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INTRODUCTION
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URING the nineteenth century Egypt underwent a con-

tinuous process of economic growth. After several
hundreds of years of stagnation or even decline its
opulation advanced from something like 3,2 50,000 in 1798 to
00 000 in 1897 and 11,300,000 in 1907. During the same
9’7'o(,l the total value of its trade with Europe rose from well
Eglrclm, £E2,o00,000 to over £E5o,oo0,o0o. Meanwhile, under
series of rulers who devoted much of their
the impact of a
attentionto the development of the c0untry’s resources, and
of Egypt’s rapid incorporation within the European
also
economic the was
- edsysterin,
an a ricu ou
C111lt1V31.tCCl
tura pu
tareta increase . n I I8lC\éV
extelnclled, airo
5 arops
:1t¢IlO:‘ll1e(i<a1idria wgre connected by the first railway to be built
in either Africa or the Near East; sixty years later Egypt
over 4,300 kilometres of line, a higher of length
Possessed ratio
of track to inhabited area than any other country in the world.‘
Thousands of miles of telegraph wires were erected; Alexandria
was built up into one of the Mediterranean’s major ports;
educational missions were sent to England and France so that
oun E tians might be enabled to learn modern technical
:,kills.gAsgd,Iiiesult of these efforts, Egypt’s position as a develop-
ing country came to be recognized by the European investing
public who, in two periods of intense activity, 1862 to 1875
and 1897 to 1907, placed more than ,Qioo,ooo,ooo in govern-
ment loans and in Egyptian private companies.
At the centre of this whole process stood the cultivation of
long-staple cotton. From its introduction as a cash crop in
1820 onwards its influence over Egyptian economic develop-
ment was profound. Its impact can be seen most easily in the
agricultural sector where, during the course of the century, it
was mainly responsible for the transformation of the system of
I Issawi, G., ‘Asymmetrical Development and Transport in Egypt’, Table IV
(}mP‘_1b1i3hed paper presented to the Conference on the Beginnings of Moderniza-
tion in the Middle East in the Nineteenth Century, held at the University of
Chicago, Oct. 1966) . This figure includes light agricultural railways, as well as the
broad-gauge state system.

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Introduction Introduction
xxiv
. 1 t Lower Egypt . But its effect each forward the sto
XXV

agriculture practised
t:1“;“’:,g.y,1(r’;lt1hcr part of the economy. From 0 tc}:
stagef
but also
carry
t e major economic develo ‘Y “°t 0111? of Cotton itself
'
was also feltthrougholids it provided never less than 70_l3er merits
the early 1860s during the same years. Thus, after a lirief dezélrlilgilioilcigipntlid
earnings; it allowed a COI1tlnu- state of the economy before 1820 (Chapter 1), F
cent of the 0I1"‘,’:cxport
countI')’mment revenues
by means of the larger Concerned not only_with the methods by whichChapter II
ous growth in collected from the land tax and Muhammaijl
and Eoyscof money
amouri .A1i sought to exploit the chance discovery
its presence in Egypt attracted an of thenew ty 6 of
larger n trade; cotton, but also with the role this cotton played in
the duties on merchants and bankers, many his schiimes
increasing numfolieggof European to develop the resources of the country as a whole.
were able to make from cotton In the same
of whom he rofits they way, Chaptcfs III, IV, aI_1d V, as well as describing
of other business enterprises. Again, in periods of rapid expansion in cotton production,
the three
to start a usedlt
who e Veapiety
it was a sudden 1850.2
f the nineteenth century, 1350-5, and 1870-5, concentrate considerable
the last which doubled or trebled the value attention on the
other major themes _of the forty years after i837,
advance decadtfor‘: receipts that the investment boom then just the return to
111320and so ensured
of rural lan a free market in agricultural produce following the breakdown
would be based very largely on the creation of Muhammad 'Ali’s
getting ““d.crn“:fYcompanies concerned with the purchase and monopoly system, and the ever-increasing
and etipags1,110 foreign intervention in Egyptian economic activity. This
ment, and the mortgage of agricultural prop- section ends with a chapter on Egyptian trade in the period
sale’
I nesuin’ itpwould not be too much of an exaggeration to 1320-79, a topic which can be more easily dealt
Crty‘ - ' fE t during the nineteenth with in one
53)’ that the econonuclihlllmgiyaged place. Figures are to illustrate the discussion wherever
used
CCHWVY “'35 a1m.°St W O y to examine apcotton.
' th'is p rocess in possible—but always with caution. In almost every case
they
What . follows is an attempt d e t ail . have had to be selected from a number of contradictory
' '
of necessity. such an b cw mes a th
°"“““““”‘?" ree-sta ge sources. Some of the reasons which guided particular choices,
ding. In the first place there is an.acc.o
wt of the histo as well as a list of alternative series, can be found in Appen-
- '
pmcee cultivation itself‘. its introduction in the early 1820s, dix 2.
of cotton .
and the creation of the
1.8 extension throughout Lower Egypt, - In Part II (1880-1914), on the other hand, the
greater
{aunties by which be variety and reliability of the available statistics allow
a more
SCC0I1d1Y» 1t'coulc(1l
15 ma 6 tofitrl1ai:nrCria'bi"ldl<?vel’0Pmentspin
“ferencc '
the rigorous approach. Chapter VII is devoted exclusively
to
Jll y,
sector. Fina attem P t is made cotton-production itself—how much was grown, where it was
economy outside the cotton
- - '
torelate the two, to indicate the influence o
anf th C one on th1: grown, how it was culltivated—and Chapter VIII to certain
other.
related movements in the cotton sector of the economy. Next,
- - - ' l in Chapters IX and X, several aspects of the general growth of
l
dictated by the available statistics, Not unti s the economy are discussed, first in agriculture, then in industry,
er _ services, and commerce. It should be stressed, however, that
Egyptian Government, or rather its foreign this division into the familiar primary, and secondary and
produce satisfactory figures for ‘such important adviser:
ma crsbeggnthtg
°f land tertiary sectors, though useful for the purpose of exposition,
size of the cotton harvest, foreign tI'3:d€: 01'
tends to distort the true nature of the productive process in
devoted to each of the ma_]or_Egypt1an C}‘0PS- 6 Statisfi
thefiiea
Egypt if pressed too far. As P. K. O’Brien has pointed out,
which exist for the previous period little confidence an_C;
inspire services in an economy dominated by farming tended to be
will not bear the weight of any detailed For
scrutiny. thlise roughly commensurate with services to the people who received
reason, in Part I (1805-79), the introduction of ‘long-stap
the bulk of their incomes from the land, while such industry
cotton and the events which followed are dealt with chrono- as existed consisted almost exclusively of the procesing of
logically rather than analytically, an attempt being made at

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Introduaian
udcs with. an examination of
,
wyytuird pr!;ducr..' Pan11C°“‘l writers 0!} the proper
wmpm-ary will have the
tltli V56" "i "' "'"”b“ ofvcimmn economy. This the economic PART 1
Ilewrlltpmltrlt 3 discusion of
rtlfl$tfi”fEl3mw,ing
- ' h 0fiicials like Lord Cromer’ an
gulrlitiorml
, I
WW . Bfl f fl _ COTTON AND THE
,t’ l . leading G
OF THE ECONOEHOIWTI-I
l" ""'“"- “hzpwm section to the
'll be made in. either
.
M dm-ct reference W1 , wnccmmg
thwnu nmetcemh-century 1805—[8I79
two lztrneral K“’"P" "f the one which 9668 havmg
mule and development: ktsmd‘? 313ate those
‘he which Sc? .150
hum the engine flfgwwihg or ah?!’
social, which inhibited progress
[;u;t;;ru, whether economic
process of deVC1‘—fPm€“t- Ne"€T_thc1ess,
mwarrlt u stall’-sustained application to Egyptian ex-
mmm,,m,;,,,, of their possible
cxtetlt. 35 3 gmde w the cholce Of
perienee has served, to some
particular, throughout the whole
mhjmzts to he discussed. In
to answer such preliminary
prriod an effort has been made HOW was
<:»0tt0n?
qur.Itt.iumI at, who actually grew long-staple
introduction? What profits
by its
agricultural practice modified
How did activities in the
wt'l’t'. made from it and by whom?
of the economy? And so on.
(mum mztor impinge on the rest
evidence has been
in this way it in hoped that suflicicnt
principal
mnzmwl to ttuppnrl. the detailed discussion of the
I}-nttlrtm of l".gypt’u nineteenth-century development, and of
the rrlevmtt'.e to it of existing economic theories, which forms
the tfiomalmtion to this work.
' "l'lu- lamg-'l'crm Growth of Agricultural Production in Egypt, I82!-1962',
p. I. (To hr published In Holt, I’. (ed.), I’olfllcal and Social Chang: in Modmt E'¢y[u.)

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MUHAMMAD ‘ALI AND THE

EGYPTIAN ECONOMY
1805-1819

I. THE EGYPTIAN ECONOMY IN 1805

1- the time of Muhammad 'Ali’s seizure of power in Cairo

in 1805, Egypt was a country of perhaps three and a
quarter million inhabitants, living in approximately
2,300 towns and villages.‘ The vast majority of the people were
fellaheen (peasants), working on the land, but there was also a
sizeable urban population, including some 250,000 living in
Cairo and nearly 150,000 in the other main centres.‘ The
cultivated area, as estimated by members of the French
Expedition, was over 3,200,000 feddans, just under two-thirds
of which lay in the Delta, and the remainder along the Nile
1 Population: During the French Expedition the size of the Egyptian population
was calculated at just under 2,500,000. De Chabrol gives two figures——2,442,2oo
and 2,467,000, ‘Essai sur les moaurs des habitants modemes de l’Egypte’, in
Desaiption dc l’Egypte, 2nd edn.-, vol. xviii, pt. 1 (Paris, 1824), p. 8. However, the
traditionally accepted figures for the Egyptian population at the beginning of the
nineteenth century have been challenged by G. Baer, on the grounds that, if true,
they imply an impossibly high rate of increase during the remainder of the century.
He suggests that this rate was unlikely to have been more than 1 per cent at most. On
this basis he argues that the population must have been in the region of 4,230,000
in 1821, instead of the accepted figure of 2,500,000 to 3,000,000: ‘Urbanization in
Egypt, 1820-1907’ (unpublished paper presented to the Conference on the
Beginnings of Modernization in the Middle East in the Nineteenth Century
Chicago University, 1965), pp. 2-4. On the same basis, the population in 1798
would have been 3,365,000. Unfortunately there is no way of checking the validity
of these assumptions. However, I have assumed that Baer’s reasoning is more nearly
correct than the calculations of the French Expcdifi on.
Towns: Volney, C. F., Vqyage en Syn’: et en Egypte, vol. i (Paris, 1787), p. 215.
(Volney’s work is translated into English as Travels in Egypt and Syria, 2 vols.
(London, 1787). '
3 According to F. Mengin the population of Cairo at the time of the French
'tion was 263,000 and that of the other main towns 147,750: Histoirc dc
.' pa sous la goawernernent dc Muhammad-AI), vol. ii (Paris, 1823), p. 616.

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Egyptian Economy, 1805-1819

4-
Muhammad ‘Ali and the 5
was also about 750,000 fed- Taxes were apportioned and collected b the mm, _
between Cairo and Aswa11 There changer) appointed by the multazim from llhe corpsfcit("n(1](::3et)i’c
t actually in use.‘
rial economy was the village, which in scribes, These consisted mainly of the land-tax, of which about
c asic um I fiat::
daI1rshofbculfiV3lf?, Village surrounded
_ 1 3 third went to the government and the remainder to the
Esvpttan terms 8cn<=ta“Y m°‘?‘“.‘ °.“° “-56
smaller subsidiaries. Prior
to I79 8 the
.
g reat ,,,,,z;azim him_se1f as fa'iz (profit) and the bammi, a regular
by a ber of
addition to. his purse. In addition, the villagers had to pay
any
proper 0 of taxes and extra exaction the sarrafmight make, either on his own behalfor
ho were responsible for the collection
cultivated, in on that of his master. The two most common methods of aug.
lbinehfiiririg that the land remained between aZiiturzrglfor
y cy mcnting the money due were to ask for a sum in excess of that
which they were able to keep the difference
of them by the Treasury. written in the tax registers, or to underestimate the amount of
they could levy and that demanded
the land (known as an! land which remained unflooded by the Nile and which was thus,
In addition in most villages, a portion of
a tenth, was set aside as seigneurial legally, exempt from tax. There is some doubt about the way in
al-wasiya), averaging about
land and farmed out or cultivated by the multazzm
himself, which land taxes were collected in Lower Egypt. According to
generally with the aid of a corvée of peasant labour. The
rest Huseyn Efendi, the Treasury scribe, whose Description of Ottoman
their Egypt was submitted to the French during their occupation, these
of the land was worked by the fellaheen. They did not own
fields, which remained legally the property of the Sultan, but were collected in coin.‘ On the other hand Shaw, in his earliest
they enjoyed the right to the use of their produce, and by the work, maintains that they were paid to the multazim in both cash
end of the eighteenth century in Lower and Middle Egypt had and kind? Unfortunately he gives no source for this important
also gained, by custom, freedom to leave it to their descendants assertion. As for Upper Egypt, there the greater part of the
or to alienate it for a period of time to another cultivator. In taxes was taken in grain} In both areas the taxes were
Upper Egypt, on the other hand, the fellaheen did not work divided among the villages very largely on the basis of the
fixed patches of land, because variations in the cultivable area Ottoman cadastral register, completed in 1608.
due to differences in the height of the flood made it diflicult to Apart from the land portioned out into tax farms, just under
establish boundaries. Peasants were at liberty to grow what a fifth of the total cultivated area consisted of agricultural
cm P the Y chose without interference. They were not,. however, wagfs, the revenues from which were devoted to pious or
allowed to leave their village, and were, at least in theory, charitable purposes, or in some places to individual families.‘
brought back by the local authorities if they did. Apart from the Such land consisted of the great public foundations established
cultivators with land there were also, in each village, a number by the Mamluk or Ottoman Sultans, or those founded by
of landless fellaheen, who were employed as day-labourers by private persons. In both cases the fields in question were either
those who could afford their services. Others became such let out to fellaheen or farmed, by riazirs (supervisors) who kept
labourers in years when their land was not watered by the flood.‘ much of the profit for themselves.
‘ jaootin, ‘Tableau de la superficie de l’Egypte’, in Desoription
dz l’Egypl¢, and largely on the following sources: Gibb, H. A. R., and Bowen, I-1., Islamic Socifb and
edn., vol. xviu, pt. 2, pp. io5-6. The French surveyed Egypt using a feddan the West, vol. i, pt. 1 (London, 1950), dis. 5 and 5; Gifl fdiM- P» ‘MGIDOIYC SUI‘
measuring 5-929 metres. Later, in the cadastres of 1813-23, a smaller fcddan Pagriculture, Pindustrie, et le commerce de |’Egypt€’. in D5-W1'1P‘Wn
sq. Fimznnal and
was used’, 4,4i6-i77 sq. metres. If the French figure for cultivated and edn., vol. xvii (Paris, i824), pp. 1-435, and Shaw, S. ._I., '17::
and measuring_only_
land is adjusted to correspond with this second feddan it becomes Adrninirtrative Orgimizalion and DMWWM ‘if Omma" E9?‘ (P“"°°t°n= '96?)I ch‘ 1'
4203 gultivablé
i177 in 940,171 feddans res ectivel . Rivli ' ' Huseyn Efendi’s report is translated in Shaw, 5- J-2 0“t"'W' E9!”
. . .
Policy of Muhammad Ali in Egypt (Caiaribridgz, Mass.:l’igf(ii):Ap:.
. of the Fmich Revolution (Cambridge, Mm. 1,964)-_ Sec p- 48 for the mutton that
i 85 i the size of the feddan was further reduced
to 4300.333 ,q_ men.” (1,038 land taxes were collected from pfasfinfl I Ibid" p' 78 '
. F - -
and further information . . 3 Financial Administrative She
r amzalwfla P- -
1n;3:m-
about Egyptian weights and measures,
:crC!S‘)ppe<;rd§u;ces 4 33¢,’ 3"”: Ham; 4' Land-l)ummIii'p on Modem E09!» 1300-1950 (14°nd°n.
'
= Statemenu in ‘his ' - . , _
and the ’“°°°°dm8 Paragraphs in this section are based I962). 13- 2-

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the
6
Muhammad 34” “”d Egyptian Economy, 1805-1819
V1'llage communit 7
me'mber of each
. , Y
The most 1mP°rtant. b 1y a member
of one of the rlcher _
impo
a.1ts. In the first place it encouraged the use of
was the policed the fellaheen, supervised n
Cofi ittfctt
fizgkh
195- all-tbalfijiligizr fi? cash as a medium of exchange for a vast number of everyday
fellah fa as ma istrate and arbiter.
of taxes, fitltdtliigtisultazim transactions throughout rural Egypt. This is well illustrated by
the collection‘ End his agents in a
to thc fact that Girard was able to assign a money price to such
Although Obhged
number of wavs, land remained in dwerse thmg-5 35 Eh‘? Pl1TChase of tools and implements, the cost
t° Fnsure thateivcd hetaciies were paid and the of clothes, the daily food requirements of animals employed in
able. no salary, but enjoyed certain pecuni- irrigation and transport, and the cost of agricultural labour.
cultivation. of a portion of his
Hit: the exemption from tax The occasional instances in which services were performed for
able to take advantage of his payment in kind were specifically mentioned.‘ The general use
la1l:))lrdI:1ilggh3t:s:,[l':l‘2T1c(iditi0n
vylaésaptfltlen of cash had the effect of greatly increasing the power of anyone
each village was a with access to ready money, and in many villages the multazim’s
au§1:)t:patllyytoa;r:1cr:§5rfiinigtrativcly alienation self-con:,
ofland to outsiders
gained unit. There was little or no control over the fellaheen was augmented by the fact that he
linuted
its relations with the Government were a1I'rlu_>sttcXfC1uS1ve-
er
was the only person to whom they could turn for loans to meet
payment of taxes; apart from occasiona in sudden expenses. His close association with the economic life of
1y to the
it erepces
by the multazim or some other military officer was. 1“ Pm‘: the village was not, of course, necessarily to the disadvantage
““ "“¥’§”'$“°”’i“g’i7
ev' age was ini°3‘
e l°Tfi
0§Z1i§n1I?y"3§Xf§L2i§".§s.§§§§.§§
:39» of its inhabitants; almost any method of raising money was
better than that a fellah should not be able to plant and harvest
story. _
' w s, the most im ortant being the markets held his crops. Again, such an identification, by increasing his
iigaillllgilrlltzbiiiiotiheaychief towns (if each district. .Isna, which desire that the village should prosper, sometimes led him to
Girard described as being the main commercial centre in save it from exorbitant tax demands from the Government by
M.iddle Egypt, had a weekly market to which the Cultivators paying the taxes himself in the first instance, and collecting
came to sell their surplus wheat and other cereals, their pigeons them later from the peasants when they could be afforded.
and their vegetables, their wool and their animals, and to Secondly, contact with the money economy stimulated the
purchase in return both locally manufactured goods such as practice of raising crops like flax, cotton, sugar, indigo, and
cotton cloth and large pottery vessels and iron, copper, soap, henna for sale, or even export, rather than for local consump-
and rice imported from Cairo.‘ Other important provincial tion. It also provided a spur to the village manufacture of such
markets were held at Q_us, Madinat (al-Fayyum), Minuf, items as butter, cheese, and cotton cloth, which could be easily
Samannud, Mansura, and Tanta, where the three great disposed of in the markets.
annual fairs attracted merchants and their customers from all Thc type of crop grown in Egypt before i805 depended
over the Delta. Another link with the money economy was largely on the system of irrigation, although other factors, to be
‘"35
through the close association of town and village in the process discussed later, were also important-’ M05‘ Of thc land
of textile manufacture. In Upper Egypt, for example, the town devoted either to so-called ‘winter C1'°P5—_Wh°3t»_ ‘Beans’
weavers used to put out the raw Syrian cotton they had brought barley, flax, clover, fenugreeki Sf1fl l°W°"a lenulss °
to the women in the surrounding villages for spinning. Finally, lupins, tobacco, and o_p_1um—-which WCTC STOW’? “mllgdi
there the tax system, which, by obliging almost all the winter months, or to lag:
was Jl/11:1CIXPS. :::h:mrig$:‘z:i€;_
mizltaztms in the Delta and many of the fellaheen to pay in cash, cultivated of
stimulated the growth and sale of marketable crops. 3-.1-li1gl;);’ti:1“¢:.si1¢lii'.‘Ill3lili3f zflilout aliigiiighth of the
area
' Gi_bb and Bowen, i, pt. I, 263. ' See for example his atimateu of the cost of prod!!!‘-308 W50“ 5°?" G“"'d'
' Glflfd. pp. 261-2. pp. I 58-81.

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I
14 Egyptian Economy, 1805-1819 9
Muhammad Egypt, was
8
pwpor you of Upper water a crop like indigo, and they had to remain constantly at
and a smaller 1-cc sliort-staple cotton,
Lower Eg):Pti er . be grown work from the planting of the seed in spring to July or August
used for Summ crops»-suga:'»SuCh’crops could when, with care, the final stages of growth could be watered by
und-nut;-aw to hold
henna, Scsamel anirgcrifie of the canals deep enough flow irrigation from the rising river.
nver constant irri-
only near the as they required In the Delta the main winter crops were wheat, barley,
the sum mer,
water thr0U8h°“t ’ o f basins made bY long beans, and birsim (clover), grown in a biennial rotation—wheat
‘ . . and barley one year, beans and clover the next. All four were
ga;‘l)iIi: winter SY5t°m '"V°lJedNai'1:er:,f}s,ich were allowed to fill sown in autumn after the flood, artificially watered several
angles to t and
dykes at right ehed its height in September times during the winter, and then harvested in March or April.
he river its sediment and
:1-achad deposited Barley and clover were used as animal fodder, while a mixture
earth it was drained off into
of wheat and barley flour formed the staple diet of the human
thcte gathe dry '
thoroughll’ 13'3"‘: tra 1 back into th 6 Nile x now
flowing at a
_ population. Flax was also grown in winter. Summer crops
nearby , those known as al-bayadz,
cari1I21l:h:::a5e of crops included sesame, cotton, maize, and rice.
lower level. lakesT<;1ren, after little or no. preparation and
t he mud An annual cotton was grown around Damanhur on the
seed other winter crops called Rosetta branch of the Nile, and in the Samannud and Mansura
wasdtlfflfle linoglfour months later; . . -
watering
-
during
more attention and additional districts on the Damietta branch. It was sown in April after the
hgzfsrfquired
3 - by
_ 5},
. . might also be sown on lafin d not reached . land had been given a heavy watering. Three more waterings
crop could be grown if planted followed, two by saqija and one by flow-irrigation once the
thglllwi-alizd ' (l)nfi1e:i:in2ip.lsl/'ili
' some-
h'l the Nile was still rising an1(‘iaP1d1Ys river had started to rise. Harvesting began in September, the
gngogiglfi i,. the spring, if the soil whole plant being uprooted and allowed to dry in the sun
sufliciently moist, or if cultivators were able to sealremainfid
up t e before the seeds were removed from the bolls by women and
' ajs d tain some of their water. children. Yields near Samannud amounted to one and a half
erg; 1-recquired different method. As to two cantars per feddan} Finally, the cotton was ginned on
w1IS1$:n‘::: _a were
tl(iieyto rise,
had starte primitive machines (known as dulabr) consisting of two wooden
generally not harvested until after the Nile
they were grown on slightly higher ground and had to be pro- rollers through which the seed was forced to remove the lint.
tected by embankments from the flood waters, which, if ad- The main winter crops in Upper Egypt were wheat, maize,
mitted, would have ruined the standing plants. And they needed barley, lentils, beans, flax, and safflower. From the scanty
an artificial system of watering to keep them irrigated through information provided by Girard wheat probably occupied a
the summer months, when the Nile was often ten to twelve feet third of the cultivated area at this time. Together with barley
below the level of the ground on either side. This usually con- it was used largely for the payment of taxes in kind. Maize
sisted ofa network ofsmall canals fed by water-wheels turned by provided the main part of the peasants’ diet in the areas where
oxen (known as saqiyas), or buckets on the arm of a long pole it was found. Summer crops, which were grown over a much
which could be swung down into the river and then up to the smaller proportion of the cultivated area than in the Delta,
canal mouths (shadufs). Both appliances were expensive in man- included indigo, sesame, sugar, and cotton. Cotton was mainly
power, and, in the case of saqiyar, animal-power. A saqiya, for confined to the Sa'id, where, unlike that in Lower Egypt, it was
the full-time employment of a team of oxen a perennial, the tree being left in the ground for anything up to
an two rivers if it was to be kept moving
°X:mPl¢»dT€_qU1red ' At the time of the French Expedition the weight of the cantar varied from
night and day to
district to district. For what it is worth Shaw gives a figure of 120 lb. for r798:
' .l- Mazucl gives the area with summer in.
i8'r1t_ion during the French Expedition Financial and Administrative Organization, 13- 273 n- By the early 1920s it weighed
II a5o,ooo feddans: Baum ‘gag,-up ' approximately 122} lb. It was reduced to 99 lb. in Jan. (836: Gliddon, G. R., A
p. I31. Unfortunately he does not 4,‘ L"""‘ 4‘ Wlefvmir (Cairo. 1937). Memoir on the Cotton ofEgypt (London, 134-‘): PP- ”: 54°
0 C3!‘ What sort of fcddan he is usiniz.

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341; and the Egyptian Economy, 1805-1819 11

I0
Muhammild oo ratls per feddan when
eight or ten Y¢"‘“' Yields Vmedofi tznigo ratls in bad years.1 The summer crops required considerably more care and attention
water, to Dena was not variety, than the majority of winter and Nili ones. Maize, for example,
there was Suffi cient tIh(;t of the
:1v‘::ver5 requiring a finer yarn imported could be grown without any preliminary ploughing and with
quality,
' only a very occasional hoeing during growth. Indigo, on the
s inne lr:>Se:tit:l=:'1
néhoiigh .
Syria °‘ India-'
ironi show the pr°fi‘ “’hi°h.°.°“1d be
other hand, needed particular skill in its irrigation, for it was
made by Girard and Nth Crops.‘ easily spoiled by too much or too little water. Finally, the
Calculations - mer, winter, '
political conditions of the late eighteenth century must have
the Pnnclpal sum
obtained from
_ _ h‘ h ave the greatest absolute militated against the investment of capital in agriculture.
They indicate that those were also the ones
1 Y S u 3;‘’ 1nCl1gO,
an r ? . There were frequent bedouin incursions, trade routes became
remm’ notéb est annual expenditure, and It can be
which requmd theglC011
arid be grown onl)’ by W°11't°'d° °““i' less safe, and extraordinary levies increased in size and fre-
quency. The villages in the Delta visited by Reynier were
that they means of
assumed - ' - wn or those with some described as fortresses in which the fellaheen were ever ready to
‘mom with capml to pay the high working expenses.
access to the money i)iiect:1<ises:r(y beat off an attack.‘ In the meantime the irrigation system fell
outlay for the. animals
also uired a s1'zeable initial further and further into disrepair, as the Government failed in
provide summer water. Fixed and
cropsmes' nrc€c<:Ssafl to
Sutqhmac
3“ its duty to maintain the major canals, while, at a local level,
- a number of sources.-'diowa
in g s
there were frequent fights between rival bodies of peasants for
working capital came from
who pooled their
grown 'by associations of fellaheen I‘eS01ll1I‘CCS,
ants
control of the water supply.‘ In such conditions it seems un-
' d Possibly other crops were financed by mere likely that the villagers would have been willing to do more than
ivhllc nee-Tb ' towns It was also sometimes possible to ensure that they grew enough food for their immediate needs
m to
thi: nslgf iiimslciirgie wealthy man who would undertake and to fulfil their tax obligations.
cultivation. Neverthe-
iiiiliztanjz: whiiot was necessary to put it into Choice of new crops was also limited by the conservatism of
less, for the ordinary fellah ¢Cl“iPP°f1 with °”1y t_h° most Simple
there was
the fellaheen, although this factor should not be emphasized
tools, and often subject to extortionate taxation,‘ too strongly. Whereas it would seem correct to characterize the
little chance of agriculture of the period as traditional, if by that is meant that
&CC11II11llatlI:lgI:l.lfl
ersuading someone to len im‘lCl}t:nt surplu:°ofélllfbgzvfligf if
t e monc)’ year after year the majority of cultivators continued to cultivate
groduce the more lucrative crops. the same land, use the same techniques of production, and
It would be wrong to suppose, however, that only lack of bring the same skills to bear,3 there is enough evidence to show
capital stood in the way of a more widespread growth of the that some Egyptian cultivators at least were responsive to the
high-value crops. In the first place, as already described, summer prospects of larger profits. Not only were cash crops grown
cultivation was confined to areas where there was ready access widely, if not extensively, throughout the country, but there is
to summer water; that is, along the Nile or one of the six or so Girard’s specific statement that the area placed under flax in
Delta canals dug deep enough to allow them to take oil‘ water the Delta depended on whether its export was possible or not,
from the river when it was at its lowest.3 Elsewhere the intro- and thus on the ruling price.‘ There is also the example of the
duction of summer cultivation was dependent on an extension
of the area supplied with summer water, which only the 1 Reyniei-,_I. L. T., Stat: of Egpl aflar the Battle qf Heliopolik, ti-ans. (London,
Government had the resources to undertake. Again, most
‘ The weight of the rail also l822%:8fl.iC§lG,.L., ‘Mémoire sur Padministntion dc l’Egypte 5. l’époque de l‘an'ivée
'
varied considcrabl y at th'is period.
_
' '
Figures given by dd Francais’, in Méruoim sur l'Eg-pk publilrpaidant la: carriflagil fif 1! £53571‘ B0||¢!W?0,
G. I _
vol. iii (Paris, An. X), p. 209.
‘ Girard, pp. 185-7. 3 For this definition of traditional agriculture see Schultz, T. W., Traisfanniiig
Traditional Agriculnm (New Haven, 1964.), pp. 29-33.
3 Thédé nat -D iivent, P. ’
l’., LEgple um: Mlhlmed-Ali. .
(Paris, I822), p. 208. ‘ Girard, pp. i4,5—6.

