Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/797

* EGYPT. 691 EGYPT. an English general bearing the title of Sirdar. Besides the regular Egyptian Army there has been in the eountrv since 1SS2 a British army of oieupation. toward the support of which the Ciovernmenl of the Khedive contributes in part. The legislative power is exercised hv tlie Khedive and his ministers, aided by the advice of a Legis- lative Council and a General Assembly. The Leg- islative Council is composed of ;iO members, of whom 14 are appointed by the Government and the rest elected from the provinces and |)n>vincial towns. The tieneral Assembly is composed of the Legislative Council, the Cabinet, and 4t! members elected by popular vote. Neither of these bodies exercises absolute legislative power, since the Legislative Council camiot initiate any legislation, ami the (ieneral Assembly is merely a consultative body, whose advice the Government is not bound to follow except in the im|)osiiic)ii of personal or land taxes. Egypt projicr is divided into 6 gov- ernorships and 14 nnulirichs or provinces, which in turn, are subdivided into districts and cora- iiiunes. At the bead of the province is the mudir, who is assisted in the performance of his various functions by a sanitary board, a police bureau, and a chief engineer. He also exercises authority over the heads of districts and com- munities, which in turn exercise control over the representatives of the villages and municipal wards. The collection of taxes is carried on through the mudir. Finances The administration of the finances of Egypt may be said to be entirely in British hands, for while the Caisse de la I)ette, which has charge of the payment of the foreign debt of Egjpt. contains representatives of all the great European powers, the British financial adviser has control of the country's finances. In evi- dence of the improvement in financial conditions, it may be stated that the receipts have exceed- ed the expenditures since 1888, leaving a con- siderable surplus which is now used for public works, such as irrigation, railways, etc. The chief sources of revenue are land taxes, about 45 per cent, of the total, and taxes on tobacco and salt, public works and customs. The chief items of expenditure are the service of the debt (about £3,500,000 Egyptian), the costs of administration, and the operation of public works. By the end of the nineteenth century the budget of Eg^'pt had reached about £10,000,- 000 (Egyptian), and in 1000 and 1901 the actual receipts exceeded the estimates, notwithstanding the abolition of the provincial octroi in 1901 .Tnd an increase in railway expenditures. The foreign indebtedness of Einpt, which amounted in 1900 to £10.3,049,000 (English), dates from 18(52, when a loan of £4.292,800 was issued for the purpose of extinguishing the floating debt. By 1870 the debt had been increased to £38,307,- 000, and was subsequentlv increased by a new loan of £32,000,000 issued' in 1873. In "l876 the several issues were consolidated into one debt of fOl.000.000. Owing to suliscquent financial dith- culties. the debt was again divided into a prefer- ence ,lebt of £17,000.000 at 5 per cent, and a unified debt of £59,000,000 at 7 per cent., while the Daira loans were consolidated into the Daira Sanieh debt of £8,815.430 at 5 per cent. Since the passing of the financial control into the hands of Eiiropean powers, many changes have been made in rates of interest, and a number of new loans have been issued. In 1900 the foreign debt consisted of the 3 per cent, gtiaranteed loan of £8,410.800 (English) ; the privileged debt of £29,393,580 at 3'.j per cent.; the unified debt of £55,971,900 at 4 per cent.: the Daira Sanieh loan of £.l(i2,800 at 4 per cent.: and the domains loan of £3,109.900 at 4Va per cent. Eeserve funds, established in 1887, amounted in 1900 to £5,20(1,154 (Egyptian). Jl.STlCK. Justice is administered by four classes of tribunals. There are ( 1 ) the native courts, which deal with civil actions betw'een natives and with crimes committed by natives; (2) the consular courts, which exercise jurisdic- tion in the case of foreigners accused of crime: (3) the mixed tribunals, which date from 18/'5, and try all civil actions between persons of dilTerent nationalities and, in a measure, crimi- nal actions against foreigners. The mi.xed tri- bunals, which were created by international ac- tion, are renewed every five years. The present tribunals were jirolonged for five years by a decree of the Kludive in January, 1900. Finally, there are (4) the Mohammedan courts, con- ducted according to the precepts of the Koran and the general code of the Mohammedan re- ligion. These courts deal chiefly with the ques- tions of personal rights of the jlohammedan in- habitants. The system of native courts com- prises 7 courts of the first instance for the trial of important cases, 45 summary triliunals for the hearing of cases of minor im])ortance, and a court of appeal at Cairo. The native judges are drawn from the class of the L'lemas, or those learned in the Mohammedan law. Some attempt toward the systematizatinn of the native jurisprudence has been made in the publication of a code of laws, which was in the main a blending of religious precepts with secular law. The administration of justice in the lower courts is under the supervision of a judicial committee, to which the judges or kadis are responsible for their action, Popri,.TioN. The population of Egypt, in 1840, 1882, and 1897 was respectively 4,476,440, 6,813,919, and 9,734,405, the average' annual in- crease being 1.25 per cent, for the period 184C- 82, and 2.76 per cent, for 1882-97. Of the total population in 1897, 9,621,879 (including 573.- 974 nonulds) were Egyptians (including fellahs, who constitute the great bulk of the people ; Arab inhabitants of the towns, and Bedouins and Copts), 38,175 Greeks, 24,461 Italians, 19,- 557 British, 14,155 French, 7117 Austro-llunga- rians, 3193 Russians, 1277 Germans. 1301 Persians, and 3284 of other nationalities. The population in the villages and smaller towns is purely Egj-ptian. while in the larger towns Arabs and foreigners predominate. Religion. About 9,000.000 inhabitants or 92.23 per cent, profess the Sunnite .Moliammedan faith; 730,162 are CTliristians (including 008,- 446 Copts, q.v.), and 25,200 are Jews. The Armenians have a bishop in Cairo. The Maro- nites are also represented. The Roman Catholics have two churches in Alexandria and two in Cairo. Missionary undertakings in Egypt have not been particularly successful. The Copts are bigoted and exclusive and not well disposed to- ward other Christian bodies. There is an Ameri- can mission at Alexandria and Cairo, which works chiefly among the Copts and Jews. A