of 34,663 mistresses, are provided with residences free of rent; these averages are calculated upon the whole of the certificated teachers (where returns are given) whether principal or additional. It is mentioned with regard to the principal teachers in the metropolitan district, that, in the past year, the average salary of 353 masters in voluntary schools was £157 1s. 3d., and that of 439 masters in board schools £291 6s. 1d., while 874 schoolmistresses in board schools enjoyed an average income of £206 4s. Od. as compared with £93 19s. 9d., that of 780 mistresses in voluntary schools. The salaries of 7 masters in voluntary schools, and of 254 in board schools, amounted to £300 a year and upwards, while 5 schoolmistresses in voluntary, and 527 in board schools, had salaries of £200 and upwards." The Financial Statistics show that the total income of the 2,156 school boards in England for the year ending September 29th, 1897, was £9,417,107, or, excluding loans for permanent works, £7,973,831; the income received by the 331 boards in Wales was £655,411; or excluding loans £533,361. The sum expended by school boards in England amounted to £9,435,695, as compared with £9,516,061 in the previous year; and in Wales to £656,359, as compared with £633,280. This total expenditure in England was met by-rates, £4,666,102; grants, school fees, &c., £3,326,317; and loans, £1,443,276. And in Wales by rates, £4,306,213, grants, school fees, and other sources of income, £3,326,317. "These figures show that the proportionate charge upon the rates has decreased in England from 56.6 per cent. in 1895-96 to 564 in 1896-97, and has increased in Wales from 47.2 per cent. in 1895-96 to 48.2 in 1896-97. The rates applied to the maintenance of schools in England in 1895-96

were

£1 3s. 8 d., and in Wales 15s. 4d., per scholar in average attendance; but in 1896-97 they had risen to £1 3s. 93d. in England, and to 16s. 11d. in Wales." A statistical table is given which compares the finance of board schools and voluntary schools. The cost of "maintenance" per child in average attendance was as follows: In board schools (England and Wales), £2 13s. 23d.; in voluntary schools, £2 Os. 6d. In board schools in London the cost was £3 12s. 3 d.; in voluntary schools £2 8s. 41d. In board schools in Wales the cost was £2 6s. 7d.; in voluntary schools £1 18s. 11d. In England and Wales, excluding London, the cost in board schools was £2 8s. 13d. ; in voluntary schools £1 19s. 103d. In England, excluding London, the cost in board schools was £2 8s. 3 d., and in voluntary schools £1 19s. 11d. "The results of the past year show that the average cost of the maintenance of board schools per child in average attendance has increased. In London the increase was 1s. 34d., as compared with 2s. 83d. in 1896, and in the remaining board schools in England the increase was 1s. 31d. per child, as compared with 1s. 9d. in 1896. The average cost of voluntary schools this

year shows an increase of 114d. per child, as compared with an increase of 74d. in 1895."

EGYPT.

