Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-07-04

desert, and 800, 900 more are in process q
preparation under the canal Improvement,
instituted by Ismail Pacha, whose eXpendi
lures in improving machinery and agricul
tural appliances have been on n scale as 81
gantc as his planting interest. Egypt, whicl
! produced 6000 bales of cotton some thirty
years ago, now furnishes Europe with one
eighth of its entire supply-that is, witt
about six hundred thousand bales Sugar
cane was also introduced by Ismail, and it i!
the third article of expert from the country
or only second to wheat and cotton He in
| troduced religious liberation, so that Chris
iian churches are now proportionally more
numerous than Moslem ones. He opened
canals and built railroads on such a large
scale as 10, perhaps. exceed the needs of the
rising country. The telegraph wire connects
the Albert Nyanza with Alexandria. lie
abolished severe punishments, as Danish
ment, coniiscation and capital punishment
he succeeded in eNtinguishing the slave
trade he rendered the Suez canal an accom-
plished fact lie gave fifty million dollars
toward the Sucz Canal and the sea walls at
Port Said; $4,000 900 more for the Sweet
Water Canal from Ismalia to Cairo; Sl5,
600, 900 more for the new harbor and docks
at Alexandria $50 200, 900 for railways and
telegraphs, and many millions more for
light houses. gas and water works, sewerage
and paving. irrlgating canals, fleets OF mer-
chant vessels, etc.
But at last the end came Vast sums OF
money had been borrowed at eNtravagant
rates of interest public debt of over -four
hundred millions of dollars and private of
forty-five millions more had been contracted :;
the revenues of the country proved INSULT
cent for the enormous burden; England.
touched in the tenderest spot-the pocket t.
stepped in, and the greatest of the successors
of the Ptolemies was forced to abdicate. As
showing the hard terms imposed by the
money lenders it may be said here that Mr..
Stephen Cave, in his report on Egyptian
finances, three years ago, stated that out of
'-pN'-V'',''v lOsilis tlIC hlChlNC
actually Melted only 1926, 600, 600 and had
actually paid back up to that date in princi-
pal and interest, S155, 600, 600. Mr. Edwin de
Leon in the International Rerieto well saws:
$50 long as the khedive was solvent or was
supposed TO be so, and made punctual pay
ment of the-coupons, the conscience of Eu-
rope was in a very slumbrous condition with
rpparI IN his Government AMI tho journals al
France and England loudly praised him as a
man and a monarch. But all this suddenly
changed, when from becoming impecunious
he came into danger Of insolvency. With a
heavy fall in the value of Egyptian securities
fell also his credit, at once and forever, in
the eyes of the foreign Scribes no less than of
the foreign Pharisees, all lately 50 genuine
in their admiration. Now there are none
among them so poor rs to do him reverence,
and heis treated by the most worshipful socie-
ty of foreign stock jobbers and their agents
in the press and in government circles, much
as the Africans fetch is treated by the indig-
nant savage when the god fails to send the
rain which is prayed for; namely, kicked
cuffed, pulled TO pieces and thrown into the
dirt heap"
Mahomet Tewfk, who succeeds his father
as Khedivc, was born November 10, 1852,
and January 10, 1879 married his only
wife, Princess Eminek, daughter of FL
Hamy Pasha, who has borne him son,
Prince Abbas, now in his fifth year He is
described by Mr. de Leon as follows
Il believe the heir apparent, Prince Mo-
manned Tewfk, has never enjoyed the adj
vantages of foreign travel nor a foreign cur
riculum, but has been brought up and cdu-
Gated at home Yet he does credit TO his
teachers both as to mindand manners. being
one of the most modest and at the same
time one of the best informed young men
to be met with anywhere; universally re-
spected as well as liked by foreigners as
well as natives; though he shrinks from
rather than courts observation or society
Whether this proceeds from native modesty
or from policy, the position he occupies
ISIS being a more difficult and delicate one
in the East than elsewhere, am not suffi-
GENTLY intimate with him TO say, but my
impression was that the former cause had as
much 10 do with il as the latter. Yet
his retiring manner by no means indicates a
lack OF will or iirmness On the contrary,
should judge he was naturally obstinate.
Less polite and plausible than his father,
Prince Tewiik impresses YOU with belief in
his sincerity, a quality very clever men are
often deficient in. He does not affect the
Western air and habits, as do his two broth
ers although he wears the StambOuli cos !
tune, and is reputed a conscientious, though
liberal, Mussulman in creed and practice.
His private character is above reproach. |
Prince Tewili is decidedly Oriental, both in
face and figure. Of the CircasSian type. with |
square head, heavy frame, dark eyes and |
hair, and with something solid and substan- |
ial about hun.
The new khedive can do but little for his .
for he possesses only the shadow |
md not the substance of power, the western |
nations being the real arbiters of the dest-
lies Of Egypt As if there were not already
rouble enough with the finances, the crops |
ire reported as bad and consequently there
will he large decrease in the revenue: and /
o make forty millions of dollars do the
work of sixty is Il difficult problem in
nance. At the very outset of his reign
rewfik can sadly quote Micawber's truism:
Income go, expenses $40 Gs; result hap
'iness: income 40, expenses go Is re-
ult, misery. What the final result will he,
t is difficult 10 prophesy. 1t is entirely
within the possibilities that the country will
Jass into the possession Of one of the western
powers England, probably or, with the
apid disinicgralion of Turkey, Russia may
Ntend her Overgrown empire towards the
ource Of the Nile For the mysterious
Ountry the least Of whose secrets is the