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1° Muhammad ‘Ali and the Egyptian Economy, 1805-1819 11

eight or ten years. Yields varied from 300 ratl: per feddan when summer crops required considerably more care and attention
there was sufficient water, to 100 to I 50 rails in bad years.‘ The than the majority of winter and Nili ones. Maize, for example,
quality, though better than that of the Delta variety, was not could be grown without any preliminary ploughing and with
high, and spinners and weavers requiring a finer yarn imported only a very occasional hoeing during growth. Indigo, on the
cotton from Syria or India. other hand, needed particular skill in its irrigation, for it was
Calculations made by Girard show the profit which could be easily spoiled by too much or too little water. Finally, the
have
obtained from the principal summer, winter, and Nili Cr0ps_z olitical conditions of the late eighteenth century must
They indicate that those which gave the greatest absolute militated against the investment of capital in agriculture.
return, notably sugar, indigo, and rice, were also the ones There were frequent bedouin incursions, trade routes became
which required the largest annual expenditure, and it can bc less safe, and extraordinary levies increased in size and fre-
assumed that they could be grown only by well-to-do culti. ucncy. The villages in the Delta visited by Reynier were
vators with capital of their own, or those with some means of described as fortresses in which the fellaheen were ever ready to
access to the money necessary to pay the high working expenses. heat off an attack.‘ In the meantime the irrigation system fell
in
Such crops also required a sizeable initial outlay for the animals further and further into disrepair, as the Government failed
and machines necessary to provide summer water. Fixed and its duty to maintain the major canals, while, at a local level,
working capital came from a number of sources: indigo was there were frequent fights between rival bodies of peasants for
grown by associations of fellaheen who pooled their resources, control of the water supply.’ In such conditions it seems un-
while rice and possibly other crops were financed by merchants likely that the villagers would have been willing to do more than
ensure that they grew enough food for their immediate needs
in the neighbouring towns. It was also sometimes possible to
rent land from some wealthy man who would
undertake to and to fulfil their tax obligations.
Neverthe- Choice of new crops was also limited by the conservatism of
advance what was necessary to put it into cultivation.
with only the most simple the fellaheen, although this factor should not be emphasized
less, for the ordinary fellah equipped the
extortionate taxation, there was too strongly. Whereas it would seem correct to characterize
tools, and often subject to
surplus of his own or of agriculture of the period as traditional, if by that is meant that
little chance of accumulating suflicient
money to enable him to year after year the majority of cultivators continued to cultivate
persuading someone to lend him the
the same land, use the same techniques of production, and
produce the more lucrative crops. bring the same skills to bear,3 there is enough evidence to show
that only lack of
It would be wrong to suppose, however,
_ that some Egyptian cultivators at least were responsive to the
growth of the
capital stood in the way of a more widespread prospects of larger profits. Not only were cash crops grown
described, summer
high-value crops. In the first place, as already widely, if not extensively, throughout the country, but there is
there was ready access
cultivation was confined to areas where or so Girard’s specific statement that the area placed under flax in
Nile or one of the six
to summer water; that is, along the the Delta depended on whether its export was possible or not,
to allow them to take off water
Delta canals dug deep enough the intro- and thus on the ruling price.‘ There is also the example of the
Elsewhere
from the river when it was at its lowest} on an extension
duction of summer cultivation was dependent
water, which only the
of the area supplied with summer Again, most
I , P. .
‘ Tallien, L., ‘Méinoire sur Padininistration de Pfi gypte a l’époque de l'u1-ivée
to undertake.
Government had the resources Figuru given IVY d6lTran9ais',inMbnaimMPEgpkfiublihpmdailhiwnp¢gmdugédulBaQat,
' The weight of the rail also varied considerably at this period. to Kg- 0'4-545 (W vol. ui (Paris, An. X), p. 209.
cases it was equivalent ' 130!‘ this definition of traditional agrictilture we Schultz, T. W., Tvnfifi q
Girard (p. 5!) would suggest that in some
i-ooa lb.). Traditional Agrimltun (New Haven, I964), pp. 29-33.
5 Girud, . 185-7. _ ‘ Gtrard, pp.145-6,
Mlkliucd-Ali (P-I. I322): P- 9°3-
s 'I'h6dénalfDuvent, P. P., uiippu uni:

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12 Muhammad 'Ali and the Egyptian Economy, 1805-1819 i3

vegetables for the city
cultivators around Cairo, who grew suggested
as will be
markets. And further proof is provided, '{\li was able
later, by the relative ease with which Muhammad
cotton in the early
to introduce the cultivation of long-staple
financial advantage.
1820s, once the fellaheen had learned its
Delta given by Girard,
In the two examples of land use in the
with summer as well as
of each ioo feddans, 25 were planted
of telling whether this
winter crops.‘ There is, however, no way
Upper Egypt, on
sort of ratio applied throughout the area. In
definitely to imply that there was
the other hand, he seems
on
generally only one major crop a year, supplemented
occasions by maize.
Implements used in agriculture consisted of simple tools like
the plough made out of two crossed pieces of wood and the
‘norag’ (nawmj), a bullock-drawn chair used for threshing. Both
were cheaply made from local materials, and were easy to repair.
They were also adequate to produce large crops from the rich
Nile soil. The land did not need to be worked to any depth. Its
fertility was restored by the annual fallow period as well as, in
the case of fields used for summer crops, by an application of
a type of fertilizer called rabakh, consisting of ashes and manure.
Yields compared favourably with those in other countries.
According to a member of the French Expedition the gross
revenue from a feddan of land in Buhaira, one of the less
fertile provinces, was superior to that of the best land in the
Haute Garonnefi
The towns of Egypt were both commercial and industrial
centres, drawing in the surplus agricultural produce from their
surrounding villages, consuming some of it, and sending the
remainder along the Nile to Cairo in exchange for goods which
could not be obtained in the area. Industry consisted generally
working up local raw materialls for use in the district, but
in
in a few of the bigger towns like Cairo and al-Mahalla-al-
Kubra it was organized on a larger scale for export. The
leading industry almost everywhere was the manufacture of
textiles made of cotton, flax, silk, or wool. al-Mahalla-al-
Kubra, for example, had over 2,000 textile workers before the
* Girard, pp. 146-7.
‘ Rigault, G., La Génlr lAbdallah Mmm H la ' ’ ‘ '
dmuhpha“ d‘ lufldmm JEDMG
.r7.99~I8a! (Parila I91 1): 1:. 168.
coming of the French, Bani Suaif 600, and Q_ina 250. In the
0336 0f WW0“: 10631 supplies were used in the first instance
5“PP_l°m¢f1t€d when necessary by imports from Syria. Silk too,
Was 1mP°1't€d from Syria to be made up and then re-exported
but the flax and wool were almost entirely of Egyptian ori in’
Other products of Egyptian industry included oil (from gthé
"eds °f lettuce and flax)» 103T sugar and molasses alcohol
bricks, pottery, vases, keys, small boats, and simple tools oi‘
wood and metal. In addition the French established a number
of military factories, mainly in Cairo, to produce such thin s
as powder, hats and pieces of woollen cloth, leather goods angd
arms. They had also paid some attention to the impoitam
question Of t1n°t1Vlc power it} a country without fast-running
Administratively the old social forms remained. masters
journeyman, and apprentices being grouped into crafforganiza:
tions or guilds under the shaykh or headman with ri 'd 1
about who might open a factory, what products mi ht E1 mdes 6’
and at what price they could be sold. Governmentginteffma
was usually minimal, except in the case of a number of ICIIIEIIIIEC
p-olies which had begun to be introduced in late Mamluk
times. The quality of the articles produced was low‘9 and th C
. . _
iffffts °f1E“1'3PC311§0II}petition—especially from textile fabrics
a rea y beginning to be seriously felt.
Cere
airo was by far the largest and most important town in the
co untry, and it occupied a central role in the economy recciv-
ing merchandise from all over the country and paying ,for it in
goods produced either locally or abroad, or in money. Re 13;-
markets were held in the town, but Cairo merchants alsogtuook
their wares out into the countryside, bringing cotton and linen
goods from Europe or India to the Tanta fair, for example or
taking Syrian cotton to the textile factories in Upper Egypt, In
addition they were active in buying manufactured materials
such as the cloth made in the villages of Minufi ya.The town’;
Importance was increased by the fact that it contained the
residences of most of Egypt’s rich men, and was thus an im-
portant market for luxury goods. Trade to and from Cairo
' Fahmy, M., [A Rlwlulion do l’i'M'u.r!n': en Egypt: 2! m mnséqugnm M-.31., u
_
nécle, r8oo—i85o (Leiden, I954), p. 4.. '9'

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14 Muhammad ‘Ali and the

passed mainly along the Nile, for H0‘ 031)’ ‘lid it P1'°Vid¢ ‘ht
most economical form of transport, but also it was much safer
than the land routes, which were often at the mercy of desert
Arabs and robbers. However, in the unsettled conditions of the
late eighteenth century, river traflic had itself become increas.
ingly the prey of pirates and rival groups of Mamluks and
Turks.
Trade with Europe was almost completely at a standstill
in 1805, but a few years earlier there had been considerable
commerce with France, Tuscany, and Venice in particular.
Native products such as safllower, salammoniac, natron, senna,
hides, and some linen and cotton goods, and the re-export of
products from neighbouring countries, had been exchanged for
manufactures such as heavy fabrics of velvet and linen, paper
and glassware, tobacco, arms, and raw materials which Egypt
lacked, especially lead, iron, and tin. According to the French
writer,
1792 averaged just over 6,500,000 francs a year.‘
In the late eighteenth century the barriers to the orderly
practice of this trade had been considerable, particularly the
disabilities suffered by the Christian merchants, who were
almost entirely responsible for the commercial intercourse
with Europe. In the I 780s Volney described the French residents
of Cairo as:
shut up in a confined space, living among themselves with scarcely
any external communications; they even dreaded it and went out as
little as possible, to avoid the insults of the common people, who
hated the very name of Franks, and the msolence of the Mamluks
who forced them to dismount from their asses in the middle of the
streets.‘
Commerce had suffered further from uncertain communica-
tions. And during most of the period the constant depreciation
of the currency had made business transactions more difficult,
while the administration of the customs service had become
increasingly oppressive. Duties and charges rose, and the Euro-
pean residents found themselves stripped of both profit and
capital. As a result, in 1754 the Levant Company decided to
abolish its Cairo consulate ‘by reason of the uncertaintyof
1 Essai sur 1: osmium dc Mamillo, and edn., vol. ii (Paris, 184.2), p. 351.
3 Tmuls, i. 230.
Egyptian Economy, 1805-1819 15
success
and the certainty of a great and growing annual charge
attending to it’. 1 Merchants of other nationalities,
however,
managed t° ffimaifl. though in greatly reduced numbers. Some
of the remainder were replaced by
their former Levantine
protegés? and trade continued, helped
by the fact that it
ctmslsted largely of luxury goods imported for members of the
I‘lCl'lCl‘ classes and military materials such as
arms and iron,
for the mercenary armies which began
necessary to be re-
cruited at this time. Inter-regional trade suffered
from similar
handicaps. It consisted mainly of the import of
raw materials
from Syria, Arabia, and the Sudan in exchange either
for
Egyptian finished goods or for an increasing number
of articles
of European and Indian origin, such as silks, muslins, glassware,
and guns. In addition Egypt exported such agricultural
pro-
ducts as rice, wheat, lentils, beans, and sugar. According
to
Girard 40,000-—5o,ooo ardabbs of wheat were usually sent to
the
Holy Cities each year and 30,000 ardabbs of rice to Syria.3
Government revenue in the years before the French Expedi-
tion averaged just over 4 million francs a year, of which
over
two-thirds came from the taxes on land! A sum of this size
was
insuflicient to allow the Mamluk leaders to accumulate enough
military power to mount new large-scale military expeditions
and they were driven to look for means to augment it. ‘Ali Bey
(1 758-73), who was the first Mamluk to recruit mercenaries on
a large scale, began by seizing his opponents’ land and levying
extraordinary taxes on the villages and on the merchants and
other groups in the towns. One of his successors, Murad Bey
(1779-98), tried less short-term methods. He monopolized the
customs and then began, forcibly, to purchase a large part of
‘ Quoted in Fedclan R., ‘Notu on the
British Consulate in Egypt in the XVIIth
and XVIIIth centuries, 1580-1775’, B.I.E. xxvii (Session 1944-5), 16.
1 I-Iourani, A. H., A Vision qfHi.rtm_y (Beirut, 1961), p. 66.
3 Girard, pp. 226, 312. An ardabb was a unit of capacity. It varied a little from
crop to crop and also from district to district. During the French Expedition an
ardabb of wheat in Cairo was said to be equivalent to 184 likes (Girard, p. 31) or
roughly five bushels. As for rice, according to Girard (p. 3 1 2) an ardabb of Damiem
(from where most of the crop was mrportcd) was 2'77 51115 larger than ‘-118! 05
Cairo.
‘ Estéve (Comte), ‘Mémoire sur les finances de l'Egypte’, in Dmriptian do
l’Egpt¢, and edn., vol. xii (Paris, 1822), p. 196. This was the sum which was sent
to the Imperial Treasury; the Mamluk leaders themselva obtained a very much
larger amount as their share of the land-tax, which they wen: able to put to the":
own use.

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16 Muhammad ‘Ali and the . Egyptian Economy, 1305-1819 17

- h t eatly increase d price. villages, drawn up for Muhammad ‘Ali in the same year, in-
the wheat crop and to sell was a reform of the
to a muc it 1;: c: rzvgfg
cluded 160 names, or just over 7 per cent of the total.‘ That the
But the real key
Wghich provided the Government ruin was not more widespread must be attributed to the fact
of land-tax collection,
ctually raised a and which that Egyptian villages were almost completely self-suflicient in
with only 20 per cent of the tota l a
system
. unburdened. This food and simple manufactured goods; and that their inhabitants
left a large quantit)’ of
zfiiaiflancg gtYh;I;e1?E:nCh administrators were heirs to a long tradition of mitigating the effects of op-
Point was clearl)’ a month to
faced seentaop finZ19ing I million francs pression from outside.
In a series of moves they took
wltrllutilre riliilciiizsiiyyforces.
iiziuilzitaii tche iltizams (tax farms) into soverpmenzoonfiligiiézpé 2. MUHAMMAD 'ALi’s ECONOMIC POLICY2 :80 5 -181 9
instituted new methods of collecting taxes using a _
1 t°
of Copts and French oflicials, and, finally, bo-re
W€1‘¢J“5thPe ‘1‘“n:1"_g
Such was the position in 1805, and for a number of years
amalgamate all the different taxes which on.t Muhammad ‘Ali could only make it worse as his pressing need
:1IS1_ ltllto
one when military defeat put an end to their projects. for money to pay his soldiers and to vie with the Mamluks in
1I1'1}aI‘ gaining the support of Istanbul forced him to seize any oppor-
tunity to raise cash. Like his predecessors he made repeated
his restoration to power, 11
fully. levies on the merchants and others in the towns, expropriated
suflicient time to implement them
augmented by cattle and crops and boats, and on one occasion in 1806-7 even
The financial difliculties of this period were
a time of almost surprised a caravan coming from Upper Egypt, selling the
the fact that the years 1798 to 1805 were
their off cut merchandise, camels, and women and children he found on it
continuous fighting. The French and successors,
usual sources to the in the markets of Cairo. Meanwhile, his opponents were active
from even the
' am u ru lwere evies on mer-
ers—ldrivcn in Lower Egypt and the Fayyum, blocking canals, destroying
the later (1)&1‘CV1Cl'11{ue,
the Cairo crops, and interrupting trade. It was not until the death of the
:2liI2rilr(its‘:xi’)<i:r(i:l<fdltlo:1s from the richer members of
and increased exactions from the villages which Mamluk leader, Alfi Bey, and the defeat of the British ex-
communities,
peditionary force in 1807 that he finally became master of the
they were able to control. Business life camealmost to a stand-
the whole Delta area, and was able for the first time to take stock
still. Trade was severely hampered, while in the villages
of his resources and to plan a more rational method of meet-
departure of most of the Marnluk multazimr often deprived the
ing his current obligations. This involved, above all else, the
peasants of a powerful protector and someone to whom they
could turn for money in the last resort. There was widespread discovery of additional sources of revenue. Traditional methods
confusion and plunder, access to markets was interrupted, of taxation were simply not large enough to support an army of
canals deliberately dammed up, cattle killed or stolen, and even Muhammad 'Ali’s 10,000 men, and continual levies, by
crops destroyed. Figures are scarce and unreliable, but perhaps further destroying the country’s economy, would have led only
two can be used to give some sort of idea of the extent to which to sharply diminishing returns and the ever-present threat of a
the rural economy suffered at this time. One is the French revolt.‘
Consul’s estimate in 1808 that in the previous eight years over Muhammad ‘Ali sought several ways out of this dilemma.
a third of the agricultural land had gone out of cultivation.‘ ‘ Abd-el-Rahman El-Djabarti (a.l-_]'abarti), Mmvilles biographique: at Iulsloriqnu
And the second, al-_]abarti’s statement that a list of deserted on chnmiquu du AM-cl-Rahnian E1-Djabarb‘, trans. Chefi k Mansour Bey :1 al., vol.
viii (Cairo, 1895), p. 177. g
‘ ' Statements in this and succeeding paragraphs are hand 131’8=1Y 011 the
Ottoman Egypt in the Age of the French Revolution, pp. 142-3; Rigault, following sources: El-Djabarti, viii, ix (Cairo, 1896); Driau1t’s Molwrwd A1: at
Shag,-
PP- 954
2 Drovctti, 8 Apr. 1808: Driault, E., Mohamed Ab at Napglégm 15074.9” (Cgifo, Nqbollan; the same author’: La Formation dc Pmpin dz Mohamed Al} dc l’Arabt'c nu
Soudan, 1814-18:3 (Cairo, 1927); and Rivlin.
1925), pp. 10-11.
mm 0

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the 19
I3 Muhammad ‘Ali and _
Egyptian Economy, 1805-1819
. to increase th e
In thc fir“ Place’ he med by a d_hoc methods An obvious target was
the simplification of collection by the conversion of all former
taxes into one, and the extension of the land subject to tax.
amounts he received
fromxfifcrfiggmed in the hands of the In the second place, Muhammad ‘Ali turned to trade. Here,
WC large sums of money. ‘ and 180 he took events conspired to allow him to make large profits from the
various agents °f °°11‘°u.°fl'1Thu:iiiiled8t?ir3 the multaiims. and sale of Egyptian agricultural products, for the reconquest of
some of the mone)’ Pfl lvfiolls Y rlslile flood, he replaced several the grain-growing areas in Upper Egypt in 1810 coincided with
in 1808, after an of his own family
the less
l.lnSaflI1‘S:h8‘.:(I3n01Jith members he
a vast demand for cereals to provision the various European
of revenue
Powerful? these to forward the armies engaged in the Napoleonic wars. English ships in
and entourage, efforts to eradicate particular began arriving in Alexandria in the spring of 1810
rc1Ymgh °’I‘nade determined
needed.. Then, 1n i810, e ' 1 dministmtion itself’ and to end
to take on wheat, and already by October of the same year the
C0F1'“P"°n firom tlgeafinggihziii fig and collecting taxes exercised
French consul was estimating that Muhammad ‘Ali must have
officials whose
sm
y a.monc;11:ilog)'npl:';
éhe ofpimigndcpendent Coptic made at least 3 million francs from such sales.‘ Money from this
and general
of the system secretive- source continued to increase as prices more than quadrupled
knowledge of the intricacies
them great opportunities between I8I0 and 1813, before the finish of the Peninsula
ness allowed persofiilisl e1lii1;1t<1:‘l:1I(I)1Ierr1l:
Another target was the lands on whicrigor , previo campaign and the resumption of Russian grain shipments
he made y,d Hor ts to brought the boom to an end.
tax had been paid; after 1:80? repeateh e eb egan to
land, and Muhammad 'Ali’s handling of this profitable situation is an
collect money from the shaykhs as we
180911
(1111 important illustration of his commercial acumen. In 1810 he
impose levies on waqf and ard t1l-f¢M-‘9’” 13“ the. rice
But under the ever-present stimuluslof _more was content to sell the large quantities of Upper Egyptian
prelirrunaries to a (pr esign to wheat his army had seized at prices considerably above local
money these moves became only the
to restore direct market ones and to allow speculators a share in the trade on
oust the remaining multazzms and
control over all the land of Egypt. The fina} défcat ofgoylerpjment payment of a high export duty. But the next year, loath as
Muhammad Ali to ContfieSCH-t6 Ppefi 8 always to share his profits with anyone, he prohibited all com-
Egyptian Mainluks allowed
and in 1814 he seized -those in Lower Egypt petition, ensuring for himself a monopoly of the collection and
the iltizams there,
land was then foreign sales of Egyptian grain. Finally, in 1812, he entered the
as well. After cadastral survey the cultivated
divided into several categories according to q1l2_l11tY, Teglstcfcd export business still more actively, hiring or purchasing ships,
for paying and sending cargoes of grain abroad on his own account to
in the name of the village community responsible
taxes on it, and distributed by the shaykhs among the fellahecn. agents he had appointed in Malta, Portugal, and Spain.
As in the eighteenth century, the peasants were not given
the A third method of raising revenue stemmed from his in-
ownership of their fields, merely the right to cultivate them and creasingly tight control over the country’s economic life.
to use their produce. Meanwhile, the 5/zaykizs al-balad themselves Initially, this was created through the medium of the monopolies
received their customary portion of tax-free land. Aid al- over the purchase and sale of certain local and imported pro-
wzzsiya was excluded from the registers in Lower Egypt and ducts which he granted, on payment ofa fixed sum, to merchants
remained in the possession of the former concessionaires. But or ofiicials or, indeed, as al-Jabarti commented, to anyone who
waqf land was taken over by the Government.‘ In executing could think up some fresh item to control.‘ But soon the
this programme, so similar to that proposed by the French, Government itself became more and more involved in such
Muhammad ‘Ali ensured for himself the triple advantage they practices.
too had hoped to achieve: the replacement of the old system of of the grain trade, where Muhammad ‘Ali first squeezed out
tax collection by one more directly under government authority, ' Saint-Marcel it Oct. 1810: Driault, Mohamed A!) at Nepali“,
P_ 35
' ‘ El-Djabarfi . xiii. 129- 354-5-
33°’: H7-"00 Qfl-034 Ownmhip, pp. 4-6.

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2o Muhammad ‘Ali and 17” Egiptian Economy, 1805-——18I_9 21

ks be an to dwindle in 1812, for sale on his own account. In 1815 this system was extended
rival speculators, and
glagypfian to Upper Egyptian sugar-production, and in 1816, a year of
ordered the governo rtshtgt, t?!1.1SeSt(I)§1pPer provincgs fto
seize the entire .cereal crop. sweeping reforms, to the vast majority of crops grown in Lower
-'tsaesromea o Egypt—hemp, sesame, indigo, cotton, carthame, barley, beans,
fellah C0I1Sl1mP“°n. Was. takenliesd1lsf;?e made of huts to ensure
and wheat. All were bought from the cultivators at a fixed
merchant were forbidden,
Tllic15 ave the final touch to a 5Ystem price which was paid only when it was ascertained that they
that nothing was h°ardcd' gmum amount of grain flowed
that the were up-to-date with their taxes; sales to merchants were
devised to ensure
ouse s for export. Direct control forbidden; agents were sent everywhere to ensure that all
into the 8°"°mment store‘
ham
riation of the multazimr. the supplies were in fact handed over. Al-Jabarti reports a govern-
0V“ thc land foilowcd-the‘ expmg extended and more than ment decree of this year ordering the muzzling of field animals
area Under gram cuiuvfitlot fi vl3a la arsenal to re-equiP the lest they eat the beans and barley and chick-peas which
2'00‘) boats
W611; bullllllllrd ricesuweqre manipulated in such a Muhammad ‘Ali required.‘ The Government was also active
figynafioflgilividd al:/1I‘il1Iha11i11r)iad ‘Ali with the greatest possible in promoting new crops and new techniques. For example, 500
Syrians were brought to the Wadi Tumaylat and provided
PB.
rofit. , . .

such an extcflt that by I812 ‘t may. bavtli mac

- -
with the raqija: and animals and labour to cultivate the mul-
berry trees which Muhammad ‘Ali had had planted there.
francs wlt meillion francs of Again, an organized effort was made to repair the entire
30-40 mink)“ comparlid
h ade u of th system of irrigation by ensuring the regular cleaning of existing
1798.‘ However, perhaps a third to a ‘alef4
a ter canals. In addition, a great many of them were deepened so as
_ e
grain which ceased almost entire 1W3: mth RS1 wine
sales of
(‘)3 mg to be able to hold summer water. This was a task which only
year, and, although the new system of Ianyi
for this loss, taxationiriro la y the Government had the resources to undertake, and by so
more than made up expenses p
C0l’1tl}1;lu(ti: (3111111 doing it greatly augmented the agricultural productivity of the
faster. By 1813 further recruitment in Albania a. Delta area by extending the land available for summer crops.
army to 20,000 men, 3 la-Tg°_P3’t °f which W,” “lame
rais; tle
"fly Labour was provided by corvées of peasants.
sent to Arabia to fight against the Wahabis. e,
Although there was no immediate repetition of the profitable
Muhammad ‘Ali had built a fleet to operate on the eantvivsi
Re ea,
conditions of 1810-13, Muhammad ‘Ali continued to look on
and remodelled Egypt’s defCnCCS- TWO Years later! m _I8l5’ he commerce as one of his major sources of revenue and a vital
instituted a costly programme of army reforms dcslgned t°
complement to his agricultural policies. It was conducted in
produce a new army trained according to the latest European the way he found most profitable. Certain crops for which there
methods. Thus it was the need for money.which once again
was a good demand were often monopolized entirely and sold
was very largely the spur for the new series of on
‘measures abroad by the agents he had appointed at the major European
which he embarked on his return from the Hijaz in 1815,
ports; other products were delivered only to merchants with
designed to use the growing machinery of government further
whom he chose to deal; every effort was made to keep prices
to develop the country’s economic resources.
high, and if what he was offered was unsatisfactory he did not
Muhammad ‘Ali had already taken over rice culture in the
hesitate to hold on to his stocks until a better offer came along.
Delta in 1812-13, using his own ofiicials to advance the work-
The foreign merchants, who were beginning to return to
ing capital previously supplied by the local merchants and to
Egypt, complained bitterly to their consuls about these prac-
purchase the crop from the growers at whatever price he chose
tices. Nevertheless, as a result of the opportunities for quick
I According to Drovetti, Muhammad ‘Ali’:
income was 10 million francs from
profits which this system provided, more and more Europeans
grain sales, which seems very low, and 30 mfl lionfrancs from the land-tax, whifi h I El-Djabarti, ix, p. 185.
seems very high. Drovetti, 28 Nov. 1812: Driault, Mahmud Al) :1 Napoléau, p. 202.

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22
Muhammad ‘Ali and the Iripplian Econom , 1805-1819 23
themselvcs up in business, a trend In 1816, at the same time as Mnlnnnnuid ‘Ali wns introduc-
came to Alexandria to ‘set
lfanxious to encourage, for he saw jng his policy of monopolizing the majority of Egyptian crops,
Muhammad ‘Ali was modernize
°° 3 borators in his plans to
him:
foreigners as Important he also undertook the monopoly of native industry by closing
. al of man
he the workshops which manufactured cotton cloth, nhnllsliing
the c°"n“Y- T° “P5 “"1 ag'ree:lt(int2i1<i:erl:il'Idod,ifiicult forytlid the customary usages of the corporation of \vt~u\-cm. instnlliug
the whmh had
lfiiabflitics plevliajdl th allow their ships to use
Chmmm trader’ and contmu d 'a reviousli’ reserved for looms in government cstnblislimcnts, and foiring the former
masters and artisans to enter them us his ciiipltrx-era. (loud!
the safer ‘old’ harb°“‘ 3.‘ *’“‘*."a“ -r(:th£I‘s like the Englishman manufactured there were either retained by the Gm-t~riiim-iit
Muslims‘ S9mebeCamch1Sa‘1din:1eI:si a entii for the sale of his
C for its own use or sold to the merchants. All privutc weaving
533111161 Bnggsa were .aPpOm ' 1
lmporgt the oods he needed was forbidden. Later this monopoly wns ¢‘..\'l(‘Il(lt‘(l to include
°1'°P5 °’ given °°rmmsS10ns.to trgde on the other
Native merchants cngagcd 1“ Eumgcanth e co in etition from the manufacture not only of cotton cloth but of nll textiles.
hand, were generally unable to survive Village weavers were strictly supervised, their goods pnrclnuccd
foreign lp at a fixed price, and ii stamp nflixt-d to r\'cI‘y pirrr pmrlimcrl
the state unless protected by some t
.
in trade also e
clogsilr. without which no cloth could be sold. The i'rorgniiiz:itiuii ufthc
Muhammad ‘Ali’s interest
III? bcijlmpmvg textile industry along European lines li)ll0\\'(‘(l ulmn.-it imnn-.rll-
the system of communications inside
piracy were put down, boats for ‘N116 tra c ui , an ately. In 1816 :1 silk factory was (‘Sl:ll)ll.\‘llt‘tl ut Klnirnnliiili,
all, the Mahmudiya Canal t, mpsd a district of Cairo, and in I818, when the m:n‘.hiin-ry aluppctl
important of was
Eons rucpe
between 1817 and 1820 linking tl1C'N1lC working and could not be rt~pnirt-d, it was ('()ll\'(‘I‘l(‘(l into it
Wlllhd
goo s rfxcallnbrla, cotton mill under the mnuiigcment of liockly, the Swctlinh
Egypt’s only natural harbour. Previously,
Rosetta and then trans ‘flerre deen consul. A second mill was cstnblislned zit Buluq. liuth were
shipped down the river to
which took them to the European ips
5 h.to supplied with the latest European mncliiucry. latter‘ n lilcuc.li-
small seagoing vessels
But during the first decade of Muham- ing factory, two dyeing establishments, und u linnulry were
waiting at Alexandria.
mad 'Ali’s reign these vessels were experiencing increasing set up near by, followed in 1820 by three more mills. Wurkcrn
difficulty in crossing the bar at the mouth of the Nile, and In the were recruited from abroad——the Buliiq mill being known llll
spring of 1817, when passage was prevented for several months, ‘Malta’ from the nationality of many of its spiuucrs~—or were
he suffered considerable loss from being unable to export his
conscripted locally. Three sugar factories were also set up at the
agricultural produce. This setback stimulated him to order same period.
work to begin on the canal in the same year. Once complctcdt Contemporary opinion differed, and continued to differ, on
it confirmed Alexandria’s growing commercial hegemony; and why it was that Muhammad ‘Ali attempted such an umhitious
by i820 it was no longer the small, out-of-the-way town Of project. Drovctti, the French consul, saw it as an attempt to
8,000 people to which Napoleon had laid siege but a busy, save money by a process of import-sulistitiition, and this was
rapidly expanding port of nearly twice that size,‘ the growth undoubtedly a very important factor. Whcrc money was
point in the economy where the presence of Muhammad ‘A11’! concerned, Muhammad ‘Ali's mind seems to have worked with
favourite summer residence and a sizeable European com- perfectly straightforward logic, and the realization that he was
munity provided a large market for goods and a centre for spending large sums on imported European goods which he
local investment in house property. could probably produce himself may well have alone provided
1 Rodkey, F. s., ‘The Attempts of Briggs and Co. to Guide British commercial the necessary stimulus to industrialization, especially if, as
Policy in the Levant in the Interest: ofMohamed Ali Pasha, I82 I-I341’, Jamal if seems likely, he was forcefully encouraged by some of his
Modern History, vol. v, no. 3 (Sept. I933), pp, 3g5_7_ European advisers. All the factories he started made articles
2It Pat, G., ‘Mémoire lur la ville d’Alcxandrie', in Ducription dc rtgpu, and which were, or had been, imported. His policy was also defended
edm. vol-

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24 Muhammad 'Ali and the
as a way of using cheap, locally produced raw materials and,
as Roussel, another of the French consuls, maintained, as a
means of securing economic independence for himself.‘ There
is, however, other evidence to show that the introduction of
industry on such a scale was also prompted by a more genera]
desire to revive Egypt by subjecting it to modern ‘civilizing’
influences. Muhammad ‘Ali was quick to realize that his plans
to develop the economy could be hastened and expanded by
the use of European assistance, just as his army could be given
some of the skill and discipline it needed by European instruc.
tors. It is also important to note the interdependence of
Muhammad 'Ali’s various schemes. For example, the silk
industry established in 1817 was a complement to the impor.
tation of Syrian silk-cultivators the year before; while the
factory’s change to a cotton mill presaged a renewed interest in
the growing of cotton and an attempt, after 1818, to increase
the area over which this was produced. In short, what he was
aiming at in these years was a system whereby he could control
the economic life of the whole nation and direct it into the most
rofitable channels. It was the Government which very largely
ecided what was to be grown; the Government which pro-
, vided the necessary capital; the Government which was the
sole intermediary between merchant and cultivator. Could
such a system be operated with even a small degree of efficiency
its advantages were numerous. Not only was Muhammad ‘Ali
able to make high profits from the sale of primary produce, but
he was also able to increase or decrease the amount grown of a
particular crop according to how well it was selling. Again,
the Government could introduce any new crop which seemed
to offer the prospect of a ready sale or which could be utilized
in its factories. Finally, it could use the Egyptian market to sell
the crops grown and the products manufactured under its
supervision, and as it was itself the largest purchaser (par-
ticularly of military materials) it could protect local production
by ensuring its sale, even though the import duties fixed by the
commercial treaties at only 3 per cent were clearly insuflicient
to keep out foreign competitors.‘
' Rouuel, 31'I_s/lay 1817: Driault, Formation
dc I’:-mfiin, p. 57.
1 Asfara.sBnt.ishgoodswere concerned theta.rifl'had
beenfixedat gper oentby
the Anglo-Turki-h Tre-ty of was (Treaty of the Dardanelles), Article xxxtv,
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Egyptian Economy, 1805-1819 25
This systematic assertion of state control over the economy
inevitably produced serious frictions. For one thing it pressed
very hard on the population. The peasants lost much of their
former freedom and were often the victims of fraudulent
practices by government administrators in the measurement
and valuation of their crops; townspeople were forcibly con-
scripted for work in the factories; artisans left their jobs rather
than submit to the new rules which governed the practice of
their trade; there were frequent food shortages resulting from
the Government’s policy of buying up the whole cereal crop.
Open revolt was rare, such was the fear of Muhammad 'Ali’s
power and the long tradition of passive acceptance of authority,
but the stubborn refusal to co-operate actively in the new
schemes was just as harmful to the economy.
A more acute crisis arose in 1817 when Muhammad ‘Ali
tried to fit the foreign merchants more closely into the pattern
of state control he was aiming to establish. In the spring of that
year, pressed for money, he reversed his usual policy of selling
Egyptian products for shipment abroad for long credits and
disposed of several thousand ardabbr of wheat, beans, and lentils
to various merchants against payment in advance. However, a
temporary rise in European price made him regret this action,
and he then directed that the bulk of the cargoes of produce
which were arriving slowly from Rosetta be loaded directly on
to his own ships and sent to Europe. As a result the merchants
received only about half of what they were owed, as well as
suffering additional loss from having to keep vessels waiting
long in harbour for shipments which never came. Protests
followed, but not, as the French Consul pointed out, to Muham-
mad ‘Ali himself, as everyone was anxious to remain on good
terms with him in order to make good their losses by obtaining
and selling a portion of the next harvest.‘ For this reason also,
those who were asked by Muhammad ‘Ali to settle their debts
promptly did so. Almost at once the European cereal prices
broke, and Muhammad ‘Ali, worried by this turn of events,
a copy of which can be found in Hertslet, L., A Complete Collection qf Treaties and
Cowcntionr at Pusan: Siabsisting batu.-an Gnu! Britain andFanign Powers, voL ii (London,
I.82_7), pp. 371-7. Thereafter, most of the other major commmtial powus madg
Ilmxlar treaties. In spite ofsuch treaties there were occasions on which the
custom: levied a higher rate. See, for instance, Misett I I Sept.
' Rouuel, 24. Feb. 1817: Driault, Fmnatian 1811: I-‘.0. 2;]
4”
dc l’:nzpi'r¢, p. 46,
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Egyptian Economy, 1805-1819 27

26 Muhammad 'Ali and the
one. His immediate
reacted by forcing the merchants to
accept considerable financial position remained a diflicult
the land tax still further. But access to
the remainder
and by sending reaction was to raise
quantities of beans and wheat, and this
instructions to his agents to some other source of revenue was clearly necessary, on the
abroad on his own account with seize
he so urgently needed to was an important reason for his being so quick to
sell at any price and to remit the funds of the fortuitous
the Alexandria merchants chance of making money by the exploitation
finish the Hijaz war. This undercut slow of one of his many foreign employees—that of long-
discovery
and,(211s theyfi
supp es, ey
werelagain orce by
harqpereg
were great
o accepdtelrvery staple cotton.
o t err pronuse
cpmlpletely,
of their being able to pay their
losses, so there was little question
to be pressed in earnest. Trade con-
debts when they began
to be bad through 1818 and 1819, certain of
ditions continued
their merchandise at a
Muhammad 'Ali’s debtors had to sell
raise ready money, and one _house finally
discount in order to
further extension of credit.
went bankrupt when refused any
when Muhammad
The matter was finally settled only in I820
those who had some chance of eventually
‘A11-agreed to allow
1' an IIICTC an , WCTC
the
handed back their promissory notes and told to leave
country.
it
The results of this extended crisis were twofold. Firstly,
ve weak osition.
placed those merchants who remained in a
merchant of long standirl-rig, then ‘wrote of
As Mengin, himselfa
it is no
their dealings with the Government: ‘In these affairs
on equal terms. Frank
longer a question of negotiations
and to bow,
merchants are forced to keep to the ante-chambers
and they must show due deference when they speak to Turks."
the
Conversely, however, it strengthened the resolution of
consular corps to take a stronger line against any similar
exercise of Muhammad 'Ali’s power in the future. Secondly, it
left Muhammad ‘Ali himself in severe financial straits. The
losses from bad debts, from his having held off selling any of
the 18 I9 crop because of the prevailing low prices, and from the
continued low prices in r820, came just'at the time when he
was being burdened with many additional expenses, including
the heavy cost ofsetting up the new factories and embarking on
the second stage of l'l1S projected army reforms, the recruitment
and tralmng of Sudanese and Nubian soldiers. Thus, although
revenue had further advanced to some 50 million francs,‘ his
:

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The Introduction of Long-Staple Cotton, 1820-1837 29

II
THE INTRODUCTION OF LONG.
STAPLE COTTON
1820-1837
I. THE DISCOVERY AND INTRODUCTION OF JUMEL
COTTON
impulse behind the introduction of long-staple cotton
as a major Egyptian crop came from Louis Alexis jumel
(1785-1823), a French textile engineer who was engaged
THE
in 1817 to come to Egypt as director of the projected spin-
ning and weaving mill at Bulaq.‘ It is not known when he
actually arrived in the country, but some time in the course of
the next two years he discovered, in a Cairo garden, a bush of a
type of cotton which he recognized as being superior in length
and strength of fibre to any cotton then being cultivated in the
Middle East. This cotton had been growing in Egypt for a
considerable time, but according to Mengin it was spun only
by a few women and its worth was unnoticed.’ By the spring of
1819 Jumel was cultivating some of the new type in his own
garden at Azbakiya and on an estate at Matariya. In 1820 these
experiments yielded three bales; a year later, with financial
assistance from the Alexandria merchant house of Messrs.
Gibbara, output had increased to 2,000 bales.’
Muhammad ‘Ali encouraged _Iumel’s researches from the
start: he allowed him to spend time away from his factory, he
I Dardaud, G., ‘Un ingénieur frangais au service de Mohamed Ali’, B.I.E. xxii
(Session 1939-40), p. 61.
1 Mengin, F., Hirtoire sommaire dc l’Egypt: sous le gnuvemernent dc Mohamed AI}
(Paris. 1839). p- 4- _ ,
3 Dar-daud, pp. 64-5. The weight of the bale changed as it became pOSS|blC to
pack cotton more closely. In the early 1820: it weighed about 175 lb. (Sec com-
parison between Gliddon’s figures for cotton exports in bales (pp. 4.6-8) and
in Table I of this work.) By 1831 it had risen to around 200 lb. (See cornpanson
between J. A. Mann’: figures for Egyptian cotton exports to Great Br1ta1n—_77l¢
Cotton Trade qfGr:at Britain (Manchester, 1860), Table 27—and those ofJ. Bowrmfi u
'Rgpo|'t on Egypt and Candia’, PJ’. 1840, vol. 3:21, p. 66.)
exempted him from paying land tax on the fields he devoted to
cotton, and in 1822 he gave him the sum of r25,oo0 piastres
with which to conduct further researches.‘ He seems quickly
to have realized the worth of a new crop of this sort. Unlike
cereals, it was inedible and could not be consumed locally,
making it an ideal product for monopoly. Again, it was an
article for which there was a ready demand in Europe, where it
obtained a. price which was perhaps two and a half to four
times that of the ordinary Egyptian short-staple cotton} and
its sale promised to provide the Government with some of the
revenue it so urgently needed. This was the more important as
the wheat grown in Egypt, traditionally the country's major
export, was of a poor quality and suffered increasingly in
European markets from competition with Black Sea grain}
Finally, its cultivation could be easily fitted into the existing
pattern of agricultural administration. Thus, after the success
of Jumel’s 1821 crop, he gave orders for the new cotton to be
cultivated on an extended scale. Tracts of land were allocated
to its growth in areas which were easy to irrigate in summer,
mainly along the eastern bank of the Darnietta branch of the
Nile; canals were deepened and cleaned to bring water to
fields at some distance from the river; raqiyas were erected and
dykes constructed to keep out the annual flood.‘ Altogether,
some 100,000 to 150,000 feddans must have been affected by
these measures. Animals were then sold to the peasants on
credit, seed provided, and cotton gins and presses manufactured
and distributed among the villages.5 In addition, when the
apparent decline in quality of the 1822 crop convinced Muham-
mad ‘Ali of the need to instruct the fellaheen more compre-
hensively in the correct methods of cultivation, he brought
experts from Syria and Asia Minor, each of whom was assigned
1 Dardaud, pp. 63-4,. Due to the constant depreciation of the Egyptian currency
before the monetary reform of I834 it is difficult to provide accurate equivalents in
contemporary European coin. But according to the French oficial, the Baron de
Boislecomte, the piastre was worth 0-4.0 francs in 1822 and 0-35 francs in 1830:
Douin, G., La Mission du bum: dc Barlrleoomte (Cairo, 1927), p. 130. For further
information about Egyptian currency, see Appendix 3.
I Dardaud, p. 65.
5 Douin, Mulvsion, p. 83.
_
‘ Gliddon, p. 14,; Mengin, Hisloire xammam,
pp. 4-5.
5 Gliddon, p. 13. Dardaud (p. 70) mentions that by the time of b'n death in
June 1823 Jumel had had 1,000 gin: manufactured in his worhbop.

