Page:EB1922 - Volume 32.djvu/642

616 ment. Except in Darfur, the war did not, externally, touch the Sudan at any point, and its administration continued on normal lines. The Prince of Wales visited the Sudan in 1916 and the Duke of Connaught in the following year.

The disturbances which broke out in Egypt in 1919 inter- rupted direct communications with Cairo, and the temporary cessation of Nile traffic caused a certain loss of trade. The Sudanese populations were not concerned with the aspirations of Egyptian nationalism, and the large Egyptian official com- munity, while by no means indifferent to the development of events in their own country, did not actively display sympathy, so that this period of crisis passed without incident. Nor did the Armistice and the negotiations which followed the victory of the Allies occasion special comments. A delegation of Sudanese notables proceeded to England to offer congratulations on the successful termination of the war and returned with pleasant impressions of their visit. The only remaining centre of unrest in 1921 was the Abyssinian border, where raids and hunting parties of chiefs, nominally but not effectively under Abyssinian control, continued to give difficulty.

The outstanding event in Sudanese history during the war period was the withdrawal of Sir Reginald Wingate from the governor-generalship, on his being called to Cairo in Dec. 1916 as high commissioner for Egypt. He succeeded Lord Kitchener as Sirdar of the Egyptian army and governor-general in Dec. 1899, after an almost continuous service with the Egyptian army since 1883. Under his able and sympathetic adminis- tration the Sudan had emerged from the chaotic condition to which Mahdist misrule had reduced it, and gradually developed into a peaceful and contented country. His name will long be remembered by the people to whose regeneration he devoted the best years of his life. Another historic association with the Sudan was terminated by the outbreak of war between Great Britain and Austria-Hungary, when Sir Rudolf von Slatin, the inspector-general, whose advice in all native affairs had been most valuable, was inevitably compelled to resign. Mention may also be made of the resignation of Sir Edgar Bonham- Carter in 1917 after 18 years' service. He had been responsible for the creation and development of the whole legal and judicial system of the Sudan.

Col. (afterwards Maj.-Gen. Sir) Lee Stack, civil secretary to the Sudan Government, succeeded Sir Reginald Wingate as governor-general and sirdar; Slatin Pasha's post was not filled.

See the Annual Reports on the finances, administration, etc., of the Sudan, issued annually in London up to 1913, and the Report for 1914-9, issued 1920, which is of special value. The Sudan Almanac and Handbook to the Sudan are also official publications. Murray's Guide to Egypt and the Sudan, and Macmillan's, Baedeker's and Lock's guide-books may be used with profit. See also Y. P. Artin, England in the Soudan (1911); and Sudan Notes and Records, an excellent serial publication begun in 1918. The Survey Depart- ment, Khartum, issues a map of the Sudan, in many sheets, on the scale of i :25o,ooo. (J. R. R.)

SUDERMANN, HERMANN (1857- ), German dramatist and novelist (see 26.20). His novels include Das hohe Lied (1909); and Lilauische Geschichten (1917); while in 1911 appeared a volume of short stories, Die indische Lilie. His later plays include Strand- kinder (1910) ; Der Beltler von Syrakus (1911) ; Der gute Ruf (1913) ; Die Lobgesdnge des Claudian (1914), and Das Hohere Leben (1919).

SUESS, EDUARD (1831-1914), Austrian geologist (see 26.21), died at Vienna, April 25 1914. SUEZ CANAL (see 26.22). The five years 1909-13 witnessed a considerable increase in the traffic passing through the canal. The World War greatly restricted the use, particularly in 1917.

