New-York tribune., 1906-07-15

Egypt furnishes TO such an extent an object
lesson . tie United States In the way of admin
,s,rs.ion OF an Oriental dependency by West
ern power that the condition OF affairs now pre-
calling in the Valley OF the Nile is worthy OF
,lose study and Of earnest consideration by the
,.onle Of America. That the situation is a seri-
,us ore indeed has been publicly announced by
Sir EDWARD Grey in the House OF Commons. and
= nay safely be taken for granted that the Sec
,atarv Of State for Foreign Affairs who is per-
hans the most level headed and least emotional
ran Of the entire Cabinet. would not have given
,r,srance 10 so solemn a warning as that which
hs delivered in Parliament last week unless the
natter was Of the utmost gravity 1t arises, ac-
.orsfne 10 him. from the religious fanaticism OF
,be Mosem population Of Egypt, fanatIcism
which is sufficient 70 blind them to all the ad-
,antaees which they have derived from British
control and 10 obliterate every spark of graft
.1de for ell the innumerable benefits which they
have received at the hands OF the English.
only those who, like myself. have lived In
rgvpt in the reign Of the late Khedive Ismail-
mai IS 10 say, prior to the Intervention of Eng
and and France, and then OF England alone
,Bn form any notion of the immensity OF these
benefits which the native Egyptians owe to the
british IN general. and more especially to Lord
cro!ner 10 whom belongs nearly ALL If not all,
the credit for the regeneration OF Egypt and for
.be revival Of its former prosperity Until the
overthrow Of Khediye Ismaii there was no safety
II life or property in the country-at any rate
for the natives-and even his very ministers.
such as. for instance, Nubar and Riaz Pachas,
we're compelled to place themselves under the
protection Of one or another Of the foreign pow
ers so as TO prevent their sovereign from confis-
eating their estates and from taking their lives
without trial or legal process for no other rea-
son than that they had become too rich and
powerful ATustapha Pacha, the Minister Of FL
nance popularity known as the AGouffetish.
neglected 10 take this necessary precaution.
A Knight Grand Cross OF most OF the orders
of Europe and possessed Of colossal wealth, he
esteemed himself too powerful for the Khediye
70 dare 10 harm him in any way. Yet in 1876
that is TO say. just thirty years ago, Khedive
Ismau called for him one day at the palace OF
the Minister of Finance. invited him to take his
seat beside him in his carriage, drove down to
the Gardens of Ghezireh. the banks OF the
Nile, and after wandering through them, took
hin of on board his yacht. which WIS moored
IN midstreaul and where he was a guest at a
dinner 20 which Ismail had invited several dis
tingUish=i foreign guests. The latter a-s-e the
first 10 depart along with the Khedve. But
when the Moufetish prepared 70 follow them
he was suddenly seized, gagged and bound. and
few minutes later The yacht had its anchor up
and was steaming upstream on the following
Gay the "Aoniteur Oficiel' announced that the
EoufIelish had been dismissed from office and
hanshe5 to Darfur. in the Soudan, for malHeas-
snce But the unfortunate man never even
reached the First Cataract, for within forty
eight hours the yacht returned to its anchorage
oE Ghezireh. and Il quickly became known that
Il ore Of the two Khediveal chamberlains who
had gone up the river on the yacht had his hand
all bandaged up it was because he had had it
bitten almost through by the dying Mouffetish
when he vas in the act Of strangling him.
Those were the days wien the miserable fell
aheen were beaten 10 death with kourbashes
or whips made Of hippopotamus hide. for no
other offence than that they had been unable to
pay the annual land tax twice over. IsmaI and
his minions were not content with one payment
q the tax As scon as the unfortunate people
had managed. with the help Of the usurer. to
relieve themselves of the obligation to the gov
eminent. Isnaail would remove the local authori-
ties and would send down a fresh lot who
would decline 10 assume that the tax had been
already paid and would insist exacting It
over again. Then, too, il was collected. not, as
noW, after the crops have been harvested and
sold. but long before they were ripe The only
way by means Of which the fellaheen could
her obtain the money was by having recourse
70 the usurers. who were always in league with
The revenue and provincial officials. and who
lent The money At extortionate rates the
security Of the crops and Of the land. If the
taiaAeen declined TO borrow the money on these