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3° The Introduction of
a number of villa es in ' Long-Staple Cotton, 1820-1837
pletely under his %:ontrol’:,13]1i'(li}i:ythcehti:<:aSt2liI::ts1wfjnibplacelll °°m‘
est smted
cotton, and then supervised every stage of tlzi: r
V350“: as well as showing the peasants how to II‘)e 0:55 fif cum‘
once harvested, for export.‘ So great was thepsugcegst
fem
measures that by 1823 the amount of cotton producodtlilese
risen to well over 200,000 cantars, and its quality
was such had
the first small consignments sent to Liverpool and othercEiir:t
The system under which cotton was produced did not
va
greatly from that employed previously for other crops, Jg
order of Muhammad ‘Ali the provincial officials assigned
to
each village the number of feddans which they should cultivate
after an examination of locality and the nature of the land}
Fellaheen deputed to grow Jumel, or Make (as the new cotton
was variously called), were expected to cultivate it according
to carefully laid-down methods. Initially these rules had been
spelled out by the foreign experts, but later they were codified
the Laihat zira'at al-fallalz, a law issued in 1830 which gave
tailed instructions about every aspect of production, setting
t precisely how the land should be prepared for planting,
Ow the seed should be selected and sown, how the soil should
be tended while the plants were growing, how the cotton should
be picked, how the trees should be uprooted after their yield
began to decline, and many other details. It also provided a list
of duties for the various government oflicials whose task it was
to see that these instructions were carried out.‘ _ grown aind_the
of the
Jumel was planted in March or April after one working
then to be weeded regularly'and watered evef)’
soil. It had
3I
mainly provided by women and children, who could manage
t-0 15-18 lb. 3. day.‘ Contemporary estimates of the yields in these
early years do not vary widely. Sir Gardiner Wilkinson gives
’ two and a half cantars per feddan, and Bowring two.‘ It should
be noted that such figures always refer to cantars of ginned
cotton. As a rule 315 lb. was picked from the field for every
100 lb. of lint actually produced by the
After it had been collected the cotton was dried in the sun,
or in ovens, so that the seed might be separated more easily; and
then it was either ginned by machine, ‘bowed’—a process by
which it was agitated up and down on a series of taut strings—
or hand-separated} Ginning was the most efficiernt of the three
methods as the other two often failed to strip the wool from the
boll cleanly, but it was a lengthy process and necessitated the
cotton lying around in heaps, getting damp and discolouredfl
Unlike America, where the invention of the Whitney gin had
revolutionized cotton production, Egypt had to wait many years
before a similar labour-saving machine was invented which did
not harm its longer staple. In the case of the ordinary fellah it
was generally the cultivator himself who undertook the ginning,
managing to produce some 12-15 lb. of ginned cotton a day.5
Plants generally remained in the ground for three years, after
which they were uprooted. If this was not done their yield
declined. Soon, however, some of the more eflicient producers
learned that there were important advantages to be gained by
re-sowmg their cotton annually, and altered their practice
accordingly.‘ The extra work involved was offset by higher
yields that an additional crop or crops could be
uring t lflact
e winter months.
The labour required for cotton cultivation was considerable.
* Ibid., p. 4.54.

eight days during the summer, one man being able to tend» bf" ‘ Wilkinson, Sir G., Topography of Thebes and General View of Egypt
(London,
1“ l33_5), p. 270; Bowring, ‘Report on Egypt and Candia’ (G.B.), p. 19. As noted, the
not provide the water for, four feddans.5 Harvesting Weight of the cantar was changed in 1836 from 122} lb. to 99 lb. (see p. 9, note 1).
were three pickings, the last P683?
taking p ace
June or_]uly and there It must tliaefore be asumed that Wilkinson refers to cantars of the fonnCr '
wash’
the bolls was
in December or January. Labour for gathering ’ u
Bowgng
to cantais of the latter.
. .
" if ‘ Ibi¢il:1::l:d4’.6%;4€‘.fiarles Roux, La Production du eaten, p. 35.
' Gregoire, M., ‘De la culture dii coton en E8_YPt"r in Mimi":
'
ongmaw€' Pfi esentlr et la: d 1'1"-"MW «W533» "01-
. Ellison, T., The Cotton Trade afom:
I (P“"v ‘362)’ pp‘ 439-40’
Britain (L9nd°n;e:i3?5)élII’éx’!3l‘?:-rd. G_ : L“
1 P?’ ‘9“°- . . .
2 Infonnation from (undated) report by Drovetti,
quo in A- F. L. ’$7.}°.Z’.°3u".T.%.Z?, ‘}?Z°.J’ie°.'}..l‘."I.. ‘}}°.,',1§‘,‘3-."°3.. ‘?,l.'.‘§‘7z.7....l° M"§"&‘..‘:
ftgw-‘weigh. dam qltlquupartiu de mi.-Mwm, on .s;..-.,’ an ram.-.., .. ..'g;,.,’ “,1'
Rlfonner en Egyple (Cairo, r936), p- 457- Iii (Pans, 1837-8), p. 34.9.

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33
1820-1837
The Introduction of Long-Staple Cotton,
32 and brokers at
a dis-
it could be Pr°Vifi°d by W°m°‘_‘in and which were usually
sold to merchants
And though some of been only briefly employed the
children who previously had by J1111181,
and watering and tend. type of cotton discovered varieties
fields, the work necessaf)’ f°r ginning. coxataxrt from- the- original ' d arious other
on the peasants, espe-
ing the plants must have borne heavily for m01'€ tha‘;
increasing liability for co.rv.ée duty [1:I3:11:}(;:'1rl:'n(l):.1(ti:-—fllTlS(:"I‘1l](§€l'.1rl gteanlilsndlfpiospered
cially when one adds their irrigation. feddan was low, howe\/.61‘. and 1:
of the area under perennial a few years.‘ Its yield per imported.
caused by the extension the rapid increase of the first few ’ kl de enerated if new seed was not constantly
Nevertheless, to judge from extra burden in the 18305, but I101: b€f01‘°
%'llllll:S ’ it tog was finally abandoned
produced, the
harvests and the quality of the crop One explanation to pro vide the type of cotton
_
which
_ _
must have been at least
passively accepted. ‘t h cl crossed with jumel until after the American Civil
that the peasants had no alterna. éxisicd more or less unchange d
which might be suggested is to grow and were
to being. told what
tive, that they were used .
which would accompany
War.‘
tic penalties
well aware of the dras _ some truth in
wh ile there IS undoubtedly . 1824-1837
disobedience. But 2. COTTON PRODUCTION
seem likely that they had learned so quickly to
this, it does not . ordering them what to grow, After four good harve sts
in the mid 1820s there was a sharp
accede to government dlrectives about the year 1828.5 A number of
and angry population would have fall in cotton output rou rid
Nor is it probable that a sullen the fellaheen’s sudden disen-
size of the cotton harvest so radically writers try to explain th is by
been able to increase the its cultivation,“ but the answer is not so simple.
1824. A more plausible reason would seem chantment with
between 1822 and proprietors were beginning
used to operating within It is undoubtedly true that many
to be that they remained sufiiciently grow at this
by the prospect of profit, to find it less profitable and a greater burden to
a money economy to be stimulated aversion
ofJumel originally held out. As Drovetti time.’ But if the decline was really the result of a basic
which the cultivation production rose again so
the cotton trees could produce, to cotton it is difficult to explain how
put it, when they saw how much per cantar for first rapidly between 1834 and 1836. Two other factors should also
them 175 piastres
and that the Pasha paid
before to ensure the be considered. In the first place, the cotton bushes responsible
quality, they worked even harder than planted mainly in
success of the new crop.‘ The provision by the Government of rm‘ the hlgh Yiclds Of I324:-5 must have been were most
machinery must have 1823 and 1824. (at the time when foreign experts
credit, animals and seed, and irrigation were thus due for replacement in .1826 and 1827.
been an added inducement.
foot into bales of ;(:lttiv2‘,e:ndwere years which agriculture in general was
After ginning, the cotton was presse d by in
expense sufiering L}tom the low Niles of 1824 and 182 5 and when a large
about 220 lb., and then transported at the cultivator’s
no 'vate
pri sales were 1 Gliddon, pp. 22-4; St. John - A . ..
to the nearest government warehouse: : J -a E9” Mdfl lhammed
a Al:,vol. ii (‘London
was weighed, its quality assessed, and the 1834)’p.433; d Cad I A E. Bzeuvczy. J.. L,Egirue :: la Turquie de 1325
permitted. There it a i (rim, ,‘3;'6)r:eI,,. Sanffi -dc
fixed government price assigned to it. Each fellah had an open I‘83cl;5‘ii;c;l.on, p. i4. 3 .
P- 35.
account which was only closed at the end of the year, after 4 Egypt, Ministry of Agriculturc EM‘.
’- 7”" ‘"‘’‘.’’'‘'“‘ ”’°""“~' - nnd-2
A
.
- - Cotton . . .
taxes and the interest on advances had been deducted. Then, if Hi-r¢nu.Dmtop»:m:m130tamed‘! Rdammm "f E9-”'“" C""°"‘= “Y Dudes-on, G. C.
the fellah made a profit, either the balance was handed over or
1917). p. 35. - - .
(0%:
‘ eeT bl , d .
is drawn to the unreliability of
he given credit against the next year’s tax bill. Payment was the figurggixn 21:11120::hre,‘-ienJilrfiiigh attenltlion are for expo":
was in the form taken to refer to the cotton produced in the Sr:/vim they '1“? bfi
0Cc‘as1onally made in coin, but was more generally '
allowance should be made for the cotton conflpglnesufoyulearll m -But
of assignations’—paper IOUs from the Government—which Y Egyptian factories,
2.
could be cashed at the Treasury only after great trouble, and note
orex ] Rj 1'
' Guémnd, p, 458,
2 G,.g'g°in’
321“: D

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-
34 The Introduction of
TABLE 1 Long-Staple Cotton, 1820-1837 35
Volume, Value, and Price of Egyptian Cotton Exports, 1821.37.
number of men had been newly conscripted to fight_1n the
Volume Value Pricg Greek wars, and it is unlikely that the care with which the
_]umel Sea Island _]umel Jumcl original land was chosen and the seeds planted was repeated
quintalsb quintals” £13‘ talaris/quimajsn on anything like the same scale. Indeed, many of the bushes
182 I 94.4, T may not have been replaced at all owing to the extra labour
1 822 35, 1 08 15 involved, and in this case yields would very definitely ‘have
1823 259.426 15.} decreased. The year I826 was one in which rural conditions
1824 228,078 I 5} were particularly disturbed. Food was short; declining export
1825
1826
2 1 2,3 1 8
216,181
17
receipts meant that the peasants were being pressed hard. for
129 13 taxes, and a considerable number of animals needed for irri-
1827 159,542 5.604 :3
1828 59,255 26,285 gation were sold to raise money; there was a short rebellion in
13
i 829 1 04,920 1 1,050 12 Sharqiya, one of the main cotton-producing provinces.
1830 213.595 8,702 12 In the second place, the fall in European cotton prices after
1831 186,675 9,239 104 1825 led Muhammad ‘Ali to order that more fields be planted
1832 136,127 4,544 ,5 with Sea Island cotton, seeds of which were first imported from
1833 56,067 1,833 15 America in 1826, on account of its higher value.‘ However, its
1834 143,892 8,920 23 -4-30}
1835 213,064 1,068,020
yield per feddan was only half that ofjumel and any sizeablc
switch ofland to its cultivation must have lowered output. Thus,
1836 243.230 894.383
1837 315.470 757.489 in 1827-8, when Sea-Island production was at its peak, total
production would have been perhaps 25,000 to 30,000 cantars
Sounces:
1821-34: de Cadalvéne and de Breuvery, i, pp. 383—4.
more if Jurnel alone had been grown. Finally, in so far as the
1835-7: Fowler, T. K., Report an the Cultivation of Cotton in Egypt (Manchester, decline in cotton harvests is measured by the apparent decline
1861), p. 8. in exports, this can partially be explained by the growing

l N01'E8:
a. These statistics present one major problem. It is clear from dc Cadalvene
and dc Breuvery themselves (i, p. 73) and Gliddon (p. 43) that, with the ar-
ception of a few bales, there was no export of jumel untii I822. Thus, itil
possible that the series given here, or at least part of it, should refer to the year
consumption of_]umel in the new textile factories. By 1831 they
may have been utilizing as much as 50,000 to 55,000 cantars
a year.‘
The unsettled conditions in the countryside continued through
following that actually indicated. Some evidence for this supposition coma the early 1830s. In particular there was a growing shortage of
from a comparison between the figures for exports (above) and those for
cotton production for individual years in Geuemard (p. 343) and Rivlin
A large army and navy had to be recruited for the
manpower:
(p. 143). On the other hand, it is equally possible that the problem has been war in Syria, and by 1833 there were about 125,000 men under
caused not by erroneously shifting the series back by one year but rather by arms,3 or something like a ninth of the adult male population!
an effort to adapt figures which originally referred to years in the Muslim There was also considerable emigration from the villages to
calendar for years in the Gregorian. In either case, of course, the series must
be treated with the greatest caution.
1 Gliddon, p. 36.
b. One quintal equalled Kg. 50 or 110-3 lb. (de Cadalvene and de Breuvery, i- 1 D0“-in. Mission, p. 83. Other estimates
p. 384 11.) But after 1834 the figures refer to cantars of 94 lb., or so Fowler include:
maintains. This is an unusual weight and Fowler may have copied it wrongly’- "1833: 7o,ooo cantars: St. John, ii, p. 413.
For the weight of the cantar after 1835 all other sources give 98-9 lb. 1834: ‘At least’ 40,000 cantars: de Cadalvene and de Brcuvery, i, p. 384 3,
c. Strictly speaking, the Egyptian pound was not introduced until 1885, but I
1834-7: 50,000 cantars: Rivlin, p. 144.
number of sources use it for units of 100 piasti-es (Pt. 100) before that daw-
' Rivlin, p. 209.
Acoording to the monetary tariff fixed by Muhammad ‘Ali in 1835, £1
’ The Population may be assumed to have been
(sterling) was to equal Pt. 97}: Crouchley, Economic Development, p. 100. about 4,500,000 at this time:
d. One tahri (or dollar) equalled Pt. 20: Ibid. Bner. ‘Urbanization in Egypt’, p. 3.

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36 The Introduction qf
avoid conscri tion ' Long-Staple Cotton, 1820-1337
there may will hai: l)1i:€i:riitii:1lsli1lfi)"::ie(iittllsfbiiiixrfibdiihfiiirer
. . . . _ a
_P
emax_ne at alowlevel..
The u p t:urn 11'! cotton production in 1834. coincided with
the end of the First Syrian War. Once hostilities were
ov
Muhammad ‘Ali spent three years in which he very
lar elf’
devoted himself to the study of rural conditions and the mgaiy
abuses that he had found flourishing in wartime conditionsy
Each year he visited various parts of the country, hearing com:
plaints, encouraging production, inaugurating public works
and trying to reform and revitalize the agricultural adminis:
tration.‘ The cotton-growing districts were particular Objegts
of his attention, especially as in 1833 European cotton prices
had begun rising to a height which, by 1835, rivalled their 1825
peak, and he tried to raise the level of the harvests by every
means at his disposal. He sent troops into the fields to supervise
cultivation; in 1834. he increased the price which the Govern-
ment paid for cotton;Z and two years later he began to pay for
all agricultural commodities in cash rather than in assignations,
as a further stimulus}
3. METHODS OF SALE
Once collected in the provincial warehouse the cotton was
taken by government boat to Alexandria, where it was housed
in the large central rhuna (warehouse) together with all the
other agricultural products sent there for export! It was then
disposed of, either by Muhammad ‘Ali himself on one of his
frequent visits to the town, or by the ‘Direction Générale de
Commerce’, established in 1825 under Baghus Bey.5
A number of methods of sale were tried between 1824 and
1837, varying as the need for ready money came into conflict
with the desire to maximize profits. Initially, as he was used
' Duhamel, 20 Sept. I836: Cattaui, R., L: Régnt dc Mohamed Ali d’a9rJ-I 14'
arclfiuu nun: an Emu, vol. ii, pt. 2 (Rome, 1935), p. 133; Rivlin, p. 14.1.
2 Lavigon, 24 Apr. 1836: R. Cattaui, ii. pt. 2, p. 19.
1 Rivlin, p. 141.
. Duh‘,-M1, 20 Sept. 1836: Cattaui, R., ii, pt. 2, p. 133.
18:3-I593
I Malivoire, 4jan. I826: Driaulrt, E., L’Esfldin'ou do Cmuldelllarlc,
(Cairo, mo). 9. m-
37
to doing with cereals and other crops, Muhammad 'A11
attempted to bulk
nt ho in t ere
expolgt th: to ta01:etlpeorcpltton e pro
1mse lligaflxl/est onfillljv
3331: otherirjvisf have goyire to various middlemen. But such was
his requirement of cash to move his cotton, and hence his un-
willingness to wait for payment until it had been sold in. Europe,
that he was forced almost at once to turn to the foreign mcI_‘-
chants for assistance. Thus, in the early part of 1824, when it
came to the question of the first large harvest, he managed to
persuade two of the most important Alexandria houses~=—
Briggs and Co., and Violier and Graban of Livorno—to take
50,000 bales for shipment to England, France, and Italy 111
return for the immediate payment which they alone, as pros-
perous concerns, could make.‘ They did this only with reluc-
tance because, like the other merchants, they were unsure
whether they could dispose of such sizeable consignments on
the terms which Muhammad ‘Ali had proposed. But when
Samuel Briggs, who had gone to Liverpool to talk to the
spinners and brokers, discovered that, contrary to expectations,
it could be sold in so great a quantity and at such a price that
he was able to realize a great profit, the others at once bid
fiercely for the remainder of the harvest.‘ Those whose resources
were well known received consignments on credit: the rest paid
cash. Many new merchants were attracted to Alexandria by the
prospect of profit that these methods engendered. The number
of British houses, for instance, increased from two in 1822 to
five in I82 5, and a number of fortunes were made}
The bulk of the 1824. and I825 crops were again sold in
Europe on Muhammad 'Ali’s account, either by agents or by
merchants whom he commissioned. He would clearly have liked
to have continued this policy in [827 as well, but the financial
crisis of the previous year, following the fall in cotton prices
at the end of the European commodity boom, forced him to
the system to one in which_ he agreed to deliver cotton in
filiairllgc
c ange for payment made well in advance. However, in spite
Of: all his difliculties, he was still able to drive a hard bargain
with the merchants, as an extract from a letter written in May
' Dfovetti. 24 July 1824.: Driault, z,'Egpg.1,-:.-,.,, ,5_
1 R1 lain, . ' P, n
I G\i’émal%..l>4.1345- Wm’ 24July 1824' Dmul" L £‘W“"""- P- 516-
;Dro . ' .

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33 The Introduction qf
1827 by Barker,
the British Consul-General, Lang-Sta?!‘ canon, za2«H837 39
mad ‘Ali’, he wrote, shows. ‘Muham. ' -General in June 18283‘ but
being engulfed in in fact it wa
enterprises which re quire pecuniary
subordinate to t e sy
of money’ an d remained
which all his revenues, resources shortage _
great as they are, cannot supply, ‘ advance. Thus, for exam? 1:5’ in 1828 and APHI
compelled, in order to
‘ have raise ready money, to say to he is . June
the merchants, r e sums of
some many thousand bales of cotton
which I will undertake ilséyxlgvcmber 1329,
to deliver to you in three,
four or six months; you shall advance money against the M}l1.lhaIT;Itnl£:.d d11&e1iF\arv:a.rs:cl1¢1?r}11tOl13‘segof Pastré.
now nine-tenths of the value mc me’: arvfid mhre money from a number Of
of the goods, and then I will And in D"'°°mb.cr lie ormvsvz
them to your correspondent consign B these means he was able to
for sale on my account.’ The
are then, of course, promised to the cottons merchants’ on shmllal‘
best bidder and such is the avoid the necessity tteiiiilnl alpublic loan which many then
competition in every branch of commerce The price paid, however,
that people are found to thought he would beofr d tgo maka
strike bargains with him upon very
hard those with the was another omial crisis for the very small 1829 cm?
French houses which he has lately terms; Yet cpmmelfccinl a fraction of the promised cotton,
madfi s
kintal [quintal], payable a third, or a half, or at th1_rt¢er_1 d°11arS PC!‘ agai: in March 1830, strong
two tlurds, pcrmitteg
and in ecethafgivcxf
9
and'.the rest on delivery, are looked upon immediately, '
with whom I have conversed as ruinous. The many
by of
my friends from the French Consul acc0mpah1‘_d Pastréfs complaints protist:
t a
is that the the cotton his iirm others. 3 111)’
account sales of the cottons will balance on theprobability
wrong sides, and then
the merchant is completely at the m§rCY.°f I330 only 8. third wa; oliyecfli
o t\1:IaSC§tCtl;1I,;g lsglidbtgen handcdYo.l;cr,
said, has a wonderful talent for the Pasha’ wh°’ ‘t ‘5 to.aDaeccrr‘b 6 It: that the 1829 contracts wcre
and it was not until
drawing In by hard bargains and finally fu1fih°d-’ 1“ °°““a‘.t t‘.’ th C similar crisis
liberal promises the with whom he deals, so as to ' of 181749,
' it
0 this time emerge d with th611’ P osition
tinue that he should merchants
be their debtor. A
was
common manoeuvre pin-
is that at the time he consigns the cottons thi enc
strengt mecrlchan:
I ah Yam then on Muhammad ,Ali had to
' he gives 05 mi: _ - -
expensive machinery. marble basins, etc» the C05‘ commissiofi take consular protests into
_ °f whmh he Opes account
policy, even if he could often still Wl1CI1dCOn(;0(rZltc1):1E
the merchant in Europe will be fool enolfgh to her than ai-for to E tlfisnialiefi
Fxhcutfi i fi tinthings
risk the loss of His Highness’ favour by d1S3PP°‘ht"’g the end.
Sales in advance continued to be the .
on which he has laid great stress.‘
disposing of the crop for the next few primary
Nevertheless, despite Such hargalhsv 1111?] method.‘ W 0:
°°mmlS1:/;°I111sa:l1I::5’a1IXfi rising European prices led Muhammady::ar§,Ali to discover 1334?urthe
also began to present Germ" d'a.“’ba°ks‘ serious disadvantages in the system he emP10Y°d- er
could not always predict what P“°°5 W0" ldsb 6 iii halfa year’-‘* important merchants were sweeping the Whole Certhm
time, any sudden rise in allowed the hams to make their large offers when smaller merchants, CFOPS away wlth
price egged on _by fast‘
an extra largfi Prohh Again’ the mirccame adept at rising European prices, would often
have bid considerably
adding merchadltsther items to their
zccasions
higher. Proof of this came from
the fact that bought
interfests,
commission dis;ofun::;.::::s:r:1g‘t3;se::w:rc
ees, an or L when, from Muhammad ‘Ali for fifteen cotton
_ dollars a cantar in 1334, was
according ‘O Ghdd°“’ cotton which etched being sold and resold in Alexandria
for as much as
fourteen dollars a
cantar
Oh
the
wiiizlskeliahittfed the nine and a half dollars even twenty-
before leaving the port.4 Hence, in
Government only Clghtf ope?
0 this sort as well as February 1835, Muhammad ‘Ali tried
Expcnerhcc yet
sale, public auctions, although sometimes another method of
complaints from the less favoured lvluhammfid
. ousfis, caused ' Pezzoni,
a pressing need would
‘Ali to mm to another method of his Cmps_public ' Pezzoni,
28 June 1828: R. Cattaui, i (Rome,
1931), pp. 253-4..
6July 1828: Ibid., p. 258.
sales for cash at 3 fixed P"°°‘if dls¥l)1§1nI§CW
15 Policy was firs‘ ’ Mimaut, 2: Dec.
i830: Douin, G., L'E,gyp¢a do I828 A
_ . 1830 (Rome, 1935),
I BIl'kCfsJ\ B. fld %' “ad” la. L“! F.“ sum,” frmkg vol. ii Pifgliddon, p. 3:.
B" '
3 Eliddonl
(London. 1375)» PP‘ 4 ’p' 28'

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4° The Introduction of Long-Staple Cotton, 182041837 41

Still lead him to ac ' - - ,.
a particularly tempting offer involving TABLE 2
payment in advanciept
Government Cotton Profi ts, 1834-40
2 pean commercial depression
Spread to Alexandria and brought trade almost to a standstill Total sales Total value Government
Paradoxically, it was the auction system, which many pcoph; profit
Bales ,€E' £13‘
regarded as the fairest and best method of disposing of the crop
that caused the crisis to hit Egypt with greater severity than 1334 42.906 353.055” 198,593
might otherwise have been the case, for the smaller houses 1835 95.009 1.027.442” 685.410
happy to operate with only the narrowest margin of profit, had’ 1836 40,140 1,164,915” 768,411
made bids which pushed prices up so high as to be almost out 1837 134.095 895.447 412.705
1838 112,472 904378 499.479
of line with those in Europe.‘ The sudden interruption in trade 440.944 225,268
1839 59.910
found many of them with unsaleable cotton on their hands and 184» 62,637 404,997 150.704
there were six failures.‘ Even the larger houses which had kept
away from the auctions suffered, for several had acted as bankers
SOURCE: Lavison, 16 Feb. 1841: R. Cattaui, iii (Rome, 1936), p. 543.
for their less important neighbours.3 Sales were suspended in
the spring, and it was not until the autumn that they finally N01-izs:
a. Value originally in silver roublu. Converted at a rate of6-25 silver roubles ==
restarted, this time by private treaty. £E1; see Crouchley, A. E., ‘The Development of Commerce in the Reign
of Mohamed Ali’, E.C., nos. 168-9 (Feb.—Mai-. 1937), p. 313.
b. It will be noted that these figures disagree with those in Table 1.
4.. PROFITS FROM COTTON

Muhammad 'Ali’s profits from cotton consisted of the differ-
ence between the price he paid to the fellah and that which he
was able to obtain from the foreign merchants, less the cost of
transport from the provincial shuna to Alexandria. The only
figures which exist for this are given by Lavison, the Russian
Consul-General, for the years 1834-40 (Table 2). These must
be used with caution. An even more rough guide to gross
profits can be obtained by multiplying together the two series
for the volume and price of cotton exports shown in Table 1.
Calculations of this sort are far too uncertain to bear the
weight of a detailed analysis of the influence of cotton sales on
in
the country’s finance. But, very generally, it may be said that
periods of high prices and good harvests, 1825-6 and
the two
1835-6, cotton profits may have contributed somewhere
between a fifth and a quarter of total revenue. At other tlmC5:
as a tenth.
however, this proportion must have shrunk to as low
1 Colin, A., ‘Lettres sur l’Egypte— Commerce‘, R.D.M., 4th Series, XVii(1.l‘“'
p. 66. 1 Laviion, 9 Apr. i837: R. Catuui, ii, pt. 2, p- 993-
Four further points can be made. Firstly, in good years,
cotton was far and away the most profitable of the crops
subject to Muhammad 'Ali’s monopoly system. In 1834-5,
for instance, it provided ,(,‘E32o,ooo, or half the revenue ob-
tained from the sale of agricultural commodities, while in
1836 its contribution had risen to 85 per cent (see Table 3).
S°°°nd1Y:_ although cotton profits were of the greatest im-
portance in financing many of the projects begun in the mid
1820s, such as the construction of new factories, the enlarge-
of the army after the amval of General Boyer’s military
:1li:n_t and the purchase of a new fleet, it was the expansion in
inS1211,
-
which took place between 1821 and 1837 (sce
::‘X]i;3ClnClltl1I'C
° 4)- Thlrdly, the fluctuations in the size of cotton profits
P133Y¢d 2!. very disruptive role in Egyptian finances This 1).:
seen in 1837. During the two previous yea.rs.Muha:i‘ni d
plearly
All had come to rely heavily on cotton sales to meet a ba
°f Pressing expenses. In a series of reports Lavison
dnum‘b:
°W the proceeds of one cotton auction in 1836 wgrc

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4:’ The Introduction of Long-Staple Cotton, 1820-1837 43

TABLE 3 TABLE 4.

Profi tsfrom Agricultural Monopolies, 1834-5 and 1836‘

Estimate: of Egyptian Government Revenue and Expenditure, 1821-38
1834/5 1836 (purses" and francs)
piastrcs piastres
Land-Tax '1'° mm,” ‘“
Total expenditure
Long-staple cotton 32,500,000 58,379,520
Purses F1-mu Puma Franc Punes F[Illa
Short-staple cotton 250,000
Sugar 1,000,000 ...___f
132 309
'80 ' ’
26 461 752 239,94
....,...t ,:2::::::::: “W
Indigo 3,000,000
300,000
2,200,001
302,493
:2;
Opium 8 1 r 4- .794 , ,
Flax and flax-seed 4,000,000 1,360,850” 533:1)’
1833 ii [87 1 50° 1 v W0
28"” 5o6B,oo0
41 .525 62 773,750
Tobacco 5,000,000 35.12.-moo 622,820 77,'a53__.,,,., gfflm $123133
,g3,.5 281.000
Rice 2,600,000 2, 148,864 3"°'°°° ‘°’°°°'°°° 6"’a6° 76»5°7»5°° 575.751 71,9683}:
’ ’ 5
13,000,000‘ 291,390 ‘"354
1893 720.000 90,000,000
Wheat
Beans 456.444
Barley 973.323 sormczs:
2,451,105 - .
Others 1,630,000
1821: Mengin, Hi:toiredel’Egyple,ii, pp, 334__9_ 0 -ml figuru m punts con-
verted to francs at the rate of Pt. 1 = 0-40 frgnd-s1.g)l
Total 64,280,000 68,564,000
13:f.fi:e3:g>tc‘
Sconces: 1830: St. John, ii, pp. 468-71.
ct Administ.1'aI:i0n’, R.D.M., ,
1834-5 Colin, A., 'Lett1'es sur l’Egypte— Budget 1333 (ii)? C103. 15- 3-. APWF“ 8915741 M l’Eg;1pte, vol. ii (Par' pp. 2077 I L
4th Series, (Original? in francs converted at the rate of Pt. 1 = 0-3:
pt. 2, p. 340.
1836 Dubai-nel, 6 July 1837: R. Qattaui, ii, i834—5:_Col1n, ‘l.ettres sur l’Egypte—Budget ct Administration’ pp 129.32 '
(Original in piastrm converted to francs at the rate of Pt. 1 = 0,95 f;-an“)
- -
. 133545? Dllhamcl, 6 July 1837: Cattauj, R., ii, PL 3’ P. 340 ' (0,;gm ai In
Norms:
a. Includes lentils and maize. at the rate of Pt. 1 = 0.25 f,am._.,,_)
b. Flax seed only. spairsfi eem25Dec.188:Ctta',R_...
13: taonvcrtcd .. . .
P. 953. (Original in piastres con-
order to stimulate vu-ted at the rate of Pt.31 =22: lfranés 1;‘:
pay the peasants in cash for their produce in
from another in the same NW3‘ “- A PW“ equalled Pt. 500.
them to grow more, how the money
to Egyptian
month went to pay off some of the arrears owed of that three varieties of coin were in circulation,
in May
sailors, while the profits from a third and a fourth gtentltii
century main
part of the °°1_n5. Of _which a few were minted in the citadel of
year were immediately dispatched to Istanbul as spring of G2’:
‘‘_‘I{ and foreign mostly Austrian
the
Tribute.‘ Thus, when sales were suspended in Coins, money,‘
thalgrs allllaklghpanish dollars. I_-Iowever, rapid
1837, Muhammad ‘Ali once again found himself plunged into owing to the
unlike those depreciation of both the Egyptian and Turkish money, Euro-
serious financial difficulties. But on this occasion, by pean merchants soon began to refuse to accept them in pay-
crisis, not
of 1813-14. or 181 7—2o, he attempted to meet the domestic
seeking new sources of revenue, but by several
important
:‘:‘g1?:1:ifL<}>lrc1gn currency came more and m0re'intonumber of
retrenchment designed to curtail 311 expanding economy and a growing
measures of administrative financial ml there was never enough of it. The situa-
in particular the change in the system of rural
cxpcnscs, tion was maéisactions
worse by the fact that foreign coins were often
the next chapter. ,
administration which will be described in cxported almeost as fast they entered the c01int_ry_—despite
vital means of meeting Egypt 5 as
Finally, cotton profits were a decrees to the contrary—e1ther by Muhammad Ah himself, or
currency. At the beginning of the nine-
chronic shortage of by forci811 merchants who could see no opportunity for thcir
2, pp. 2, I9. 45-
I Lgqigog, 19, :4 Aplh, 16 May 1836: R. Cattaui, ii, pt.