Reports on the Finances, Administration and Condition of Egypt, and the Progress of Reforms. (Egypt, No. I., May, 1898.)-Lord Cromer's Report says that the hearty co-operation of the superior officials in the service of the Khedive, whether European or Egyptian, has continued to prevail. "His Excellency Mustapha Pasha Fehmy and his colleagues, in spite of much misrepresentation,have rightly judged that the true interests of their country can best be served by hearty cooperation with a body of officials whose sole object is to apply the knowledge they have acquired elsewhere to the good of Egypt. It is mainly due to this fortunate circumstance, and also, I should add, to the assistance rendered by the Commissioners of the Debt in respect to certain important matters, to which I will presently allude in greater detail, that, in spite of the military operations in the Soudan having necessarily in some degree diverted attention from the internal affairs of Egypt, I am nevertheless able to lay before your Lordship a record of appreciable progress in every branch of the administration." The accounts show a revenue of £E11,092,000, and expenditure of £E10,659,000-a surplus of £E433,000. The net result of various financial operations described in the Report is that out of a total sum of £E3,833,000 standing to the credit of the General Reserve Fund, held in trust by the Caisse de la Dette, £E1,893,000 had been pledged for various objects. The balance at the credit of the Special Reserve Fund was £E209,000; but the Egyptian Treasury owed a sum of about £E780,000 to the British Government. As regards the Egyptian debt on December 31, 1897, the amount was£E98,107,000—the Funded Debt having been reduced by £E1,279,000 in the course of the year. The estimates for 1898 were: Revenue, £E10,440,000; expenditure, £E10,440,000. The total Soudan expenditure since March, 1896, when it was decided to advance on Dongola, including all expenditure in 1896 and 1897, was £E1,850,000. Of this sum £E1,100,000 represented extraordinary military expenditure, and the remaining £E750,000 the cost of railways and telegraphs. The Report gives detailed particulars of irrigation work, and includes a memorandum by Sir William Garslin on the scheme for the construction of the Nile reservoir. The criminal statistics show that "the diminishing of crime is not confined to a few special localities, but is spread over the whole of Egypt, and has manifested itself regularly month by month." An analysis of the census taken in 1897 shows the total population of Egypt, exclusive of Suakin and the Dongola province and other regions since restored to Egypt, to be 9,734,000-an increase of 43 per cent. since

8,979,000;

now

1882. Moslems figure at Christians at 730,000; and Jews at 25,000. Of the total population, 112,000 are foreigners. The Bedouin Egyptians number 574,000, of whom 89,000 are nomad. During the last fifteen years large numbers of Bedouins have been absorbed into the settled inhabitants of the Nile Valley. Of the foreign population Greece heads the list with 38,175; Italy comes second with 24,467; Great Britain third, with 19,557 (including soldiers, Maltese and British Indians); and France fourth, with 14,155. MIXED TRIBUNALS: The powers exercised by the Mixed Tribunals were renewed in February, 1894, for five years. Unless, therefore, same new arrangement is concluded between the Egyptian Government and the Powers before February, 1899, the functions of the tribunals will cease. The view of the Egyptian Government, supported by many eminent jurists in England and elsewhere, is that Egypt has the right to withdraw at will from the Mixed Tribunals. Lord Cromer hopes that no question will arise of exercising that right. The result would, he presumes, be a return to the ancien ordre de chose that is to say, civil cases between foreigners of different nationalities, or foreigners and Egyptians, would be tried in the Court of the Department in the same way as criminal affairs are now tried. "But it would be a mistake to suppose that, by a return to this system, all the abuses of the past would be reproduced." The native Law Courts have been greatly improved. "They cannot, however, as yet be said to inspire such a degree of confidence as to justify the abolition of the mixed courts," the continued existence of which "is on every ground to be desired." Lord Cromer says:-"Broadly speaking, the object of the proposals now made by the Egyptian Government is to arrest the tendency to which I have alluded above, and to restrain the action of the Courts within the limits contemplated by the Contracting Parties when the institution was originally created. It would, I venture to think, be a mistake to suppose that the Egyptian Government will alone benefit by a change of this nature. Such is far from being the case. I cannot but think that the Judges of the Mixed Courts will themselves gain in authority if matters involving political issues are removed from their sphere of action." Having quoted the text of the new article proposed by Egypt as an amendment to Article XI. of the Charter of Organization, Lord Cromer remarks: "It may be as well that I should draw attention to the precise point decided by the Court of Appeal, in December, 1896, in connection with the proposal to apply a portion of the General Reserve Fund to defray military expenditure in the Soudan. It will be remembered that on that occasion a difference of opinion arose amongst the members of the Caisse. The Court did not express any opinion as to whether the view of the majority could