In the following table the figure for receipts is obtained by taking 25 francs as equal to i sterling except for 1920, when the rate is reckoned at 50 francs to the i :

No. of vessels

No. of passengers

Net tonnage

Gross receipts

1909

1913 1917

1920

4-239 5,085 2,353 4,009

213,122

282,235

142,313 500,147'

I5,4 7,527 20,033,834 8,368,918 17,574,657

4,782,724 5,140,403 2,880,761 5,329.213

1 This abnormal increase was due to the movement of troops.

In Feb. 1915 the Turks, who had traversed the Sinai peninsula, attacked the Suez Canal at various points, and it was not until after the battle of Romani in Aug. 1916 that all danger to the canal was ended. Throughout this period traffic was interrupted on two occasions only, and then for very brief periods. During the World War, under Adml. Robinson as Director-General of the Egyptian Ports and Lights Administration, 1,239 transports and men-of-war, totalling over 8,000,000 tons, were passed in safety through the canal, and 965 transports, 43 hospital ships, 36 store ships and 307 colliers were dealt with at Port Said.

Striking differences in the pre-war and post-war shipping were the elimination temporarily after 1914 of German vessels (which in 1911 had 13-4% of the tonnage) and the increasing number of Japanese and United States ships using the canal. Japanese vessels represented before the war 1-7% of the tonnage; in 1920 their tonnage had in- creased to 9-1%. United States vessels, rarely seen in the canal before the war, in 1920 represented 4-1% of the tonnage. British ships continued to provide the bulk of the tonnage, the proportion in 1920 being 61-7% compared with 62-2% in 1911. In 1920 three passages were made by steamers of over 23,000 tons gross, a figure never before reached, and one vessel had a length of 669 ft., the longest registered in the canal. The quantity of goods passing through the canal in 1920 was 34% below the figures of 1913. There had been some change in the character of the merchandise, food- stuffs diminishing sensibly in volume, though corn from Manchuria and China made its appearance. Imports of coal from S. Africal and Australia were particularly marked in 1919 and 1920.

A scheme to extend the concession of the Suez Canal Co. the existing concession does not expire until 1968 was rejected by the Egyptian General Assembly in 1910, not on its merits but' in an effort to discredit the British administration. The Suez Canal Co. cooperated heartily with the British authorities in Egypt during the war. To meet the increased costs caused by the war the Company in 1916 and 1917 imposed higher tariff charges, i which, after the war, acted in restraint of traffic and were not of [ permanent benefit to the Company. In 1919 the Company asked j to have put into operation at Port Said the free zone regime provided for in an agreement made in 1902 between it and the Egyptian Government. It held that the transit trade would be stimulated if an area were set apart in which goods could be handled, or remain, uncontrolled by the customs. An agreement on the subject was drawn up in 1920.

It is noteworthy that in 1919, and to a much more marked extent in 1920, the Company benefited by the decreased value of the franc. This was made possible as snipping dues were collected in Egypt and were paid in money less depreciated than the franc, and profits earned in Egypt were used in the purchase of francs at cur- rent rates. In 1920 the benefit from these operations amounted to 101,772,000 francs, or over 2,000,000 at average rates of exchange.

The annual reports of the Suez Canal Co., published in Paris, give full statistical information. (F. R. C.)

SUGAR (see 26.32). In the year 1910-1 the world's production of sugar amounted to 16,951,000 tons, of which 8,391,000 tons Were produced from cane and 8,560,000 tons from beet, including that grown in America. For 1913-4 the world's total production reached 18,486,000 tons, of which the cane production was 9,577,000 tons an increase of 1,186,000 tons of cane. The beet crop for the same period was 8,909,000 tons, of which 655,000 tons were grown in America an increase of 349,000 tons. These were the highest figures reached during the decade 1910-20, for after the outbreak of the World War in 1914 the European production declined yearly, until in 1919-20 the world's beet crop reached only a little over 3,200,000 tons, of which 653,000 tons were American. The world's crop of sugar for 1920-1 was estimated at about 16,475,000 tons, of which cane was estimated to produce over 11,828,000 tons, and beet 4,647,000 tons, of which 935,000 tons were American.

Owing to the British Government recognizing at once the importance of securing to the nation a supply of sugar sufficient for the wants of the people, sugar was the first commodity to be controlled in the United Kingdom during the war (see FOOD SUPPLY), and within a few days of its outbreak the Government had bought several thousand tons of sugar. In Aug. 1914 a Royal Commission on the Sugar Supply was formed. It took over the duties of buying and selling sugar. These operations were done through the ordinary channels of trade, and everyone was guaranteed a