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44 The Introduction of
P1'0_fi table employment locally once the cotton season was over
currency reform of 1835 (in force in 1836) which was
supposed to lead to the minting of new Egyptian coins, but
insuflicient quantities were made and foreign coins continued
in circulation.‘ Muhammad ‘Ali tried to get over the problem
of inadequate coinage for internal purposes by paying
troops, and civil servants in assignations. But when this was not
possible, for instance when coins were necessary to calm a near-
mutinous army or to pay bedouin to transport military materials,
he could generally find the means to do this only by selling a
cash crop like cotton. Again, cotton sales were one of the chief
means of paying for European imports. Overseas payments
were generally effected by exchanging cotton for bills which
could be encashed in the relevant foreign city.
5. COTTON FACTORIES
Apart from providing some of the funds necessary for the
establishment of large-scale industry in Egypt, the introduction
of Jumel also provided a direct stimulus to the construction of
spinning and weaving factories which could utilize it locally.
Thus, although by 1822 a number of the existing mills had
already stopped working, Muhammad ‘Ali was in no way
discouraged, and between 1824 and 1826 twelve more cotton
factories were constructed, situated either in the main Delta
cotton-growing areas or in centres like Foua, Rosetta, and
Damietta, where transport was easy. These were followed in
1827 and 1828 by nine in Upper Egypt. At the same time four
bleaching establishments were added to the three which OX1-Stcd
in 1821.1 With the exception of a few machines brought from
Europe as models no cotton-spinning apparatus was imported»
and all the factories were provided with jennies and looms
made by Egyptian carpenters, smiths, and turners under. the
direction of French technicians} Power was generally provided
by animals—Lane records a street pedlar in Cairo advertisinfi
I Crouchl , Economic Dmloprnenl, pp. 99—ioi; Tedsco, A., De la :ilIId_¢50'
mafi a,‘,, my (Algandria, 1858), pp. 7-11; Sultan,'F., La Mmpuia
lconomtqua ufinm-an doIypttumll
’ 1914). pp-
(Pain, 56-7; Arminjon, 2., La same».
P i Ii) pp- 35545‘
( 3&7’ (M.,
PP_ 23.5.
l""'
Long-Staple Cotton, 1820-1837 45
his cotton goods with the cry, ‘The fruit of the bull, o maidens’!
——bl1t,1at¢1‘, 8 few steam engines were imported. Mengin men-
tjons some arriving from England in 1829 to replace others
which were worn out; Colin writing of a visit to Egypt in 1834
stated that there were seven or eight machines in the country,
but that only one or two were actually working!
peasant,’ The total number ofcotton factories, as given by Fahmy, was
thirty in 1333-‘ They employed some 30,000 workers in the late
1820s, and though this shrank to 6,000 (with 1,200 oxen) in
1333, probably because the remainder were conscripted into
the army, the labour force was again built up to something like
the original size once the Syrian war was over.s wages were
generous to begin with, but then, according to St. John,
Muhammad 'Ali ‘saw plainly that this entire revenue would be
insuflicient adequately to reward merit and industry’, and by
1832-3 they were only barely enough to provide a daily sub-
sistence.5 Working conditions were bad, hours were long, and
there was every encouragement for the workmen to rob the
factory or even, on occasions, to commit various acts of sabotage.
St. John reported that there was not one of Muhammad ‘Ali’;
mills which had not been accidentally or designedly set on
fire.‘
The factories were not independent but were run as part of
one
unit. The Cairo factories provided the provincial mills
with all the necessary equipment, while the latter sent the
thread they had spun to Cairo, where it was either woven and
bleached for the local market or exported.’ A few of the pro-
vincial mills, however, contained looms of their own, and the
construction of bleaching establishments in the Delta in 1827
suggests that some of the thread was processed locally to save
transport costs. The quality of the finished article was generally
low. St. John, for example, maintained that in many factories
the value of Egyptian cotton when spun locally was less than
‘ Lam: E. W.,An Aacouuta ‘
__
u 1836), P. ‘S.
f the Maiur: and Cuslonuof the Modem EDPIIQI-I, Vol.
Slnndon,
Hfttom xonunaiu, p. 30; Colin, A., ‘Lctti-es xur l'Egypte— Indum-ie
mmracnsug.
J Falfrtniinérc
R.D.M., 4th Sena, xiv (15 May 1838),
, p. 455.
Y» M., p. 24.
‘ St. John, ii, p. 417.
’ S‘-,J0hn, ii, pp. 414-15.
I‘ to!“ 6 Ibfd-. pp. 412-i 3.
7 mid-i P- 413; Fahmy, M., pp. 25-6.
..
3 St. _I0hny “I P‘ 4'1!‘

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T7
47
45 The Introduction qf Long-Staple Cotton, 1820-1837
tariffs or by
that when it was in its raw state‘, but this cannot have been oods if he wished, either by - imposing internal
h
I],
.
universally the case as a certain amount of yarn was exported
to Trieste, Livorno, and Turkey. their loss.‘ Thus, though 11116
Contemporary opinion was quick to point out the many Cufi onslcflrlihg his own goods at a
British cotton goods increase
faults which existed in the system of factory administration Fottonf of the higher-quality
with inferior articles he was
Hekekyan, for example, in a report written in 1831, pointed to iimpfir the i83os it seems that Consul-General
1829 the British
machines which were in a bad state because neither managers ‘:1: ti hold his dwn, and in
misgivings that the import of such cloth had
nor workers dared stop for repairs and thus risk the punish. gbserved with some demand,
Indian muslims, once in great
ments which would befall them if certain output targets were decreased and that since Egyptian factories had
not reached; St. John stressed the low morale of the workers were now only rarely imported
type.‘
and the inefficient direction which resulted in 50 per cent of begun to manufacture a similar
carelessness; Bowring
the raw material being wasted through
wrote of the drawbacks of the ox-driven machinery.‘ Neverthe.
less, Muhammad ‘Ali did not abandon his factories. This may
6. THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION
have been partly obstinacy, as some suggested,
and a dislike of of long-staple cotton was only
In one sense the cultivation
admitting that he was wrong; it was
no doubt also partly the revolution which Muhammad
another stage in the agricultural
result of his failure to understand the true
state of Egyptian
‘Ali was trying to effect in the Delta after 1816, and it was for
was rarely permitted to know was managed without serious
industry. On the one hand, he this reason that its introduction
on the other, he in some areas,
what was really going on by his subordinates; difficulty, as the administrative machinery and,
calculated profit merely by subtracting the cost canals necessary already existed. However, its
seems to have the summer
finished article and to extension required further works and changes of such magni-
of the raw material from the value of the
and the depreciation of tude that it is also entitled to be viewed as a major revolutionary
have ignored both working expenses
But this is not the whole story and a factor in its own right. To begin with, it was the spur to a vast
the capital involved}
be made for him than is usually attempted. To programme of public works. In order to grow cotton and other
better case can
of spun cotton summer crops it was necessary to deepen many of the winter
begin with, there is the fact that the output during
markedly increased between 1829 and 1837.4 Secondly, canals allow them to take off water from the river when it
‘to
sizeable amount of the was at its lowest} By 1833, 240 miles of the new canals had been
this period he was able to export a
sent to Europe, just In addition, dams and sluices had to be constructed and
materials produced; apart from the yarn
such neighbouring dulg.4 erected. Once the canals had been
mentioned, woven goods were exported to it is not
countries as Syria, Arabia, and the Sudan.
Finally, 6}’ olfafizqzyas
:o:lrgl:t:11rx1tl1)1er to be cleaned annually and their banks
that he was unable to give his andl(31ams;epaired. The necessary labour, provided by corvées,
true, as many writers maintain,
Not only did
industry any protection from foreign competition. ' ’
‘ For a further ducription of this sort of ‘ a clminis trauve '
anything he see fl-
his army and navy provide an assured market for .
Girmi’ A. : Tankh
, _
al-«Ma
_ _ protection
fl Mm (The History of Industry in Egypt) (Cairo,
to force his subjects
wished to produce, but he had the power By x9?2l)3;Wins. ‘Report on Egypt and Candia’ (G- B -l» - -
to purchase all the cotton goods his factories manufactured.
General - . . . 9- 35- Time British Consul-
sale of imported «in
the same token, he could interfere with the '838. ~ . .
' St. John, ii, p. 4.14.. ’Lina.ntdeBellef dsM.A
: .. Mlnwim sur l¢.\‘Imnc1!’aw: (moan: d'|m'Iillpn6ligu
I Hekckyan Papers, xiv, B.M. Add. 37, 46:, 3:; St. John, ii, p. 414.; BOW- (Pam, xa72_3)’ P. 3:1
ring, ‘Report on Egypt and Candis’ (G.B.), p. 35. ‘”°‘-*'°¢°mte sivuafigumorsoi This- may include
- some canals built
before 1820. Douin, Mission, p_ 83. “Sue.
1 pummel, 6_]uly i837: Cattaui, R., ii, pt. 2, p. 340.
4 Fghmy, M., p. 26.

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The Introduction of 49
43 Long-Staple Cotton, 1820-1837
over
was raised in a way which was quite new in Muslim E increase allowed cotton to be grown
L 5oo,oo0 feddan s.‘ This of this total; it also per-
Previously, when the basin system had been all but univgy something like a q
uarter to a third
summer
the $33]; of other lucrative
the fcllaheen had been responsible for the upkeep of mitted the extendeid cultivation
Figures illustrating the
and feeder canals in their area, from which they so obvioykes
5 like rice, indigo, and sesame. given. So have the
been
benefited. Now they might be called to move many milesu:lY or crrggtability of cotton
have already
monopoly of rice, indigo, and
their work, often to a totally unfamiliar area. Again, the siz proceeds from the government
the operation was larger than at any time since the Pharaéluf Taken together they made a very sizeable
8' o ium in 183 4-5.. stemmed
On the assumption that each man could excavate about half a ltural income. Further advantages
addition t0 38”“ was very much less dependent
cubic metre a day, and that each year’s corvée duty was f t heir cultivation
from the fact that
two months, canal-construction would have involved the woofi
r height of‘the Nile than that of other crops. In addition,
on the taxable capacity of
of something like 67,000 men annually between 1820 and 18 they must certainly have augmented the
WEE’
while canal-cleaning involved 400,000 more.‘ As they the land.
were oflset by any loss of income
rarely paid or fed most workers took their families with then: Whether t hese advantages it is im-
of crops previously grown
to provide them with food, and it is not difficult to accept the through the displac ement
little is known about the system of land use
truth of Linant’s remark that for part of each year almost the possible to say. Too
at this time to make any
definite statement. However, it seems
entire population of the Delta was involved in government if it occurred, was more than
works.‘ Meanwhile, routine agricultural activity was broughg safe to assume that such a loss,
balanced by more intensive use of the remainder of the land
to a standstill. 1,000-feddan
Initially, the organization of the corvée was left to the various subject to summer irrigation. A description of a
in the early 1840s,
local ofiicials, but this was soon seen to result in a great waste estate in the Delta, given by Hekekyan
year
of effort as canals were dug out without suflicient study under shows that 500 feddans were planted with three crops a
and 300 with two! This is a considerable improvement over the
the supervision of untrained engineers. An order would be
situation described by Girard in the years 1798-1801}
given to construct such and such a work in such and such a
of Some contemporary writers attempted to link the introduc-
direction, then shaykhs would arrive with their contingents _
ofJumel cotton with the apparent decline in cereal output
and at once be put to work digging roughly along a given tion
men in the 1820s and early 1830s.‘ However, as Rivlin is able to
line.3 An attempt to rationalize and improve the whole system
by introducing a centralized irrigation administration was d°m°“5tr3-tea the production of wheat, beans and barley
organiza- remained fairly steady during Muhammad 'A1i’s reign and
begun in Upper Egypt in 1830, and in 1834. a similar _the years of low and farnines are to be explained r’ather
tion was instituted in Lower Egypt as well, with Linant as exports
In terms of adimnistrative confusion, as in 1837 when there
head of a permanent council of engineers. This in turn was was 3' delal’ in transporting the cereal harvest ’from Upper
adapted into something like a Ministry of Public Works in series of low Nile floods, by conscription of part of
1835. Under the new system the chief provincial engineers tligeypt, byla Perhiips most important of
would come to Cairo annually to discuss the irrigation needs of anga_ “WY. howling s figures for
an’ bgrgtllé triiergclslzpofiz laprrcc, 3“
their district and to issue the orders for the necessary works.‘ the distribution of the 18111)’ 30 gram crop indicate that about
One result of all this activity was that by the early 1830s the ‘ Ibid., p. 44,9. mi should be compared 't_h ti, .
area reached by summer water in the Delta had risen to about have been devoted to summer irrigatlhn in 1 $3.
3°‘ Clclr what size of feddan Linant is “"38-
' _Li"'3"‘= PP- 304- Lina-ht’: figure of halfa cubic metre per day seem: small.
.5 s.°.'f°:‘.‘.Z““.,.“’. ’.§?;“1s;‘..““'33'
I H ..
“ Seep. 12.
but is probably accounted for by the fact that as no tools were supplied
the men had am , 24**s.*”-
V 1837: Cattaul. R». ii, pt. 2, p. 3x°_
to scoop out the liquid mud with their bare hands. Rivlin, pp. 157-5.
= nnd-. p. 37. 3 Ibid., p. 39. n,;d., 33.
4 P. 821 668 E

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5° The Introduction of
25 cent of it was destined for the armed
per forces or f
garrisons abroad.‘ This was a larger volume or
than was
ported in 1816, five years before _]umel’s introduction: 01:‘
the army was reduced in size and more peaceful
rural Cone
ditions returned in the 1840s,cereal-production rose to three 0-
r systcmo
four times above its I321 level.3
A very much more serious cause for concern was thC
Strain
imposed by the extension of perennial irrigation
on scarce
manpower resources. On the one hand, the extension necessi-
tated the employment of about 100,000 men and 150,000
merely to work the saqiyas needed to lift the water up on tooxen
the
fields; on the other, the faulty construction of many of
the
canals that they rapidly filled up with the silt
summer meant
held in suspension 111 the Nile and could be cleaned only by the
organization of corvées on a vast scale! Considerations of this
sort played an important part in the reports of the two com.
missions which were set up to study the question of a Delta
Barrage, one in 1833 and a second in 1837. On both occasions
it was argued that a great saving of agricultural labour could be
achieved by a scheme to dam up the Nile at the point where it
divided some twenty miles north of Cairo.5 It was proposed
that three high-level canals should be run off from the pond
behind the Barrage. These would allow a large area to be sub-
ject to flow irrigation, thus obviating the need for saqgyas; they
would also push the water through the system at a faster rate,
causing less sediment to be deposited. Again, it would no longer
be so necessary to build earth dams across the Delta canals in an
effort to raise their levels. However, these ideas were never put
to the test for, although a start was twice made with the Barrage
during Muhammad 'Ali’s reign, work was soon abandoned on
both occasions.‘
1 Bowring, ‘Report on Egypt and Candia’ (G.B.), p. 17.
' For 1816 export figures see Rivlin, Table 8, p. I 57.
3 Ibid., Table i 58.
4 Linant . g,6p. .
5 Summaiiicps i)4l'+tlie4:e9pom of these two commissions are to be found in Mazucls
L’Guore géagraphique, pp. 141-51, and Linant, pp. 445-54..
6 The Barrage was completed in 1861. But it was never pi'opfiI'1Y unhzcd
almost immediately cracks began to appear in the foundations, and it was 110‘ “n
it was strengthened between 1887 and 1890 that it was able to hold up the had‘:
water for which it was intended. Brown, R. I-i., Him»; ofuu Bums! at W 14"‘"7
pm; ¢y'Egpt (Cairo, I896), Chs. I and 3.
Long-Staple Cotton, 1820-1837 51
or AGRICULTURAL ADMINISTRATION _
7, THE SYSTEM
facilitated by 8
That the introduction of jumel was greatly
f administration geared to the supervision and direction
ect of the rural economy has already been men-
- , rcasfnthis structure was not able to cope for long
of ev:1ryHf£ever
tione
complexities of government produced by
with the me
the d gansion in every part of the economy in thc
changde fin thtiaxihiddle of the decade the existing provincial
an‘
18205,‘ yo lon er sufiiced to satisfy the increasing demands
organlzatlfinfblr
made on congscripting soldiers and factory workers, for
the iion of public works, for the close supervision of
ex.ecrl<l)duction which Muhammad ‘Ali required, and for
fl(i<:.uI)rli1oi')e efficient means of collecting taxes so as to maximize
the financial returns of the new crop. Such considerations
led Muhammad ‘Ali to decide on a policy of administrative
decentralization in which he created provincial governments
and assigned to them many of the powers previously con-V
centrated in the hand of officials at Cairo.
However, this formal system by which, among other things,
the Government’s agricultural policy was transmitted to the
provinces never worked to Muhammad 'Ali’s satisfaction, and
it was constantly being changed and reorganized owing, as ‘
Colonel Campbell, the British Consul-General, put it, ‘to the -.
government’s feeling the evils of many parts of its system and
wishing to correct them, without knowing how to do so’.‘ In
particular it failed in the three main tasks assigned to it: the
provision of sufiicient men (for the army and the factories), the
collection of taxes, and the production of cotton. And almost
before it had been tried it was being supplemented by simpler
methods of executing government policy: special meetings of
provincial officials, and tours of inspection by Muhammad
‘Ali
himself and by high government officers. Thus in 1826
Muham-
mad 'ikli ordered his pirincpal subordinates to make
a personal
of the provinces to
ascertain the reasons for the
givclastigation
me in tax They were mstructed to report to
_ _ hccim all cases ofremittances.
peculation among the provincial oflicials and
F0 fintcr into every detail of local administration rend
_]l.1StlCC where necessary and punishing ering
those whom’they found
x Campbell, 92 Jan. 1838,
quoted in Rivlin, p. 101,

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5’ The Introduction cf
to be funds. Then, in May 1826, Long-Staple Cotton, 1820—Ic937 53
misappropriating
three-day he 1, Cld . vernment
meeting at Tanta to which they 3
submitted inefficient. Ignorant. oggers about
findings. The
next
year, when had still not improved
their
Offi cials led to ind ofgefihifiglsawfifigjz
Muhammad ‘Ali conditions manyldabusclaced under cotton must have been
convened a meeting of 120 shaykhs ' how much shou
means offorcing the fellaheen to pay their taxes; and to dev' frequentlY
lénd d-C 18 6 for example he told Duhamel
later, ways and means of correcting abuses two ye;-‘we C alamed with jumel, when that
and ameliorati rs that930o,oOo
ClI'?u(;I‘;Vct1t1(:ac,llbecn3
the wretched state of the peasants were discussed 8 harvest llclllqave been goduced by 200,000 feddans at
at an Assam}; year
by Ibrahim, his son.‘ Thereafter, assemblies llol/lVilkinson oirlled out that it was a common
of a similar sor); the View fr-nosfilllaheen to bfibe their shaykhs to excuse them
were held every year, usually under ‘Abbas, racnce
Muhammad ‘A19
grandson, at which provincial ofiicials reported 3 the if d: n of roducing cotton 2 and procedures Of this
on
under their jurisdiction. Meanwhile, Muhammad the districts {tom
kmd urdbubtedl an important ‘reason for the size of the
frequently
‘Ali himself “lclliirlxl/relsts increailing so slowly despite all the efforts made
ignored the administrative structures
he had created znnlltfuhammad ‘Ali himself. Again, the detailed instructions
and went on personal tours of inspection of
his own. agou: how cotton should be grown were often ignored:_vege-
Apart from its failure to produce men,
cotton, and
taxes in
the quantities Muhammad ‘Ali required, the tables were planted between the rows of cotton or picking
rural adminjs. delayed until the boHs had fallen off the plants on to the muddy
tration also increasing difliculty in carrying
experienced. ground, both of which were expressly forbidden in the la:/iat
the other main task assigned to it, the close supervisionout
agricultural production in general and cotton production
of zira'at al-falla}z.3 And government ofiicials who were the sole
particular. During the 18205 the attempt was still being in judges of the weight and quantity of the peasant’s crop often
made to cheated and managed to keep a large part of the profits for
maintain the Government’s monopoly over almost every major
themselves.
crop. With them, as with cotton, the official purchase price
was
generally fixed at less than half of that which could have been
obtained on the open market, and constant vigilance was 8. THE CHANGING POSITION OF EUROPEANS
necessary to prevent black-market sales. This system was At the beginning of the period the European houses which
modifi edin i 83 I , when the food shortages of the previous year led had survived the long financial crisis of 1817-20 were in
a very
Muhammad ‘Ali to allow the peasants to cultivate wheat, weak position: they were entirely dependent on Muhammad
beans, barley, and maize without restriction and to sell them 'Ali’s favours for their future prosperity; their
consuls were
directly to the native merchant or consumer.‘ The fellaheen at unable or unwilling to protect them, being for the most part
once used this licence to take advantage of the high food prices either merchants like themselves or
advisers of the Pasha, like
ruling in the towns. In addition, it seems likely that cereal- Drovetti; Muhammad ‘Ali had
recently demonstrated his
production was further encouraged by the Government in power by forcing many of their
number to leave the country.
order to provision the large army being prepared to fight in But
fora number of reasons this situation did not last for long,
Syria. T0 _beg1n with, the size of the merchant community
rapidly and more than doubled increased
Strict control continued to be maintained over the culti- in the twenty years after I320.
vation of summer crops, however. Each year the area to be 'Ali’s initial encouragement had something
Nlltlhhammad to do
sown was laid down by Muhammad ‘Ali, and it remained the but the real magnet was and the large profits
xiliclfllls, seen to be made fromcotton its sale. As their numbers
duty of the provincial administrators to ensure that such crops
rose th;NCll‘)e
y egan to feel more aware of their
were grown according to the proper methods. But, inevitablYz _ own power, Thcy
'
the attempt to direct every stage of cotton’s cultivation with ‘ D“h3m=l. 27 June 1836: Cattaui, R
" ii’ pt‘ 2’ P‘ 9°‘
1 Rivlin, p. I03. omraply 9/ mm. is. 979. ‘ Rivlin.
' Barker, I4 Sept. 1832: F.O. 142/3- PP~ I3§-4o.

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54 The Introduction (J 55
Long-Staple Cotton, 1820-I337
might need Muhammad ‘Ali’s favour to get cotton delivered- wh Y he was S0
This
_
was one . of the strongest reasons- - as C NilC or
he, for his part, was just as much in need of their money té cconomY-
foreiBn'0Wn°d b°3-*5 53111113
°“
meet his ever-pressing financial demands. At the same time anxious to Prevent contact with the Peasants’
mere hants making direct - cs timate the extent of
those who were unable to break into the, circle of courtiers W1“; lbreign however, to °"er
lobbied for the grant of firmans began to complain of their It would be wrong,
.
' 'al matters
erci at
exclusion and to press for a more equitable method of disposal the “hang: mr::(liar.l;fi iovf,,§::v§ll iirblienfocteirllerrgzise considerable
Finally, the consuls themselves became more outspoken and leg; least Mu am 11 rchants who were never
strong 01‘
unwilling to take their criticisms straight to Muhammad ‘Ali and he benefited
gieunitc azgainst him, -
himself; while he, in his turn, conscious of the need not to iinfluenceegvgo
etermln figfi they who the
greatly from their presence. It was provi(tl)ed
have een-un fit:
antagonize any of the great powers during his struggles with he himself would
tlet for his goods, which it; they
Istanbul, was forced to pay them more attention. These changes lent him money when he needed
fdl create; they who
happened quickly. In 1827, for example, the British merchants who introduced such improvements as the hydraiilic vgitito:
men e _gg
with the exception of B-riggs, signed a petition in protest againsi Again, Muhammad Ali was able ‘to use
the monopolies, asserting that, ‘the will and interest of the Pasha p,e55_ his case to hi
as unofficial ambassadors to present Egypt paid .t
t
ti.orVa.I‘il1OLlS
are the sole principles which regulate the commerce of Egypt’; European governments. But the price
Four years later Mohammad ‘Ali was so worried by pressure to rise. Much of the money made by tersee
services continued
able tolplay on Muham-
from the consuls that he did not dare to give them oflicial merchants left the country; they were
‘lum to undertake
notification of a new ‘appalto, for transporting cotton;2 mad 'Ali’s weaknesses and to persuade
meanwhile the latter were for the first time able to prevent enterprises for which there was no justification;
Cl1fl ICultlCS.a.I.1Cl
the conscription of Arabs working in European houses} After frustrations in the dealings between them and the adminis-
this, instances of the use to which the Capitulations were put tration increased rather than diminished. And, perhaps most
to extend European interference in the economy multiplied. important of all, they were a bridgehead in Egypt of the asser-
As consular power increased Muhammad 'Ali’s authority tive, self-confident, intolerant spirit of European commercial
over the European community diminished, and this at a time expansion which came inevitably to regard the country as just
when the number of foreign adventurers arriving in Alexandria another market to be invaded and its people as no more than
was continually increasing. Several decrees forbidding Euro- irritating, obscurantist obstacles in the path of progress.
peans to establish themselves unless they had means of support
testify to Muhammad ‘Ali’s concern but, as he had always to 9. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ECONOMY
rely on the consuls themselves to implement actual expulsion,
there waslittle improvement. Outside the agricultural sector of the economy Muhammad
' Ali’s
Muhammad 'Ali’s reaction to this changed situation was attempts to develop the Egyptian economy took two main
twofold. In the first place, he was forced more and more to use forms. One was the establishment of new industries. Beside the
evasion and subterfuge in his dealing with Europeans, Where manufactures, other new factories included those for
before he had been able to settle matters with a straight- plotton woollen cloth, for the fabrication of and
“if }\;V6a_V1ng.cpf silk
aci , and for the preparation _of rice and indigo,
forward exercise of his own power. And, secondly, he sought to as
limit to Alexandria the sphere of European interference in the wefi a1;ri<l:
g ass-works, tanneries, a paper-niill, and arsenals which
Pmdltlccd guns, swords, and powder.‘ In every case, as Muham.
' Barker, 24. Aug. 1827: R0. I42/2.
’ Mimaut, 27 Nov. 1831, Douin, G., La Pmniin Guem dt Syn}, vol. i (Cairo: replace imported goods with local
I93I).,p- 579- A
_ _ I Falimy, M., Ch. 3.
1 Mmnut, I Aug. 1831, ibid., p. 541.

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56 The Introduction qf 57
-
from these factOrles Long-Staple Cotton, 1820-1837
substitutes.I Some of- the products
- ‘of
used by the E were had no.clear_knowledge
exported, but the major proportion were advice of Europeans, of whom most in de1iberately_m1s-
- Dtian were interested
armed forces, given to cultivators in exchange for a Egyptian needs and many Money was spent hurriedly
forcibly, for their own profit.‘
products, or sold, sometimes to merdgricultural leading him 01'
am“ and which seemed to promise Wealthwere
retailers.’ on unnecessary items when they
were suddenly abandoned
This effort to introduce industrial plants on a E strength, and which of un-
to have failed. Or it was not spent on works
scale led, in turn, to improvements in the system Of equropsan thought stemmed
Barrage. A second difliculty
for what the country so clearly lacked was men with anucatm“: doubted utility, like the devise any lasting
y was never able.to
from the fact that he
technical ability.3 In 1826 there was a revival of the s.°"°f Egyptian population to
co-operate in his
of
sending educational missions abroad, and in the next eipEh°Y method of getting the no substitute for the
force. Discipline was
plans other than by yet after
108 students were sent to Europe. The importance attga iyears profit
of provided, and
stimulus which the hope the
training in skills necessary to operate the Egyptian f: ed-to had crushed rural enterprise and ruined
monopolies
can be seen from the fact that, of this total, 69 studied indctories he was able to offer no alternative.
domestic craft industry as any other that Muhammad
subjects! Muhammad ‘Ali also extended the sphere of tecllislnal It was for this reason much
as
economic
education in Egypt itself and established schools of engine.:1l.cal at the centre of Egyptian
'Ali’s attempt to set the state destruction.
and applied chemistry as well as of irrigation and agriculturxing in itself the seeds of its own
development contained to provide
were too overstrained
Taken together, Muhammad 'Ali’s industrial, commerciiil By the mid 1830s his resources
of the economy he required, and in
educational, and agricultural schemes can be seen as a compre: the detailed direction
a policy of administrative
hensive attempt to develop the resources of the country which 1837-8 he was forced to institute
to the abandonment of his
good fortune and lus own enterprise had enabled him to seize. decentralization which led rapidly in agricultural
market
For him, as for his contemporaries, military strength was very monopoly system, the revival of a free contact between
produce, and the establishment of direct
much the basis of national power. But, unlike them, he seems was the main theme
to have begun to see that in the world of the early nineteenth cultivator and European merchant. This
the necessary groundwork
a strong economy was in many ways a more secure of the next two decades and provided was to
cotton-production which
century for the great expansion of
basis for power than an army or navy. The latter, for example,
come after 1861.
could always be replaced if the technical facilities, the trained ‘ See, for example, St. John, ii, p. 4.21.
workmen, and the money were available——as they were after
his fleet had been destroyed at Navarino. Together with his
great energy, this ability to see beyond immediate appear-
ances was the trait that most sharply distinguished him from
those who served him.
However, in all his schemes he was hampered not only by the
too
fact that the country was unready for them and that he had
fact that
few officials on whom he could rely, but also by the
was
he himself was unacquainted with the new techniques he
forced to listen to the
trying to introduce. For this reason he was
' D°“ina_Mi‘"'“': PP- 93-4; see also Colin, ‘Lctu-cs sur l’Egypte -- Industric
2 Ibidq P],_ 519.42.
mznufactunere’, p. 519.
I An Introduction to the History qf umum 5,. Modem Eyfl
I‘IeyW:!;.l1)-D,:1ntl1°e£J., '
4 rm. 9. :36. Ibid-. PP- 142-5. 150-’-

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Return to a Free Market in Agricultural Produce, 1838-1860 59

III
THE RETURN TO A FREE MARKET
IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE
1838-1860
1. CHANGES IN THE SYSTEM or RURAL
ADMINISTRATION—THE INTRODUCTION or LARGE
ESTATES, 1838-1848
years 1837 and 1838 mark an important change in
Muhammad 'Ali’s agricultural system, for it was then
that he began a series of modifi cations in the rural
THE
administration, withdrawing government control from a large
proportion of the cultivated land and reallocating authority to
members of his own family, high officials, army oflicers, and
foreigners. There were two major reasons for this change. The
first was the sharp decline in European cotton prices during the
early part of 1837, followed by the suspension of Alexandria
cotton sales during the summer. Even though trading was
resumed in the autumn—to dispose of what had been‘ a
bumper crop—profits from cotton were halved ‘compared with
those of the previous year. The other was the increasing diffi-
culty experienced in collecting the land-tax: the result Of
widespread rural poverty. just how important W3-S this 5C°°nd
factor is diflicult to gauge, for contemporary accounts through-
out Muhammad 'Ali’s reign were generally so full 0fSt01'1°5 °f
fields that
deserted villages, fleeing fellaheen, and uncultivated
one year was made to sound as bad as another. But_thef€
some evidence for supposing that the effect of his 1:
agriculturah
policies was in fact cumulative, and that by 1837 1
- to any solution the results of which would be so long delayed,
the countryside were worse than they had been for condition‘:
a
able time. This destitution was largely the result of consitelrn
t C C fia-
of monopolies. Even in good years in the early 18205th:1SY;
h 4 Rivlin, p. 131.
heen seem rarely to have been able to grow more than
enorgat
mm-¢1y no meet their current tax liabilities, given the price
which the Government purchased their crops; so that, as taxes
rose and the government purchase price of major commodities
declined, a growing burden of debt was the inevitable con-
sequence. By 1832 land-tax arrears were estimated to have
reached 140,000 purses—rough1y three-quarters of a whole
year’s receipts.‘ Subsequently, the situation deteriorated still
more. Renewed conscription, which pushed the size of the army
and navy to some 140,000 men in 1837, reduced the rural
labour force further, while the system of tax solidarity by which
villages and even whole districts were responsible for the short-
comings of their neighbours helped to impoverish those areas
where profit remained possible.‘ As tax-collections became
more and more frequent in order to make up this backlog, the
peasants’ only defence was to take refuge in the city or in
another part of the country, as repeated orders against this
form of emigration testify} Thus, even though agricultural
conditions recovered a little in 1835 and 1836 as a result of high
cotton prices and Muhammad 'Ali’s energetic efforts to im-
prove the local administration, total arrears had risen to
190,000 purses in the spring of 1337.‘ A year later it was repor-
ted that some villages in Lower Egypt were as much as four
years behindhand with their taxes.5
Land-tax receipts and cotton profits were the two vital
props to Muhammad 'Ali’s finances, providing nearly 75
per cent of total revenue in 1836, and the fact that both were
threatened at a time when he was preparing to face new
threats against his possessions in Syria and Arabia produced a
serious crisis. He reacted by calling a Council of State attended I
by all the provincial governors in January and February 1838
to discuss the situation. There was general agreement among the
ofiicials that the people could no longer meet the Govemment’s
demands, and that the only answer was a new survey to be
made of the land, followed by its redistribution among those
villages which were still able to pay taxes. Rivlin maintains that
Muhammad ‘Ali was too urgently in need of money to agree
‘ Barker, 10 Apr. 1832: F.O. 78/213.
‘ Vicsse dc Marmont, iii, p. 336.
3 Rivlin, pp. 116-17.
5-Campbell, 26 Feb. 1838: F.0. 14.2/9.

