294 



EGYPT. 



agreements, it proposed, first, new regula- 

 tions to secure the future neutrality and in- 

 violability of the Suez canal.* Its occupation 

 by the British and use as a base of operations 

 against Arabi was asserted to have been no 

 violation of the neutrality of the canal, being 

 intended to vindicate the authority of the 

 Khedive. For the future it was proposed that 

 the canal should be free to all ships at all 

 times; that in time of war naval vessels of a 

 belligerent power should not be allowed to re- 

 main in the canal longer than a certain limited 

 time, and that no troops or munitions of war 

 should be debarked ; that no hostilities should 

 be permitted in the canal or its approaches, or 

 within the territorial waters of Egypt, even 

 though Turkey should be one of the belliger- 

 ents. These restrictions, however, are not ap- 

 plicable to measures necessary for the defense 

 of Egypt. It is further provided that each 

 power shall repair any damage committed by 

 its belligerent vessels in the canal. No fortifi- 

 cations are to be constructed on the canal or 

 its approaches. The enforcement of the regu- 

 lations is made incumbent upon Egypt. The 

 proposals for a new system of financial control 

 were declared to be not yet matured. The 

 consent of the powers was asked to an altera- 

 tion of the capitulations which would allow 

 the Egyptian Government to tax foreign resi- 

 dents equally with natives ; also to the pro- 

 longation of the mixed tribunals for one year 

 only, in the hope that an amendment of the 

 Egyptian code and procedure would then war- 

 rant their abolition.! With regard to internal 

 matters which had not been made the subject 

 of international agreement, the British Gov- 

 ernment announced the organization of a force 

 of gendarmerie and police, distinct from the 

 army, for the preservation of domestic order ; 

 and that the army, which should be kept 

 small, would, at the request of the Khedive, 

 be officered in the higher posts in part by 

 English soldiers. On the question of the de- 

 velopment of political institutions, the British 

 Government indicated the intention of estab- 

 lishing representative government with pru- 

 dent checks, in some form adapted to the pres- 

 ent political intelligence of the people, and cal- 

 culated to aid in their future progress. 



While the other European governments ac- 

 quiesced in the position of Great Britain in 

 Egypt, and at times assumed a tone which 

 seemed to favor the establishment of a per- 

 manent protectorate, France preserved an atti- 

 tude of protest and expectancy. When the 

 controversy with M. de Lesseps came up, re- 

 garding the construction of a second Suez 

 canal, the French Cabinet manifested a deter- 

 mination not to allow the rights secured to the 

 French company by concessions to be annulled. 

 The Turkish Government also manifested a 



* Great Britain commands both entrances to the canal from 

 the near stations of Malta and Aden. 



The system of mixed tribunals was instituted in 18T6 for 

 the period of five years. The two previous prolongations 

 were, like th.s ene, from year to year. 



jealous anxiety for the sovereign rights of the 

 Sultan in Egypt. After the disaster to the 

 army of Gen. Hicks in the Soudan, and the in- 

 dication on the part of the English Govern- 

 ment of a desire to abandon the Soudan, sug- 

 gestions were made of an intervention by 

 France, while the Porte made an express 

 proposition to send a Turkish force to the 

 Soudan to quell the rebellion. 



The Army of Occupation. The British Govern- 

 ment gave reiterated assurances during the 

 earlier part of the year that the British forces 

 would be withdrawn as soon as the Khedive's 

 Government was reorganized on a basis insur- 

 ing internal peace and stability. They evinced 

 the sincerity of their declarations by recalling 

 the troops, which numbered about 12,000 in 

 the beginning of 1883, until in September only 

 6,750 remained, and continuing the reduction 

 until in November the garrisons numbered 

 only about 3,000. In the summer, Lieut.-Gen. 

 Stephen son succeeded Sir Archibald Alison in 

 the command of the army of occupation. 

 There were manifestations of anti-European 

 feeling, which increased in frequence and bit- 

 terness, and the Egyptian demands for the evac- 

 uation became more general and urgent. In 

 addition to the other objections to the contin- 

 ued occupation, was that of the financial bur- 

 den it imposed on the Egyptian people. The 

 British Government required the country to 

 pay 4 a month for every soldier, which was 

 represented to be the difference in the cost of 

 maintaining them there and in Great Britain. 

 When the news of the destruction of Hicks 

 Pasha's Soudan army arrived, the prepara- 

 tions for the further withdrawal of the British 

 troops were suspended. 



Financial Adviser. Sir Auckland Colvin, pre- 

 viously British Controller, was appointed Fi- 

 nancial Counselor to the Khedive, by a decree 

 promulgated February 6th. This office, des- 

 tined to take the place of the dual control, was 

 defined by Sherif Pasha, the Prime Minister, 

 in a report accompanying the decree, to have 

 none of the political attributes of the control. 

 The Financial Counselor, without being a 

 minister, should sit at Cabinet meetings when 

 invited to do so, and should have the power 

 to examine financial questions, and to give ad- 

 vice within the limits prescribed by the Khe- 

 dive and his ministers, but would have no au- 

 thority to interfere in the administrative af- 

 fairs of the country. 



British Project of Parliamentary Government. 

 Lord DufFerin's scheme of representative gov- 

 ernment was announced about the middle of 

 January. This plan, formulated by the Egyp- 

 tian Government under the advice of the 

 British plenipotentiary, proposed to place the 

 chief power as before in the hands of the 

 ministry. The Khedive should have a council 

 of twelve responsible ministers, possessing the 

 powers previously exercised by the Egyptian 

 ministry, except that their acts must be ap- 

 proved by a Legislative Council, consisting of 



