The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-02

ready to take up the task Of self-govern-
ment- Certain it is that the British gov
sIhnent can show many good works as
yusCltiCatlOn for its apparent breach OF
/ Ialtn IN remaining in Egypt.
taxation has been the burden of the
/ IRE OF the Oriental since the first day one
man found that he could rule over 9TH
eIs. In Egypt the taxes have been very
UI,iieIous, and they have been ligfltened but
lttlS under British rule. The obligations
10 the money lenders Of Europe, contract
ca Dy the reckless Ismai must be paid
IN IulL The fellaheen who till the soil
must pay Although the taxes are still
HeaN9' they are not as OnerOus as they
Uuce were The first and one of tine
| most important reforms initiated by the
British was the institution of the tax re-
celpI. Formerly the feliah paid his taxes
70 the sheikh and trusted to luck that
| ne would not have to pay again. If the
snel kh needed money. or if the man high
er up needed II, or If the khedive needed
II, Jhe Iellah had to pay again. The cOur-
odsh' a dreadful whip made of hippo
pOtamus hide, assisted the tax gatherer
20 Ilnd the hidden store Of coppers Since
the English came the peasant pays his
taxes and Is given a receipt. So long as
ne mas that bit of paper the relocated
soidlers Of England stand between him
and the tax gatherer.
furthermore, in the old days. nobody
out the Tellaheen and the poorer people
paid any taxes at all The wealthy evad-
cd payment by cuTrying favor at court
or by bold opposition to authority. I'm
der British rule the rich as well as the
poor must pay Under the old regime a
professional tax was imposed upon all
persons who practiced one of the learned
professions. This was always collected
from the miserable fellah who could not
read or write the government declaring
that It was not the states fault that the
man mad not educated himself for a pro-
tessional career and that, therefore, the
state could not be cheated out Of its just
The English abolished government by
courbash. Under the rule Of the pashss.
the whip was applied freely to enforce
the viii Of the aristOcraCy. Men accused
Of crime were lashed until they. confessed
or until thy died The courts did not
administer justice; they only melted out
punishment 1t was visited upon limo
cent and guilty alike, unless the victim
could produce a bride of sufficient at
forgiveness to induce the judge to relent. /
Inc universal system Of bribery and Of
fetal "bakhshish' has been well-nigh /
stamped out. In the old days it was posi-
lively dangerous not to offer bride to
every OFFICIAL one came In contact with. !
Now 1t is almost as dangerous to offer
the bride. Corruption still exists IN /
Egypt, but 1t is now the exception and /
not the rule
The English abolished the "corvee" I'm /
Its old form. The COTvee was that regu- !
lation which held the labor of the sub /
Jet to be at the disposal of the sOver- /
tiEA Inc government COQlQ call on any \
number OF men, order them to 60 to any /
point in the country and work without pay
for as long as it pleased The Suez ca |
nal was started and most of ii construct
ed by this kind of labor. The men were |
not paid, were poorly fed, and there was /
no protection whatever for their health. /
The pyramids were built by forced la |
Dor, and the corvee had been transmit /
ing the blood Of the Egyptian fellah into /
gold for the sovereign for sixty centuries /
when Lord CrOmer abolished It,
The khedives had confiscated and other 1
wise obtained possession of more than a
million acres Of the best farming lands
in Egypt. Under English rule the great
er portion Of this vast estate has been
applied to the extinction Of the public
debt. and the land itself has been sold in
small parcels to the actual resident farm
srs-
England has given Egypt improved fer
-ility and expanded area by scientific irri-
cation. 1t has blessed Egypt with a long
period OF peace and tranquility. with re-
LEI from the fear OF the man higher
lp, with the practical abolition Of slav-
cry, with impartial administration of JUS
-ice for rich and poor, with improved and
,heapened transportation, with schools.
ma with emancipation from corruption.
Not even England pretends that the
British have a strictly legal right to rule
n Egypt But. despite academic conclu-
iions, 1t remains fact that England was
orced 20 come TO Egypt by circumstance,
md that England's withdrawal at anv
lime would have meant anarchy in Egypt
md danger to the peace Of the world
More than that, even the Egyptians who
ire crying out for national independence |
will admit that both prince and peasant
n Egypt have known greater prosper
~ under enlightened British rule than
ver before. And, despite all contention
hat England must leave Egypt, there is
very probability that England is in Egypr
o stay.
Copyright, 1899, by Frederic J. HaskinD
TomorrOw-Twentieth Century Egypt
". Egypt for the Egyptians.