EGYPT. 



295 



fourteen members, half of them nominated by 

 the Khedive, and half of them elected by a 

 college of electors chosen by the people. A 

 second and more popular elective assembly, 

 consisting of forty-four members, was to be 

 convened occasionally to discuss special sub- 

 jects, without possessing any direct voice in 

 legislation. In case the Legislative Council 

 should reject a measure of the ministry, the 

 final decision would rest with the Khedive. 



This scheme was afterward modified so as to 

 give the representative principle fuller scope. 

 From the chief legislative body, called the Gen- 

 eral Assembly, the eight ministers of the Cabi- 

 net are to be selected, who shall be responsible 

 to the Khedive. 



The General Assembly consists of 84 mem- 

 bers, composed of the 8 ministers, the 30 mem- 

 bers of the Legislative Council, and 46 additional 

 members chosen by the spokesmen or electors 

 of the towns and villages. 



The Legislative Council consists of 30 mem- 

 bers, of whom 14 are appointed by the 14 Pro- 

 vincial Councils, an equal number are nominated 

 by the Khedive on the advice of his ministers, 

 and the remaining two represent one the city 

 of Cairo, and the other Alexandria, Damietta, 

 Port Said, Rosetta, Suez, El Arish, and Ismailia 

 collectively. The Khedive selects from among 

 his appointees the president and the first vice- 

 president. 



The Provincial Councils are elected indirectly 

 in each of the fourteen provincial districts by 

 universal manhood suffrage. Every Egyptian 

 twenty years of age, not in military service, 

 who has never been convicted of crime and is 

 not adjudged insolvent, has the right to vote 

 for electors who choose the representatives in 

 the different elective bodies. There are about 

 903,420 voters altogether, of which number 

 797,571 are in the villages, and 105,849 in the 

 towns. Each village constituency, of which 

 there are about 4,300 altogether, elects one 

 representative in the college of electors, which 

 convenes by order of the Khedive in the chief 

 town of each of the 14 provinces and elects 

 the Provincial Councilors. There are 70 Pro- 

 vincial Councilors elected in the 14 constituen- 

 cies. , The number of electors in the different 

 provinces varies from 90 to 544, the average 

 being 307. 



The election of the electoral colleges for the 

 Provincial Councils, Legislative Council, and 

 General Assembly took place in the latter part 

 of September. Yet because they feared the 

 temper of the Egyptian people, which grew 

 more and more hostile and morose, or for other 

 reasons, the British advisers of the Khedive 

 deferred indefinitely the putting into operation 

 of the legislative and representative institu- 

 tions they had devised. As a temporary sub- 

 stitute, the Khedive appointed a Council of 

 State, consisting of eleven Egyptians, two Ar- 

 menians, and ten Europeans. Sherif Pasha was 

 appointed president. The European members 

 were E. Vincent, Lemesurier, and Rowsell, 



Englishmen ; Gay-Lussac, Pietri, Rousseau, and 

 Borelli, Frenchmen ; Blum and Keller, Austri- 

 an s ; and Ara, an Italian. 



Reorganization of the Army. Soon after the 

 occupation, the Khedive, of his own motion, 

 summoned Baker Pasha, a British officer in 

 the service of the Sultan, to Cairo, and in- 

 trusted him with the task of organizing a new 

 military force. He was appointed commander- 

 in-chief, had the rank of Ferik, the highest in 

 the Egyptian army, bestowed upon him, and 

 worked out a scheme for an army of about 

 6,000. He was not, however, the choice of 

 the British Government, and was superseded 

 by Sir Evelyn Wood, who adopted the main 

 features of the plan. Gen. Baker was then 

 commissioned to organize a constabulary force 

 separate from the army. 



The new army was to be raised by enlist- 

 ment. Compulsion in recruiting was prohib- 

 ited, non-commissioned officers were forbidden 

 to strike the soldiers, and the new force was 

 recruited in a short time. Under Sir Evelyn 

 Wood as chief in command, the cavalry was 

 commanded by Lieut.-Col. Taylor, the artillery 

 by Lieut.-Col. Duncan, and one of the infantry 

 brigades by Brig.-Gen. Grenfell, all of the Brit- 

 ish army, the command of the other brigade 

 of infantry being given to Ali Pasha Tchudi, 

 an Egyptian general. The infantry were armed 

 with Remington rifles, and Krupp guns were 

 provided for the artillery. The troops and all 

 officers below the rank of captain were to be 

 native Egyptians. One half of the regiments 

 were to be commanded- by Egyptians, while 

 the others were to have an English lieutenant- 

 colonel and major for chief officers, the total 

 number of British officers being limited to 

 twenty-five. 



Instead of the cruel treatment and seclusion 

 resembling the punishment of a felon, which 

 followed forced conscription in the old Egyp- 

 tian army, and instead of an indefinite term 

 which often lasted to old age, the discipline 

 and treatment were assimilated as far as could 

 be to the system of the British army. The 

 pay of a piastre a day is given regularly every 

 month. The term of service is four years with 

 the colors, and four in the reserve. An an- 

 nual leave of absence and a daily release from 

 duty for an hour or two are allowed. The 

 hospital and commissary administration are 

 excellent, and schools and other modern im- 

 provements have been introduced. 



Gendarmerie. Baker Pasha organized a force 

 of 4,000 gendarmes, divided into two battal- 

 ions, one of rural and one of city gendarmerie. 

 The commanders and inspectors were all Brit- 

 ish army officers. The urban constabulary 

 were intended to assist the police proper in 

 preserving order in the larger towns of the 

 Delta. The ordinary police in these places 

 numbers 1,600. The object of both the army 

 and the constabulary was to keep the popula- 

 tion in check by disciplined armed forces un- 

 der the control of Europeans, and thus prevent 



