276 



EGYPT. 



ter expedited by the post-office in 1891 was 

 3,024,034. 



Political Discontent. The advanced Liber- 

 als, who rose in rebellion in 1884 and attempted 

 to start a revolution in 1886 in the hope of an- 

 nulling the close union oi church and state that 

 was reaffirmed in the Constitution of 1883, have 

 persistently opposed every administration that 

 has been in power since the overthrow of the 

 dictator Veintemilla. They complain of heavy 

 taxes levied for the maintenance of the clergy, 

 especially of a property tax of 3 per mille imposed 

 for purely ecclesiastical purposes, and of inter- 

 ference by the clergy in affairs of state. The 

 revolutionary spirit, damped for a time by the 

 severe repression of the former outbreaks, has 

 been rife since the election in an irregular man- 

 ner of Sefior Cordero, although he is a representa- 

 tive of the moderate section of the party in 

 power. In February, 1893, there was an attempt 

 to start an insurrection in the province of Es- 

 meraldas, where a state of siege was proclaimed. 

 A fight took place in the town of that name, in 

 which the Government troops were victorious. 

 The Government forbade the circulation of the 

 Radical Spanish- American newspaper " El Pro- 

 greso," published in New York, and endeavored 

 to induce the United States postal authorities 

 to refuse to forward copies destined for Ecuado- 

 rian subscribers, by representing that it was an 

 immoral publication. 



EGYPT, a principality in northern Africa, 

 tributary to Turkey. The Government is an 

 almost absolute monarchy, and the succession is 

 direct from father to son. " The ruling prince 

 bears the title of Khedive, and, by a firman of 

 the Sultan issued in 1873, has the right of main- 

 taining an army and of concluding commercial 

 treaties with foreign powers. The present Khe- 

 dive is Abbas Pasha, born July 14. 1874, who 

 succeeded to the throne upon the death of his 

 father, Mohammed Tewfik, Jan. 7, 1892. The ad- 

 ministration is by a ministry, subject to the rul- 

 ing of the Khedive. Since the intervention of 

 England to restore the authority of the Khe- 

 dive, in 1882, the country has been occupied by 

 a British army, and since January, 1883, the 

 Khedive appoints an English financial adviser, 

 who has a seat in the Council of Ministers. 

 Without his advice no financial decision can be 

 made. The Council of Ministers comprises the 

 following six departments : Interior, in charge of 

 the President of the Council ; Finance, Justice, 

 War, Public Works and Instruction, Foreign 

 Affairs. There are also, under an organic law 

 promulgated by the Khedive in 1883, a Legisla- 

 tive Council, a General Assembly, and provincial 

 boards, all of which are elective. All legisla- 

 tion is submitted to the Legislative Council, but 

 the Government is not bound by its advice. 

 The General Assembly is summoned every two 

 years, and no new direct personal or land tax 

 can be imposed without its consent. 



Area and Population. Egypt proper ex- 

 tends from Wadv Haifa, in 81 40' of north 

 latitude, to the Mediterranean, and has a total 

 area of about 400,000 square miles ; but the Nile 

 valley and delta, which constitute the settled and 

 cultivated area, cover only 12,906 square miles. 

 The population of this settled portion of the 

 country, according to the census of 1882, was as 



follows : Egyptians, sedentary, 6,480,600 ; Egyp- 

 tians, nomad, 245.779 ; foreigners, 90,886 ; total, 

 6,817,265. Of the total population, 3,401,498 

 were males and 3,415,769 females. The num- 

 ber of foreign residents has increased largely 

 within recent years. Cairo, the chief city, had a 

 population of 368,108, and Alexandria 208,755. 



Finances. The International Commission of 

 Liquidation, appointed in 1880 to examine the 

 financial situation of Egypt, estimated the an- 

 nual revenue for and after 1882 at E. 8,411,- 

 622 ( E. = $5), E. 35,513,734 being assigned 

 to the debt and E. 4,897,888 to the expenses 

 of the Government. The budget for 1893 esti- 

 mates the revenue at E. 10,010,000, of which 

 E. 4,956,000 are derived from the land tax, 

 date-tree tax, etc., E. 129,000 from urban 

 taxes, etc., E. 1,410,000 from customs, E. 

 210,000 from octroi duties, E. 180,000 from 

 salt and natron duties. E. 85,000 from fisheries, 

 E. 79,000 from navigation dues, E. 1,600,- 

 000 from railways, E. 40,000 from telegraphs, 

 E. 115,000 from the port of Alexandria, E. 

 222,000, from posts, E. 110.000 from light- 

 houses, E. 370,000 from Ministry of Justice. 

 E. 90,000 for exemption from military serv- 

 ice, E. 86,000 from rents on Government prop- 

 erty, E. 15,000 from governorship of Suakin, 

 E. 154,000 from pension fund, and E. 254,- 

 000 from other sources. The total expenditure 

 is estimated at E. 9,550,000, of which E. 

 4,004,000 are for the service of the debt, E. 

 665,041 are for tribute to Turkey, E. 114,127 

 for the Khedive's civil list, E. 114,127 for the 

 civil lists of Ismail Pasha and his family, E. 

 54,934 for the Khedive's private cabinet, E. 

 460,949 for the Ministry of Public Works, E. 

 383,783 for the Ministry of Justice, E. 319,989 

 for the administration of the provinces, E. 

 110,294 for the Ministry of Finance, E. 117,- 

 151 for the Ministry of the Interior, E. 92,544 

 for the Ministry of Public Instruction, E. 

 115,554 for other ministries, E. 132,376 for ad- 

 ministration of the customs, E. 40,311 for the 

 collection of octroi duties, E. 46,896 for the 

 collection of the salt and natron duties, E. 

 7,978 for the fisheries, E. 2,979 for navigation, 

 E. 771,703 for railroads, E. 39,200 for tele- 

 graphs, E. 23,000 for the port of Alexandria, 

 E. 203,221 for the postal service, E. 25,142 

 for lighthouses, E. 712,000 for public security, 

 police, prisons, Ministry of War, and the British 

 army of occupation, E. 119,360 for the admin- 

 istration of Suakin, E. 435,000 for pensions, 

 E. 400,000 for the suppression of the corvee, 

 and E. 50,556 for sundry other purposes. 



The public debt at the end of 1892 amounted 

 to E. 106,372,160, of which E. 8,936,800 rep- 

 resent the guaranteed loan at 3 per cent., E. 

 29,400,000 the privileged debt bearing interest at 

 34 per cent., E. 55,986,580 the unified loan at 

 4 per cent., E. 7.223,020 the Daira Sanieh loan 

 at 4 per cent., and E. 4,826,460 the Domains 

 loan at 5 per cent. 



Military Forces. The Egyptian army has a 

 total strength of 13,000. It has about 60 Eng- 

 lish officers, and is commanded by an English 

 general officer, who bears the title of Sirdar. 

 The present Sirdar is Brig.-Gen. Horatio Her- 

 bert Kitchener, who was formerly British gov- 

 ernor-general of the Red Sea littoral and com- 