It held that,

override that of the minority. irrespective of the number of votes on one side or the other, the Caisse had exceeded its powers. In this view of the question, the action taken by the majority of the Caisse would have been illegal even if the vote had been unanimous. I wish particularly to explain that, if the proposal now put forward becomes law, the position of the Caisse de la Dette will in no degree be weakened. Indeed, the very contrary will be the case. Certain functions are, by international agreement, conferred on the Caisse. There is no question of in any way invalidating the powers of the Caisse to exercise those functions. The object which it is sought to attain is different. The Egyptian Government wishes to be assured that when, in the exercise of the rights conferred on the Caisse by international agreement, that body has assented to any specific proposal, the legality of that proposal cannot be questioned." The point to be met is that the Mixed Tribunals, which were instituted as a substitute for Consular jurisdiction in disputes between foreigners and foreigners and natives and foreigners, have extended their jurisdiction in cases in which any foreign interest is involved. "The practical result of this extension of jurisdiction is that civil cases between natives and natives, which should properly be tried by the Native Courts, are now very often decided

by the Mixed Tribunals. There can, I

the

think, be little doubt that the wide interpretation given by the Mixed Courts to Article IX., as it now stands, has led to some abuses. The proposal now made by the Egyptian Government is brought forward with the object of rectifying some of these abuses. I should add, whilst on subject of the Mixed Tribunals, that at present French, Italian, and Arabic are the only languages recognized by the Tribunals. The exclusion of English acts detrimentally to the interests of British and American litigants, and has recently formed the subject of very legitimate complaint on the part of the English Chamber of Commerce at Alexandria. It is not probable that, in any case, lawyers would plead in English, as all the judges are not acquainted with that language, but the expense and delay caused by the necessity of obtaining legalized translations of English documents is prejudicial to the interests of British trade. No change in this respect is, however, possible without the unanimous consent of the Powers, and it has so far been found impossible to secure the requisite unanimity. The matter is certainly_one deserving of serious consideration." DONGOLA PROVINCE: Particulars are given of the condition of the recovered province of Dongola. One of the chief wants of Dongola was population. The then figures (January, 1897) showed a total of 58,000, of whom 40,000 were women and children; but adult men were coming in, as the fear of Dervish raids was lessened. Area of land capable of cultivation was 79,000 acres, of

are

which 20,000 was under cultivation. As the province was only just recovering from Dervish misrule there had been little export trade, but the export of dates was expected to be one of the principal sources of revenue. A considerable proportion of the trade of the Kordofan and Darfur districts will eventually find its way to Dongola and thence to Egypt. Arab tribes, with their families and flocks, had already come into the Valley of the Nile. EDUCATION: The natives of Egypt are showing an increasing interest in education, more especially in higher education. "The most trying want of the country at present is, however, the establishment of a good system of primary education." According to the last census 91-2 per cent. of the male and 99.4 per cent. of the female population "illiterate" unable to read and write. "It is obvious," says Lord Cromer, "that in respect to primary education, as also in respect to female education in which some fair progress is being made-no very tangible results will be obtainable for many years to come." But he urges that the matter should not, in the press of other works, be neglected. The Report, which deals with many other administrative matters, which do not call for summary, closes with the following passage:-"As each successive year of the British occupation of Egypt passes by, two facts acquire an ever-increasing degree of prominence. The first is that the present régime, which has now lasted for fifteen years, has conferred, and is still conferring, the utmost benefit on the Egyptians and on all who are concerned in the welfare of Egypt; the second is that, whatever be the defects of that régime-and it cannot be doubted that, whether the matter be regarded from the English or from the Egyptian point of view, it possesses certain defects-the circumstances are such as to render it impossible to substitute any preferable system of government in its place. A satisfactory solution is certainly not to be found in any premature movement in the direction of more effective Egyptian autonomy, or in internationalizing the Egyptian Government; or, lastly, in any combination of either of these two systems. For the present what Egypt most requires, and for many years to come will require, is an honest, just, and orderly Administration, and the establishment of the supremacy of the law in the widest sense of the term, on so firm a footing as to render practically impossible any return to that personal system of government which, twenty years ago, was well-nigh the ruin of the country, as it has been that of so many Oriental States. It is conceivable that, at some future time, the Egyptian question may pass from the administrative into the political stage, and that a moment will arrive when the method of government may be discussed with advantage to all the interests, whether foreign or native, which

are

concerned. For the present, how

ever, that moment would appear to be distant."

