ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ANGLO-EGYPTIAN 



SUDAN. 



By H. P. HEWINS. 



Director, Commercial Intelligence Branch, Central 

 Economic Board, Sudan Government. 



IN the following remarks some familiarity must be 

 .assumed on the part of the reader with the main events in 

 the recent history of the Sudan and with the principal 

 physical features of the country. It may, however, be 

 useful to recapitulate a few points, although they are pro- 

 bably well known, in order to throw into proper per- 

 spective some of the facts which this paper is designed 

 to illustrate. 



It is less than fifteen years since the vast stretch of 

 territory, now known as the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, was 

 wrested from the rule of the Dervishes, who, by methods 

 of barbarity unparalleled in modern times, had reduced 

 it to misery and destitution. 



At the time of the conquest the Sudan was almost in 

 .articulo mortis. Rest and quiet and careful nursing 

 have restored it to convalescence, but few could have 

 been found in 1898 to congratulate Great Britain and 

 Egypt on their joint acquisition. 



The population had been reduced by famine, warfare, 

 .and pestilence from some 8,000,000 to less than 2,000,000. 

 The tribal organization had been deliberately wrecked. 

 Trade and commerce were non-existent and industry was 

 .at a standstill. 



The subsequent record of the Sudan exemplifies a 

 truth which has been illustrated a thousand times in the 

 history of mankind, that the destructive effect of the 

 most devastating tyranny is comparatively short-lived. 

 The primary means of production always survives a 

 period of reaction and recovery inevitably occurs, and, as 

 soon as the checks to development are removed, Nature 