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5° The Return to a Free Market

and that the final outcome of the meeting was a decision to In Agricultural Produce, 1338-1860 5!
make renewed efforts to collect the arrears.‘ But in fact he had The area of two other kinds of estate, ab'adiya.r and
jifliks, was
already begun the programme suggested by the Assembly extended at this time. The former consisted of parcels
similarly
although in a slightly different form. Evidence is provided by a: of uncultivated land which was excluded from the cadastral
dispatch from Colonel Campbell, the British Consul-General re isters. For some years before 1837 it had been Muhammad
in February 1838. ‘Of late’, he then wrote, ‘many villages hay; portions of such land to officials, foreign-
.A1i=5 practice to grant
been ceded to new proprietors who have undertaken to dis- exempting them from taxes for a period of
ers, and others,
charge their arrears. . . .’2 Muhammad ‘Ali did not whole. time on condition that they spent money on improving it. Later,
heartedly embark on this new policy, however, until 1840, in 184,2, holders of ab‘adg'yas were granted what amounted to
when in a decree of 23 March he compelled those officers, high almost complete rights of ownership, including the rights of sale
officials, and others who had grown rich in the war to pay ofl‘ and transfer, in an effort to encourage further investment.‘
the back-taxes of villages they received as estates ('uhda.r), and J,‘/Iiks, on the other hand, were estates granted exclusively to
to guarantee their tax liability for the future.’ members of Muhammad 'Ali’s own farruly! They were taken
villages which
The system thus established was in many ways a return to either from ab'adz'}a land or, more usually, from
were unable to pay their taxes. Administration was by govern-
that of the iltizams which had been finally abolished in 1814.
ment oflicials who received their instructions from Cairo. Apart
The fellaheen still worked the land, but paid their taxes to the
from financial considerations, a further stimulus to the creation
estate-holder (muta'alz/zid) instead of to the Government. He,
of thejzfliks came from the confirmation of the Muhammad ‘Ali
unlike the multazims, was unable to levy a tax higher than that dynasty as hereditary rulers of Egypt contained in the Sultan’s
inscribed in the registers; but like them he received a parcel of firinan of 1841. This provided security to build up family
land, sometimes as much as half ‘the 'uhda, tax-free, which he possessions} By 1844. over 1,500,000 feddans, or about two-
could cultivate, using the unpaid. labour of the fellaheenfl thirds of the cultivated land of Lower Egypt, had been taken
issue orders as to
Meanwhile, Muhammad ‘Ali continued to over either as ‘u/zdas, ab‘adi}as, orjzflilcm jzfliks alone accounted
hich crops should be cultivated. Then, at ha1'V€5t “"16; 316 for 677,000 feddans two years later.5
bought the
'a/zhid stored what he himself had grown and The policy of creating large estates ran into great difliculties
the at 3 S‘:
remainder of the ‘u/Ida’: crop from almost immediately. A series of natural calamities, particularly
The P53‘-‘Wits
whoe
previously fixed by the Government.5 a disease which killed a large proportion of Egypt’s cattle in
to certainwassol
privi ed 1842 and 184.3, made it impossible for the muta‘alihz'¢ir to pay «
the Government or sent on its account egl
merchants in Alexandria. The other part of off the tax arrears of their villages. Meanwhile, Muhammad
‘ iawise
tli<;lhtI;01Il19r§:>cl);_ 'Ali, pressed for money himself, gave them no relief. ‘The
system was abandoned, however, and_ the '”f‘ml“
government has come down rather heavily on those who took
had to provide the fellaheen with working caplta , tf’ “Powers
the _]l.ld1C1al and lands’, Hekekyan wrote in his diary in I843,
cultivation, and to exercise
exec111\tI1l\:la1:nmad
Pr°Vi°“51Y dischargedofby government 5°""a“‘5.' .t tion and
for_besides stopping their monthly appointments, he [Muhammad
cost of the rural adrninis 'Ali] demands the crops before they are sown, and a quarter in
‘Aliwas thus divested the
ready money besides. The late loss of cattle having ruined many of
of providing agricultural funds,
whilemaintaliningducts ' the takers of land, they preferred to lose all they had expended and
to profit from the sale of Egyptian agrlcullil-Ira Pm
' ' qfLandoumcr.r}n'p, pp. 16-17.
x .1 2.
z :' §§r.’:&$e
V in» PP- 64-5- ,
. Bur, Ham ofmdomslnr, p. 13- _ Egm" hum (London,
1835): F.O.
‘ Ibid.; Alfi nr 79 :. agive: _l)cc.fl::4é;:gun: as 33/533.
e amount 0“ and own C“Y m th "mm bu», °f
“'6 royal family: B.M. Add. 37, 450, 68.
",8'p',,,,,-.3, ‘Report on Egypt and Candis’ (G.n.). p- 45-

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62 The Return to a Free Market In Agricultural Produce, 1838-1860 53

leave them rather than continue possessing them, but the Pasha of the
that the opposition stemmed not only from the directors
threatened to flog anyone who proposed to leave their farms.’ from the muta'a}z/zidr, who, among other things,
'1' i/rs but also
Another hazard was the system of tax solidarity which was still JV‘;/fare concerned at the continual drain of their villagers to the
maintained. Conditions on thejifliks, with rare exceptions, were royal farms. On mjune 1845, for example, he wrote that as a
not much better, even though they had started off with certain result of the confrontation of 1844 the latter had extracted a
initial advantages. They were largely composed of the best and romise from Muhammad ‘Ali to get their labourers returned.‘
most easily irrigated land.‘ In addition, Muhammad ‘Ali had This change in the balance of rural power is important.
paid great attention to building canals on them and ensuring Between 1816 and 1837 Muhammad ‘Ali had striven both
that they were well stocked with animals and labour—seizing to build up a system of tight control over rural economic life
peasants from neighbouring villages if necessary and sending and to improve Egyptian agriculture by large investments in
units of the army to help with the harvest.3 But they too irrigation, tools, and new crops. Then, in the years 1837-40,
suffered severely from the cattle murrain and also from bad while hoping still to profit from the system he had created by
management. Central direction from Cairo occasioned numer. seizing the land which had received the major portion of his
ous bureaucratic delays, as well as orders which were issued attention as jzflik: and by maintaining control over the sale of
without any attention to local conditions; the size of individual agricultural products, he relinquished authority over much of
estates was generally too large for efficient direction; and the Egypt to muta'a/z/lids, shaykhs, and others, who were able to use
fellaheen, deprived of their land and irregularly paid, had the powers previously exercised by the central government for
every incentive to steal and to work as little as possible!
their own ends. Slzaylc/is al-balad, for instance, were freer to use
their right to reallocate the land of fellaheen who died without
Dissatisfaction with rural conditions came to a head in 1844,
heirs or who were conscripted, and to seize any vacant plots.’-
According to Rivlin, whose account is based on British consular
dispatches, Muhammad ‘Ali then made what were regarded as
unreasonable demands at his annual meeting with the jijlik
$*;im::‘:.“::::'¥:
be relieved of celgtarilf diiltigss, sr(()“l1h:.liebi:uraEi:fi:
directors in July and, in reply, was shown a report setting out could com lain ‘ .
the true situation on the farms, about which he had been kept fat as Pigs.
“n
Man)’ Of tlrfem aijef ¢:h1Eiir1no1lIsllye}i‘i:ll?l':orkifc‘lmedm' "h° P°°’
in ignorance. He immediately either fell into a great rage or, fellah.’3 Their 1e tt er to Muhammad «Ali- in -p 184.4,,"mg
though per-
some said, suffered an early attack of the mental condition _
ha an isolated instance of their
which was later to impel him to retire from active governing Qs
in 1848; and announced that he would at once leave the country p°h_°_y in Cairo, is Signifi cant as zfrlwiltlirsttcr)-a(l;1§(ii:toll‘ :llllt:l1l‘lgI‘le(V:f
positron. Meanwhile, in the countryside th ‘ horlty In.
- .
for a pilgrimage to Mecca. But on 5 August he had recon- ,
creased as that of the central ovem men t (flrliiiut
sidered the matter and, assembling all his chief officials at ec ed, and by
1846 Hekekyan was writin . "Igh
t absence of the
Shubra, he fined them a large amount and then continued to
Viceroy and Ibrahim Pashagim lc e:i1'lP0raI'Y
govern as before.5 Hekekyan, however, wrote of another report Passive revolt
' - - 2.”'.3a Y Produced 3' SPCCICS Of
exprglsiflzmien if be allowed to use that
on the state of the country at this time, drawn up by the alarming dlstnlcts
it
s/zaykh: al-baled, perhaps at the instigation of certain grandees.° village shehs omaYY taxes and to send men
And other scattered references to the affair in his diaries imply to the government service "

I Hekekyan, ii. H2. 1 Irina. '

mop ?fL"'d“"""-'5‘. ; - ;Baer, . ‘ .
' The Russian Consul-General maintained that the jg‘/Iik: occupied two-third!
of the most fertile are2.—Krehmer, Dec. 1843: R. Cattaui, iii, p. 74.9.
3 Hekekyan, iii. 63; Barnett, I 5 May 1842: F.O. 142/ I3.
‘%'*;;:;t*““’"*
4
in-r’

4 Riviin, pp. 68-70. 5 Ibid-, PP- 70:2. 6 Hckekyan’

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_
65'
54 The Return to a Free Market In Agricultural Produce, 1838-1860
The growth of a privileged rural class is also apparent in the
greater prosperity of‘ the jgfliks after 1844. Their owners paid no 2 THE ABANDONMENT OF AGRICULTURAL
MONOPOLIES
taxes; they had greater opportunity to sell their produce direct
to the merchants; they were able to manipulate the irrigation partly
Muhammad 'Ali’s policy of creating large estates-was
system as they wished, Sa'id Pasha, for example, once dam_ to circumvent the conditions of the
timulated by his desire
ming up the Khatatba canal to provide extra water for his own government
fmg1o-Turkish Convention of 1838 in which
fields.‘ In addition, they could force the fellaheen to work for monopolies were specifically outlawed. This. treaty,
which
them for little or no money. On the other hand, for the next Empire, was originally to go into
applied to the whole Ottoman
fifteen years members of the royal family and a few other effect in March 1839, but by the time the firman announcing
notables were the major source of Egyptian agricultural inno. arrived from Istanbul, Muhammad. -Ali
its introduction had
vation. Ibrahim was the first Egyptian to import a steam pump_ not until the political
was at war with the Turks, and it was
His estates, under the direction of Bonfort Bey, a Europcan, in 1841 that either the
settlement of the Egyptian question attention to
were regarded as the best managed in the country. Particular Porte or the foreign consuls were able
to turn their
his
attention was paid to improving the quality of the cotton they enforcing adherence to its provisions. Muhammad ‘Ali, for
produced. But, like his father, Ibrahim also encouraged the part, expressed himself as anxious to establish a free export
cultivation of such products as mulberry trees, olives, and considered
trade. But in fact it is unlikely that he seriously
sugar, which he processed in two private mills.‘ Another forgoing the profits he had always been able to make on the
notable interested in agricultural improvement was Khurshid sale of Egyptian agricultural products, and he was constantly
Pasha, the owner of some 30,000 feddans of Delta land. When placing barriers in the way of commercial intercourse.‘ An
visited by Hekekyan in 1845 he possessed thirty-two locally article in T/ze Time: of 4 June 1841 provides a good example
made cotton gins turned by eight oxen, and was planning to of the obstacles the merchants had to face. Europeans, the
powered by correspondent reported, had recently purchased goods
replace them by twenty-four American roller-gins
own cotton,
two 14-horsepower motors. He also pressed his on the Nile from the little cultivators, for the first time in Egypt in
producing bales which were ‘well-developed, clean and neat’.3 the present age. The latter came down the river in little boats with
of
The cattle murrain was a further incentive to the purchase a
fewbaskets of hnseed, and returned rejoicing with a few dollars
following
agricultural machinery, as Hekekyan’s report of the in
their pocket; also, perhaps, for the first time in their lives, receiv-
conversation with ‘Abbas Pasha in 1842 shows: mg the fair value in exchange for their commodities. The Jews were
for P3-Ttlcularly active and efficient as negotiators and travellers,
His Highness observed that the introduction of steam-power regardless of the plague and all the difi-iculties of a struggle with
as for irrigation would be the only and effectual
ploughing as well such a as that still exercised by the Pasha. . . . However,
remedy for the evils which the agriculture of the country would be monopoly
_they succeeded in an incredibly short time (unprovided as they were
me
liable to suffer from similar epidemics and was pleased to order the ‘of workmen, ‘baskets, boats and storehouses, and
account
to take the necessary measures to procure on his own private :11 lmatter
destitute by the of the Pasha, who is even now
on his exigencies
a locomotive steam-plough from England as an experiment sefilift
g_ iii: soldiers to work for his own profit), in bringing a large
own fields.‘ of linseed, /the only grain at present available, into Alex.
‘lugnflty knowing that delays. were dangerous, prepared at once
However, even for an efficient farmer who was able to cI!_1p10Y ::1slEa;it«'=1i43d
13 .
as yesterday, even while Messrs. Joyce, Thurburn &, Co,
a European mechanic, steam-engines still cost almost twice Were
ut
presenting the Pasha the address of the merchants of Londoxi
much to use as anima1s.5 °"Pl‘C8S1ng‘ their most gratefiil acknowledgment for the pmtccfion
I I-Iekekyan, iii. 29. 3 Fowler, p. i5. 3 I-Iekekyan, I Barn
20 May 1842. 20 Mai-., io June 1843: E0. 14.2/r3;
3 Ibid. Th":,t:7r:p]:p¢:.8;g4i,
455. 934‘
our la filature et le tinage du eoton’, I-Iekekyaii, xix, B.M. Add. 37. aims F

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65 The Return to a Free Market 57

In Agricultural Produce, 1838-1860
afforded persons carrying on_commercial pursuits, and th.
was not wholly justified,
1}? prayer that he may continue to develop the comm F" Nevertheless, consular pessimism
rvent were able to establish contact
fullest extent
energies of Egypt, unfolding to their the blessirirclal
gs of and some foreign merchants as FebruaryAs early
prosperity and civilization, he was issuing counter-orders to r - h ltivators in one way or another.
the exportation of the linseed. All the merchants concemfdevem
and
even the Consul-General of France, hastened to Bhogos Bit the purchase of small quantities
ment was unable to prevent
request to be informed of this strange and contradictory veto agtfio in the possessionof private individuals; three years later
,° Delta village of
Iith hour, and were told that it was the result of thc pash as ‘jobbers’ at the market in the
Hekekyan saw and for foreigners’! This
anxious foresight for the necessity of next year’s seed-time etc salamun ‘buying for other markets
I have enquired into the fact, and learn that the Pasha himsehlg as a logical development of the policy of
rocess can be seen to
a ‘bearskin’ of linseed to Messrs. Tozzizzia and others; but tfid creating large in over
rural
when he came to ‘catch and deliver’, he found that there was littlt u amma
esta1t&s,hfor, i was
éiagclling giving it to t e very
authlqrity
hime h 'r roprietors,
or none to be had. The merchants and Jews had been before been expected to be most anxious to
paying ready money. . . . Orders and bastinados were urgentll imjii 3/ho could have
their produce; Wheat, for example,
issued to make up the Pasha’s deficit, but the dollars had been rofit from the free sale of
which could be grown for only a little less than the government
beforehand in the market, and now nothing remained for the Pasha piastres an ardabb in 184.3, was fetching
purchase price of forty
but to order all the boats to be unloaded into his own magazines . . in Alexandria the same year, and
‘to be preserved for seed next year’, and to be paid for at the Pasha’; ninety-four piastres an ardabb
1846.‘ Hence there was
price as usual, that is, what he pleases to give; for he makes
both a roughly similar price in 1844. and
to evade government regulations. As a result
sides of the bargain and there is no appeal.‘ every incentive
the monopoly system became less and less effective, until by
Merchants who attempted to buy produce in the villages were January 1848 The Times was reporting that the peasants could
found that
faced with similar discouragement. They generally sell their produce to whom they wanted}
ordered not to sell, or
the muta'a/zlzidr and others had been 'I.‘his‘trend towards the break-up of the monopolies was
as taxes. And even
that the crops in question had been taken maintained during the short regency of Ibrahim in 1848, and
been made it was almost im-
when the purchase had eventually then in the first few years of the reign of ‘Abbas (I849-54) ’
to transport their produce
possible to secure a boat with which M hammad ‘Alis " successor. In 'Abbas’s case, however, the
would not allow any of ul
back to Alexandria, for Muhammad ‘Ali to allow the merchants to continue to purchase direct
to man those owned
his own subjects to hire their own craft or precision
the was not the.re.su1t of any sudden conversion
the British Consul- ‘peasants
by Europeans. According to Barnett, expensive
t or:
t e
principle
of free trade: it is more likely that it stemmed
and no more
General, the merchants found it easier f0 his desire keep the goodwill of the European consuls at
‘to
Thus, as before,
to purchase direct from the Pasha himself! arotin his relations with Turkey were at a low ebb and
way into the
the vast majority of Egypt’s crops found their e cared the Porte was lending its support to a group of
whlelillehwlfien
and consuls Egyptians at Istanbul who were intriguing against
Government’s warehouse, and both merchants disaff
for was that
concluded that the best that could be hoped ‘at
him CBCt<t3d , once this danger was averted in 1852, attempts to
regular auctions
Muhammad ‘Ali would sell his produce at in.SP1t°
rein;m(1i1uce parts of the monopoly system became more and
which all might have an opportunity to bid.3 However,un 31°
' The Times ii Feb - 1842- Hekekyan m. 36.
least _-
of repeated protests, private sales continued, at
. _
:
mm, _ the rnonopfily
winter of 1844-5.‘ been due to the‘ system may also have
“I:break§lo'm’of and in his ability to move
' The Times, 4June 184.1. 3 mid.-
about the country. Hekekyan wrote ofhim _5 Clgergi-1:‘
I The old Pasha is
‘ Barnett, 20 Mar. 1843: F.O. 14.2/i3; Rivlin, p. 188. _ °ld¢r than we think. He cannot su rt thm 43. of a steamer more than ten b°°°mi“8
been able to find 15 °”em hon“; he
4 The latest instance of a private sale which I have gets fatigued' rid: he canlzgf’ notficaflgolltllon
°5°““°"-“'i‘8°'=ii. I91.
Inn. I845: The Times, 5 Feb. 184.5.

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68 The Return to a Free Market In Agricultural Produce, 1838-1860 69

' '
more fre uent issued as kharajiya)
s on the remainder of the land (known
absolutely‘! forbidldlitrilg tllrie S5113?;)}I"O(I1zE1Z:,t(a;lancyrciiri: biiiilfi while, taxe some extent by raising the lower ones and
equal ized to
merit oflicials.‘ This order was never entirely put intogoveml were
the upper. The general level was raised,
however;
decreasing still further in'the following years.‘ As a
But, so long as he was able to demand the payment fefl bct
taxes and it moved upward from roughly
increased
in kind and to use his own purchasing-agents, ‘Abba: result of these measures land-tax receipts
prevent all but a small volume of private sales. And ilfiould in 1853 to £2,500,000 in 1858, well over half the
this 1, (30,000 An attempt was also made to increase the
instance, he was assured of the co-operation of the jgflikiow total ue.=
who were able to make considerable profits by selling the-fine“:
reven
propoftlon 0 f these amounts paid in money, but how successful
that
crops at famine prices once ‘Abbas had begun to interfere c lear. Merruau, writing in 1857, maintained
this was is not collected in cash.3 However, it is
the normal channels by which the Alexandria merchauh then being
these taxes were in circulation in rural
received their supplies. ‘Abbas’s policy in this respect V3“ there was sufficient money
unlikely that
almost certainly prompted by falling revenue and the heaas possible. And, in the case of uxhr land, an
areas to make this
down that the demand could be met
expenses incurred in 1852, as well as by a desire to amassvz 1854 law specifically laid
the proprietor’s discretion! Neverthe-
large personal fortune which he could leave to his son Ilhamj in either cash_o_r kind, at
the changes ht; must inevitably have stimulated the further
A similar motive seems to have been behind less, such pOllClCS
his reign he took to pay taxes. They may also have
made in the system of landholding. During extension of cash crops
money-lender in the village
over many of the ‘uhdahr created by Muhammad ‘Ali, generally increased the role played by the
own private estates or those of his economy. When taxes were levied in kind they could be collected
incorporating th cm into his
by Baer, some two -thirds to only after the harvest_; but when money
son. According to a source quoted
in this way} could be taken at any time, whether the cultivator had just sold
three-quarters of them were assumed of monopolies the latter had often to obtain a
'Abbas’s moves towards the reintroduction
Sa'id (i854—63), who at once lll(’1:r‘l3l:[€(>)P:r1(;I(;tI1l<:Is;50Il3jI<::sses
were immediately reversed by freely,.the Alexandria commercial
all obstacles to free trade, again allow-
ordered the abolition of hof1)S::€b:FC;lI31S s:l1(1i1d belfold
t eir agents into the villages to purchase
they wanted and to sell it
ing the Cultivators to grow what them 7 Tiereafterlngl they began to face mounting
contact with the money
how and to whom they wished.3 Rural from r1oc:1WI:lVCl':h many of Greeks‘ in
Sa'id’s efforts to reform the comfiefition
economy was also encouraged by this situation the a ents erg‘ ailitsfrom severalthim
important dis-
of September 1854 the
system of tax-collection. By a decree advantages. To be gin {:1 ire
and jifliks, and in October Alexagd
tithe (‘us/zr) was imposed on ab'adz'ya.v money from It is Muham-
u.S_‘}’(l land as well. All three '
of the same year it was extended to mad ‘Ali had attemnta do
If C_, 1n etllntenor.
c 18305, to t‘me't-hat
institute a system
of tax, were thereafter
types, which had previously been free at whereby a person wishing to transfer cash could do so by
were initially assessed
known as us/ir land.4 Under Sa'id they a rate which_ was
between ten and twenty-six piastres a feddan, but which, 1“ lib‘
:4
Calleetedfram the 1lli'n'orLand Taxofligpg
yield,
meant to represent a tenth of their gross crops like COW“
...intIu 1““,;g-”kH‘:W"‘gi'a:{,;_9”|4&:?;vmt3e
. I 53)’ 12720856) “M1274 0858)’ enclosed in
lucrative Green, 1 Ma)’ 1958- F I 0 I 78/i4oi '
case of the areas where the more ' - Landed Property
4_Ai-tin,
percentage} M639‘ M°“‘“=u. P ' ple
345 ‘ pp. 1o3_4__
were grown, was a considerably smaller 3 For of taxes
_
being collected in advance, see Green: 1 May 1353,
Man 1354-
' Huber, 28 Feb. 1854.: A.A. i854, Box 26; 771: Times, 15 F‘?‘F7Blal:°=xamL ti’ f be
'
. °wl°' (P- 13) mentions the
‘ Hiring QfLandawner.cbi'p, p. 14..
3 Merrau, P., ‘L'Egypte sous le gouvernement
p- 347-
dc Said Pacha’, R-D-M"
and
i - a ace1 . .3 -
W and III! What W85 (London
.
pcriod. xi (15 Sept» 1857), pp. ioo, :02-3.
I383),
P. 315-
‘ Artin, Landed Pmpery,
Box 26.
I Ibid.: Huber, 30 Dec. 1854.: A.A. 1854,

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The Return to a Free Market In Agricultural Produce, 1838-1860 7I

70
depositing it at the office of a mudir (the governor of a group of of oppressors, beginning with the
obbed and b eaten by a hierarchy
provinces) in exchange for a bill drawn on the relevant local cl and ending with the Pasha.‘
ghcykh-el-belc
authority,‘ but there is no evidence that this was still possiblg on the
their profit, however, may have been spent
in the 18505, and it was not until the introduction of a govem_ some of imports g’r_eat1Y
Ll!‘ C hase
of goods, particularly cottons, whose
ment postal service under Isma’il that such transactions could . sed in volume during these years. And a few of the richer
be made with any ease. Again, it was diflicult for an agent to maria en are reported to have deposited money
with the Bank
obtain suflicient security for any advance he might wish to fillggfipt founded in 1355.‘ But, later, ever-increasing taxation
make. Even though Sa'id let it be known that any mercantile foo,‘ awéy much of this windfall, and by 1359, according to
of a shaykh
contract with a fellah drawn up in the presence to abandon the land had multi-
be allowed.
Artin, petitions to
would be upheld by the mudir, the behaviour of the Egyptian lied’ and a special law was issued allowing a
fellah who was
authorities in a case where produce was not delivered was by unable to pay taxes to give his fields to the state.3 The
richer
courts no more
no means predictable and recourse to the local roprietors spent some
of their extra money on importing
sure.‘ A Greek trader, on the other hand, could make his own steam pumps and other
machinery. 'I:his was important, as the
private arrangements with the local administration. Finally, repair in the middle 18505 that
irrigation system was in such bad
future
whereas the agent could provide a loan oiilyagainst by 1855 the amount of land fed by summer canals
had shrunk
his disposal for such
delivery of a crop, the other had money at to 300,000 feddansfl But, in general, the amount
of money
the sudden visit of the tax—collectoi-, have been small.
purposes as weddings or invested in agriculture during the 1850s must
into the traditional ‘pattern
His methods also fitted more easily Grain, the basis of the boom in the middle of the decade,
borrowing, designed to circumvent the Muslim pro. capital; there was as yet no well-developed
of fellah required little
3- Of
hibition against usury.3 Thus; bY ‘3§1a_ °°”e5P°“de‘_“7_
was complaining market in land;5 for those with cash to invest, the purchase of
the Manchester Cotton Supply Association government bonds offered a more attractive field for specu-
merchant to buy direct
that it was very rare for an Alexandria lation.
usually in debt to some
from a peasant, as the latter was
his crops.‘
middleman who had first call on
3. THE PRODUCTION AND EXPORT or COTTON
cultivators to make large
Free sale of crops also allowed the 1838-1860
WhC_n the I1§Cd
profits from the boom conditions of I854..—6, fighting in
French, and
provision the British, Turkish armies In his manoeuvrings with the foreign consuls over the appli-
heights.
the Crimea raised cereal prices to tremendous Naissaalue
an
cation of: the 1838 Commercial Convention, Muhammad 'Ali
description of the situation particularly to retain his control over the sale of
Senior reported Hekekyan’s anxious
ylllas
e crop which, even at the very low prices which
fe1laheen’s response: _cotton
thfi tw° 3:2: the 1840s, still provided about a quarter
. . . the peasants have been receiving, during P353 pfciistedfhroughout
s total export Thus, when the majority of
all commodities. . . The European
fabulous prices for .. einan_cw“ the egsytpttes were created eammgs.
in 1840-2, it was made clear to their
tripled all our prices. The capital in the_h,ands,°f th<=,Pr°P*11
must be greater than was ever known; but it is buried, or ifemp I s - . .
SYN; Wu Conversations and journals 1}! Egypt and Malta, vol. ii (London,
as if were
it is in some portabletorm which is as useless lt. C-
'882)f';"‘l'-3
1 77“
position bprle Tim“ 30 Oct. i856. I Anin ;,,,.,M ,9”,
prudent man, especially in the unprotected _o
ta being ‘ dale conimistion mg 1“ b:u:_p"hl88_.9'd.
It would expose him 0 dc: savautr win: on Emdpouy
g
ventures to appear to possess money. _ Refi port
SW: ft: 1855, _Annexe No. 2, quoted in Papanot, FL, L'£wu “ll .
mlutfi .na-uin(Pans,1884.) , pp ._44-5 . The land irrigated i,,..,,,,,,,C, ’c,,,_,“::;
1 Arminjon, p. 44!. at 6oo,ooo fcddan: in 1837: Ice p. 49,
_ 3 Gregoire, p- 475' S Bestimated
' Fowler, p. I 3; G|'¢8°“‘€» P- 475- _ W06. C.S.R., i5 May 1661.
4 Byme, _I., ‘The Cultivation of Cotton in Egypt’, c.s.R., :5 Mai’ 135'-

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7'4‘ The Return to a Free Market

In Agricultural Produce, 1838-1860 73
holders that they would be expected to grow a certain amount
no doubt for this
of Jumel and to deliver it to the Pasha at whatever price he them; and it is reason that, in spite of a con-
fixed. Similar provisions were laid down for the Europeans who tinual series of agricultural crises in the early 1840s, cotton-
grew cotton, and it was stated that they would have to give u roduction remained more or less steady, testifying to their
their concessions if they did not agree.‘ As with most of the ability to get their cotton grown and harvested whatever the
cost (see Table 5). Some Jumel continued to be grown by
other crops, the cotton produced was sold to the Alexandria
easants, however." But. their standards of cultivation declined
merchants by a combination of public auctions and private sharply. As state direction of agricultural activity diminished
sales. The former, however, were often only a cover for the
over the decade many of the fellaheen seem to have changed
latter, merchants who had appeared to outbid their rivals to a method of production known as balli. This involved only
having previously agreed to purchase the cotton at a lower
price.’- On other occasions the reserve price was so high that TABLE 5
no merchants could profitably make an offer and a private
sale followed} In spite of the fact that his position might sesm Volume, Value, and Price of Cotton Exports, 1838-59
to have been weakened by increased consular pressure and low Volume
prices, Muhammad ‘Ali continued to maintain most of his Cantars Value Alexandria price
commercial power over the merchants. Some were dependent (94, lb.)‘ £,' dollars/quintals
on him for commission; others were creditors of the Govern-
1838 238,833 716,670 15
ment and took cotton when it was offered, fearing that other. 134,097 468,105 18-25
wise their debts would never be paid. As a result, Muhammad 11339
4° 1 59.301 444.722 13
‘Ali was still able to secure loans against cotton or simply to 193.507 13-25
run up debts. In October 1843, for example, ‘he owed fifteen 11g41
4.2 2 1 1 o3o 540.336
390 2 I0
houses over 29,000 purses (,5 150.000)-‘ Ag”-ma bl’ Working 1843 261:o64 391596 775
1844. 153,363 230,046 8
mainly through favourites he was able to prevent the merchants 1345 344.955 561.920 6
from banding together and forcing the low prices still lower. 1846 202,040 404,080 10-25
During this period a larger and larger proportion of the 1847 257.492 487.752 to
and 1 19.965
cotton must have been grown by the wealthy proprietors I343 167.961 7-25
by members of the royal family, a trend Bowring had observed
‘849 257,510 5 15,020 10
1850 364,816 839,176 1 1 -75
Ali and his
as early 35 1337.3; For one thing, Muhammad 1351 384.439 688.980 8-75
la-n_d;° for another. the
relatives owned much of the most fertile 1852 570,129 1,341,128 10-25
position to provide the 1353 471.397 954.794 10
rich were clearly in a much better
1854
necessary fixed and working capital now that the Government 1355
477.905
520.886
764.740
937.594
8-8
93
had ceased to discharge this responsibility. Again. the Egyptian 1856 539.885 1.295.724 10-6
notables were always able to use their authority to secure 1857 490.960 1.227.420 16-3
Wage!‘
work 01'
for their fields and to seize animals and fellaheen to 1858
1859
519,537
502,645
i,o91,o27
1,1 13,419
12-7
1 1-6
'
1 77,, Times, 3 Mar. 184,1.
A. A. A History arm Eoiman Rawlutwn. 21"‘ °“""
_ _
= Men-uau.
-- Lo d
346; Pawn.
p. 1870) 50111193:
Volume and Value. Fowler, pp. 8-211. Price. Egypt, Minister: dc l’!n-
p. 24.0; The Times, 5 Feb. 184.5.
L ,
‘mg llglafincgg, ijgjune 164,3: F.O. 14,2/13; The Times, 27 Apr. 184.2.
““°“’s ‘WW d«l’11‘oi°h. 1673 (Cairo. 1873). pp- 172-3-
Norrn: 3. Sce‘Table 1, Note 2.
. Hckekyan, xiv, ism. Add. 37. 461. 271+.
, .RcPort on Egypt and Candia’ (G.B.), p. 11. ' Hekekynn, ii. 126.
5 soc p. 61, note 5.

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74 The Return to a Free Market In Agricultural Produce, 1838-1860 75

two main waterings—one in February W115“ me fields Were
flooded before planting, the Second In June _‘’1".I“1Y 35 ‘hf? fiver
to rise_and thus allowed a considerable saving of
began
labour, There were also other advantages: fewer seeds were
needed for sowing and it was not necessary to spend time in
weeding the rows, as weeds flourished only where there was an
ample supply of water.‘ On the other hand, both yield and
quality were lower, and dependence on the Nile flood was
'
d. , .
mcflfi ra-Ssrostof the decade Muhammad ‘Ali continued to demand
that a certain amount of land be P13-ntfi d Wlth Cotton. Without
such orders it seems unlikely that it would have been grown
by more than a small minority of cultivators. The Alexandria
price fell from an annual average of 18 _dollars a cantar in
8-7 in 1845-9.‘ This,
dollars in i84o—4 and in
I835_9 to 10.4
turn, must have led to a considerable decrease in the level at
which the Government was prepared to purCh35° thc “OP: and
only those privileged enough to avoid land-taxes and to deal
directly with the foreign merchants, or small enough to employ
a
neither animals nor labour could have hoped to make profit.
Even Ibrahim Pasha, whose estates had every advantage,
began to concentrate increaSiI1g1Y °“ Sugar and flax’ whim
after the opening
was another attractive alternative, especially
of the English market following the repeal of the Corn Laws.
Not only was it more remunerative, but it did not involve so
much labour and working capital.3 As a result, cotton began to
be produced with less and less care and there WCFC C°1“m“3l
complaints of deterioration in quality!
. particularly necessary, for in the forty years since the intro-
Between the years 1850 and 1852 the size of the cotton crop
rose sharply -intil, by 1853-4, exports were averffiglng ab°“t
5oo,ooo cantars a year, a figure at which they remained fol‘ thc -
increase can
rest of the decade. The reason for such a sudden
1 Gregoire, pp. 462-3. The bulb’ method may not have been new but m_er¢1Y "1
adaptation of the means used to cultivate cotton before i820. Its introduction mt)’
have been partly connected with the fact that the fcllaheen had been turned 0“
most of the easily irrigated land to make way for the See p. 52-
’ For source see Table 5.
1 Fowler, p. to.
4 For example, Egjpten in juhre 1844, 24. Mar. 1845: A.A. Box 21. It should
be noted that some of these complaints were based on the fall in the P“°°, J
cotton which people, wrongly, assumed was caused by the decline in ifi 11‘-“m7'
Egyptian prices were, in fact, following American ones. See p. x63.
only be guessed at. But the most likely explanation would seem
to be the final abandonment of the restrictions on cotton sales
under Ibrahim and ‘Abbas, which allowed the cultivator to
keep all the profits for himself. The rise in European prices after
the depressed conditions of 1848-9 may also have been a
subsidiary cause.‘
Once again it would seem that the bulk of the cotton was
produced by the richer proprietors. The Englishman, Thomas
Clegg, who made a tour of the Mediterranean cotton areas in
the mid 1850s, reported that something like three-eighths of the
total Egyptian crop came from the estates of ‘Abbas and the
family of Ibrahim alone! Such producers continued to enjoy
numerous advantages. They possessed the most easily irrigated
land, if they paid land-tax after 1854. it was only at the 'ushr
rate, and they were able to afford a system of rotations by which
their fields were put under cotton only once every four or five
years, thus preserving the quality of the soil.3 However, it is also
true, as in the 18405, that it was members of the royal family, as
well as some of the Pashas, who paid most attention to the pro-
duction of quality cotton. It was grown as an annual plant on
their estates; it was picked only when it was ripe; it was ginned
with care.4 There was also an increasing tendency for the im-
portant landowners to use European cotton-selectors} One such
was an Englishman, James Bryn, who was employed on the
estates of Ilharni Pasha in 1859 and 1860. Bryn’s chief task was
to grade the cotton to suit the demands of the market. As soon
as the day’s pickings were brought in, he attempted to select the
cotton according to colour and ripeness. Such activity was
duction ofjumel a number of new strains had appeared due to
hybridization and experiments with such foreign varieties as
Sea Island, Pemambuco, and New Orleans, and it was not
‘ It may have been
at this period that some of the wealthier cultivator: decided
t0 grow cotton rather than rioe because of its great: profitability: see Gregoire,
P- 4-45-
on :1 Joanna to the East and on an Cultivation ofcomn (Manchester, 1856),
P ’8R¢port ’
'. '1: w uld not be true, of . . G‘‘$°‘'°’ employed
to maintain that all large proprietors 1’- 443-
course,
mch me 31 ods. Some allowed their cotton to remain in the ground
for a second you;
'
other: grew cereals between the rows . See Egp tian Agm-ultural
Products (Eg.),
Pp. “-2.
' Letter from Henry
Lockwood, C'.S.R., 15 Oct. 1858.