Soudan Convention (British and Egyptian Government). On January 19th the Official Journal published at Cairo contained the text of a convention between the Governments of Great Britain and Egypt relating to the Soudanese Provinces. The Convention is as follows: -Whereas certain provinces in the Soudan which were in rebellion against the authority of the Khedive have now been reconquered by the joint military and financial efforts of Her Majesty's Government and the Government of the Khedive; and whereas it has become necessary to decide upon a system for the administration and for the making of laws for the said reconquered provinces, under which due allowance may be made for the backward and unsettled conditions of large portions thereof, and for the varying requirements of different localities; and whereas it is desired to give effect to the claims which have accrued to Her Britannic Majesty's Government by right of conquest to share in the present settlement and future working and development of the said system and legislation; and whereas it is conceived that for many purposes Wady Halfa and Suakin may be most effectively administered in conjunction with the reconquered provinces to which they are respectively adjacent. Now it is hereby agreed and declared by and between the undersigned duly authorized for that purpose as follows:-I.-The word Soudan in this agreement means all the territories south of the 22nd parallel of latitude which have never been evacuated by the Egyptian troops since the year 1882, or which, having before the late rebellion in the Soudan been administered by the Government of His Highness the Khedive, were temporarily lost to Egypt, and have been reconquered by Majesty's Government and the Egyptian Government acting in concert, or which may hereafter be reconquered by the two Governments acting in concert. II.-The British and Egyptian flags shall be used together both on land and water throughout the Soudan, except in the town of Suakin, in which locality the Egyptian flag alone shall be used. III. The supreme military and civil command in the Soudan shall be vested in one officer, termed the GovernorGeneral of the Soudan. He shall be appointed by Khedivial decree with the consent of Her Britannic Majesty's Government, and shall be removed only by Khedivial decree, with the consent of Her Britannic Majesty's Government. IV.-Laws, as also orders and regulations, with the full force of law for the good government of the Soudan and for the regulating, holding, disposal and devolution of property of every kind therein situate, may from time to time be made, altered, or abrogated by proclamation of the Governor-General. Such laws, orders, and regulations may apply to the whole or to

Her

any named part of the Soudan, and may, either explicitly, or by necessary implication, alter or abrogate any existing law or regulation. All such proclamations shall be forthwith notified to the Britannic agent in Cairo and to the President of the Council of Ministers of the Khedive.

V.-No Egyptian law, decree, or ministerial arrete, or other enactment hereafter to be made or promulgated, shall apply to the Soudan or any part thereof, save in so far as the same shall be applied by proclamation of the Governor-General in the manner herein before provided. VI.-In the definition by proclamation of the conditions under which Europeans, of whatever nationality, shall be at liberty to trade with or reside in the Soudan, or to hold property within its limits, no special privileges shall be accorded to the subjects of any one or more Power. VII.-Import duties on entering the Soudan shall not be payable on goods coming from Egyptian territory. Such duties may, however, be levied on goods coming from elsewhere than Egyptian territory; but in the case of goods entering the Soudan at Suakin, or any other port on the Red Sea littoral, they shall not exceed the corresponding duties for the time being leviable on goods entering Egypt from abroad. Duties may be levied on goods leaving the Soudan at such rates as may from time to time be prescribed by proclamation. VIII.-The jurisdiction of the mixed tribunals shall not extend nor be recognized for any purpose whatsoever in any part of the Soudan, except in the town of Suakin. Until, and save so far as it shall be otherwise determined by proclamation, the Soudan, with the exception of the town of Suakin, shall be and remain under martial law. No Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents shall be accredited in respect of nor allowed to reside in the Soudan without the previous consent of Her Britannic Majesty's Government. IX.-The importation of slaves into the Soudan, as also their exportation, is absolutely prohibited. Provision shall be made by proclamation for the enforcement of this regulation. It is agreed between the two Governments that special attention shall be paid to the enforcement of the Brussels Act of 2nd July, 1890, in respect to the import, sale and manufacture of firearms and their munitions, and distilled spirituous liquors.-Cairo, Jan. 19th, 1899. (Signed) BOUTROS GHALI CROMER."

