Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/1446

 Died

Reigned

1849

1811-48

1848

June— Nov. 1848

1854

1848-54

1863

1854-63

1895

1863-79

1892

1879-92

lo24 TURKEY AND TRIBUTARY STATES : — EGYPT

Sheriff of February 13, 1841, issued under the guarantee of the five great European Powers, which established the hereditary succession to the throne of Egypt under the same rules and regulations as those to the throne of Turkey. The title given to Mehemet Ali and his immediate successors was the Turkish one of 'Vali,' or Viceroy ; but this was changed by an Imperial firman of May21i 1866 into the Persian- Arabic of ' Khidewi-Misr,' or, as more commonly called, Khedive. By the same firman of May 27, 1866, obtained on the con- dition of the sovereign of Egypt raising his annual tribute to the Sultan's civil list from 376,000^. to 720,000Z., the succession to the throne of Egypt was made direct from father to son, instead of descending, after the Turkish law, to the eldest heir. By a firman issued June 8, 1873, the Sultan granted to Ismail I. the hitherto withheld rights of concluding commercial treaties with foreign Powers, and of maintaining armies.

The predecessors of the present ruler of Egypt were —

Born

Mehemet Ali, founder of the dynasty 1769

Ibrahim, step-son of Mehemet. . 1789

Abbas, grandson of Mehemet. . . 1813

Said, son of JNtehemet 1822

Ismail, son of Ibrahim 1830

Mohamed Tewfik, son of Ismail. . 1852

The present Khedive of Egypt has an annual allowance of £E100,000.

Government and Constitution.

The administration of Egypt is carried on by native Ministers, subject to the ruling of the Khedive. From 1879 to 1883 two Controllers-General, appointed by France and England, had considerable powers in the direction of the affairs of the country (Khedivial Decree, November 10, 1879) In the summer of 1882, iji consequence of a military ]-ebellion, England intervened, subdued the rising, and restored the authority of the Khedive. In this intervention England was not joined by France, and as a result, on January 18, 1883, the Khedive signed a decree abolishing the joint control of England and France. In the place of the Control, the Khedive, on the recommendation of England, appointed an English financial adviser, without whose concurrence no financial decision can betaken. The financial adviser has a light to a seat in the Council of Ministers, but he is not an executive ofiicer. The Khedivial Decree appended to and approved by the Anglo-French Convention of April 4, 1904, has removed most of the restrictions which encumber the management of Egyptian Finance. No modification may be introduced into the terms of the Decree without the assent of the .signatory powers to the Convention of London of 1885.

The Egyptian Ministry is at present composed of six members, among whom the departmental work is distributed as follows : — 1. President — Interior ; 2. Finance ; 3. Foreign Affairs ; 4. Justice ; 5. Public Works, War and Marine ; 6. Education.

On May 1, 1883, an organic law was promulgated by the Khedive creating a number of representative institutions, including a Legislative Council, a General Assembly, a^»d Provincial Councils. The Legislative Council is a consultative body, consisting of 30 members, of whom 14 are nominated by the Government. The Council meets on Nov. 15 each year, and continues its session till the end of May, the following year. It might be .summoned to hold extraordinary meetings by decree. Its session is not closed until