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75 The Return to a Free Market In Agricultural Produce’ 1833.136},

77
How, and brown cottons growing to provide adequate watering co u ld Pmduce one to one and a
uncommon to find white, ye
price paid by merchants for a half cantars more}
together in the same field. The that which .
considerably lower than Once harvested peasant cott or delivered to a
mixture of all three was higher grades.‘
could be obtained for a selection
of the local merchant’ ggncrauy to thetzinyigasmsold
an who had advanced
cotton, on the other hand, were money for its cultivation - 1 At th c other extreme th e PI_1nces
'
The peasants who grew
a profit as quickly as possible and and some of the
larger proprietors had their 0W:n
mainly concerned to realize . agencfes In
in the repayment of money they Alexandria through which they effected th at sales‘ Th“ left
to prevent any costly delays I_nonth. Poverty
Cent}!
had borrowed at, perhaps, 3‘4- Per rotation in which cotton little cotton for direct purchase b th A1 exandna merchants
also forced them to practise a shorter unless, as was sometimes the casey the mer.
-
field once every three, or even Chants. as their agents’ But_ more e
softefiry tehmpltfiedhlocal
was grown on a particular to _ their
Furthermore, they were unable P aasfili
supplies at some central point in the Delta pialrliiing
once every two, years. wealthier proprietors S‘
lppmgn
for as long as the point on the Nile.3 The main method of triinsport continued to
leave their land fallow the latter’,
and were often forced to add a crop of maize to be by river, although an altcmati provlded alter 1856
birsim and cotton. Other
practices were equally detrimental to by the Alexandria—Cairo railway vi]:-Izlas
wever’ th.e trams were
Little or no attention was paid ‘capriciously run’ ’ accordin8 toon.C E uropean resident, and the
the production of good cotton. believed to influence either
not merchants used them only when every other means had fail Cd 3
_ '
to seed-selection which was 1
ripe and unripe pods were picked together Services were ‘r a mbbenes in
quality or yield, (if
to hasten maturity, while the process transit and solfirttilgeucfiiirretilvigetwlfre
en that nuinber
m Apnl I856 twenty
and then dried in an oven cotton to pieces and to a es of cotton
to cut the wagons loaded with ii 000 bal burned “P
of ginning by dulab tended wer?
of leaves and bolls.‘ In addition, after having been set on fire b the engine.‘ Another
mix the fibre with parti'cles
peasants had to rely almost ex. drawback was the Price Inyfgafi 5 kslirom
t cost Of °°nV°Ymg 0116
lack of capital meant that evidence for this decline cantar from Cairo to Aleitand ma
' l?
to twenty Piastres
clusively on the Izalli method. Further by Muhammad whereas the steam-tu com enslxteell
vtvlils
established startmg operatlons was
in the high standards of cultivation of the way in which the
'
offering three and a hgalft ipanyplasmas’ As
‘Ali is provided by Grégoire’s account our’ tile correspondent
astonished and almost dis- of The Times reported. (I'll) for the carriage of goods lb)’
younger men in the villages were would elsewheré be cl tailfi
of the care and attention mil] 6 upon as an absolute pro-
believing when their elders told them (‘lo
which they had once been forced to devote
to their cotton.3 Later
hibition.’s cond'ti Improved’ and by th° °“d °f‘859
by the end of the 1850s, the gap in ride b enlyom
een the two methods had narrowed
It was for reasons such as these that,
in the crops produced considerably}: _
a marked difference was being observed A tf
- . .
of a. few men like Gregoire or the Swiss,
the largest estates being known Nin§t3TbOTt<lJ1H:);he}<l:ase
by the two groups——that from W cm owned large estates, European capital
a premium
as zawat or ‘Princes’ cotton and generally enjoying of its pla ea 1 Y a small role in the actual cultivation of Jumel,
account Butyb
of one and a half to two dollars a cantar, on 311e end of the 1850s it was beginning to be very active
was also an
greater cleanliness and length of staple! There Balli at amzthCI‘ stage of the production process, ginning. Various
obtained.
increasing divergence in the yields which were anCmpts had been made to introduce mechanical methods in
cotton rarely produced more than two cantars a feddan, where-
necessary
th but no suitable machine had then been available, nor
as those with money to invest in the oxen and saqiya: I - .
Pmductr x°];3;1:s,
e Queriu on Cotton Culture in E83131‘, 20 Jul)’ 1856:
' Qiotations from Bryn’: diary are to be found in Egptiau Agricultural US. Eyphoirii; ’ i gto
.
' Grégoire p 6 3 Letter from S. Muller, C..S_'.R.,1 Nov. 1858.
(39). PP- 3912- c.s.n., :5 Oct 4 The rum}I is‘:pr. 5 Ibld., 29 Apr. :853_
99- 454-5. 464-5; Letter from Henry Lockwood, .
I856.
Fowler, p, 3g_
1 8;8Grés°u=.
.
4 Ibid., p. 444-
' Grésoire. 9- 449-

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78 The Return to a Free Market In Agricultural Produce, 1838-1860 79

made to use it industrially and in 1844 a
were there suflicient mechanics to maintain the few inferior attempts were also
types which were imported, and it was notuntil about 1854.5 number of French merchants established a factory in Egypt for
that the newly developed McCa_rthY Ems began t_0 be brought the purpose of cleaning and reducing the seed to the smallest
into the country and set up in the cotton districts under ossible compass for transport to France, where they hoped it
European management.1 Large profits were
at
once
made by would be 1_13°d for makmg 5°3P- However, the manufacturers
the ‘could it intended found that linseed and sesame seed
such enterprises, for the actual cost of
operation
bc for whom was
covered by the retail price of the seed, leaying
the ginner the answered their purpose better and the Company collapsed}
difference in price between ginned
and unginned cotton, some. Experiments continued, h0WeV€I', and when a French chemist
thing which usually amounted to one to two dollars a cantaigz found a cheap and 635V ‘Vt/aY of purifying the oil in the early
5 per cent a year was not un. exports began again on a large scale.‘
A net return on capital of 20-2 1350s,
multiplied fast. But even Fowler provides figures for the cost of producing jumel at
common} As a result, new factories
able to cope with only about an eighth this time. These indicate that a rich landowner whose fields
so, by 1859, they were a feddan, and who paid only 50 piastres a
of the whole harvest and the remainder of the crop continued yielded three cantars
in land-tax, could produce cotton for 4 dollars a cantar
to be processed by the old, manual, time-consuming, ineflicient feddan
were a serious barrier to twopence a lb.),3 This agrees fairly closely with the
methods which, according to Fowler, (about
estimate made by Grégoire, three years later, of 4} dollars for
Whereas it took a fellah six or
increased cotton-cultivation.
dulab, single McCai-thy well-irrigated land and 5} dollars for land where water had
seven days to gin one cantar by a
in only ten hours.‘ to be lifted over 3-6 metres. But in his case he assumes a land-
machine could manage the same amount the new tax of some 120 piastres a feddan, and he also added the cost
advantages of
Cultivators were quick to realize the of ginning.‘ A third calculation was made by a correspondent
an establishment con-
factories. Fowler was told that when of the Manchester Cotton Supply Association in 1858, who
one village in the Delta by the
taining [00 gins was built at claimed that a rich cultivator who was paid 285. to 29:. per
and C0,, the local fellaheen were so
German firm of Krupser cantar on the spot for his cotton (roughly 6% dollars) would
that they tried to
anxious to avail themselves of its facilities find this remunerative.5 To Fowler’s figures another one to
He also learned that they
make arrangements before planting. two dollars should be added for the cost of ginning and about
Ufl d fi l‘C0tt0n
had been known to extend the area they placedwilling
was to take 0-5 dollars for transport, making an Alexandria price of per-
when they had discovered that the director haps 6 dollars (about threepence a 1b.). Such calculations can,
by thc hlgh 003*:
more of their crop.5 They were not put off t° at best, be regarded as only the very roughest sort of guide, but
3 mc_ans
reckoning that it was worth paying, not only 3? their own
they would seem to show that throughout the 1850s cotton must
working
relieve themselves of the onerous burden of have been a profitable crop to produce, particularly after 1855
it allowed them to sell
primitive machines, but also because when, with one exception, monthly prices of Good Fair (medi-
harvested instead of having
their crop immediately after it was um quality) never shrank below ten dollars.‘
ginned, thus avoiding a C0I1S1dC1'3—bl¢ Information about the relative profitability of other crops is
to wait until it had been
loans they
loss of money through accumulating interest on the more difficult to obtain. We have Grégoire’s word that rice was
had obtained.‘ now a less lucrative proposition than cotton ;7 but the position
The cotton seed was either sold back to the cultivators 21‘ ‘ The Times, 27 Feb. 184.5.
{X115 ‘ Dc Luon, I May 1856: U.S. Egpt, ii; Charla Roux, La Production du colon,
exported to Europe for pressing. During Muhammad
reign, surplus seed was generally used for fuel; but vanoll-5 1313- 335-6-
8 Fowler, pp. 29-30. One dollar equalled Pt. 20.
1 Ninct, _]., ‘La Culture du coton en Egypte’, R.D.M., 3rd Series, xii (| 13°C‘
‘ Gregoire, p. - ‘ Letter from S. Muller, G.S.R., I Nov. 1858.
‘ Statictiqiu dc l’ ‘I See p. 75, note x.
' Gfésoirei P- 457- 3 F°“’l°": PP‘“Pm Is, 1873 (Eg.), pp. 172-3.
1875), 583. ° Gl'\‘-80"‘: P- 467‘
0 Ibid., pp. 3o-i. 5 Ibid., p. 22.

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In Agricultural Produce, 1838-1860 3;

30 The Return to a Free Market
in regard to wheat is not so straightforward. While the list of more expensive crop to grow and thus may well have
much
prices contained in Tables 5 and 6 would suggest that cotton rovided a smaller net profit, a point which would seem to be
provided larger gross returns throughout the period,‘ it was a substantiated in a report by the American Consul-General,
De Leon, of July I856.‘ Thereafter,’ however, the difference
the price of the two commodities may have lengthened
TABLE 6 between offset the greater
sufficiently to involved in producing
expense
Volume, Value, and Price of Egyptian Wheat Exportsfrom Alexandria cotton. But evenif
this was the case, it should not be forgotten
1840-59 wheat continued to possess certain positive advantages,
that farmer. Not only was it easier to
articularly for the poorer
Price provided quiclrer returns and occupied the
(Great cultivate, but it
Price length of time. It was attractions such as
Volume Value (Alexandria) Britain) round for a shorter
ardabb: ,5‘ Pt. /ardabb ,€/cwt_ these which, very probably, continued to limit the size of the
after it had been shown that cotton provided
cotton area even
1840 454,397 a higher income.
1841 590,698
1842 409,512
1843 484.977 OF THE EUROPEAN PENETRATION OF
4,. THE GROWTH
1848 509,207 282,257 56 THE EGYPTIAN ECONOMY
1349 544,924 225,216 42
a
1850 1,309,716 652,508‘ 50
Seen in longer perspective, cotton-production played only
1851 role in the economic history ofEgypt during the
66 relatively minor
573,813‘
1852 865591 years 1837-60, being no more than a small part of the most
1853 965.793
1854, 1,015,686 0-5 important change which occurred in the period—the rapid
1855 1.674.852 0-577 pace at which Egypt moved towards its almost total integration
1856 1,561,448 0-49
as an agricultural unit in the European commercial system.
1857 752.573 0-458 This is particularly noticeable in the sharp increase in the value
0-339
I858 I.I7o,44B
0-36 of trade after 1848, which led to exports in the 1850s averaging
1859 527.395 74"
some £3,000,000 a year, or 50 per cent higher than in the
previous decade. The increase was due in part to the exten-
Sotmcrs: sion of cotton-cultivation, but a more positive influence was
184,0-3: Stoddart, 23 March 1844: E0. 78/584,.
1848-9, 1850, 1852: Macaulay, 22 Mar. 1849, Deacon, 1 May 1856: U.S.Egpt,ii. exerted by the expansion of cereal exports already described,
1853-9: (Volume) Statistiqw do z*Egpu, 1873 (Eg.), p. lxxix (Price, 0.13.). a good example of the flexibility of Egyptian agriculture which
Computed from data in the British Annual Statement of Trade and Navi- allowed it quickly to take advantage of favourable world
gation.
1859: (Price, Alexandria) Fowler, p. 12. trading conditions. Equally important, commercial ties with
Great Britain became considerably more close during the 1850s
as England began to take roughly half Egypt’s total exports,
N01-as:
a. Value in Egyptian pounds.
1). Exports to Great Britain only. including 50 per cent of its cotton and cereals instead of only
' Auuniing an average wheat yield of three ardabb:/feddan (Barnett, 12 Dec»
12-20 per cent in the early 1840s. As a result, by 1860, Egypt
Pl. 15°-
1344: F-Q 73/533)» Eton revenue from wheat must have been around ' ‘In these last three or four year: the production of com has been more profit-
I848-52. rising to perhaps Pt- 300 in I855. figures which any proprietor able to able (than cotton or flax)’: De Leon, ‘Answers to Que:-in on Cotton Culture in
able to
more than two cantata of cotton/feddan must certainly have been
E8YPt’: U.s. Egpt, ii.
rival for almost all the period. £11648 (3

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32 The Return to a Free Market 171 Agricultural Produce, 1838-1860 33

had become the sixth most important supplier of the British
market.‘ A large increase in imports followed, again with Eng. continuing the drafts of men and animals from the fields. This
‘break his stubborn persistence and by April
land providing the predominant share. was sufficient to
1345 he W35 “flnmg t0 admlt to Hekekyan that his industrial
A second factor behind Egypt’s closer commercial links with failed.‘ Some factories were abandoned, others
Europe was the final abandonment of Muhammad ‘Alias my had
attempt to make the country industrially self-sufficient. In the turned t0 d‘fl“‘-’°“_t PUTPOSCS OF Sold, and by 1849 only two
remained, consurfllng about 5,000 to 6,000 cantars of cotton a
case of his cotton factories this came in two stages. First, be. car and producing Summer uniforms for the army.‘ With the
tween 1837 and 1840, fifteen of the thirty mills were aban. at an end, there was a
government monopoly 0f_Prc_>duction
doned.1 Others were leased to private individuals. As the revival of small-scale spinning and WeaVing—stimulated to
Russian Consul-General maintained, Muhammad ‘Ali bc. some extent by .workers_who had received their training in
latedly discovered that it was more profitable to contract with Muhammad 'Ali’s factories—and by the middle of the 1850s
entrepreneurs to supply him with industrial goods, to allow some 15,000 to 20,000 Cantars were
being worked up in this way.3
them to use the Government’s mules, jennies, and looms, and But these workshops could supply only a small proportion of
to supply them with raw materials at a fixed sum, than to Egypt’s needs, and ‘once the factory system was abandoned
maintain the factories under the direct administration of the there was a large increase in the amount of cotton goods
Until
Government} The next major decision came in 1843-4. imported, particularly from England.
to have been anxious to con.
then, Muhammad ‘Ali appears With the increase of trade went a large inflow of foreign
For example, as
tinue to work the remainder of his factories. capital. If the trade figures can be relied on, there was a sizeable
instructing Hekekyan to the
late as December 1842 he was still export surplus each year. Egypt was also afiected by
be independent financial
pursue an industrial policy ‘so that we should concerted effort by European financiers to exploit the
of foreign countries’.4 However, if this
was to be the case, two possibilities of the Eastern Mediterranean, which led first to a
One of these,
almost insurmountable problems had to be faced. big increase in the number of private banks in Alexandria,
the question of power, came to a head
in 1843. By then the many of them with drawing rights on merchant banks in France
steam-engines which had worked intermittently
through the and elsewhere. This was followed, in 1855, by the foundation
1830s had almost all broken down, while
oxen, the more usual of the Bank of Egypt by a Greek who was able to use his Lon-
source of motion, were expensive and in
short supply because don business connections to secure the support of a powerful
of the cattle murrain. To fill the gap, Muhammad 'Ali had group of financiers, including the directors of the East India
ordered groups of criminals and weak and disabled men to be Company, the London and Westminster Bank, and the Oriental
the
brought in to turn the machines. The results,
not surprisingly, Banking Corporation. He also received the full support of
conditions were so British Treasury which early committed itself to the principle
were unsatisfactory. Output declined, and
to hang themselves, others to set that it was ‘desirable to encourage the investment of British
bad that many workers tried of
old machinery capital in an undertaking which is founded for the purpose
the factories on fire.5 Secondly, by this time the community
fifteen to twenty years before was so extending to a country with which the mercantile
first installed some banking
to be almost of this country is closely connected, the benefits of the
thoroughly worn out that it would have had transactions, howeyer,
to continue.‘ system’! The financing of commercial
entirely replaced at great cost if operations were formed only a small part of the bank’s business, and
it im-
to spend
But Muhammad ‘Ali was by then no longer willing by I Ibid., 42-3.
still further
such large sums, nor to hamper agriculture ‘ Thayer, 5 Mar. 1863: U.S. Egypt, iii; Fowler, p. io.
U.S. Egpl, ii.
’De Leon, ‘Answer to Queries on Cotton Culture in Egypt‘:
' Landau, D., Banker: and Pasha: (London, 1958), p. 85,. note ° Quoted in Bum-, A_, ‘The Origins of British Banking Expansion in the Near
3 Duhamel, Gjuly 1837: Gattaui, R., u,_pt. ft, 11- 34°- p. 79.
1 Rivljn, p. 197. 5 Ibid., u. 123-4- Eut’, Economic History Review, vol. v, no. i (Oct. 1934.),
4 Hekekyan, ii. 66. 5 Ibid., ii. 14.8, i73—4.

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In Agricultural Produce, 1838-1860 35

34- The Return to a Free Market
schemes to develop the
mediately became involved with viceregal finances, lendin wings provided by Sa'id’s various of
economy. One form these took was the creation
money to Sa'id and members of his family, securing the pmfitg_ oPunn,y’s Egyptian Steam
f:°.nt foreign and Egyptian companies like the
able business of transferring to London that part of the tribute which was established to provide steam
mortgaged as security for the first Turkish loan, and dealing in ggwjng Company,
The concession was
on the Nile and Mahmudiya.
government bonds.‘ In this respect, like every other financial haulage it was not until 1856 that the company was
institution in Egypt at the time, it acted as a channel for capital awarded in 1854, but
an important part of which
attracted to Egypt by the methods Sa'id employed to cover his formed, with a capital of £200,000,
by Sa'id himself.‘ Operations began in 1857.
budget deficits. Already, during 'Abbas’s reign, the Govern. was put up
a year later the company collapsed and
Sa'id was
ment was beginning to need larger sums of money for sudden However,
to buy up the shares at an enormous premium.“ Other
exigencies than the individual merchant houses could provide. forced for lucrative government contracts
for the con-
vied
and in 1852 recourse had had to be made to a loan from the Europeans or the purchase of supplies.3
sanction of public-works projects
P. and 0. Company, with whom the Government had an not slow to take advantage of such oppor-
account for the settlement of transit business.‘ Again, the Foreigners were Egypt in ever-increasing
and they flocked to
Government no longer had large supplies of agricultural tunities for profit 1857 visitors were arriving at a rate of
by
produce at its disposal with which to secure money by means numbers, until whose population had reached
year.4 Alexandria,
of advance sales. As expenses rose, Sa'id borrowed money from 0,000 a 1847-8, grew rapidly.5 A building boom
also proved nearly 150,000 by
several local banks; then, when their resources by 1856 the correspondent of The
short-term bonds for sale to the began in the late 184.05, and
too limited, he began to issue
general public. These immediately found ready purchasers; Times could write:
they carried an after the absence of a few years
they were paid punctually as they fell due, A traveller returning to the town
and their fluctuations made an extraordinary improvement in the appearance of the
increasingly high rate of interest, would find Three handsome churches
Thus they were much town and the condition of the people.
them an ideal subject for speculation} . . . Bells are heard to
well as among the worship have been erected.
in demand among foreign capitalists, as for the Christian been
worship. A railway has
who were glad of this toll calling the Christians to divine
European merchants in Alexandria to Cairo and new streets are springing up.‘
assets, even though this was completed
opportunity to invest their liquid one small
sometimes to the detriment of their commercial activities! Land prices, he later reported, had risen sharply and to
£1,500
Some were also disposed of abroad by European bankers. Later, property he knew of had increased in value from
so-called bans d’ap- five years.7 In the same period rents had
two other kinds of bonds were issued, the £32,000 during the last
both
of salary and attracted
pointements paid to government officials in lieu gone up by 500 per cent. House-construction
mainly sold by them at a discount to merchants and brokers Egyptians and foreigners alike; Ibrahim had started erecting
in
who had a better chance of cashing them at the Treasury, and buildings in Alexandria in the early I 84.05 and he was followed
purchase of Suez Canal this by his sons, particularly Ahmad.“ French speculators were
those created after 1860 to pay for the
shares.‘ also active, and in 1857 half the new building-lots belonged
a concession
Europeans were also attracted by the numerous profitable to them.9 Meanwhile, one Frenchman was given
company
F.0. to provide the town with gas lighting, and an English
* Basket, p. 79; The Times, 15 Apr. 1857; Colquhoun, 10 Nov. 1860: 3 Ibid., no Nov. 1858.
' The Times 2_Iune 1856.
78/154.1. ’
’ Jcnks, 1-- H-, 77!: Migration qfBriti:h Capital to I875 (London, 1938), p. 302. ’ Green, 19_Iune 1858: E0. 78/1401. 4 Landu, p. 87.
1878).
(J. Claudy), Hiuoire fluanciére .1; reap» depui: Said Pacha (Paris, ‘ 0 The Tum, 14, On. 1856.
2 J. c. “Md-, p. 85, note 2.
3 Ibid. ’ 7_]a.n. 184.1; 16 Mar. :8 53 _
11 Nov. 1861: F.O. 78/1591- 7 Ibid., 1 June 1857.
pp. 3—4.;*Colquhoun, 28 July 1860: F0. 78/1541,
78/1591. o Huber, 11 Mar. 1857: A.A. 1857, Box 31.
4 j. C., p. 4.; Colquhoun, 3 Aug., n Nov. 1861: E0.
5 J. C., pp. 5-6, :5.

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35 The Return to a Free Market In Agricultural Produce, 1838-1869 37

was formed to build a tramway out to the fast-growing suburb
of Ramleh where many Europeans had their houses.‘
With the growth in siae and importance of the foreign com_
munity went an increasing emphasis on European privileges
Under ‘Abbas, Egypt’s weak political situation, caught as it wag
between the threat of European domination on the one hand
and of its reincorporation as an Ottoman province on the other
forced the Viceroy to make a number of concessions to the
consuls. Things became even more unbalanced under Said
who was particularly anxious to encourage foreign capital am;
foreign interest. On the European side, mutual rivalry and the
growing size of the foreign population spurred the consuls to
stretch and to extend their privileges to the utmost.‘ Again
European self-confidence in its own moral and commercial
pre-eminence had by the 18505 produced a mood that would
brook no opposition from a state which local foreigners came
increasingly to denounce as an ineflicient, cruel despotism.
From the point of view of economic penetration, European
privileges were extended in two particularly important areas.
One was in the ability of foreigners to impose their own com-
mercial methods on the Egyptian Government and people.
Traditionally, as with criminal matters, commercial suits
between natives and foreigners where the latter was the
defendant were decided in the local courts, but in the years
after I8i 5 the consuls were able to transfer the seat of such
trials to their own consulates, trying the case according to their
own laws, in their own language, and with appeal to their
own superior national courts.-‘* Jurisdiction in commercial cases
when the native was the defendant was, however, less clear. In
1826 Muhammad ‘Ali established a mixed court to decide such
matters, but according to J. H. Scott it inspired little confi-
dence as it was not necessary for the judges to possess any legal
qualifications! Later, under ‘Abbas and Sa'id, it was reorgan-
' Douin, G., Hisloire du régne du Khldiue Ismail, vol. i (Rome, 1933), p. 255;
Colquhoun, i7 Aug. 1860: F.O. 78/I541.
3 For a description of this process so far as the American Consul-Generals welt
concerned see Serpell, D. R., ‘American Consular Activities in Egypt, 1849-1353’:
Journal qfModem History, vol. x, no. 3 (Sept. I938).
3 Scott,_]. H., The Law Afl ecting Foreigmr: in Egypt (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 195-7-
‘ Scott, J. H., ‘The Capitulations’ in A. Wright (ed.), Twentieth Cmlw) IMP?-“
n‘¢u¢fE 1 (London, 1909), p. H2; Gemayal, P., Un Rlgima qui mm: 14: WW‘
lotion: an mote (Paris. I938). r>- 77-
ized and pfovldcd Wlth the. code of commerce based on the
code established at Istanbul in a series of reforms beginning in
However, this did little to increase its efficiency,‘ and
1839} the.defendant was
cases where an official, or even the
in
itself, influential Europeans often preferred to
Government
this procedure altogether and to resort instead to
bypass
arbitration between the consul concerned and the Viceroy, a
rocess marked by procrastination and bluff on the one side,
threats and bluster on the other,_ but usually ending to the
Eu,-opea,n’s advantage} Secondly, in commercial as in criminal
matters, foreigners managed to become. less and less subject to
jiirisdiction. The word ‘domicile’, used in the Capitu-
Egyptian
lations to signify the place which was immune from entry by
the local police without the presence of a consular representa-
tive, was extended to
include any property belonging to a
foreigner, with the result that European storehouses and
factories were largely outside Egyptian control! Again, in
cases of a misdemeairiour by a foreigner the Government was
often unable to secure the co-operation of the consul, who
alone could have the offender punished} And when, with this
situation in mind, Sa'id sought to ensure that those who ob-
tained land promised to pay their taxes, his regulations were
evaded with impunity.‘
Nevertheless, harmful though this was to the Viceroy’s
prestige as well as to his finances, the result of such an extension
of privilege was greatly to increase the safety with which
Europeans placed their money in Egyptian enterprises. Without
such security it is unlikely that they would have been nearly so
ready to invest capital in banking, ginning, and other activities,
which were to play so vital a role in the country’s ability to
‘ The Times, 23 Sept. 1850; Gemayal, p. 78; Brinton, J. Y., The Mixed Courts
Qffigypl (New Haven, 1930), pp. 10, 12-13.
‘ Scott, Law Afi uiiugForeigners, pp. 203-4.; Calvert, is: July i86i : F.O. I4lI44.
3 See, for example, Colquhoun, 3 May 1860: F.O. 78/1522; ii Aug. 1860: F.O.
73/1541; and i2 Aug. i86i: F.0. 78/159!-
‘ Scott, ‘The Capitulations’, p. 1 I2, and Law Afctlifl l F°'5i£'W-‘s P 137- 5°C I150
the British Consul’: description of the resolute determination of Samuel Shepheud
Ind a colleague to resist the application of certain new police regulations to their
hotels ‘by every means at their disposal’, Walne, I2 Apr. 1858: E0. 78]i4ol.
5 Scott, Lap Afl icting Foreigners, pp. 198-200; British Consular Court of Egypt,
97 Jan. 1866: I-‘.0. I41/54..
‘ Baer. Him»; ofLandown¢v.rlu'p, p. ea

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T
88 Return to a Free Market in Agricultural
Produce, 1838-1360
expand cotton-production in response to the
world shortage
caused by the diminution of American supplies after 1861.
more than counter-balanced the fact that, until 1875,
This
commer-
cial transactions between foreigners were complicated by the
IV
pressure of fifteen different consular courts. Or that, as
Pro.
fessor Landes has illustrated with such skill in his book THE COTTON BOOM
Banker;
and Parlias, the reaction of Egyptian oflicials to these manifesta. 1861-1866
tions of ever-increasing European interference was to indulge
i11 pinprick annoyance, evasion, and delay which raised new
OUTBREAK OF THE AMERICAN
barriers to the orderly practice of industry and trade.‘ I. THE CIVIL WAR
' See, in particular, Landcs, pp. 322-6.
I HE years 1861 to 1866 _mark an important turning-point
in the history of Egyptian cotton-production. When the
I began some half a million caritars were being
period
on perhaps 2 50,000 feddans of: land; five years later the
grown four times in size, the area by five, and
harvest had increased
from then on cotton became once and for all the crop which
the major of Egyptnan and produced
absorbed portion energies
an overwhelming share of its export earnings. The cause of this
sudden metamorphosis was the American Civil War, which,
by depriving the European textile industry of the greater part
of thc supplies of American cotton on which it was largely
dependent, drove up the price of cotton to heights
enormous.
and conferred great prosperity on those countries which, like
Egypt, were able to take advantage of the favourable situation.
In England, for example, where 80 per cent of the raw-cotton
requirements had previously been met by the southern United
States and where the Liverpool price of Middling Orleans
(an average variety) rose from 7%-34-/11% in 1351 t° 9- high °f
3i«}d./lb. in July 1864., Jumel was able to increase its share of
the market from 3 per cent to [2 per during ‘hie W3-1' Pe“°d
and its earn" from I 00,000 to cznt
i4,00°:0°°- _
The war blialtgifleen Sofi tlisandNorth, Which ha‘! been §°"°“Sly
threatening since Lincoln’s election as President in 1860,
finally broke out in April I 86 I . In the same month the
blockade of Southern ports was N0;tl1t(}3)1'n
shi ments of cotton in an largcdeclaregéyrnaklfggsiblllg
qua“ ' {:1
ml?
Englanrd, however, there wzs no immediate anxiety
manufacturers; the 1860 American cr0Pa the largest on mm
31110:?’
I
Earle’ E. M_, (Egyptian Cotton and ale American Chill Wu‘, Political Science
Quarterly, vol. xli, no. 4 (Dec. 1925), p. 535-

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90 The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866‘ The Cotton Boom, I861-1866 9!

