New-York tribune., 1868-04-18
EGYPT.
PRESENT POLITICAL STATE or RGYPT-sLAvERY
IN EGYPT-THE ENGLISH WAR IN ABYssISIA.
AIIXANnRIA ERYpt. FEB. %. 1853.

PRESENT POLITICAL STATE or RGYPT-sLAvRRY
IN EGYPT-THE ENGLISH WAR IN ABYssINA.
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt Feb %, 1863.
After three or four years of Constantinople
news il may not be unnteresing 10 your readers to
hear something from the provinces Of Turkey In
wealth and Importance Egypt stands at the head OF
these write now In the great commercial emporium
of Africa. Alexandria must always have been q
strange city. 1t Is no less 80 now IL is strange
tumble Of East and West-of streets where the mud
is two feet deep and the houses one story hlgh side
by side with wellpaved avenues OF lofty palaces
And in these streets loDg-eared donkeys and hump
backed cames dispute the way with carriages which
would be at home on the Rue Rvoli in Paris. Purse
proud English merchants. wild Dedouines of tho
desert elegantly dressed French ladies' and nasty
Feah girls with baskets Of fresh manure from tho
streets, black-turbaned Copts, Turkish Pashas,
Americans and Hindoos. are all TO be met at every
turn. But your correspondent IL not tourist, ana
you have had descriptions enough Of this paradise
TOR vagabonds
The political condition of Egypt is Of the greatest
importance to the world especially to those countries
who are moro Immediately interested In the Eastern
question. The Viceroy wishes to DO independent lie
has secured change OF the succession IN favor OF hls
own son. and now be wishes 10 set up for himself.
remarked this obvious fact to English statesman
not long ago. He instantly replied, He can't do
that that would make 1t necessary for us to take
possession of the .countryp He would not have
dropped the remark 10 me If he had reflected mo-
ment, but no doubt he was right England must con-
troll Egypt OF lose India. Here there Is ON Eastern
question with q vengeance. What would France say
TO such an acquistionf The Viceroy will do very
foolish thing when he breaks with the Sultan. He
could not be absolute AS an independsnt sove-
reign than he Is now. He manages Egypt'not as
sovereign rules o nation, bnt as landlord manages
an estate. He actually owns himself and cultiyates
by forced labor about one million of acres.
The railways his; the canals are his and they
are not pro bono puJlioo but pro suo bono-for the
convenience of bis estates Merchants and travellers
a.. .la, tak ts.ta axrf ha
private interests Of the Vceroy. When 10 does, they
must wait His cotton must come first 10 the mar
ket When he has grain to sell. be must be the only
seller When he has to purchase grain, no must be
the only purchaser Every sonl in Egypt is supposed
to exist for the sole benefit of the yiceroy He pur
chases sheep in Syria, aud compes every village to
that all these be slaughtered and sold within GER
tain time. He has just built canal from Cairo TO
Suez-S0 miles through the desert IL ID abont 30
feet deep and 200 feet wide Here is two and half
billion cubic feet Of earth Every particle Of il was
dug up and carried away by poor fellaheen, In bas
kets, on their backs. mostly by children under Is
half cubic foot each. Five billion journeys made
by these little feet under the heavy stick Of brutal
taskWadsrs, all without one cent Of pay OF one NOR
sci Of bread from the Grand Viceroy This canal only
one Of many similar works. His priyete estates arc
worked in the same way and that too just when the
people need 10 be at work upon their own fields. e
bank of the Nile opposite Cairo. Obsequious Pashas
and expectant foreign bankers kiss bis feet Grand
COnBus-GeneraI receive his favor ana do hn nOn0r.
Europe Is discussing the question Of recognizing him
as q civilized and enlightened monarch. These poor
Fellaheen live in huts of mud like the negroes OF
South Africa. Their dress Is q single blue cotton
shirt or nothing II obedient, they are treated to
forced labor in the corveej II complaining the whip
and the bastnado is their portion. They have no
rights that the yceroy ever thinks Of respecting,
except the right Of dying like dogs.
While the yiceroy Is thus wasting the country for
day deeper and deeper into debt 1t is said all the
revenue goes into his private purse, while all the
penses 90 to swell the debt Just now there Is new
loan on the tapis for These loans do the
country no good. They benefit the Viceroy little
and bis bankers more, They fill the pockets Of his
confidential friends, one Of whom commenced his
career by keeping brothel. t5,.T
h After what has been said of the bondage In which
the whole population grosps 1t almost absurd
10 speak of Slavery under separate head. But It II
O distinct thing. These slaves OF the Viceroy have
slaves of their own. The yieefoy made most phi
lAnthrOpie declarations on this subject in England
last Summer, and solemnly declared that the slave
trade in Egypt was DOW carried on only bya few
foreigners, who, being under consular projection,
were beyond the. reach Of his Indignation. The En-
clislr Consul at Cairo Mr. Read-a man who docs
honor 10 his country. and who. unlike most OF his