The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-13

liahed cu4fly but irefnftcHt echoola, eVecteo
palaces and incurred huae debss The
total public debt al hia accps-son had been
lees than four millions ~ pounds sterling.
When he lpst the country In 1919 n amounted
10 more than q hundred millions ~ pounds.
Of which, however. he had reviewed acarcely
ons-half Ia cash. With accommodating debt
came redoubled pressure on his subjects
Vet while he haFaased them ha was cum
PEELED more and more to rely upon them,
because the Turks In the Nile country
had become comparatively few, Not oniy
were several regiments now commanded
by Egyptian Colonies, hut the non-coin-
miaaioned officers and the rank and Tile
we're. with rare exceptions, Egyptian.
10.
when. therefore. in June. 1879. the sultan
submitting TO the pressure exerted by the
British and French Governments, deposed
lsmail Pasha the situation was fun oil
menace to Turkish rule. The country was
bankrupt and the European creditor was
In possession. There was no regular ad-
ministration Of justice; no order or system
in the collection Of the land. revenue and
other taxes. The governing body. small In
number. was, with rare exceptions. devoid
Of character. probity and intelligence.
The army, which as we have said was
composed mainly Of Egyptians. were the
brothers and sons Of the unhappy tax
payers. Necessarily their sympatbies were
with their countrymen. Tewfk. the son Of
Mohammed Ali, the new Khedive, had no
personal weight or influence, and on the
whole the time seemed to have come when
every element Of disaffection could be
combined against the Turk.
Such was the state Of things when on
February /, 1881, three Egyptian Colonels'
one Of them being Arab Bey, were
summoned to appear for ac,s OF ~insubordi-
nation before a court martial. They were
rescued by their regiments during the pro-
oeedings and the curtain fell on the first
scene of the revolt. Finding the Govern
ment not strong enough to ooerce them,
the three Colonies with their subordinate
officers organized on September 0 of the
year named a military demonstration
under the windows Of the Khedive's palace
and wrung from him the dismissal Of his
Ministry. They demanded also the oonvo-
cation OF a Chamber Of Notables, after
the converting Of which Arab was made
Minister OF War. As the military move
ment developed it grew more complicated.
1t became no longer a struggle between
Egyptian and Turkish officers, or between
the Khedive and his subjects. Other and
larger interests found themselves involved.
The aggressive tone taken in the joint
note addressed to the Khedive In January,
1882, by Britain and France, followed as it
wal by a long delay In ooercive action on
their part. drew many Egyptians into the
ranks Of the disaffected. The mass Of the
population came to believe that the jeal-
ousies Of the two Western Powers would
prevent their cooperation and that the
debts Of the fellaheen would be wiped Out
by the Egyptian party now in power. Re-
ligious luminosity also was excited, and
resulted in disturbances which led TO an
outbreak OF hostilities, TO the British bom-
bardment Of Alexandria and to the ultimate
o~,llapse Of the rebellion at Tel-el-Kebir.
Was the Egyptian appeal to arms under
Arab Pasha justified? The author Of
this volume answers In the negative. He
points out that the only grievance alleged
by the mutineers was the preference given
by the Khedive to Turkish and Circassian
officers, Far from insisting upon sweep
ing fiscal reforms, the chiefs OF the In
surgent troops urged claims for their own
exemption from the measures OF economy
contemplated elsewhere, for more pay
and for higher rank. Even their alleged
motive was not fear for the independence
Of their country, nor anxiety for their
fellow countrymen, but apprehension for
their personal safety. Another pertinent
question may be asked. Did there exist
in Egypt In 1889 any potentially Of self
government Lord Miner, who came to
Cairo soon after the year named, testified
that the Egyptians were "a nation OF SUBJ
missive slaves, devoid Of the slightest trace
OF the spirit Of liberty Then, as now,
politically blind, they followed blind leaders
into the trenches Of Tel-el-Kebir, where
all fell together.
Before reciting the results Of the British
occupation, our author pauses for a mo-
ment to convey q definite idea OF the political
status Of the Khedive and OF his relations
10 the Sultan Of Turkey. the suSerain.
These relations had been repeatedly modi-
fed since the issuance Of the firman Of
ls4l, by which the Government Of Egypt
was permanently granted to Mohammed
All and his successors, Even now, how
ever, each Khedive holds his Office at the
Sultan'e pleasure, as was shown by the
deposition Of 1smail Pasha, In pursuance
Of a arman. On the accession OF each
new Khedive. his position remains un-
legalized until he has received the Sultan's
frman OF investiture. In all that on
oerned the internal administration ofEgypt,
| however, Tewfk Pasha had a free hand
which his predecessors had only gradually
acquired. In Egypt his writ, and only
his writ, ran; the authority Of the Sultan
had been delegated TO him. ave only as
to the putting forth Of loans, as to deter
mining the maximum strength OF his army,
the constructing Of %ironolads, the duty Of
coming to his suzerain's aid in case Of war,
the appointing Of the Grand Kadi, or chief
Mohammedan Judge In Egypt, together
with certain matters pertaining to the
flag, to coinage, to nominations, to certain
higher military and civil grades and to the
bestowal Of decorations. To this day all
decorations conferred by the Khedive are
Turkish decorations, though the Khedive
has tho power Of distributing them. A GER