FINANCES The administration of the finances of Egypt may be said to be entirely in British hands, for while the Caisse de In Dettc, which has charge of the payment of the foreign debt of Egypt. contains representatives of all the great Edropean powers, the British financial adviser has control of the country's finances. In evi dence of the improvement in financial conditions, it may lie stated that the receipts have exceed ed the expenditures since ]SSS, leaving a con siderable surplus which is now used for public works, such as irrigation, railways. etc. Time 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 arc 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 Egypt had reached about £10,000, 000 (Egyptian), and in 1900 and 1901 the actual receipts exceeded the estimates, notwithstanding the abolition of the provincial oetroi in 1901 and an increase in railway expenditures. The foreign indebtedness of Egypt, which amounted in 1900 to £103,049,000 (English), dates from 1862, 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, 600, and was subsequently increased by a new loan of £32,000,000 issued in 1873. In 1876 the several issues were consolidated into one debt of 01.000.000. having to subsequent financial diffi culties, the debt was again divided into a prefer ence ,leht 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 £S.S15.430 at 5 per cent. Since the of the financial eontrol into the hands of European powers, many ehangcs have been made in rates of interest, and a number of new loans have been issued. In 1900 time foreign
debt of the 3 per cent. guaranteed loan of £8,410,600 (English) ; the privileged debt of i29.393,550 at per cent.; the unified debt of £55,971,960 at 4 per cent.; the Daira Sanieh loan of £6,162,800 at 4 per cent.; and the domains loan of 13,109,900 at per cent. Beserve funds, established in 1857, amounted in 1900 to £5,206,154 (Egyptian).
JusTicE. Justice is administered by four classes of tribunals. There are (1) the courts, which deal with civil actions between 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 IS75, and Gy all civil actions between persons of different nationalities and, in a measure. crimi nal actions against foreigners. The mixed tri bunals, whielt were created by international ac tion, are renewed every five years. The present tribunals were prolonged for five years by a decree of time Khedive 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 Mohammedan in habitants. Time system of native courts com prises 7 courts of the first instance for the trial of important cases, 4:5 summary tribunals for the hearing of cases of minor importance, and a court of appeal at Cairo. The native judges are drawn from the class of the Ulemas, or those learned in the 'Mohammedan law. Some attempt toward time systematization 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.