or

Upper Nile (Valley of the). Correspondence with the French Government. Egypt, No. II. October, 1898.-On December 10th, 1897, Sir Edmund Monson reported that he had represented to the French Government the views of Her Majesty's Government respecting the Valley of the Upper Nile. He had written M. Hanotaux that if other questions were adjusted Her Majesty's Government would make no difficulty about the French claim to the northern and eastern shores of Lake Chad. "But in doing so they cannot forget that

the possession of this territory may in the future open up a road to the Nile; and they must not be understood to admit that any other European Power than Great Britain has any claim to occupy any part of the Valley of the Nile. The views of the British Government upon this matter were plainly stated in Parliament by Sir Edward Grey some years ago during the Administration of the Earl of Rosebery, and were formally communicated to the French Government at the time. Her Majesty's present Government entirely adhere to the language that was on this occasion employed by their predecessors." The language referred to included the following statement:-" At the Foreign Office we have no reason to suppose that any French expedition has instructions to enter, or the intention of entering, the Nile Valley; and I will go further and say that, after all I have explained about the claims we consider we have under past Agreements, and the claims which we consider Egypt may have in the Nile Valley, and adding to that the fact that those claims and the view of the Government with regard to them are fully and clearly known to the French Government, I cannot think it is possible that these rumours deserve credence, because the advance of a French expedition under secret instructions right from the other side of Africa into a territory over which our claims have been known for so long would be not merely an inconsistent and unexpected act, but it must be perfectly well known to the French Government that it would be an unfriendly act, and would be so viewed by England." Replying to Sir Edmund's despatch, M. Hanotaux "repeated the reservations which the French Government had never failed to express every time that questions relating to the Valley of the Nile had been brought forward." The declarations by Sir Edward Grey had given rise "to an immediate protest by our representative in London, the terms of which he repeated and developed in a further conversation he had at the Foreign Office." And M. Hanotaux had made like declarations in the Senate. He added that "the position taken up by the Cabinet in London is likely to result in prejudicing questions of quite a different character, which are entirely foreign to the difficulties which the Niger Commission has been appointed to settle." On August 2nd Lord Salisbury placed Lord Cromer in possession of the following views of the Government. It was not contemplated, after the occupation of Khartoum, to undertake further military operations on a large scale; but the Sirdar would send two flotillas-one up the Blue and the other up the White Nile, and would in person command the White Nile flotilla. Should

the Blue Nile flotilla commander encounter Abyssinian outposts before reaching Rosieres he was to halt and wait for instructions. "In dealing with any French or Abyssinian authorities nothing should be

