Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-09-27
The DonnfaII Of the Hhedi,e.

Late cable dispatches from Egypt are to
the effect that the kh,diyc has accepted
proposition whereby NuJar ra-ha bccon IS
president of the council uud Mr.. Rivers vii
son minister of finance The khediye and
his family are to restore all their lands to the
state. and a comprehensive scheme for the
reform Of administration, including large re-
trenchments in the civil service, are to be
decreed.
The oriental prince who has thus been dis
possessed of the reins of Egyptian adminis-
tration which he has held so long, Is the most
striking individuality in the modern history
of that country. Born at Cairo in 1880, lac
inherited all the inexhaustible energy of his
grandfather Mehemct without the stcruer
qualities Of his father IbrahGm. An excellent
European education, combined with real
ability, soon made him the most prominent
figure in Egyptian society, and quickly ox-
cited the jealousy of Abbas Pasha, who had
then recently succeeded to the viceroyalty
He became especially obnoxious to that indo-
lent but vicious bigot who accordingly en-
deayored to crush him by fabricaGng against
him charge Of murder which failed. On
the accession of Said pasha in 1854, Ismail
was sent to Paris and to Rome on special
missions. and afterward acted as regent dur
ing his uncles pilgrimage to Mecca, in 1861,
and his visit to Europe. later in the same
year. Said died January Is, 1868, and the
destinies of Egypt passed into the hands Of
the prince who has since so enormously in
creased both her trade and her debt On the
morrow OF his accession he promised an i'm
proved and hberalized administration and the
energetic promotion of the national interests
of the country, in which particulars he failed
utterly to keep his word Indefatigable en-
4. i.
the reputation Of being the wealthiest prince
living, did not prevent him from piling up
debt which now smothers his countrys credit.
His zeal for fame rather than for actual ma
terial progress carried him further and faster
than the resources of the country could prof
itably bear. Parks were laid out, waste pla-
ccs were made to bloom. canals and railroads
and telegraph lines were built, and these ex-
pendtures, Supplemented by tue demands
made upon the khedive by the Turkish au-
thorities, and the large disbursements for the
Suez canal, gradually swelled the small debt
legacy left by Said into its present bloated
proportions.
Active as has been the khedive, apparently
in internal improvements, his life has been
really that of n modern Sardanapalus If he
spent money ON public parks and waste pla-
ccs it was to make his capital attractive and
bring rich Americans and tOadying English
men to do him homage. He wasted in idle
display and prohigate extravaganza the re-
sources of his country. His only conception
of finance was to 20 TO the jews whenever he
| wanted money and pay them whatever inter
| est they insisted upon. He built grand OPP
era house and brought out new operas. n sin
| gle one Of which cost him 100000. He saw
handsome woman in Inc marlct-place and
| bought her for ~, 600, thus showing his
| contempt OF the law forhidaiuE a traffic in
| slaves. Only thin veneer of civilization hid
| the craft and cruelty Of an oriental dtspotism.
| Many mistresses called him master his home
| was in several palaces. Some of these pal.
aces were often the scene Of unlicensed mirtll
| and mischief. Dinners and concerts Were
numerous 10 which foreign ladies only were
invited, Italian opera singers and bellies
from France and England iostled the eunuchs
and the slaves as they hurried through the
halls to his receptions. His crowning act OF
nfamy was during the late war. Disregard
ing his professed civilization and the proper
attitude Of ueutrals, he dragged his unfor
| tunate subjects into war and sent his soldier
| from the tropics of Africa to perish miserably
in the froSts and SHOWS Of Bulgaria.
Professcdly the richest man in the world
| the personal owner of great part Of his owl
doninions, he was n deception in this rs il
all other things. The report Of the frs
| commission sent out by England IN lSE
showed him to be a poor man possessed of
large but very heavily incumbered estate
He then owned 300. .OGO acres of good land
and 100, 600 acres of poor land, or about one
tenth the cultivated soil Of Egypt, yielding t,
him over two million dollars a year-a yer.
noble estate if it were only clear But tn
khedive then owed S25, 100000 on thi
estate at 10 per cent. per annum, beside
a floating debt at enormous interest, and wa
therefore n loser on his whole property. Tn
Suez canal from which so much was expect
ed, proved TO be dreadful tax on the coun
try. As the khedve's embanassments in
creased, he was compelled to sell his share
in the canal for ready money. Seyenty-fy
years hence, the canal and all its works laps
to the Egyptian government, but meanwhil
its existence directly diminishes Egyptia
revenues. The railways and the ports suffe
heavily by the loss of the overland trade an
the money paid for canal dues goes to tn
shareholders who are living in Europe. O
the SS7, 500, 600 the khediye sunk in this ca
nal, he has only received back 10000, 90
from England. But what was four millio
pounds to so reckless and eXtravagant
prince? He was soon not only rid of tn
money but deeper in debt than ever.
l