New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-07-07


Lord Cromer's latest report. coupled with the
important clause Of the Anglo-French
colonial treaty giving England free rein in
the management of Egyptian affairs, has awak-
eaed a lively interest in the land Of the
Pharaohs. and invests with timeliness the pres
ent excellent monograph detailing the progress
that has been made IN the past twenty years
both in Egypt and the soudan. The problems
confronting the Anglo-Egyptian authorities were
neither few nor easy OF solution and the story
Of the manner IN which difficulties at
tackled and overcome. and Egypt gradually up
lifted from the stugh into which she had fallen
as a consequence OF years Of misrule, is one that
s writer less capable than Mr.. Peel could net
We'll have failed 10 make interesting. When
Egypt assigned for the benefit Of her creditors
q freely predicted that she could never be
restored financially fndustrialIy. The fella-
heen were grooming under burden Of taxation,
dreary wastes had replaced fertile fields. Then
came Lord Cromer and his engineers. and by the
administrative ability of the one and the in
genuity Of the others the change that had been
deemed incredible was wrought.
The problem upon which all others may be
said 10 have hinged the problem Of regulat-
ing the flow of the Nile. Always has this been
recognized by the rulers of Egypt and tradi-
ton ascribes to the earliest king Menes the
first attempt to control the river. TO irrgate the
country on either side, and prevent the disas-
trous consequences of an extreme high or low
flood. Under the Pharaohs and the Romans the
whole OF lower as well upper Egypt
more or less successfully irrigated by the basin
system of diked terraces. and. as Mr. Peel says,
In these days Egypt the granary of the
Mediterranean, and at the time of the Arab
conquest, A. d. 700 her population was esti-
mated to number 100000" With the COM
ing of the Arabs began the process of steady de-
terioration. and had it not been that the basin
eystem was so simple and easily maintained it
is not impossible that Egypt would have been
brought TO the present condition of Mesopo-
tamia- AS It was. war pestience and famine
had, by A. D 1900, reduced the population TO
100000, and the greater part of the Delta had
changed into deserted swamp. Even under
the most favorable conditions, on the other
hand. the basin system has one great defect
II in no wise yokes the Nile TO permit irrigation
all the year round. The corvee, that mode Of
forced labor so long a curse Of Egypt, could do
much to keep the canals and dikes in order
but could not. so long as basin irrigation was
the sole reliance, obtain water out of the food
season.
To stricken Egypt there appeared, early in the
nineteenth century a man who. despot though
he was was TO lay the foundations upon which
the Anglo-Egypttan administrators have since
built TO such good purpose. Mehemet Ali sent
TO Egypt as Viceroy in 1910 was an Albanian
who had been tobacco seller before he con-
ceived the idea OF posing as a second NAPOLEON
Troubled by no scruples, he established him
self In Egypt by the treacherous slaughter Of
the Mamelukes, and thoroughly organized the
military forces at his disposal. Called TO aid
the Sultan in crushing the Greeks Of the Pei
oponnese, he quenched the revolution in torrents
OF blood, and then began TO develop his policy
Of ACKNOWLEDGMENT. At Navarino he was
checked. but only for the time being Turning
against Turkey. his troops ravaged Syria and
threatened Constantinople itself. and not until
British guns resounded at Acre did the vain
dream Of empire building come to an end Me-
hernet Alis contribution to the problem Of up
lifting Egypt was slight in actual results but
the important thing was that he made the first
real move in the right direction This Mr. Peel
seems to forget when he suggests that perhaps
100 much credit has been given 10 the great
Niceroy. Approaching the force OF Napoleon's
theory Of doubling the effect Of the food in the
Delta by building a barrage that would close
each branch Of the river alternately. Mebernet
proceeded with characteristic energy. and pro-
\ posed TO obtain the necessary material b,, dis
Inantling the pyramids. Fortunately re-
marks Mr.. Peel, the prosaic question of trans
port arrested this design" Limestone ouarriAs
We're opened near Cairo and the foundations of
the barrage were dug. Then, needless of the
aaVlce OF the French engineers, he altered his
pans completely ana determined that the
method Of obtaining perennial irrigation was n
build a great reservoir where water could he
stored for the needs OF summer. The barrage
he held, would then be superfluous and rnean-
time the corvee was always available to keen
the existing canals clear; the sequel has proved
that barrage and reservoir are interdependent
factors in the yoking of the Nile
Shortly before the close of his career Mebenoet
reverted to the barrage idea. and gave the en-
gineers permission TO proceed. It was not until
1e'2' however, long after his death, that the
barrage was n condition to be used and then
only on ore branch OF the Nile Under this
handicap. nevertheless. the ordinary summer
increased that q gain of $4,000 acres of sum-
'ner crops was matured at less cost than had
been necessary for the cultivation of the pre
Fious total Of 10000 acres. Ismai the grand
son OF Mehemet, and the regning Khedtve AT
once determined TO extend the system 10 Inner
Egypt. and the following year the great Ibra-
hinliyah Canal was dug. giving perennial irri-
gation 10 three provinces. Ismairs interests
however, were not In the fellaheen. but In the
development Of his great tracts of land and by
ms extravaganza and the abuse Of the corvee
system in digging canals to water his own es-
tates he hastened not the upbuilding but the
downfall Of Egypt. Still. as Mr.. Peel says
The country owes him something for there
was generally something great in his ideas. and
time is carrying many Of them into effect II
is impossible not TO feel some admiration for
the man who when asked what gauge the
Soudan Railway should be, replied, Make 1t the
same as that Of the railways in South Africa
1t Will save trouble in the end"
81 the time the British occupation began the