EGYPT. 



311 



subject to be adopted and enforced by tbe con- 

 cert of Europe. 



These proposals produced much excited de- 

 bate at Cabinet councils. An English journal 

 of that day declared that " it is impossible not 

 to discern certain indications of the same hos- 

 tile spirit in the recent conduct of Germa- 

 ny." A French journal said, " These propos- 

 als were intended to remind England that her 

 intervention can not be allowed to deprive the 

 Egyptian question of its international charac- 

 ter and interest." 



To these propositions Lord Granville offered 

 amendments which appear in the following let- 

 ter, addressed to the courts of Berlin, Vienna, 

 St. Petersburg, and Italy, through the French 

 ambassador, dated Paris, Jan. 23, 1885 : "Lord 

 Granville has submitted to our ambassador at 

 London his reply to our united communication 

 upon Egyptian affairs. The English Govern- 

 ment recognizes the extent of the concessions 

 that the powers make in consenting to the ap- 

 plication of tax upon strangers and the tem- 

 porary sacrifice in favor of the creditors of 

 Egypt. It accepts as a super-privileged loan of 

 9,000,000 the collective guarantee upon the 

 basis of the Turkish loan of 1855. It admits the 

 representation d la came de la dette of the Ger- 

 man and Russian Governments, but in all that 

 concerns an international enquete to be made, 

 it esteems that the adoption of such a measure 

 would injure in this moment the authority of 

 the Khedive, and the success of his efforts to 

 re-establish financial order; it admits, how- 

 ever, that in two years, if it appears then ne- 

 cessary to render permanent the service im- 

 posed upon creditors, an international commis- 

 sion d? enquete could be instituted, like that one 

 which preceded the law of liquidation. The 

 English Government adheres to the views of 

 Europe in all that touches the liberty of the 

 Suez Canal, and consents that the question may 

 be made the subject of a treaty ; finally, it 

 abandons its propositions relative to loans, and 

 administrators of the Daira and the Domains. 

 The result of the communication is a real de- 

 sire for conciliation and a deference for the 

 views of the powers. All of their propositions 

 are accepted ; the principle of the enquete 

 being admitted, also the temporary sacrifice 

 asked of the creditors. I do not see any great 

 objections against the adjournment to two years 

 of the commission d? enquete. It seems logical 

 to hope that the situation then will be of such 

 a nature that England herself will recognize the 

 occasion to re-establish the creditors in all their 

 rights. I think we may then accept the pro- 

 posed basis, and that there is an interest to do 

 so promptly. The resolution of the English 

 Government has been communicated probably 

 to the ambassadors at London of all the pow- 

 ers interested." FERRY. 



These propositions were approved by the 

 powers, and were signed the 17th March, and 

 were subsequently made the subject of a decla- 

 ration and imperial firman by the Sultan 



not, however, without the habitual escarmouche 

 which makes the Turk unutterable. At a spe- 

 cial Cabinet council at Yildiz Kiosk, although 

 the Sultan was willing, the Grand Vizier raised 

 objections (1) that the Porte could not consid- 

 er itself bound to sign a convention made by a 

 foreign government outside of its own initia- 

 tive ; (2) that it was urged that the Porte could 

 not be a party to any condition for the guar- 

 antee of the loan ; (3) that the mention in the 

 convention of the necessity for paying the in- 

 demnities for the bombardment would imply 

 the recognition of, or acquiescence in, the re- 

 sponsibility for an act of aggression, against 

 which at the time the Porte had formally pro- 

 tested ; and (4) that the ministers could not ad- 

 vise the Sultan to consent to that clause in the 

 convention under which his Majesty was de- 

 clared to accept a decree of the Khedive on 

 the subject in question. "When this became 

 known, an nltimatum was delivered, declar- 

 ing that unless a prompt decision were taken 

 sanctioning the loan, the payment of the Egyp- 

 tian tribute would be suspended, entailing vir- 

 tually the severance of Egypt from the empire. 

 The result of this financial convention, which 

 was ratified by the French Senate, July 7, 1885, 

 reasserts the authority of the powers in Egypt, 

 and withholds for two years that interference 

 which is inevitable, in order to permit England 

 to attempt to bring order out of chaos, which 

 she has signally failed to do as yet. 



Mr. Edward Vincent, financial adviser to 

 the Minister of Finance, has published his 

 financial creed for 1885. He says, " It is clear- 

 ly the duty of the Egyptian Government to 

 make every endeavor to resume payment in full 

 in 1887." He estimates the revenue for 1885 

 at 9,352,515, to which he adds for increased 

 tobacco duties, 140,000 ; taxes on Europeans, 

 100,000; spirit-licenses, 20,000; reassess- 

 ment of land improved by irrigation, 70,000 ; 

 optional tax in lieu of the corvee, 240,000 ; 

 total revenue, 9,922,515. 



The expenditure, including the Moukabala, 

 the cost of the army of occupation, and the 

 Suez Canal shares, amounts to 5,237,000. 

 The debt charge, including the new loan, and 

 deducting the 5 per cent, tax, and also the 

 sinking fund on the Preference and Domain, 

 now abolished, is 3,683,699; to which Mr. 

 Vincent adds the cost of the abolition of the 

 corvee, 496,000; reductions jn the land-tax, 

 200,000; reduction in the navigation dues, 

 35,000 ; and abolition of the export duty on 

 cereals, 24,000; total expenditure, 9,675,- 

 699 ; leaving a surplus of 246,816. Even this 

 showing of a hopeful financier is gloomy, and 

 the shadow of the Mahdi and a threatened in- 

 vasion render it all the more discouraging. 



The returns of the revenue and expenditure 

 of the Egyptian Government up to the end of 

 July, which have recently been made public, 

 show an amelioration in the former desperate 

 condition of the country. 



The revenue for the first seven months of 



