Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-08-03
British Domination i'm Egypt.
Corresnondenea of the Neur York rrimes

( r. correspondence OA bu0 new 1OTk 41I10Ss
CAIRO, EGYPT, Saturday, Jun
10, 1851 cannot say that we ar
having glorious times here jus
now, the Khedive having quite at
dicated. The new financial com
missien-the Rivers Wilson one
are doing everything with higl
hand ,overturning everything wher
Englishmen are not involved.
have never believed, as is general,
believed here, that England would
acquire a prOtectorate over Egypt
for she can have-has already-al
the benefits which she might secure
by a protectorate, without any O
the ills that might accompany {
formal assumption of responsibility
For a year back simple intimatior
of the English Ministry has had al
the effect of an order here; putting
Englishmen at enormous salaries
$50, 900 to $4,000 and $50, 1000 year
Into nearly all the prominent pO-
siti0ns in the country. If she can
get such a hold upon the country as
to be equivalent to a practical abdi-
cation by the Khedive, there will
be no necessity for doing more, no
need of risking rupture with
France, which both Germany and
Russia have hoped to create. To
/ give you a clear understanding of
matters / will cite an instance or
two of English preferment. An
Englishman has under his manage
ment the entire Soudan. He was
forced upon the KhediVe by the
English Ministry. Indeed, on his
arrival here, just before receiving
the appointment, he refused to see
the Khedive until the Consul-Gen-
eral here, the representation of the
ministry, of course, secured from
the Khedive all that was required
the concession of abst lutte authority
and the promise of a salary of $780,
600 a year. The navy is in English
hands, the coast guard is also under
English control, and the force de
tailed to execute the provisions of
the slave treaty between England
and Egypt is directed by English
men. The railroads, telegraph
lines, the customs and revenue col
lectiOns are controlled by England.
Last of all comes the Wilson COM
mission. The Khedive claimed
that the taxes and other revenues of
the country were insufficient to keep
the necessary machinery of the
Government in operation, if he was
to be obliged to pay the high rate of
interest now eXacted. The bond
holders 'cOntended that he could pay,
and so, to determine the matter, the
commission was appointed. This
is equivalent for the time being to
complete abdicatiOn. How long it
will last we can only guess, when
the mammOn-lOving members of
the commission, Wilson and his as
sociates, are receiving such princely |
salaries. The KhediVe resisted the
surrender of his authority to the
last moment, and had determined
to pay his starving employees little |
of the money that is due them, not |
only because their claim under con-
tract has legal priority over the
Goshen contract, but because it |
would scatter money through the |
country and revive the business |
which is now stagnated. But be- |
fore the time for the payment of the |
May coupon came around there was
sprung upon him the Hahn matter. |
In his waking dreams he saw his |
uncle occupying his throne, his CO. |
lOssal fortunes cOntiscated, and his |
extensive household in ruins. He |
surrendered, left his employees again |
unpaid, paid the coupons, turning |
over for this purpose all moneys in
the Treasury. He hypOthecated
part of the revenue for the coming |
year, and then mortgaged 100000
acres of his land in the name of his |
three sons, to procure the $2,000,OOO |
which was still needed. Still more. |
The records of all the departments
are at the service of the commission,
and the KhediVe has even directed |
that his ministers shall obey the !
summons of the cOurt-shall | call |
it so? The Minister of Foreign At
fairs and of Justice, and the Assist
ant Minister of Finance, have, in |
consequence, all resigned. The |
commission, if properly conducted, |
could do much good. But they are |
simply Shylocks demanding money |
or the pound of flesh, and they will,
if they are not stopped in their era
zy, greedy career, return the cOun-
try to a state of barbarism. All the
foreign Professors at the military
schools have been discharged. One
of them, by the way, happened to
be an Englishman, and the Com
missiOners at once took him into
their service, where he is paid by
Egypt a salary 60 a month greater
than he had been paid before.
Other schools, chiIdren's schools
among the number, have been de-
prived of half their scholars. These
were free schools, maintained by |
the Government. 1t is said that
persons representing the commission
90 into the schools and ask the chill
dren whether they would prefer to
go away or remain in the schools.
Those desiring to go are sent to their
homes. This is intelligent retrench-
ment with a vengeance. The De-
partment of Public Works was
obliged to reduce its expenses to
95, 900 a year, which is much less
than some Englishmen get here as
salaries. The school, the Depart
ment of Public Works, and the inn
provement of hecOuntry, one would
suppose, would have been the last
to be allowed to suffer. Not salts
fed with these reductions, the COM
mission ordered the chief Ga Pasha) |
to reduce his expenses still another
thousand. The Pasha replied that
all his active employees were well
and were paid small sal
aries; that it was impossible to spare
one more of them or to further re-
duce their pay a dollar. He told
them that there was one man on
their budget who was never seen,
who does nothing in the world in
the public works, who could be as
we'll spared as not, and by sacritic-
ing whom a saving of $1,000 year
instead of 81 900 could be made.
Who is the person? None other
than Mr.. Fowler, of London. We
have vet to see whether he will be
If the commission con-
tinues as it has begun, the result
will be to relegate the country, un-
wisely and unnecessarily, to its
ancient condition of barbarism:
Believing, as they appear to do,
that Egypt is simply tax-produc-
ing country, and the fellah a tax
animal, all that they
have to do is to simply collect the
taxes and send them to London
there matters will be simplified.
The KhediVe has lost his grip, and
I, r, r,co,,,e +o boxyo Ioa6n nm hiC mind