240 



EGYPT. 



loan of 1885 was drawn on to meet E61 6,797 

 of extraordinary expenditure, and a budget 

 surplus of E85,012 was applied to the re- 

 duction of the debt. The budget estimates for 

 1887, as sanctioned by the council of ministers 

 on Dec. 1, 1886, make the total revenue E9,- 

 675,247 after deducting E240,000 for un- 

 foreseen deficiencies. The receipts under the 

 various heads were estimated as follows : Di- 

 rect contributions, E5, 665,883; indirect con- 

 tributions, E1,748,069; revenues of the re- 

 ceipts' administration, E1, 864,403; receipts 

 of the administrative services, E498,940; 

 product of Government property, E84,152; 

 receipts of the Government of Suakin, E13,- 

 800; retentions of salaries, E40,000. The 

 expenditures under the various heads were es- 

 timated at the following amounts: Civil list, 

 etc., E358,100; cost of administration and 

 tax-collection, E1, 845,716; expenses of the 

 administration of receipts, E941,452; public 

 security, E58,517; the Soudan, E35,200; 

 pensions, E500,000; tribute and public debt, 

 E5, 043,976; partial suppression of the cor- 

 vee, E250,000 ; various expenses, E65,000. 

 The total expenditure amounts to E9,628,- 

 961, leaving an excess of receipts of the amount 

 of E46,286. The final accounts for 1886-'87 

 showed a surplus of 177,000, which, added 

 to that of the preceding year, made 573,- 

 000, out of which the Government ordered 

 the deduction of 5 per cent, from the coupon, 

 amounting to 437,000, to be refunded. The 

 occurrence of a deficit, which would have en- 

 tailed an international commission in accord- 

 ance with the financial convention of 1885, 

 was only avoided by a contribution of 200,- 

 000 from the British exchequer. This subsidy 

 was given under pretense of satisfying claims 

 of the Egyptian Government for the transpor- 

 tation of British troops and for the expenses of 

 the Nile expedition and of the defense of the 

 frontier, although previously the British Gov- 

 ernment had declined to assume these burdens. 



The budget for 1887-'88, as finally approved, 

 places the revenue at 9,600,000, and the ex- 

 penditure at 9,576.000. For the next year 

 the Government will have to meet the expense 

 of defending the Soudan frontier out of the 

 ordinary revenue, as the guaranteed loan has 

 been exhausted. It has therefore determined 

 on increasing the duty on domestic tobacco. 



The various classes of the public debt stood 

 on Jan. 1, 1887, at the following amounts in 

 pounds sterling: 



Unified debt (4 per cent.) 55.990,440 



Privileged debt (5 per cent ) 22|296'.800 



Guaranteed loan of 1885 (3 per cent.) 9,301,700 



Total consolidated debt 87.588.940 



Domains loan , 7,354,210 



Daira-8anieh and Daira-Khassa loans 8^659,500 



Total guaranteed loans 16.018,740 



Total public debt 103,602,080 



The Egyptian people have yet to pay for 

 nine years to come the interest on the Khe- 



dive's shares of the Suez Canal that were pur- 

 chased by the British Government, the Khe- 

 dive Ismail having for that period mortgaged 

 the dividends to his creditors. The Moukabala 

 debt, an internal forced loan, is not included in 

 the above statement. The original Moukabala 

 arrangement was that, if the Egyptians paid 

 for twelve years about 45 per cent, more than 

 the regular land-tax, they would after that 

 period have to pay only one half the former 

 tax. This agreement was abrogated in 1876 

 by the Khedive, who promised to return the 

 sums paid in excess of the regular tax. This 

 the foreign creditors would not allow, and, in 

 the final settlement made by the international 

 commission of liquidation, the bulk of the 

 debt, which amounted to 17,000,000, was 

 repudiated, the only return that was promised 

 to the holders of Moukabala certificates being 

 an annuity of E150,000, to be paid for fifty 

 years, or until 1930. 



By the financial convention of 1885 the great 

 powers agreed to guarantee a new loan of 9,- 

 000,000, bearing interest at 3 per c<^nt., which 

 was to be applied to the settlement of the Alex- 

 andria indemnities and the floating debt, each 

 amounting to about 4,000,000, and to the 

 construction of irrigation works. The sum of 

 1,000,000 was destined to meet the expense 

 of evacuating the Soudan and defending the 

 frontier, and this appropriation was exhausted 

 by the end of the financial year 1886-'87. The 

 powers at that time sanctioned the suspension 

 of the sinking fund of the other loans and the 

 levying of a tax of 5 per cent, on their coupons, 

 to be repaid if the finances of Egypt permit at 

 any future time, but only for the years 1885 

 and 1886, unless an international commission 

 shall sanction the continuance of the tax. 



The Army. The Egyptian army has recently 

 been reduced from 17,000 to 11,200 men. It 

 is under the command of an English major- 

 general, Sir Evelyn Wood, and officered partly 

 by Englishmen and partly by Egyptians. It 

 consists of 15 battalions of infantry of about 

 600 men each, 2 squadrons of cavalry of 180 

 men each, 1 battery of field-artillery, 2 camel 

 batteries, and 1 battery of heavy artillery. 



The gendarmerie and police as organized by 

 Baker Pasha consists of 2 infantry battalions, 

 of which one of 400 men is mounted, and 4 

 divisions of police troops. The entire force 

 numbers 5,936 men. One of the police di- 

 visions, 1,180 strong, is destined for the police 

 service of Cairo. 



The British Government in the beginning of 

 1887 announced the intention of reducing the 

 array of occupation from 11,000 to 5,000. The 

 reduction was begun in January, but was not 

 carried out. In May the force remaining in 

 Egypt was 9,300. 



The Suez Canal. The cost of the original con- 

 struction of the Suez Canal, and of its subse- 

 quent enlargement and other improvements, 

 amounted in the beginning of 1884 to 488,- 

 055,019 francs. The receipts during 1886 



