litical questions, the Conference confined its 

 attention to financial subjects. The scheme 

 of financial relief proposed by Great Britain 

 was worked out by a committee consisting of 

 Sir E. Baring, Sir R. E. Welby, Sir C. Rivers 

 Wilson, and Sir J. M. Carmichael. The Con- 

 ference appointed a Commission of Financial 

 Experts and did not meet again till their re- 

 port was ready, July 22. The English and 

 French members of the Commission differed as 

 to the normal revenue, which MM. Barrere and 

 De Blignidres maintained was underestimated 

 by about 600,000. 



The English proposals, presented by Mr.Chil- 

 ders, were as follow: 1. A loan of 8,000,000 

 sterling, to be raised on the guarantee of Eng- 

 land, to have priority over all other loans, the 

 annual charge for interest and sinking fund 

 being fixed at 4 per cent. 2. The interest on 

 all existing loans, including the Suez Canal 

 shares held by the British Government, to be 

 reduced by per cent. 3. All sinking funds to 

 be suspended. 4. Any suplus of revenue to be 

 divided into two parts, one to be reserved for 

 the requirements cf the following year, and the 

 other to be applied to the redemption of the 

 debt. 5. The cost of maintaining the army of 



