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Egypt in great economic difficulties. The price of cotton fell by a third and a panic was averted only by drastic measures taken by the Government. As part of these measures a general morato- rium was proclaimed and an emergency currency obtained by making the notes of the National Bank of Egypt temporarily legal tender and inconvertible. But cotton, stimulated by war demands, had again risen to pre-war prices by the end of 1915, and this, together with forced economy and the large sums spent by the army stationed in the country, restored the situation. Taking the country as a whole a new period of prosperity set in, chiefly due to the soaring price of cotton which in April 1920 was almost ten times its value in 1913. During the war exports greatly exceeded imports in value, and, deprived of normal means of employing capital in the country itself, the Egyptians sought foreign investments, putting their money to a large extent into British war securities. It was calculated that between Aug. 1914 and April 1920, as much as Ei 50,000,000 ' had been invested abroad. Yet at the same time Egypt (apart from the public debt) was still a debtor to foreign countries for a still larger sum, chiefly loans on mortgage and capital invested in industrial, transport and other companies. But the wave of prosperity which de- pended to an unhealthy extent on the inflated price of cotton was accompanied by very real distress among the fellahin (peas- antry). The great increase in the cost of living acted upon this class (who form 62% of the pop.) with extreme severity, and their plight was accentuated by the natural tendency to extend the area under cotton cultivation at the expense of the area under cereals. The poorer classes in the big towns were even more affected than the fellahin; in Cairo in 1920 the cost of living was thrice as high as in the beginning of 1914. An attempt by the authorities to fix maximum prices was found to do rather more harm than good. The Government was reduced to seeing that certain staple articles of food chiefly wheat, flour and maize were supplied at reasonably cheap rates. Wheat had to be im- ported for this purpose and sold at prices involving a loss.

As one result of the increased cost of living there was a general demand for higher wages and improved conditions, and labour organizations resembling trade unions made their appearance. Many strikes occurred, some of long duration and some political rather than economic. A Labour Disputes Conciliation Board, established in Aug. 1919, did much good work in regulating questions of pay, hours of work, payments for sickness, etc.

The great drop in the price of cotton during the last half of 1920 naturally affected Egypt, and 1921 proved a year of con- siderable stringency. The restriction in the purchasing power of the community was a reflex of the fall in cotton. The price of Egyptian cotton (sakel) on the Liverpool market was 84 -sod. in April 1920 and but I7'75d. in April 1921. The fall came too late to affect the trade returns of 1920, which were the highest recorded. The figures were largely delusive, as they were mainly the result of higher prices and not of increased production.

To a certain extent the poorer fellahin enjoyed advantages which protected them against the worst effects of bad harvests and low prices. By a law of 1912, passed at the instance of Lord Kitchener, holdings up to five feddans 2 were secured from distraint for debt, and as native owners of land of five feddans or less numbered at the 1917 census over 1,500,000, or about one- tenth of the total population, the benefit of the Five Feddans law was very appreciable. Moreover, the peasantry could ob- tain loans from the Agricultural Bank at the fixed rate of 8 % interest.

Agriculture, Mining and Trade. The Agricultural Department, established by Sir Eldon Gorst in 1910, was in 1913 transformed by Lord Kitchener into a Ministry of Agriculture. Cotton maintained its position as the mainstay of Egyptian prosperity. The crop of 1910 realized 35,840,000, being 5,700,000 above the previous best. The crops of 1908 1909, and 1911 were, however, poor or medium, and steps were taken to put the industry on a sounder basis. Reclamation of land had been pushed northward in the Delta into low-lying areas where there was no natural drainage, while a middle zone had become salted and water-logged. Thus arose the necessity

1 i os. 6d. approx.

1 One feddan = I -038 acres.

of drainage works on a large scale. Undrained soil, indiscriminate destruction of bird life 3 and the loss in seven years of a quarter of a million head of cattle through disease had led to a great increase in cot- ton pests, while a harmful system prevailed of mixing different varieties of cotton-seed for sowing. In Nov. 1912 a cotton congress wa? held in Cairo, representatives of master cotton-spinners from every European country and Japan being present. At this congress Mr., Dudgeon, director-general of the Agricultural Department, out- lined a scheme whereby in five years seed for producmg species approved by spinners could be obtained for the whole of Egypt. A Cotton Research Board was created in 1919 and in that year Mr. H. M. Leake, a leading authority on cotton-breeding, visited Egypt with the object of improving the quality and increasing the yield of the cotton crop. From 1916 the crop had represented practically only two varieties of cotton, sakel (72 %) and ashmuni (20 %) the latter grown in Upper Egypt. The Mitafifi and Nubari varieties, 26% and 15% respectively in 1913, had shrunk in 1919 to 2-2 % and i'5%- The pressing and baling of the cotton are done almost ex- clusively at Alexandria.