E

the

said or done which would in any way imply a recognition on behalf of Her Majesty's Government of a title to possession on behalf of France or Abyssinia to any portion of the Nile Valley." On September 7th, M. Delcassé, then French Minister for Foreign Affairs, congratulated Sir Edmund upon the success of British arms at Khartoum, and said that it was quite probable that by that time Major Marchand had reached the Nile. The same day a telegram was received in London that the Sirdar had found at Fashoda, where the French flag had been hoisted, a force of eight European officers and eighty Senegalese troops. Amplifying in a despatch of September 8th his telegram of the previous day, Sir Edmund Monson wrote that M. Delcassé had said that "it was proper that Her Majesty's Government should know that the clearest instructions had been given to Major Marchand as to his position and attitude, and that he (Major Marchand) was distinctly told that he was nothing but 'an emissary of civilization,' and had no. authority to assume the decision of questions of right, which appertain exclusively to the competence of the British and French Governments." On the 18th Sir Edmund reported that he had spoken to M. Delcassé in the following terms: -"As to question of M. Marchand's right to be there, M. Delcassé was as well aware as I that Her Majesty's Government had very openly let France understand that any incursion of them into the Upper Nile Basin would be considered by us as an unfriendly act. Why, then, did they send this Mission, when they must know what serious results its success in reaching this point must inevitably produce? M. Delcassé said that he must remind me that France had not only never recognized the British sphere of influence in the Upper Nile region, but that M. Hanotaux had in the Senate openly protested against it. He added that the very day after Sir E. Grey's declaration was made-i.e., on the 29th March, 1895M. de Courcel protested on his side in a letter to the Earl of Kimberley. But, as a matter of fact, there is no Marchand Mission. In 1892 and 1893 M. Liotard was sent to the Upper Ubanghi as Commissioner, with instructions to secure French interests in the North-East. M. Marchand had been appointed one of his subordinates, and received all his orders from M. Liotard. There could be no doubt that for a long time past the whole region of the Bahr-elGhazel had been out of the influence of Egypt. If the newspapers' stories were true, Fashoda itself had not been an occupied post of the Egyptian Government when taken possession of by the (supposed) Marchand expedition. I said to his Excellency that I must tell him very frankly that the situation on the Upper Nile is a dangerous one. I must refer him again to your Lordship's telegram of the 9th instant; and I must state distinctly that Fashoda falls within the territories therein desig

The

nated as dependencies of the Khalifate, and that Her Majesty's Government are determined to hold to the decision already announced to him. It was right that should state to him categorically that they would not consent to a compromise (on ne consentira jamais à transiger') on this point. For the rest we had no wish to pick a quarrel; but having long ago given a warning, I could not see how we could now cause surprise if we resent a step which we had cautioned France not to take.' On September 25th the Sirdar's report of the receipt of a letter from Major Marchand reached Lord Salisbury. letter, which was in reply to one by Lord Kitchener sent the day before the latter's arrival at Fashoda, said that the writer (Marchand) had arrived at Fashoda on July 10th, "having been instructed by his Government to occupy the Bahr-el-Ghazel up to the confluence of the Bahr-el-Jebel, and also the Shilluk country on the left bank of the White Nile as far as Fashoda." On the Sirdar's arrival at Fashoda Major Marchand went on board the craft. The Sirdar's message continues:-"M.Marchand and M. Germain came on board our steamer, and I at once informed them that the presence of a French party at Fashoda and in the Nile Valley must be considered as a direct infringement of the rights of Egypt and of the British Government, and I protested in the strongest terms against the occupation of Fashoda by M. Marchand and his party, and the hoisting of the French flag in the dominions of His Highness the Khedive. M. Marchand stated, in reply, that he had received precise orders for the occupation of the country and the hoisting of the French flag over the Government buildings at Fashoda, and added that, without the orders of his Government, which, however, he expected would not be delayed, it was impossible for him to retire from the place. I then inquired of him whether, in view of the fact that I was accompanied by a superior force, he was prepared to resist the hoisting of the Egyptian flag at Fashoda. He hesitated, and replied that he could not resist. The Egyptian flag was then hoisted, about 500 yards south of the French flag, on a ruined bastion of the old Egyptian fortifications, commanding the only road which leads into the interior from the French position. The latter is entirely surrounded to the north by impassable marshes. Before leaving for the south I handed to M. Marchand a formal written protest on the part of the Governments of Great Britain and Egypt against any occupation of any part of the Nile Valley by France as being an infringement of the rights of those Governments. I added that I could not recognize the occupation by France of any part of the Nile Valley.' The Sirdar also left a garrison of one Soudanese battalion, four guns and a gunboat, and prohibited the transport by Marchand of all war material on the Nile. He