142 COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 



the problem of population is the most pressing one for a country 

 which, until quite recently, has been one of the least populated on 

 the globe. The native population increases, judging by the percen- 

 tage of children, in a most baffling manner, but as regards immigra- 

 tion from abroad only slow progress is being made, and slower still 

 is the immigration from Europe. 



A quicker ratio in the development of the Sudan might be made 

 feasible through the introduction of a large amount of foreign 

 capital, but the Egyptian boom, with its evil consequences, has also 

 thrown a shadow on the Sudan, and thus the unhealthy speculation 

 in Egypt has deterred also the investment of money in the Sudan on 

 the part of careful capitalists. Of the various more important Explora- 

 tion Companies which were established in London from 1900 

 onward for the development of the Sudan, the last and most impor- 

 tant, the " Sudan Development and Exploration Company," which 

 was floated in 1900 with a capital of ^"150,000, has been liquidated 

 in 1911 after suffering heavy financial losses; nothing is known of 

 the activity of the " Sudan Land and Commercial Company," founded 

 in 1907 with ^"E 125, 000, whose shares are not quoted in the lists. 



Although the Central Economic Board of the Sudan Government 

 has latterly encouraged sound undertakings, pure speculation has 

 always been rightly excluded. Up to lately, the Government was 

 more in favour of the promotion and extension of the rain cultivation 

 of the natives south of Khartoum in place of the cultivation through 

 artificial irrigation, for which large financial responsibilities will have 

 to be incurred. 



The most promising prospects seem to lie in the exports from 

 the Sudan of corn and cattle to Egypt, which have already increased, 

 although even there, the rise will only be a slow one. As to how 

 quickly the development of cotton cultivation, with the help of artifi- 

 cial irrigation, will be achieved, cannot yet be said, but the conclu- 

 sion seems to be justified that the Sudan will hardly be, in the near 

 future, a country that will produce such quantities of cotton as will 

 have an influence on the markets of the world. 



