EGYPT. 



243 



dition of the prisons has been greatly amelio- 

 rated, and prisoners are no longer incarcerated 

 for years without trial. Although the speedy 

 clearing of the criminal dockets is still impos- 

 sible, prisoners who have been detained for a 

 number of months can demand a hearing in 

 court to determine whether there is ground 

 for holding them longer. The Code Napoleon 

 has been introduced, and a system of procedure 

 adopted, and eleven European judges have been 

 imported to act as guides to the native judges 

 in applying European principles of jurispru- 

 dence. These new native courts came into 

 collision, not only with the consular and inter- 

 national tribunals, but with the Mohammedan 

 religious courts. The Sheikh-ul-Islam and the 

 Grand Cadi claimed jurisdiction in all ques- 

 tions of marriage and succession, and also the 

 right to decide any civil dispute that was 

 brought before them. As a consequence, there 

 arose confusion from contradictory decisions. 

 The conflict .culminated in the dismissal from 

 office of the Sheikh-ul-Islam, and the issuance 

 of a decree requiring all civil cases to be 

 brought before the lay tribunals. 



Abolition of the Corvee. The condition of the 

 fellaheen has been much improved by the abo- 

 lition of the forced labor on the canals, in cases 

 where it was most burdensome. The number 

 of men called out for 100 days to clean and 

 repair the irrigation canals was 234,000 in 

 1882. They were taken away when their 

 labor was necessary for the tillage of their 

 farms, and were often compelled to abandon 

 ripe grain and lose their crops. The English 

 promised to do away with the corvee, but were 

 only able to accomplish it by. gradual reduc- 

 tions. There were 202,000 summoned for the 

 corvee in 1883. In 1886 the number was 95,- 

 000. The peasants were not compelled to march 

 from distant places and provide themselves 

 with food away from home, as formerly, but 

 only those living near the works were taken. 

 In 1887 the Government prepared to forego 

 forced labor entirely, but abandoned that pur- 

 pose, and provided only for the continued par- 

 tial suppression of the corvee. For this the 

 sum of E250.000 per annum was necessary 

 to pay for cleaning the canals by contract. A 

 similar sum was available from purchases of 

 military exemptions ; for so averse are the 

 fellaheen to military service that they will pay 

 100 or more to escape it. Out of the 5,- 

 370,000 to which the administrative expendi- 

 tures, including the cost of collecting the cus- 

 toms and working the railroads, were limited 

 by the financial convention, it was considered 

 impossible to economize enough to meet the 

 expense of cleaning the canals with paid in- 

 stead of with forced labor. The decree for the 

 partial substitution of paid labor for another 

 year had been agreed to in principle by the 

 powers in 1886. Yet, when Nubar Pasha in 

 the provisional budget for 1887 proposed to 

 apply the receipts obtained from purchases of 

 military exemption to this object, the French 



Government raised a protest, insisting that the 

 revenue from that source should be applied to 

 establishing a native army. The sum of E130,- 

 000 set down in the budget was declared to 

 be palpably inadequate, and the entire budget 

 to be illusory. The protest of France was 

 backed by Kussia. The English sought to 

 make the French unpopular by throwing on 

 them the responsibility of preventing the abo- 

 lition of the corvee, and a decree was issued on 

 Feb. 3, 1887, calling out the fellaheen to work 

 on the canals. After further discussion this 

 order was revoked, and the labor was per- 

 formed by contract. Finally, in August, 1887, 

 an understanding was reached, by which the 

 proceeds of militsiry exemptions should be left 

 intact for the army expenses, but the land- 

 taxes, which in accordance with Lord North- 

 brook's report were to be reduced by E420,- 

 000, should continue to be levied at the same 

 rates except where they were manifestly too 

 high for the taxpayers to pay them. 



The Sarzeand Incident. The International 

 Tribunal of Appeal consisted originally of 

 judges representing each of the great powers 

 of Europe, nominated by the Egyptian author- 

 ities, and approved by their several Govern- 

 ments, and one appointed from the United 

 States. In 1884 two additional judges were 

 called up from the lower court, without re- 

 gard to nationality, one of whom was a Greek, 

 and the other a Frenchman named Bellet. In 

 the spring of 1887, the regular French repre- 

 sentative on the tribunal, Martin Sarzeaud, was 

 found to be financially embarrassed, and was 

 accused of having borrowed from attorneys 

 practicing before the court, and of fraudu- 

 lently selling securities that he had already 

 hypothecated. He fled from his creditors, re- 

 signing his post, but the Government refused 

 to accept the resignation, bringing formal 

 charges against him. He then sent word from 

 France that he would withdraw his resigna- 

 tion and meet the charges, but soon afterward 

 was drowned by accident or suicide. The 

 English induced the Egyptian ministry to re- 

 frain from nominating a successor, on the 

 ground that an extra number of judges was no 

 longer required, but M. d'Aunay protested 

 that France would then be left without a rep- 

 resentative on the tribunal. Nubar Pasha pro- 

 posed then to make M. Bellet the regular 

 French judge, and to abolish the supernu- 

 merary judgesbip thus made vacant. The 

 French Government declined to accept him, 

 but finally agreed to allow the post to remain 

 vacant as long as M. Bellet continued to be as- 

 sistant judge, on condition that the office of 

 procureur-general, which would be vacated by 

 the resignation of M. Vacher, should be filled 

 by a Frenchman during the two years required 

 to complete the latter's term. This office had 

 been for many months a subject of contention 

 between the English and the French. M. 

 Vacher had returned toFrance on account of 

 ill health, but resumed his duties when the 



