The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-06-02


take up the task OF SELF aovsrnrne
Certain It 10 that the British Govern
ment can show many good works as q
justification Of its apparent breach OF
faith in remaining In Egypt.
Taxation has been the burden OF
the life OF the Oriental since the first
DAY one man found that he could rule
over others. In Egypt the taxes have
been very onerous, and they have been
heightened. but little under British rule.
The obligations to the money-lenders
OF Europe, contracted by the reckless
ismail. must be paid In full. The fel-
,laheen who till the soil must pay AL
though the taxes are still heavy, they
are not as onerous as they once were.
The nrst and one OF the most important
REFORMS initiated by the British was
the institution of the tax receipt. For
merry. the fellah paid his taxes to the
sheikh and trusted to luck that he
would not have to pay again. II the
shsikh needed money. or II the man
higher up needed IL, or IL the Khedive
needed Il. the feIlah had to pay again.
The courbash, dreadful whip made OF
hippopotamus hide, assisted the tax
gatherer to ind the hidden store OF
coppers. Since the English came. the
peasant pays his taxes and Is given o
receipt. 30 long as he has that bit Of
paper the red-coated soldiers Of Eng
land stand between him and the tax
gatherer.
Furthermore. In the old days, no.
body but the fellaheen and the poorer
people paid any taxes at all. The
wealthy evaded payment by currying
favor at court or by bold opposition to
authority. Under British rule, the rich
as we'll as the poor must pay. Under the
old regime q professional tax was i'm
posed upon a1l persons who practiced
one of the learned professions. This
was always collected from the miser-
able feliah who could not read or write,
the Government declaring that 1t was
not the States fault that the man had
not educated himself for a professional
career and that, therefore, the State
could not be- cheated out of its just
dues.
The English abolished government
by courbash. Under the rule Of the
pashas. the whip was applied freely to
enforce the will Of the aristocracy. Men
accused. of crime were dashed until
they confessed or until they died. The
courts did not administer Justice. they
only meted out punishment. It was
visited upon innocent and guilty alike
unless the victim could produce bride
of sufficient attractiveness to induce
the judge to relent.
The universal system OF bribery and
official ''bakhshish' has been well.
nigh stamped out. In the old days It
was positively dangerous not to offer
contact with. Now 1t is almost as dam
gerous to offer the bribe. Corruption
still exists In Egypt, but 1t Is now the
exception and not the rule.
The English abolished the "corvee'
in its old form. The corvee was that
regulation which held the labor of the
subject to be at the disposal of the
sovereign. The Government could call
on any number of men, order them to
60 to any point in the country and
work without pay for as long as 1t
pleased. The Suez Canal was started
and most of 1t constructed by this kind
of labor. The men were not paid, were
poorly fed, and there was no protection
whatever for their health. The prya-
mids were build by forced labor. and
the ,corvee had been transmitting the
blood of the Egyptian fellah into gold
for the sovereign for sixty centuries
when LORD CroIner abolished it. M
The Khedives had confiscated and
otherwise obtained possession of more
than o million acres OF the best farm
ing lands in Egypt. Under English
rule, the greater portion of this vast
estate has been applied to the extinc-
ton OF the Pubic DEBT ana tne lAnu
itself has been sold in small parcels
to the actual resident farmers. s.
England has given Egypt improved
fertility and expanded area by scientific
irrigation. 1t has blessed Egypt with
a long period of peace and tranquility.
with relief from the fear of the man
higher up" with the practical aboli-
ton of slavery. with impartial admins
istration Of justice for rich and poor,
with improved ana cheapened transport
tation, with schools and with emanci-
patton from corruption.
Not even England pretends that the
British have a strictly legal right to
rule in Egypt. But, despite academic
conclusions. II remains fact that Eng
land was forced to come to Egypt by
circumstances, and that England's
withdrawal at any time would have
means anarchy in Egypt and danger
to the peace OF the world. More than
that, even the Egyptians who are crying
out for national Independence will ad-
nit that both prince and peasant have
known a greater prosperity under en-
liRhtened British rule than ever before.
And despite all contention that Ing
land must leave Egypt. there IL every
probability that England is In Egypt
to stay.
(copyright. 1909, by Frederic j..
Haskin.)
TomOrriw-TVventieth Century Egypt.
Nv. Egypt for the Egyptians.