TA“-3 7
TABLE 8
Volume and Value of Egyptian Cotton ‘Exports from Alexandria
and of Cotton Prices at Alexandria and Liverpool, 1861-6
British Import: of Egypttan Cotton, 1860-6
‘ Aleaundr‘n—('Good Fair‘) dollnnluntu
7
Egyptian Exports British Imports
186! I862 I863 1864 1865 I866
°=m 03 “W” =6
1860 501,415
i

392,447 1,430,895
’,“.‘.“‘1’., :2: :2, 3: 1:. 2: 3:,
E Y“

:86: 596,000 _l,‘,,‘,.'-Eh ll; llsl 3: 1:‘ :3 :1

1,430,880 365,108 x,546,898 Mn :2;
:86: 820,119 :3, 33* 47 :2 :3
4,920,660 526,897 397935440 £31‘: .3 ,, 3., 2?,
1863 1,287,000 9,356,490 835,289 8,841,557 mu-e
,3 31}
vs! =3 as M :7 :3!
1864 1,740,000 '4,842»7°° 151205479 14,300,507 f;,‘::,:';,'’‘’ :3 3.
1865 2,507,000 15,443,120 1,578,912 13,906,641 22, 3 ,3 is
m,,...,:,.. as so
1866 1,785,000 1 1,424,000 x,o55,goo 9,200,580 Decamb“ '5 3a; as‘
43 3" ‘«3 3;
(Annual
S : Average) 13-9 22-8 96-3 45 31-1 35-3
01‘-gtlzu exports 1869: Szatiszique dz l’Eg7Pl¢, I873 (Ex-), p- 174-
_ _
1861-6: Carpi et Vlvantc ct Cue, (_1) Good: Exportedfrom the Port afAlexann'nam
,g5,, ,g5,, 1363, 13?‘; '(A1exandna, 9 Apr. 1866) and (2)_Goad.r Exporledfyom SOURCE: Swim-qw dz 1,309“, 1373 (E8), pP_ ,7,_.3_
‘
1]., Pan 1863, I864, I365, I866 x7 Mar. I867).
qfAl¢xa_ndna an
British imports: Umtcd Kmgdom Annual Statement: (Alex2‘x_r':Idn:,
0 ra e.
‘
‘
. Liverpool-—(peneeI1b. at and of each month)
had served to glut the market at a tune when , , ,
1362 M3 [W M5 was
cloth were falhng, and the news of war In
texpoarts (if tizlotltorrg .99
-as —
carrlnfs to
as a source of temporary rehef.‘ But as stoc I1: 15 If
egatnngstiiilc
true extent of the cr1s1s was reveale‘ .
were dn, or I er Cent of the
°f 1862 only ”’500. bales
usual quantlty, whlle average realllve nsumption fell from _I
45,648 bales m 1861 to 22,097 m I 2. ZCCEMCCS Enovcd
.wee86y accm_d_
_ {—',‘,§“‘,,,:',,, 3? 3 :3, 2.,2* m
.7; m
.5; m
.9; m
.3: M
.9; M
,2
ingly The quotation for Middling Orleans, Whlch h 3d been
n _ March - 7| ml 22 an 26: 26} :5! I9: “:1;
713:1!/lb
' ' when war broke out and had
then moved ‘la’-:1
l M:
1 15 I
12} :7;
October on the first wave of uncertain‘? 1“ ‘*‘° “"1; , 3? :3 ill :31 :3! 1% :4
- '
3 124.0101; la
d 3 h ead to I 5 £1/lb.
' 111 June 1862’ I §'
5:?
Mann
:3. 2;:
3,9 26} 22* :1, :3: :2: .,. .., .,’° I 14 l

cotton market, Spur“? ' . - Septanber 24 as} so 30! 13% '7? ‘4

' d the .0 26} an 27 27 24 =1! =°i "3 '9
1n July, and 2 6 i d. In Au 8 ust as pcssirmsm mcreased an October :2 as} no} 29! an 22% M *9 '-'-*
- Table '7‘
speculatwe movement gathered s trcngth (see December 12 25} an as 27 Hi “It *3 I5
. , . . . " New York, I925) :
1 Adams, E. D.,Gn¢tBnlam and UuAmeru:anCw:l Wan "° L “(
son“: Head In’ W. 0.’ Th‘ Lalmhin cm“ Faun.“ (Mathew, I930’
. 8-10. . - d 1865) P- 9'
pp: mid, 9; Mel-Iafl ie, M. 1., W4: :1 a Cotton pp. 122-3 .
.. . (PI::|r:k:néz Co" sgwmm
Fairguaeg
Abale, atthi.1period,wcighedbetween4ooand4,5o - ' Countries Lo don, I869) Tab“ X”." P‘ 7 . 56¢ 3
,
“ for
wml'oI:othn:uweight of lzottldn bales im!,3°"wd
:l,1'c‘h:ar2::{lal?lrcthl:>f/figlna-E Lwctpool 3
I858.
the ya” [850 to

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9° The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866‘

The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866 91
TABLE 7
TABLE 8
Volume and V l E t’ C It E L: A] ' .
Biz-1::Izflmffitgazf £9277anxéfortto'’foI'T,6.o:;a"d'1“ “"4 0f Cotton Prue: at Alexandria and Liverpool, 1861-6
5
Al5““d|'ll—('G°°d Flil’) dollar:/cmtar
Egyptian Exports British Imports —
‘
I 86 1 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866
cantars E CWt . 1 5 —
£ £

1860 501.415 392.447 1,480,895 |

2.i..'2i.'" .. I3} 3 13 :3 33*
1 86 1 596,000 1,430,880 365, 108 1 545,393 April 1 1! 32 4,, ,5 ,9
), 1:}
1862 820,1 19 4,920,660 526,897 3,723,440
1863 1,287,000 9,356,490 835,289 8,341,557 July 14 :2 30 50 30 37}
1864 1,740,000 1 4,842,700 1 , 1 20,479 14,390,507 geup‘lt;‘:lb€I‘ ii‘ :15! 3: :3 :17» 3?
1865 2,507,000 15,443, 1 20 1 ,578,912 1 3,906,641 45; ,4 ,3 ,3
‘ gctobeger :6‘ 3:
1866 1.785.000 110124.000 1.055.900 9,200,580
il (Annual
22-3
5°V“°”= Avenue) 13-9 5613 45 31-1 35-3
Egyptian exports 1860: Statirtique do l’Egy/21¢, 1873 (Eg.), p. 174.
1861-8: Carpi et Vivante et Cie, (1) Good: Exportedfrom the Part ofAlexandria in
1861, 1862, 1863, 1864 (Alexandria, 9 Apr. 1866) and (2) Good: Exportedfrom souncz: Statistique do l’Egypte, 1873 (Eg.), pp. 172-3.
the Port of Alexandria in 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866 (Alexandria, 17 Mar. 1867),
British imports: United Kingdom Annual Statement: of Trade.
Liverpool—(pence/lb. at end of each month)
had sewed to glut the market at a time when exports of cotton
cloth were falling, and the news of war came to many spinners 1‘ £3 “'53 1354 1355 1355
as a source of temporary relief.’ But as stocks began to decline 3 E a
and supplies from America came almost to a standstill the 3 4 T3 %_ _ _a_ E
° C; <3 G’
true extent of the crisis was revealed. In the first six months E E 5
E
of 1862 only 11,500 bales were received, or 1 per cent of the
3 3' 3' 5 g g
usual quantity, while average weekly consumption fell from H H N _,
45,648 bales in 1861 to 22,097 in 1862.1 Pr1ces moved accord- Jam 7* 13 as M 27} M an M M m
ingly. The quotation for Middling Orleans, wh1ch had been my
in
7,}d./lb. when war broke out and had then moved to 12:1.
October on the first wave of uncertainty 1n the Liverpool 31:1.»
11 :5 21} 20} so 29} 20} la; 1. 13;
cotton market, spurted ahead to 15d./lb. in__]une I862, 13% :4¢uEu-z ii iii :1‘ ii} iii iii iii iii iii 3
and
in Jul)’. and 2614. in August as pessimism 1ncrea.sed omwgm :: 2:: 2;: :74 :7 :4‘ :3 :1 :4: :9"
t;1e
)-
speculative movement gathered strength (see Table gé-me :1 :3 :2: :3 :71 :17: 3* :2! :4: 1:;
. Adams, 2. 0., GrealBn'la1'nand!lIcAmerica1I Civil W¢I,vol. ii (New York, 1925). soURGI: Henderson, ' '
W. 0., The Laacaslun Cotton Famun (Manchester, 1934),
PP. B_m_ . 865 ) 9.".3- PP- 122-3.
2 11:14 9; McI-lafl ic, M. J., Was 1: 41 Cotton Famine.’
E0 g ,
A,/me 1‘ ‘hi’ P°"'°d1 “’°.‘5"°d
Ink:Trad: '.’°“”°°“ 4.°° “‘d "5° lb'=J' (bondoné
x11I"p. 7- 5°‘
qftlw U.K. 1m£hFomgn Countm: (London. 18§9).’¥“l§Z 1-
It Livvapoofla,
weight of ootton bales Importcd
the “me ab]; for figures for the
[850 to I868.
‘k W

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92 The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866 The Cotton Boom 1861-1866‘

Similarly in France, where pre-war cotton imports were run- ’ 93
many times between cultivator and .
nmg at a rate of some kg. 123,000,000 a year, the Le Havre ' ' exporter that it wag 1m—
possible to fix res P onsibil't
1 y for dirty or adulterat
price of Georgia long-staple rose by nearly I 50 per cent be. d lin
Egyptlan system, whereby the Alexandria merchamets Senfi htfii
tween July 1861 and September 1862.‘ Alternative sources of
supply were urgently sought, and European imports from India, main Delta collection
made payment according to grade, allowed points
Brazil, and Turkey as well as Egypt were rapidly expanded in some control tciullicel
over quality.‘
exercised In this respect E
an effort to make good the deficiency. t
greatly from the presence of a few rich proprigdtldrs als
Among these countries Egypt was particularly well placed whlb tlI)‘:dl.l:tt:ll(t):l(E
ally were concerned to produce cotton by the most
to increase its production, although this was not the opinion u -to -
methods and who set a standard for other cultivatorspto d
of most contemporary observers. Henry Lockwood, writing in ale0
emulate. In what is admittedly a very of ‘t:Ia31'C
1858, had pointed to the fact that the fellah cultivator was rough Piece
lation, Thayer, the American Consul-General estimated thlali:
‘improvident’ and ‘the enemy of improvement’, and that two-thirds of the Egyptian crop was classified (accordin to
except for the estates of the royal family and a few of the richer colour, cleanness, strength of staple) as ‘average’ at this tigme
pashas Egyptian cotton was badly produced; and he had and only 47,000 to 56,000 cantars, or approximately 10
concluded that ‘it may be questioned whether the annual pe;
cent of the total, as ‘inferior’.3
exports of cotton from Egypt would admit of any extension, as AI10th€l' advantage Egypt possessed was that cotton-
long as the present system of culture and preparation is con- production had once again begun to rise in the year before
war
tinued, even were the social system ofthe peasantry to improve’ .1 was declared, having remained static throughout the previous
And even someone so well acquainted with local conditions as decade. Exports of the 1860 crop reached almost 600,000
Ninet was able to maintain, on the eve of the war, that the cantars, and in 1861 this figure increased to over 7oo,o0o.4
The
chronic shortage of agricultural labour would prevent even the reasons for this movement are uncertain, but it may have been
smallest increase in the area sown with _]umel.3 Perhaps neither
connected with the construction of ginning establishments
of these men could have been expected to foresee the high prices (which greatly facilitated the preparation of cotton for export),
which the American war was to bring, but they also appeared the decline in receipts from wheat, and the slight rise in prices
to overlook the very important changes which had occurred in at the time of spring sowing in 1860. Another factor was un-
the agricultural sector of the economy in the previous ten years. doubtedly the new market that had been established for cotton
During this period contact between merchant and cultivator seed in the later 18505. For every five cantars of ginned cotton
had been re-established, the fellaheen were once again used to
producing cash crops for immediate sale, and fa°*‘“'°‘ ‘°’ “Li I F . _i '
sprca
provision of agricultural Capital: albeit at 3- hlgh rate, had Cultivated and processed by the Chamgbeis of Commerce of Manchester, Liverpool,
throughout the Lower Egyptian provinces. In the meantime a Blicltblfm, and Glasgow.
number of cotton-ginning factories had been built, the Alex‘ th I ma That W by
pm“, pf“)’}‘)'r‘i‘et’:::’:%‘l‘S’ :e’:e::f,"‘f';ak“'e‘:,w1',‘y°,',',,,:,:§,:.:acm{.img togboregoire
andria—Cairo railway completed with branch lines I0
important cotton centres of Samannud and. Zagazig, and 3°6 mu P|’0V1dccl only a fraction of the total crop. See p. 75.
’
. ' Then’ 1 4
Thayer, 20 l as : U.S. E :,
Mahmudlya canal dredged to allow easler Passag . T115-I figure hai/e been
5° the high Nile flood of
unlike the situation in India, where cotton changed hands , Em!»
- Hom.J. 13., La one ootonniérc at In textiles imligiml (Puis. I853). p- 9: 1”“ ‘ ° "’“’° "°°“
mgvngualtgd11:1)’ ‘“*'° zfpsoud: “
° 1'!I'l;ayl¢;,l:l§‘lh=ig5-
'""“’°"
*''8*'“ I861 cropappearedin the r862figun::Snundus,
Enndria.A;ay¢gu]c,;omeofthe
Table 2. p- 335- i
: '7 June 1863; 1710, 8 . I-‘ soured, see Table 7. These figures have
‘
int, ., ‘
1 1Iq_Ȣttd' question u co on en etei-re "m" this mrfi culu
choice’ at Appendix 2'
R.D.M.. and Period. 33"" (I Mar. 1861): P. am.

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94- The Cotton Boom, 1861-I866 The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866

there were roughly three and a half ardabbs of seed, which at that it is difficult to persuade them to sell on t
fcuahs,
they would have . emm WM95
Ch
1861 prices would have provided an additional income of hflegofore been delighted to accept.
eighteen piastres for each cantar produced, or nearly three umc], went on, was then being quoted at 13} dollars a
dollars per feddan, augmenting total earnings by 10 per cent.1 he
but of the largest growers insist
cantar, some on i7 dollars ’
That cultivators were quick to profit from this situation is and are holding back for this unhe ard of fig\1rc"I S h th
shown by the fact that about 75 per cent of the seed from the demand that cotton was sold and resold several tiriigs fzailflxc‘
1860 crop was exported.‘ Finally, it is possible that, when sowing andriafi _
Prices continue d to rise d uring the autumn an '
TABLE 9 the spring of 1862 had reached sixteen to eighct1c‘:xin(i:,iia:::
by
cantar. More land was then placed under cotton, amounting
Export of Egyptian Cotton Seedfrom Alexandria, 1861-6‘
to a total of perhaps 500,000 to 600,000 feddans as against some
Volume Value Price feddans in ‘the previous year.’ Grégoire mentions a
350,000
ardabb: {E Pt./ardabb particular increase in the Cairo area, and also in Buhaira
province, where it had been thought that manpower was too
306,254. 1 22,500 39
1861 scarce to make cotton-growing attractive.‘ Meanwhile, Isma‘il,
1862 453.509 246,760 54
65 the heir to the throne, was instrumental in planting 4,000
1863 726.200 475.560
1864. 915.400 530,950 58 feddans with cotton in Upper Egypt, the first time Jumel had
i865 1.292.300 633.250 49 been successfully introduced into this region.5 Money was
I855 7o5,877 427.140 60 abundant following the completion of arrangements for a state
loan in March, and the number of money-lenders, Muslims as
SOURCE: Carpi ct Vivante, I and 2. well as Europeans, proliferatedfi The result was a crop of
1,200,000 cantars which was sold for nearly £9,500,000. In
their cotton in March, April, and Ma)’ 185‘, 501115 0f the cum‘ addition, seed worth {:47 5,000 was exported, much of it going
in demand which
vators were sufliciently aware of the increase to Turkey and other neighbouring countries which were also
an interruption of American supplies as to trying to expand their production of cotton!
would accompany
still further. CV9“
extend the area devoted to its cultivation
though pficcs at this time were no higher than they had been
or not. 0“C_*3 2. THE INTERVENTION OF THE MANCHESTER
a year earlier. But whether this is true W31'“1’3_5 COTTON-SPINNERS
started to climlfa 9“
actually declared and the price ofjumel
of the situation. £1‘Y Sa'id and other members of the royal family devoted more
vators were quick to grasp the potentialities
of the land on their own estates to cotton in 1862. They were
July Thayer was reporting that
also active in importing machinery and improving methods
the
in expectation of scarcity in England some of of cultivation.‘ It was said of Isma'il ‘that buyers fought to
into the C0X‘Il11]'i3cI'Cialtl'tl;):S:|
interior to uy
in Alexandria are sending agents
harvest. But so well ‘understood is the contfioifion in ‘ Thaya, 20 July iB6i: U.S. Egypt,
advance of the t 2 ‘Letter from J. Byme to G. R. Haywood’, 05.12., 15 0ct- 1361.
:1-is-, cotton-growing region in the United States, even by thc P°°"°’ ' Estimate based on crop Sin. 110‘ 0“ °°m¢mP°\’3l'Y 3°°°“'1‘3-
“"° “nun!
1 This calculation is based on the assumption of an avensc Yidd °f 4 Gregoire, p. 44.5.
' The Tima.r,28 Sept. 1863.
feddan. For prices see Table 9. I l ‘ Th: Tinies, 30 June 1862.
’ 305,954 "'i‘”" °f wnon Iwdthi-eewueand a half
.000 cantan of cotton and7 and 7 Cu-pi ct Vivame, 1; 'I‘haye-r, 3 Feb. 1863: US. Egypt, iii.
gum Akxzndria in 186i (Tables 9). If there were
°"m'" °f3'."m°d wnion ' ‘Egypt’, c.s.n., :5 July 1862; Thayer. 11 July 1862: US- 399*.
ardabb: of seed P!°d“°°d f°' ""7 fiv? i86owuinthef¢8'°n°‘4°°'°°° ardabb:-
dutdietotalliarveltofoottonseedin

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95 The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866

purchase his cotton because he
paid special attention to
77” CW" Boom, 1861-1866
the soil so tillin
as to produce the best crops and to realize
prices for them’.‘ But there is little evidence of the best
direct govern.
ment action to increase the area of cotton planted. ‘Prices
alone
will prove a sulficient stimulus without any effort on my Pressure and influence on Sa'id
to increase production
Sa'id had told a visiting Englishman in 1861,? and onpart», also came ‘from the Manchester Cotton
Su pply Association.
the
whole he was perfectly right. The common pattern was almost The Association had been founded in 185
7, but its origins
certainly very like that described by Wallace, writing of _
a he fears of such
village in the Delta. There the fellaheen had returned grate- men as :1 Liverpool correspondent of the President
of Trade who, as early as June of the Board
fully to cereal-production after having been forced to grow 1828, had written
Jumel during Muhammad 'Ali’s reign. However, prejudices carious situation of the cotton trade of this country of ‘the pre-
from our too
soon vanished in the face of the prospect of great dependence on the United States for the supply
One of the raw
profits.
peasant planted a little cotton and got a good price
large material’! Subsequently, alarm at the thought of
for it; the a negro revollt
or the partial failure of the American crop, and the
others then followed, with help from several ‘Greeks who had increasing
use of Southern cotton in northern mills, had led
arrived in the district and who offered to provide the seeds and and Thomas Bazley to urge the Government
john Bright
ir d.3 and Lancashire
businessmen to do all in their power to the growth of
mI\II)t:¥ei:l?(:lles:, as the cotton in England became encourage
good, cheap cotton in the Empire, particularly
shortage in India and the
more severe, Lancashire pressure on Sa 1d_to use_his influence West Indies, and in Brazil} This movement led
to the foun-
to expand production still further. became dation of the Association, whose primary aim, as set
during his short visit
increa_singl1)\'/I1nte}r1ise.
es. out in an
This was particularly the editorial of its newspaper The Cotton Supply Reporter
case in November
to“ alpc 1858, was to increase the world’s supply of cotton by all '
av
Presented with an aiidress from th? able means.‘
Commerce urging him to take action. 6 1“? The attention of the Association, both before and after
18
Chamber’, it began, was directed mainly towards India, which seemed to offer
best prospects for an immediate large increase in supply, _
have watched with great satisfaction E dedb but
thelencc:1uragot:frrti1¢1:::itC:;1m<;l'n plan); the possibilities of other areas were also investigated. A number
your predecessor ‘ind yourself to of reports on Egyptian conditions were prepared, and
and they indulge in the hope thatthht emi: ndhavletiinge obtained 11)’ Y°“r in
I-Ijghncss of the value and importancfi 0_fftlhe manufacturing in dustry August 186i, G. R. Haywood, the secretary of the Association,
ion u on your mind paid a brief visit to the country. In an interview with Sa'id he
of this district will make an enduring fnust accmc to
1mPr°ssh.ch offered the Association’s assistance in increasing cotton
and 61131315 Y0“ t° f°reSec the vast benefits pro-
both producer and wtelnded cultivation of
from the more ex duction and discussed with him a project to which the Viceroy
consumer attached great importance——the establishment of a
that most valuable material. of
system_
government-guaranteed advances by English capitalists which
In reply Sa‘id assured his audience th at the next croP wing: would relieve the cultivator of his dependence on rural money-
be at least half as large again as the one_ just planted: lenders who charged high rates of interest.5 Haywood then went
fo
on his return to Egypt he urged all proprietors to sow a on a tour of the main cotton-growing areas, and ended.h1s
6
In"
_ _ .
, ) p. 29 by writing a letter to the Viceroy in which he outlinedstay
his
' Tlnyer, 5 Nov. 1862:
Take,’7;?‘
,4 ("if.?d3’°§d , pcafiii
. .
no, U.S. E379‘.
' PM ‘W ftlu 3
.. Wfahafi
'2Ql0ted in R42ortbJM'-C0'”"’5‘“"”’°"
_6 _
cmnmuao
I n,,d__ p_ 36_ 4 C.S.R., 1 Dec. 1858.
‘Letter from Mr. G. R. Haywood’, 03.1%. I5 Aus- 1851-
Alamidriafw 1/" 7”’ ‘$6’ RP" '86” lxvu,4pMa‘l4I'hflhf Guardian. ioJ“1Y ‘B5’ _ auus
2 waiiacc. 99- 259'7°- 11

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93 The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866

The Cotton Boom,
findings. These included the need for more mechanical gins ,36'I_I86~6 99
better seed, and the more intelligent management of some 0}‘ Manchester Cotton Supply Associatio n
writing in February
the farms he had visited. He also spoke once again of the plan 1363, he seemed ‘alive to the
import 3006 of extending the
to establish a cotton bank to provide loans for cultivators.1 On still further’_i M
Haywood’s advice 21 number of packages of New Orleans seed eultivaticilndofhcotton
had reac e t irty-one to thirt -four d eanwhlles Cotton prices
were later sent to Egypt by the Association and distributed land than was devoted ilto Jum:111a:,::an(§~1rt:nd1m°r°
ever
among the larger cotton-growers with full instructions as to
roprietors increasing their crop area by a tliird 2
Heowarger
t.heir cultivation.‘ Several improved hand gins were also pre. almost at once Isma'il was called upon to face a series I‘ CY“,
sented to the Viceroy, and a dispatch from Thayer suggests
which threatened to undermine all Egypt’s a ricdulctnsel
that a start may have been made in lending British money to efforts. The first was the plague, which began attaclgting c;iltl:e
in the Delta some time in the early summer. Once the serious
cotton-growers in the autumn of 1861.3 However, the impact of
nature of the outbreak was realized in June, a number of
these innovations was small. The New Orleans seed was never
was given up measures were announced in an attempt to isolate the affected
successfully grown, while the cotton-bank scheme districts: it was forbidden to move animals from village to
after Sa'id’s death in January I863—its abandonment neces-
village, fairs were cancelled, and orders were given that Corpses
sjtating no loss, as the money-lenders, as well as some Alexandria
to supply all the money should be burned rather than thrown into the river.3 However
banks and credit institutions, continued these restrictions were largely ignored, and by August it wa;
More machinery, including steam
the Cultivators needed.‘ said that most of the Lower Egyptian provinces were swept
ploughs, cotton girls, and Packing PTFSSCS _W°rth >€71>°°°’ was
‘Manchester clean of cattle, the only exception being the Wadi district, where
sent to Egypt in 1863 in co-operation. with the an energetic European director with considerable local in-
this time British manu-
Chamber of Commerce.5 But by fluence was able to save about a quarter of the total.4 Isma'il
that Isma 1l’S.G'0VCI'1'l-
facturers no longer needed convincing at once began to encourage the introduction of replacements
all Iinlits power to ‘increase from abroad. He sent his own agents, first to Syria, Libya, and
ment was doing prOClu:;l':al;)I:],c:.l:la(ll
itself to occasio
thereafter the Association confined Crete, then further afield to Marseilles, Trieste, and Odessa, to
exhortation. purchase new animals; he also lifted the duty on imported
cattle. Oxen as well as horses and donkeys began arriving in
large numbers in the autumn and were immediately sold to the
NILE FLOOD or 1863
3. THE CATTLE MURRAIN AN D cultivators or given to them against promise of future payment.
in January But many were weak and small and failed to acclimatize,
The accession of Isma'i1 0353-79) 35 Viceroy others died from overwork, while those from Russia brought
faith in EgYPt’5 continuing
r 863 was a signal for renewed farmer’ ,6 his first speech new diseases with them. Finally, a second outbreak of the
prosperity. He was known .as ‘a model ' 1 op murrain in November and December killed off most of those
expressed a desire to deve
he
to the foreign consu ls, in which . . d c that remained, and a new series of imports was necessary.5
Egypt’s resources in an 0I‘d01‘1Y and diligent
manniienfiroofu the Altogether, according to Isma'il himself, 700,000 animals
3 very favourable imprcSS10n§7 ‘O 3 °°rr°5P°n
" 1851- ' ‘The Viceroy of Egypt and Advance: to Cultivators’, C-S-R-9 2 Fell 1353-
. . R ‘i I Oct.
, «ML 1-hywood’s mission to EgYP' and India » C-51 Se L
,352). ' Saunders, i7_Iune 1863: R0. 78/1773-
Association, Fifl h Annual Report (Manchester. 23 P tr ’ Thaycr, i8_Iune 1863 : U.S. Em“; 1'-ii; C°l¢1“h0““s ‘°-l““° ‘B63: R0‘ 78/"55;
2 Cotton Supply .
; qjuyer, 13 Nov. 1861: U.S. Egypt. Ill-
to Cotton Cultivators’, C.S.R., 4 fab ‘ 17I')I'Inu,
21 Nov. 1863.
. ‘The Viceroy of EM t and Advance: id. 2 A . I86 ;Douin Hilrtoirc 1' P- 233- _
I For arn gum; ofzaneasuraitaken to’ cbpe with the murrain see 77:: Turns,

: .,.W"..,.?: ?"a.%.:.Joun. am we»

29.
'863' ' 6 an. I854- A118» 2 I, 28 Nov., 1863, and Nine: _]., ‘La culture du coton
en Egypt: ct aux Inds,
R.D.M., and Period, lxiv (:5 July 1866). p- 353-
‘-2’ \‘2ot'Cu.l+<4u- L4r.
1 ljafin, "infill; ii pp’
’

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100 The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866‘

i3°§;;i‘i$£11§f§§;3‘{°sf§§,ti° p’i‘“g“h° ”'°"i“°°‘ a 3“ stimun...

oug s and steam
The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866
much recently harvested cotton and cu '
101
pumps_ Ism ,_11 -
led the way. ‘We must look to machinery to supply the Cairo railway line for a month.x By grtezrtlgpggofalfxgifggg
grieva
loss the country has experienced in its cattle’, he told the Briggs prevented further damage. At the same
11 Ismayil _ time he
Consul-General. ‘My object is to set an example to requismoned all the steamers on the river and organized
my count a
men. I can afford to do so now. . . .’1 He removed the impa- tempo”-TY SETVICC between Cairo and Kafr al-Zayat to cope
duty on such machines} And he himself purchased large numt with the large quantities of cotton awaiting transport 7.
bers, both for his own estates and for resale to other proprietors; Nevertheless, in spite of both flood and murrain exports of
The European merchants soon followed suit, and in 1864. ang the 1863 crop reached 1,700,000 cantars, or 50 pericem above
the previous year. Estimates of the size of the crop made before
I865 the value of agricultural engines imported from England
June put it at a possible 2,000,000 cantars, so that losses may
alone amounted to well over £650,000. (See Table 10.)
have been something in the nature of 200,000 cantars as 3,
result of the murrain, and 100,000 from the flooded fields!
TABLE I0
However, such a calculation can only be the very roughest
Value of Steam-Engine: and Other Machinery Exportedfrom England approximation. That the loss was not larger was due to the
to Egypt, 1860-6 fact that the crop had been planted before the shortage of
animals began to make itself felt. It also helped that the majority
I 2 3 of Cultivators employed the balli method by which the cotto
Steam engines Other engines Coal, cinders, culm was watered by flow irrigation and 5/zaduf once the Nile sta
to rise, rather than by an oxen or buffalo-tumed saqiyo.
(:0 (£) (:0 tons The effects of the murrain continued to be felt in 1864.. Pri
' ‘°’6°° were almost at their peak during spring sowing, the area under
1860 38,070 59,457 55>’ ‘G cotton was extended by approximately 300,000 feddans, and the
186x I
9:208 62562 58’4'58 12"? fellaheen in particular must have found the effort of preparing
,35, 59,540 74,854 78.83! I5 .034
p the ground a difficult one.‘ Contemporary reports tell of them
1863 x6x,I95 959:5“ ’66’4'82
1354 312,884 402.071 40563; 85828 yoking themselves to their ploughs like animals.5 Many of
1865 369.717 311.974 237»9' 3 '6 1V[ those who had grown cotton in 1863 were forced to leave their
1866 101,204 ‘°5s4-93 57’55I 325’ '5 plants in the ground for another year.“ As for the larger
proprietors, some compensation was provided by imported
Souncz: United Kingdom Annual Statements
of Trade- machinery, although the great bulk of the steam ploughs did
- - not begin to arrive until after the sowing season was ovcr.7
Cl crisil
While the cattle plague was running 1t? °°“rs° ‘:1 sccalh
0 C um
Again, cattle were not entirely un0btainable—acc0rding to the
occurred,, this time brought on by the highest Nllc
. . of 25 b , 'nfi1trated thc ‘ Colquhoun, 30 Sept., H Nov. 1863: F.O. 78/I755.
_
I Sacré, A., and Outrebon, L., 1’E,opu at Isruail Pasha (Pans.
wry’ which’ during the night Iéafr al-ZaY""
i865). p- 47;
dyke along the Rosetta branch six Slli)st:1Il?o\: demo
7716 Times, 6 Oct. 1863.
’ Based on estimates made by Tho Tun: correspondent: The THIN» 23 NOV-
mg
The waters spread rapidly across th countryside’ I363, 25 Jan. 1864.
' _
. I:ma‘:l. a la mu dc rtgpu (Ca3r°» '935)1
- L. Khédwe ,, _
4 Thayer quotes an estimate which put the area of cotton land in 186?, at

the los at 9°°n°°° “mm (25 J

an. _ 7oo.ooo: 5 Sept. 1863, U.s. Egypt,
Tlie C7EI2ea.rulioii16P0ndent estimated
‘ °f 600 000.
.4
by the snags Consul, Stanley for 1354: quoted in ‘Egypt’. 0-S-R-, 1 Feb- I867-
(p- 87) zwcs a 58;" » ' Ninet, ‘La culture du coton en Egypte et aux Indd’: P- 355-

»oraawMAw*'.':i°c.mS:::s)‘“::?*.,::'* ’
while Charles-RouxNov. I863: 7 /1755- and Tagllfiy J"
.1}. ‘ Tlu Times, 8 Dec. I863.
s colquhoun, 11 F-Q _
G d. G_ 7 Ibid., 99 Feb. I864.

ImailJ'¢P’3""d°"””‘"“'lfim.F0 ' ‘ 7fill 755’'

4 C01“l’4houn, 95 5¢Pt- '863° 5 n a-.~»m.~._-

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I02
Tfi e Cotton Boom, 1861-1866‘
°°"°5P°ndcnt of The Times The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866
Tanta fair during the spring.£l-,;l)"‘l)1(:: the main “,3
i)::1iiiv‘1:’:sr: 2:1?
2;
cantars, but almost certainly TABLE II
a decline in yield P13 2.’°°°1°°0
and 1863 the average number of I862
cantars per .i:§qd11I‘1I1g Import: and Exports of Cereals at Alexandria, 1861-6 (in ardabbs)
assumed to have been rising—this was
generally the Ziscan be
cotton was first extended to new areas.‘ when Imports
However be
many of the Delta fields had been under
jumel for threy 1864 1353 1364 1865 :x866
and in some of the districts the soil was beginning
to shoe yfaars Wm‘
of exhaustion. Again, owing to the scarcity of animals '°M°° 542,933 73.468
nriv Silgm
of 3”” 11390 1 1 I 76 963
the land was insufficiently ploughed and watered Barley 36,310 49,029 24,999
while ml:
which were not uprooted at the end of a seasoh
but l§f‘tai“m
or
another inevitably produced less lint.3
The and flood had even more serious repercussions Exports
murrain
on Egyptian food—product1on. Isma'il was first forced to
import 1861 1862 1863 (1864. 1865 1355
butter and meat; and then, in March 1864, when a large deficit /
in the coming cereal harvest seemed certain, he had to issue an Wheat 938.534 1.293.877 858,400 87,ooo 11,815
Beans 607.961 5901000 510.700 58,000 279,694
order suspending the duty on imported wheat and flour and Barley 1 9 1 ,1 76 279,575 1 1 5,900 5,600 ..
forbidding its export! A low Nile made matters worse, and Maize 89.086 83.039 152,000 11400 1,430
during 1864. and again in 1865 Egypt became a net importer of
Somzcas:
grain, although not on a large scale (see Table 11). Contemporary ' Imports: Statistique t1cl’Egyple, 1873 (Eg.), Table 103,
pp. 304-5.
writers often tended to blame this situation on the ‘avidité sans Exports: Carpi et Vivante, I and 2.
bornes’ of the fellaheen who were prepared to sacrifice every-
In addition, the murrain left few animals for harvesting and
thing for cotton,5 but this stricture is not entirely fair. In 1863,
transporting the cereal crop grown in the winter of 1863. It also
when about 700,000 feddans were devoted to cotton, there was confronted the peasants with a choice. They could devote their
an average grain crop, according to the British Consul-General, now depleted resources to preparing the ground for cotton,
while exports of wheat and beans were only a little below nor- or they could forgo a portion of their prospective profits to
mal.6 And although the cotton area was increased in 1864, the concentrate on a winter cereal crop of the normal size. In the
difference between the two years lay as much in the fact that event, they appear to have chosen the first course, although at
the flood destroyed a large proportion of the maize crop on the same time ensuring their own personal food supplies—the
which the fellaheen depended for food, forcmglthem to 633 small amounts of imported grain going largely to the urban
wheat instead, as in the fact that cereal-producing land was population. In Upper Egypt cotton-production was not on a
diverted to Jumeli sufliciently extensive scale to make much difference to the
in 185:-J= cereal harvest.
I The Timer, 2! Apr. 1864.. 25,000 head of cattle had been sold at the fair
Ibid. _ U_s_
2 '11-mycr gives a figure of three cantars/feddan for 5 Mar. I 563-
1852-: ' 866_ 4.. THE CULTIVATION AND SALE OF COTTON
15941:, 1'11’. T1111 had declined to two cantars/feddan by 1866. Hale, 1 A90
U.S. E910‘. I'V- According to estimates made by the British Consul, Stanley,
1 711; Tom, 21 Apr. 1864. M‘
4 Douin, Histoire, i, p.
' _
The prolnbi tion was attended scvcrfil 53*” “d in 1864, a million feddans, or about 40 per cent of the total
final] lifted untiljuly 1 -
82661. cultivated area of Lower Egypt, was placed under cotton.‘ By
5 six, for example, Carpi et Vivante, 2.
1 7711 Tinw. 29 Feb '3“ 1 ‘Egypt’, c.s.n., 1 Feb. 1as-,. .
5 cogquhoun, rfijuly I863: F-0- 73/1779-

.~-. _. . .1., . t

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104. The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866

The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866 105
then its growth had spread into every Delta province.
In
addition, it was sown over many thousands of feddans in Upper TABLE I2
Egypt.‘ Methods used do not seem to have varied much from cm of Cultivating One Feddan of Cotton in the Mansura District,
those described in earlier chapters. The majority of proprietors
1862-3
were peasants who owned land at some distance from the main
summer-water canals. For them, cotton generally followed a, Piastru
crop of maize which was cut in November. After that the Tax X00
ground was ploughed twice, at right angles, and then left until Ploughing 50
February, when it was flooded for fifteen to twenty days. Two Irrigation 60 Average yield:
Seed 20 4. cantars/fcddan
more ploughings followed, before sowing. In cases where cotton Hocing I00
was preceded by some other crop another of action was Picking ioo
course
pursued. If the land had been under wheat, for instance, Ginning 4.0
cotton
was sown first without any prclimmaw W°TkmS 0f the S011. and Total 4,80 (sic)
the flooding of the fields came next.‘ But whatever the
method, SOURCE: Thayer, 5 Mar. 1863: U.S. Egypt,
every effort was made to use the soil as intensively as possible in
order to try and maximize production. The rows cotton were
of those killed in the murrain.‘ Machines were, at least in theory,
planted more closely together than in earlier extra
into the rotation when days,_bv1vhile
possi e. less expensive to buy and operate, but contemporary calcu-
crops were introduced lations were generally based on an unrealistically low figure
Different practices were employed on the for the price of fuel. According to Ninet, coal which cost only
here, the 1“ t 6 m‘
for 5°Wmg C°“°“ beganlarge; estaiigls.C
Pr6P9'rati0ns 12} francs a ton f.o.b. Newcastle or Cardiff retailed at 75 to 100
March when .
the land was ploughed,
- Watered: “Fen P1°“gh‘id francs in the interior of the Delta. Even then regular delivery
ain. Planting began earl)’ May’ die -Sccdsdbein laced in
1“ could not be assured. Owing to the uncertainty of the railway
rows three feet apart. The cotton was 117183“ 333:.
grditimatel
Z service, consignments of fuel which reached Alexandria in April
da
four times during growth and often did not arrive at their final destination until August or
Artifi cial manure was on wecdetli elveryer esilgtles ridt. September, when the cotton season was almost at an end. In
5
lisedPasha,
ably that of Abdal-Halim Sa 1 S lg oatliger Harvesting
some'9d’t addition, Egypt did not possess the industrial organization to
‘Amer-mu comm
commenced in September. _F1g"r°5 frcfm fm . keep machines in good repair and the full-time employment of a
- f M are h 186 ve some indication of t h e co st of European mechanic was almost essential.’
dispatch o _3 S1 Table Ig)_
feddan m the Mam“ m district (see The money necessary to finance the cultivation of cotton
cultivating one Camus 3 dd total expenses of came from a variety of sources. In the case of the peasants they
a yield of four
Assuming dollars ‘a
Pt‘ 3' fcddan would work out atfcP t. ailio or six borrowed the cash they needed from the rapidly multiplying
480
cantar. It will be rememberedthat cotton could be sold for four number of village usurers.3 The latter, in turn, either had links
°’ fi"° tim“ ti-"S imoum Later’ hiillevenatheicultural
costs of tho“
wages
with Greek and other mercantile houses in Istanbul or Alex-
andria or had made their capital as village traders, selling
using to rcP1acc manufactured goods to the fellaheen. The estate-owners, on the
new cat c a:d.lT0SlEedl'(filf‘i::)dc
mgija-irngatllorli 0 0I'aIs3llIԤlr1aSed
rose and
. 19,000 ms were pwd v~m.°..°::::.':..°.r;.P:.'..8.r.*’,;.-«»n°=
. - E c ' I853-_1‘_‘“‘'il other hand, were able to obtain advances from banks and other
‘ Ninet, ‘La culture du coton en Egyptc ct aux Inda’, p. 356;
Thnycr, 5 Mar.
dcarw
“=3,,,,‘' :‘:,,:,'°.“‘....“'.’°. :‘:‘*.°.‘l.-‘.?.Z.f’: n:r.;.., 23 sq». -ass;-M, , ,5,
s '
1363: US. Egypt,
‘ Ninet, ‘La culture du coton en Egypt: et aux Inda',
p. 354,.
,pp-454 452- ’ Thayer, 5 Mar. 1863: U..S'. Egfi t,
: .11,Gr:,,,.w,e5 Mar. 1563: as. 123791, In-
n m Tim. 24 D°°- '353'