The attraction of cotton caused the cultivator to restrict the areas under food crops; so much so that in 1915 and again in 1918 the Government was compelled to limit the area under cotton. The chief food crops are wheat, barley, maize, rice and sugar-cane. In 1919 the area under cotton was 1,573,000 feddans as against 1,274,- ooo under wheat. In 1916 the figures had been: cotton 1,677,000 feddans, wheat 1,075,000. The figures for the 1920 wheat crop were, however, illusory; in many instances wheat sown was rooted up, or allowed to be grazed by cattle, and cotton planted in its place. While the cotton crop varied considerably in amount the average annual production was about 315,000 tons. The crops of 1920 realized the unprecedented price of 75,096,000, an increase of 15 % in value over 1917, though a big decrease in quantity.

With a view to broadening the basis of the agricultural resources of the country decrees were issued (Dec. igao-May 1921) pro- hibiting for the three years 1921-3 the planting of more than one- third of each holding with cotton. This action was taken at the request of the provincial councils.

From 1912 onward there was a notable development in the mineral wealth of Egypt. Nitrates and phosphates, the last-named from the Red Sea coast, together with a little gold, were up to then the chief mineral exports. Petroleum was known to exist on both shores of the Gulf of Suez but it was not till 1912 that the export of crude oil began. This oil was from the Gemsa mines. In 1914 a new oil-field was discovered at Hurghada and the oil from this field did much to save Egypt from a fuel famine during the World War. This led the Government to undertake drilling operations on its own account, but up to the close of 1920 the stage of production from Government mines had not been reached. The value of the mineral output (in its raw state) rose from 400,000 in 1914 to 1,420,000 in 1919. Oil refineries were erected at Suez where, in 1916, harbour extensions were carried out to provide for the increase in the oil trade and the bunkering of oil-burning ships. The output of pe- troleum rose from 12,700 metric tons in 1913 to 281,800 tons in 1918. Phosphate was next in importance among minerals. The output^ varied greatly; it was 104,000 metric tons in 1913, rose to 125,000 in 1916, fell to 31,000 in 1918 and was 78,500 in 1919. Manganese ores have been exported since 1913 but the mines were much damaged by the Turks in 1915-6. In 1918 the manganese ore mined was 27,- 498 tons, the export 9,400 tons.

Of other industries cigarette-making at Alexandria from imported tobacco a business almost entirely in the hands of Greeks and Armenians showed wide fluctuations. Before the World War the tobacco was obtained chiefly from Greece, Turkey and Russia. During and after the war the place of Turkey and Russia was taken by China, India and Japan. The tobacco imported in 1913 was 7,269,000 kilogrammes; in 1919 it was 8,350,000 kgm. The export of cigarettes, 493,000 kgm. in 1913 fell to 285,000 kgm. in 1917, but rose to 561,000 kgm. in 1919.

The external trade of Egypt in the decade 1911-20 rose from 55,826,000 to 187,348,000, the figures for 1920 being the highest recorded. Imports in that year were 101,880,000 and exports 85,467,000. They compared with the previous highest returns of 51,156,000 imports in 1918 and 75,880,000 exports in 1919. There was a great increase of imports, following the removal of war restrictions, in 1918-20, but the rise was more in values than in quantity. In 1911 the balance of trade had been almost even, exports bemg#E28, 598,000 and imports 27,227,000.

As to exports, cotton, throughout the decade, represented 90% of the total; the other chief exports were cereals and vegetables, sugar, cigarettes and, from 19134, minerals. The largest exports in 1920, after cotton, were cotton seed and cakes, 4,087,000; sugar, El, 144,000; and cigarettes, 951,000. The chief imports were cotton textiles (valued at 18,771,000 in 1920), metal and metal ware (11,842,000), coal (8,315,000), wheat and flour (9,443,-

agriculture. Many of these birds, such as the buff-backed heron (egret), had been almost exterminated. The new law proved effec- tive and these birds again multiplied.
 * In 1912 a law was passed for the protection of birds useful to