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The Cotton Boom 1861 —1866

105 The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866 ’ io7
money-lenders obtained an
credit institutions against land or cotton.‘ The ease with which two years;i th.mg from i to 5
money was provided, first to finance, then to move, the crop er centamonth for their loans-2 in 186 Y
sad that there
was a vital factor in promoting the extension of cotton. As th; was not one .of the .Alexandria nierchant: W
lthwal:
, _
Cultivators would accept payment only in gold, large amounts or tripled his capital during the first sumnoeraélfritclilt dlpubled
Oom-
But it must be supposed that in the first instanc
of bullion had to be imported each year, there being insuffi. th C be ulk of the
cient coinage in circulation even for normal needs. Proceeds from the sale of their cotton——some 2:
50,000,000 between the years 1861 and i866—firi/(e(i)i(i,(i00
By the beginning of 1863 at least a third of the Egyptian O ltlo
cotton crop was being ginned in steam-ginning factories, of cultivators themselves. As far as the fellaheen were conc tde
which there were then nearly eighty.‘ This compares with the much of the gold they received was at once buried or configlfeé
twenty-four which had existed in June 1862 and the fifty in into'ornaments for their wives. Some, however used their
November that year.3 Charges were high, being anything from Cammgs for such tradmonal P“rP0ses as feasts or’ dowries or
in a few cases, for making the pilgrimage; others to builé
one to four dollars a cantar, in addition to the right to keep
the seed, which was generally worth more.4 Nevertheless, the
houses ;4 others again to purchase silks, jewellery, silver i es
demand for factory services was so great that, even working furniture, and slaves.5 Maize flour was widely replaced by iiiieai
and many villages saw the erection of ovens owned by Greeks
night and day, they were often unable to cope with their com.
and Maltese for making breadfi Imports do not seem to have
mitments. ‘During last season’, Thayer wrote in March 1863, in increased peasant consumption,
‘I have seen many of these establishments entirely barricaded part
Pl£:y1e<t:lh:np (i)iSi:pbo1rtant
e of cotton goods and the animals
with cotton waiting to be cleaned.’5 The ginned cotton was yvi exception
introduced after the murrain.
then pressed into 500-lb. bales and sent to Alexandria for sale
L655 Can be deduced about the pattern of expenditure of the
to the merchants, the majority of whom were now acting as richer Cultivators. But in so far as the majority wen; as ct
brokers, receiving commissions from abroad, importing the little acquainted with European ways of life it can probablsybe
necessary gold, and purchasing the amounts required on
commission; while the remainder of the crop was bought up by assumed_ that the)’ _t00 Spent only a small portion of their in-
creased income on imports. A study of British exports to Egypt
their agents stationed at the main Delta collection points.‘ during this _P eriodw ou ld seem to bear this' -
out.7 On the basis of
Cotton seed was also purchased for export. In addition, a small tile figurcs 111 Table I3 it may be suggested that ’ with the excep-
portion of the total was crushed into oil at a factory built on the '
tion of a8ricult uzra 1 machinery, - .
the items where a large increase
edge of the Mahmudiya canal at Alexandria by a company occurred between 1861 and 1865 were unlikely to have been
under the control of Edward Dervieu.7
Purchased in any quantity by iich Muslims. The iron and
were destined mainly for the Government and for the
:°PPC1‘
5. THE EFFECT or INCREASED INCOMES FROM COTTON onstruction of European-owned buildings, the cotton textiles
‘
There were many opportunities for profit at each stage ofthe Thayer, 5 Mar. 1863: U.s. EUpt, iii.
production process. Ginning was such a lucrative business that : _§_fl‘)°1'5 and Outrebon, p. I 58.
12 Nov. i862: U.S. Egw,
many owners were able to regain their initial outlay within 4 T “IV”.
, 7;: 33, 3., Egypt and Jam: in the my Io,-4 (London, 1375), p. :37.
May I864; Taylor, p. I37. 5 Douin, f{1..f.l0.1‘M, i, p. 259,
,, Bn_fi ah""“» 9 ‘
1 Sacré and Outrebon, p. i 57. figurm have been used owing to the unreliability of Egyptian
3 Thayer, 5 Mar. i863: U.S. Egypt, iii. impom nafic:-‘portca. Not only was the method of calculating tlie latter haphazard but
1 Thayer, 5 Nov. 1862: Us. Egypt, iii. By the end ofthe boom in i866 thcflwc“ many E managed to
i I2 ginning factories in Egypt: Douin, Histoin, ii, p. mi. unhm
_ duty. The oflicial Egyptian
import‘ given "16:9 to_ayoid paying
4 Thayer, 5 Mar. 1863: U3. Egypt, iii.
5 Ibid. Wuhqw 4: IE0)“. {{573 035-) (pi>- 304-5) an. In fact. lower in
.95,‘ md we5 311-In
5 Ibid, the figures for British export: to Egypt.
7 Douin, Hisloire, i, p. 264.

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‘.4
108
The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866

TAB LE 1 3 The Cotton Boom,

1861-1866
Q_I_4antitie.r and Declared Values were for the fellahecn or for 109
of the Principal Articles of and other re-export to Africa, while the carri-
In:/1 Produce Exported from and British 3E°_5 1“x“rY g°°d5 We-TC mainly for
the United Kingdom to Egypt, sale to foreign
and 1861, resldenm
I355: 1854’ .
Further evl-d ence o f the low import
consumptlon during the boom
content of Egyptian
comes from the
186, fact that British
: 1864 x865"""
,5 ,g
cxp0I'lCSl?fS(;lC1;1g00d5 asfcotttzln-manufactured articles, woollens,
Apparel and haberdashery :6 though lI1C01TlCS had then
240,778 283,236 agricultural diminished sharply due
333,“, to lower cotton pI'lCCS and heavy taxation.
fim:1r‘:i3““““““'°“‘ The fact that
I3 74‘ ,8 em part of the cotton
gunpowder 1:“)! profits devoted
Book,’ prgmcd 5:009 493:; to the purchase aflarge
0 was
65,535 94,064 locally. produced goods had two
results. _In the first place,
Carriage, 5,312 3352., 1t was 1nstrumental in important
Coal, cinders, culm 77.354 55,585 prosperity into other areas of the
spreading the
“$3,651 206.091 economy, to the wheat-
and “““”°“3h‘ 38.24558
growers of Upper Egypt, for example, and to the artisans
gopggr. mush! 4,‘,:3,’,; ‘,*:g:g5;; in
C330,;
entued by the yard 867.553 2,492,997
flation in the price of all major food items, a
2a33°s‘55 situation
made
entered 3""“1‘_’° '°"’56
worse after 1863 by the murrain
and the consequent shortages
Drug: and chfignécaglliit fi,-‘Lem P224 15733 of butter, meat, and cereals. ‘There is a large
at rise in every
vcv:i::aii:xd cugery, unenumeratcd 31,411 5725”
n, wrought and unwrought 59333 in September 1863:
53:95‘ ’36’°9° 533498 t
em, entered by the yard 27,438 151451 _
-‘*‘°' Our daily _
‘
— Iteam engines
-nay;
household expenses have doubled in a year . . . th
enormous fortunes
9""°8 3 X22’o884 369 7,7 realised during the past two years
have caused
all other sorts 1 3”:9.M_ g money to be abundant, and the merchants have
62362 4'? ’5g_3 adopted a style of
Mal’-hcmadcal i“‘"“m°“t’ 16,836 , luxury and extravagance that enables them
Paper of all sort: 12,741 3,098
’ 1.150 to command the daily
’527 market and have forced up the price of articles
Plate, plated-ware,_iCW¢l1C|'Ys and , a ruinous height ' 1
of daily necessity to
W3‘°h“ W6 859 ,3,,43,, u,x,-164,
. - 8,429
Provisions. '10‘ °‘h°“”"° dcswbcd 19.155 23s7°4 And. in the following year he
Silk manufactures 1 79»,647 271,850 3'4-3‘-3 » ' ' forwarded a list showing the in-
28,201 crease 1n the price ' ' '
Stationery, othu‘ than paper 45 794 52,834 of varlous stap 1 es d unng th e p rev1o us four
Telegraph wire 30:5“ 7,470 years. Wheat, he said, had gone up
from 253-
6‘ quarter (64; per cent), beef from 5-8:1. to I5-4d. at0lb.425- 8d- 3
wooucmib
3%: V th° Van-1 23,831 90.554 3;’-:7, cent), eggs from 1-gd. to 4-25d. a dozen
(165 per
3,865 ,,,,:.,53 (124. per cent), and
other aniclc, 93°55’ 10%;
493’ geese from :2-8d. to 42-3d. each (230 per cent) .1 Consuls
never
considered their salaries adequate and are
thus not always the
Total: £2,278,848 £5r°5‘»63° £5’99°£ '3
est guides to changes in the cost of living, but in this
case
figures from other sources tend to bear Colquhoun
' . Reid out. Those
soma: J. R., M ’ Culloclu Commemal a who suffered the most were the urban
poor. Not only was
(London, 1969 . 9- 25-
M.cu11‘),ch, 00d more highly priced but it was often unobtainable, their
It
made fisur=*d,,_ and In
Nom: 3. M . Culloch 'fi’guresaretakcnfr°n'_' .1,.11
° oficial British
good! - yo.-A161"
be‘MM slnppcd gum : go] uh
25 Sept. 1863: F.O. 78/1755.
ci1t?t'l.i¢!:i:ht:xialthd“e:fi1i:ation oaoriiipiiiss include goods re-°‘P°“°d : cofiuhzuufij 10 May 1864: R0. 78/I818.
Arabia, “*7-
ggypt to the Sudan,

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? m

‘°3 The Cotton Boom , I861 -1866

The Cotton Boom, I86'1—1866
TABLE I 3 I09
_ , _ _ . were for the fellaheen or for re-ex
Q,I_tantzt1e.r and Declared Value: of tile Przrwzpal Article: qfBriti.rh and ages and other luxury goods Were P ort t0 Africa, while the Carri-
Ins/1 Produce Exportedfiom the Kingdom to Egypt, 1861, mainly for sale to foreign
residents.
18 5 '
anlgmteg
1354, Further evid
content of Egyptian
consumption dlfITi11(':1‘;'t?;lfetl})1(:oEl_(1)‘:0I1:1nP(t3‘Tt
' the fact that British
,35, "354 exports of such goods as cotton-manleisf
X365 F<t3m
, and haberdashery continued to 1ncr::s:retl-11arucfiesigzoouem’
£ £ 16 though agricultural income h d Tong I 7 CVCD
240.778 283.236 338,414. to lower cotton prices and lsieaty ttI:i.:tI2it;id():r“‘11shed sharply due
'
Appargluand hallxrggflhcry '
firearms 13,741 18,601
The fact that a larg5 Part of the co“
gunpowder 1,101 5,009 432:; to the purchase Of locally produced goséls tsW“? devoted
two
Books. Printed 55535 94.054 88,127 results. In the first place it was instrumental ' Important
Carriages 5.312 77.354 prosperity into other aortas of th in spreading the
55.585 e
cmdm’ ’°6»°9I to the wheat-
S33], and unwrou3ht
chutlm 3???? l§8'65l growers of UPPer EgYI3t for exa leconomy) and to the artisans in
co§§§"y§'§§’"‘ 48,384
’ 343,33;
J
Z?Z’3I,f
1
the towns ' Secondly5 it was partnori)" :l1 - .
flatjon in the Cause a
Cottons: of ‘rapid in.
price of all major food 1_t"=ems, a sltuatlon
entered b)’ the Yard 357.553 9,492,997 2.330.155 worse after 1863 bY the _ made
entered at value 10,456 35954 15.733 murmm and the °°n5€q11ent shortages
Drugs and chemical products 7,737 94a923 19,933 0f b
_ utter:_n_1ea-ta and cereals. ‘There is a. large rise in eve 17
Earthenware and porcelain 7,725 17,482 18,917 article of hvmg’, wrote Colquhouna the British C
31,411 67,620 59,283 onsul-General,
Hardware and cutlery, unenumerated ‘ in September I 863:
Iron, wrought and unwrought 53,251 935-=°9° 531:4-93
‘

steam engines 9.’-'03 312,384 359,717 I°::l_:n°:: dunng ‘hc Past “"0 Years have caused
52.352 ‘I Y b:r:]';ne5d’°ah5‘3d
un ant, and the merchants have adopted a style
all other sort: 3:337-£15» I of
Mathematical instruments 402.3%; "30 an d °xu‘3-Vagfince that enables them to command
1 the daily
papa. of an ,0", ,527
13.741 3.
‘$098 et and have forced up the price of articles
uxulry
of daily necessity to
I mar.
Plate, plated-ware, Jewellery, an d a mmous
hclghtx
‘7 6 I 859 I32 ’ 43* H‘ ’ 76‘
watches - - -
. . 3, 19,155 231704 . _

28,201 46,794. 52» 9 111 C pnce of varlous staples during the previous four
Stationery, other than paper
Telegraph wire 30.547 7'43: Wheat, he said, had gone up from 253. to 4.23. 8d. a
Y:3-TS- (64,; per cent), beef from 5-8d. to I5-4d. 21 lb. (165 per
23,831 90,554 M561
:':‘°’°dvaluc Y the Yad
Woollens:b
3,865 M9,,
Se:t1‘ter from 1-9d. to 4-25d. a dozen (I24. per cent), and
230,55, 493,178 407,3;
v geestlpfeggs to 42-3d. each (230 per cent) .2 Consuls never
Cam articles
ere E:-8d.
considrorg eir salaries adequate and are thus not alwa th‘’
£237as
. +3 £6=°5 1680
' £599°»943
’ - . the cost of hvmgt
.. . 7‘
Totals to changes 1n but in th1s case
G_
- glufides
bgflt"93 Om other sources tend to bear Col uhoun t Th
’ , . .
’ ed. H‘
M’
saunas‘; C;u‘l9l<;ch,
I . u
m°"° 1118111)’ Priced 1"" ‘t was °f‘°“ ““°b‘°m3b1°» and In
' u a n .

1m,(nL".ng0nL:I’Culldcli’s figures are taken from' the oflicial British .1‘

' ' shippedtrzgc
all goods . 33“ .
'ho-xldben°‘°“'““*“*‘°’°."3“f‘°'°°‘“""’°. good-9 ,.,_..¢xpon.edfi'°“' 'Co1uh 25 .ss:1-‘.o.a I .
of their final destination and thus include I Colquhoun’
q oun,1o lsviept 3. I-‘ ..7]
ay1864.. 0 78,1233.
33”” go the Sudan. A“bl.‘: °M-

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"0 The Cotton Boom, 1861-4866 The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866

June I864 the Privy Council was forced to ask Isma'i1’s
per_
to use government transport to supply the townspeople
mission
with the vegetables upon which they largely subsisted.1 The
rural population, on the other hand, can only have benefited
from the rising food prices. They also received additional
income by way of the concurrent increase in agricultural
wages_
Others to prosper from the inflation were the importers of
much-needed goods—it is significant that the price of coal, the
one imported item on Colquhoun’s list, rose by I00 per cent
between 1860 and i864—and the local middlemen who Werg
able to use their position to force prices up still higher.
Apart from the purchase of agricultural machinery by some
of the richer proprietors only a small portion of the profits
from cotton can have been spent on works of agricultural
improvement. The majority of the cultivated land was farmed
by peasants who had neither the means nor the mechanical
aptitude to buy European equipment, and no effort was made
to provide them with simpler but more efficient tools which
might have proved attractive to them.‘ Furthermore, it must
be supposed that the major piece of investment made by culti-
vators, both rich and poor, was the replacerrient of their dead
animals after the cattle murrain. As the price of an.ox was
then ,§E5o this would have represented a very considerable
outlay.3 There may also have been some purchase of land, but
there is no evidence to show how important thls Was-
6. THE SYSTEM 01-‘ TRANSPORT
The rapid increase in Egyptian trade at this time imposed 3
severe strain on Egypt’s harbour facilities and
t1_'3n5P°“3§°,':
system. In particular, the railway administration fqllfl
with the large quantity of cotton reqlfmng
t1
diflicult to cope
be taken to the coast for shipment, a problem which
further augmented by the fact that the increasing use of
£1”
the bulk of the crop was F63-dY_ R‘;
Carthy gins meant that
carriage to the coast in the first six months after harvestmg»
3 {cw
1 Guindi and Tagher, p. 132. Some compensation waf P1'°Vid°d f°" Mar‘
1: by the rise in wages of workers in cotton ginneriel: 'I'l13Y°1's 5
(/3 EDP’;
2 This point will be dealt with at
3 nay“, 18_]unc 1863: (LS. Egypt, in; The TW5, Jun‘ 3'
III
instead of throughout the following year as before. Some
delays
were first experienced in the win ter of 1862-3, and soon
after
his accession Isma'il was forced to send government
boats to
assist in moving the harve St-‘ At the same time
he romised to
accelerate W01‘k 0“ doubling the main line whichphad begun
in 1860.‘ The following winter conditions worsened. Not only
was thc Cr°_P fiarger than CV9’: but the flood, by interrupting
rail services in Qctober, caused more and more cotton to pile
up
at the intcrmfidlali fi Sta-ti0I1S, While large numbers of cattle and
machines accumulated at Alexandria for delivery to points in
the interior of the Delta.3 Service became increasingly un-
certain—there were sixteen collisions in March 1864 alone,
passengers had to be refused, and to judge from a series of com-
plaints from Taylor and Co., a firm of British merchants,
sizeable consignments of cotton were often lost, burned, or
delivered to the wrong person, without payment of compen..
sation.4 Another source of hold-up and confusion was the
Alexandria dock area. Here there was only one wharf, so that
the majority of ships had to be loaded and unloaded by lighter
-—‘always a work of much delay and frequently of danger’.5
Custonis-house facilities were inadequate and the streets
between the harbour and the town and railway station were
unpaved and often deep in mud.‘
Irritation at such conditions produced a long series of
protests from the mercantile community. These became par.
ticularly virulent in the winter of 1863-4, when,
in addition to
the
usual complaints about delays and losses, it was felt that
Isma-'11: in his position as the largest cotton-grower and chief
merchant in the country, was beginning to use the transport
5YSteIn for his own ends. A strongly worded memorandum,
drawn up after a meeting of leading members of the British
Cofnmunity in January 1864, accused him of monopolizing the
9 rallway for the carriage of his own goods and of taking over all
the lighters and labourers in Alexandria to unload the coal and
: “layer. 27 Jan. 1863: US. Egypt,
, Colquhoun. u May 1353: R0. 78/1754..
77" Times. 24 Dec. mag, 6 Feb. 1864.
:4 Apr. 1354; Saunders, 29 _]an., Calvert, 13 Feb., Saunders, no A9,,
=F.O. 14.:/54.
m;4Ibid..
: s'3“‘°n. I2.Mar. 1866: E0. 78/ I925.
Colquhoun, n Mar. 1865: F.0. 78/1871.

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Tke Cotton Boom,

H2 The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866 I86-5186.6 I I3
machinery he was then importing in such quantity.‘ Later OW that between the
after this first protest had been rejected, the same group claimed’ niflg . ° 6 'nni begin_
arrivals over dep2§r1ture:go?f1Aulgust 1354 there was
that one of their number, wishing to send a consignment of an excess of I2’°°° fmeigllcrs,
goods into the interior, had been told by a railway employee including 1,873 GFCCRS. 1,550 Englishniary1,187 Frenchmen,
that: ‘so long as there remained for transport a single package and 1,061 Austrians, bringing the totaleél,
“mpean population
of the merchandise belonging to His Highness, the Viceroy, the of the count‘? to roughly 90 0001 M0“
stayed in Alexandria, but an iincgeas. °f
goods of private persons could not be forwarded’! Nevertheless
it should be noted that by April perhaps three-quarters of the into the Delta towns or settled in Cairomg criumber Slarcad °“t
due to Isma'il’s plans for itlst}:10fraP1d1Y grow-
cotton crop had been exported} Nor did the protests go rm. ing importance
its position at the centre of the Delta retail t esjlelopment lmd
heeded. A new director of the railway administration was ra 6' The
of so many foreigners created many invest arr.“ial
appointed (‘the most able man in Egypt’), with an Englishman Opportumtles
Rouse, as chief engineer, more rolling-stock was ordered, and’ of its own. There were houses to be builinem
wood and other
materials to
work on doubling the A1exandria—Cairo line finally completed; construction be imported and new
catered. for. In addition ’ a number of, valuable tast.“ t°_ _b°
Meanwhile, a personal inspection of the customs area by ublic-utili
Raghib Pasha, the senior minister, led to a rapid clearance of concessions were awarded for the provision of Alfxandrja ants’
the piles of goods accumulated there.5 Isma‘i1 ordered the
construction of a screwpile iron jetty and an extra shed for the boom were
merchandise awaiting inspection, but there were insufficient people who were later to bt::3/EnliinsclffiyPtrd}1.m§g
t est-known names
funds for any more comprehensive improvements and his good in Egyptian buSiness_f0r exam 16 E0J. B;055, founder of
intentions were further hindered by what the correspondent of the house of the same name andpth,e fii th? merchant
The Times referred to as to introduce h draul' steam rstA1e-xandna
ms °Wn “Se: E- A-
Benachi the cbtton (lac pressei for
the stolid and inert obstinacy of the chief customs oflicer and his Schfl izziin 1865 2 andxplzgfirés
perverse tribe of subordinates, who, instead of aiding by prompt ’ W Opened up
andria branch of’Carver B h em and 9 an ihe Al?‘-
dispatch of business, create the most vexatious delays, and obstruct was soon to grow int 0
G111’
cute‘!-Pme
Hit the largest and most whim-h
the measures of the merchants to clear their goods and disembarrass important
iii
the country 3 How
the customs house, and so confusion and difliculty magnify with ontlltlo
6 great majority of the really ambi-
every additional store embarked.‘ tious Projec'ts of fl-TVCI} of group of
Alexandria merchaflttllriglkwfreatlllie
e 5, w om Z asgnall
0yvorll: come to the
country some b e fore the boom had begun. Among them
7. THE FURTHER EXPANSION OF EUROPEAN ECONOMIC were Edw d ])3Cars_
ervieu, Henry Oppenheim, whose Middle East
ACTIVITY IN EGYPT activities :1‘ad started _during the Crimean_ War, and Jules
Pastré a d Jean Sinadmo, men with Egypt
The cotton boom greatly accelerated the growth of Euro- whose association
went b nk to the days of Muhammad Ali. Like other bankers,
pean interest in Egypt’s financial possibilities. One manifesta-
6 ECexpanded their own activities to take advantage of
tion of this was the large inflow of foreigners. Some idea of the
size of this movement can be obtained from the figures provided
eyba Ffome in_vesting_in the cotton sector, others financing
ttadc°°m, _lmporting agricultural machinery.
involvand They were also
for the French writers Sacré and Outrebon by the Alexandfi a
ed. Individually and in concert, with the four large
* Memorial ofai Jan. i864, enclosed in Colquhoun,25 Mar. 1864.: E0. 75/1&3‘
1 Memorial of26 Apr. 1864., enclosed in Colquhoun, 3 May 1864: F.O. 78/law‘ ' Sacxe and Outrebon, pp. 213, 298.
1 77» Timer, 2: Apr. 1854,. 4 lhid_, 9 May 1354- ’ Wright, PP- 326. 438-9
‘ Ibid., in Apr. 1854- ’ InRinnat1'onobtain‘odfi'omMr.R.B.(hIvu.
’ ll7id., 29 Mar. I864.
D2164 8
I

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I 14. The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866

companies which were established during the first two years
of Isma'il’s reign, the Anglo-Egyptian Bank, the Medjidiah or
Egyptian Steam Navigation Co., the Egyptian Commercial
and Trading Company, and the Société Agricole et Industrielle,
companies whose initial high expectations and subsequent
misfortunes make them typical examples of Egyptian boom-
time finance.
The Anglo-Egyptian Bank was founded on a combination of
the two houses of Pastré Fréres and E. Sinadino and Co. It
came out on the London market in July 1364, with a nominal
capital of £2,000,000 under the auspices of two leading English
firms, Agra and Mastennan’s Bank and the General Credit
and Finance Co. Prospective shareholders were recommended
that ‘through the increase of trade [in Egypt], especially in
association with cotton, augmented banking and commercial
facilities are required’! Operations began in September 1864
and, in spite of the business difficulties which accompanied the
fall in cotton prices and the tightness of the European money
markets, the bank made a profit of nearly £70,000, or i6
per
cent of its paid-up capital on its first year! The Medjediah
and the Trading Co., on the other hand, were largely Egyptian
ventures, conceived, it would seem, by lsma'il himself. The
former, the purpose of which was to provide steam seryices in
the Red Sea, the Eastern Mediterranean, and on the Nile, was
brought out in May 1863 by a syndicate representing Dervlcll
and Oppenheim, together with a group of EgYPt13n P3-sh”
including Sharif, Nubar, and Raghlb-3 Although thc_ Pr_°'
moters had hoped to attract European capit81,_ thc
of the shares were bought by Egyptians, {he V1C°1‘°Yma,l°"‘etlVf
taking half. As the prospectus made clear, it was very hm‘; a
government venture: 6 per cent interest was guarantee mil; to
shareholders; coal, oil, and other necessary materials
exempt from customs duty; and the agreed to tra
we‘;-
company t‘
port all government goods at a discount of 25 per
Capital was initially fixed at ,(,‘E4oo,ooo but was subsequc
C°I‘l‘fl 'y
5
raised to ,€E8oo,ooo and then, in April 1864, t0 £E2,ooo,o00-
I Barker’: (A“8- 1864-): P- 738-
2 ' oL
xxv I
t\ld£¢ZI'iwD,°:ol.8:gu')V, . I3 .
s
. 4 Ibid., pp- 5-9-
“."“"“"",,,,,..,,,‘,,”,“?1',,E,',.;"; Colquhoun, in May 1853: 17.0. 78/1754-
Tlze Cotton Boom, 1861-1866
115
The Egyptian Commercial. and Trading also had Dervieu and
oppenheim as sponsors, Joined on this occasion
by repre-
sentatives from a number of Alexandria banks.
Abdal-Halim
Pasha was chairman of the board of directors. It was
originally
known as the Soudan Company and was
first intended to
operate in the vast areas to the south of Egypt, but, as the result
of pressure from European financiers who were invited to
lend
their support, its name was changed and its sphere of activity
extended to cover operations in Egypt itself.‘ A major part of
its enterprises consisted of crop loans to cultivators at I 5 to
20 per cent a year.‘
The fourth company, the Société Agricole, originated in
the
project of an Austrian, Antoine Lucovitch, to provide the
country with a system of cheap irrigation either by arranging
to supply the cultivators with pumped water, or by selling,
installing, and maintaining the necessary machinery on behalf
of private individuals. This scheme was presented to the
Viceroy for approval early in 1863 and, after some initial
resistance, his permission was granted. In the meantime,
Lucovitch had made contact with Dervieu, who took over the
actual organization of the new company, finding directors,
and drawing up the statutes. However, almost as soon as Isma'il
had once again given Lucovitch the authorization he needed,
the Viceroy brought affairs to a halt by indicating to Dervieu
that he should have nothing to do with the project} Landes,
from whose account these details have been drawn, suggests
that the main reason for this change of mind was the Viceroy’s
fear of the increased foreign interference in the economy which
would certainly follow the establishment of European-owned
pumps and workshops along the Nile and major canals! Such
3- supposition would seem to have been largely true, further
re proof being provided by a government circular issued on 11
July X863, only a week before Lucovitch’s application for
Permission to proceed. In this it was laid down that, in future,
plans to construct any pumps or ‘bridges’ (dams) would have to
‘bc submitted to government irrigation engineers who would
53)’ ifthey were to be allowed and, if so, under what condifions.
The ostensible reason given for this measure was that pumps
.
' I-.n.ndes, pp. 151-4. I Ibid., p. 235.
’ Ibad., pp. 261-3. 0 Ihid.. p. 263.

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116 The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866 The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866 117
and bridges involved the private use of what was public water’! 1854-5 had °“1Y T€&§he¢_i some ,QE1,37o,ooo combined,‘ while
but, as later events were to show, the primary purpose was to the land-tax, the major item, could not immediately be raised
provide the Government with a legal basis for ‘resisting Euro- by 3-nYthm8 111% the amount that the general rise in incomes
pean interference with the country’s system of irrigation. One seem to have Justified. This chronic shortage of funds led
might.
of the main threads which ran through Isma'il’s reign was his Isma ll t0 Cncouragff the Cstablishment of banks like the Anglo-
determination to prevent further foreign encroachment upon from which he might borrow heavily in return for
Egyptian
areas vital to Egypt’s economic well-being which had remained certain also led him to take steps to
under Egyptian jurisdiction (such augmenfiaiilours. Shortaget
15 OWII prlva offfunds
ortune as a means of benefiting
the ,e prosperity
not only a means of avoiding expensive litigation as the result directly from s‘ and thus supplementing
of claims on the Treasury but also a part of his long-term aim the Government’sColfllliltlyl
o cia income. No sooner had he become
of obtaining European as well as Ottoman recognition of Viceroy than he started to extend his estates, adding 200,000
Egypt's sovereignty. A second reason adduced by Landes for feddans
half a million or an eighth and a ninth of the
Isma'il’s objection to the new company was that by July 1863
gypt.3 Some of these fields were
area 0 pegween
total cultivate Sores,
he had himself embarked on a major programme of importing
purchased from relatives, others reclaimed from waste land, but
steam-pumping equipment and was anxious to avoid com-
a large number were seized more or less forcibly from the
tition.‘
peasants! Corvée labour was used to provide these new lands
peLucovitch’s scheme was resurrected the following year, the
with canals,
Viceroy giving his consent in exchange for what seems to have t em.5 iloughs,
or pplmps, 5 a resu}1)I‘(iSSCS,
t sma'ziilnd
was a e to p ace
othelrflmachirliery
were importeuzlhile
been an undertaking by Dervieu to take the company out of
an estimated 100,000 feddans under cotton in i864,° an amount
agriculture. For a few months after it was_ fioated in July I864 which, at prices then current, must have given him a gross in-
the ‘mach-
its stated purpose remained the provision of come from this source of some £2,500,000! The resale ofanimals
ines necessary for cheap pumped water.3 But by April I855 and machines undoubtedly increased this sum still further.
Lucovitch had been removed and the company Orgalilzed Another aim of Isma‘il’s economic policies was to develop
‘LI;
quite a different basis—to undertake government P“bh°fw°r Egypt’s resources by using European expertise and, if possible,
contracts and to engage in real-estate operations.‘ FCW, If an)’: European capital, in companies placed strictly under govern-
of the pumps imported were actually installed: _ ment control.3 Unfortunately for him, however, this combma-
Isma'il’s attitude to the various companies. tion rarely worked. The standard of foreign management -was
proilrides 1;;
important example of his approach to economic p¢_31CY- h n low; financiers like Dervieu and Oppenheim were more anxious
a.time w
most pressing need was, and remained, money. At to make a quick profit than to ensure a steady build-up of
t° ta
government expenses were mounting rapidly OWIHS E business; in order to attract and to keep financial 5“PP°“_1t
co_I1n€Ct‘3
necessity of spending large sums on public works Was necessary to pay over-generous dividends? The compames
with the boom, of meeting obligations under the also suifered from Isma'il’s own short-comings as a planner.
disastroeléi
I864, and of p_aY1ng mt"
Suez Canal arbitration decision of r
‘ Anon., minim : London, 1874). p-32-
: ' Hisloin,
on the debt of well over £I0,000,000 run up by his predecessoé Q o
i, p[>a-f2LligI,-!-)2.( 3 Aynon, 18 July i364: I-‘.0. i4.i]54.
revenues were increasing at a very much slower rate. Recctl}; 5°92 for instanc Col uh , 25 May 1354-9 F-Q 73/‘8‘8-
: °°1<luhoun, 25 eS’ept. il863°:uli‘l.O. 75/I755; AY"°“- ‘3J“1Y ‘354‘ R0‘ ‘4‘l54'
from railways and customs rose with the growth of trade bu Y
'D0iun, Hirtoira, i, pp. 261-2. _ _ ,
. Egypt’ Ministry ofForeign Affairs, Circular No. 53, :2'July 1863: C°Lg;‘l““’ 7
This estimate is based
fr‘:1: (£E3.2oo,ooo). Ibid.,onp.current
prices. Douin’: own estimate is 3030003000
I-’_-“d%6Pp' _ 262.
4 Aug. 1863: F.O. 78/i_755. _
. sodas agricolc ct indusmelle d‘EgypI:e, Siam (A_1mnd"_a-,‘ :9’ P*55_ cc 1 for example, Colquhoun, 4June 1863: R0. 7811755.
4 social agrieolc et industrielle, Rapport du Consul d’Adnwu:!7aM": Oseeu-. Go's’ comments, pp. 26, 41.
1865

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' ‘8 The Cotton Boom, 1861—;,956‘ The Cotton Boom

' ’ 1-86I_I866 i i9

f‘8ain, the W....‘;‘:*;‘:.°::::;*,:;::":z;":,‘:.:"

Too much was att

in short-term projects quite different fromgtheir ats Counters

8. THE COLLAPSE 0}: THE
B0 om
'
For example, in November 1863 the Trading 323:, Pub Cotton prices reached their °f "364--
pose. They then began to decline jusiezlg til: file ‘“T‘““°’
raised_,€7oo,oo_o by the issue of debentures in order to ,3”-"V °’°P beg?“
the Viceroy with money to pay for his imports of catlfl C
vide to reach the market, falling from fifty.tw ggpnan a Cantu m
in December In ro qua“
'
machines.‘ Consequently, their contribution to E gypnan dc‘
and August to thirtY‘seven
ultivators, including the ViceroY. Cpt hold of their cotton,
velopment was small. C _ rath"
to b.°l-row. than to sell at what they considered
To those merchants excluded from Isma‘il’s schemeS - referring number of ginning factories had to
attempts to develop the country by patronizing com lug to be an
stop kinge1i;ito:hp):i:c<:.Vgs.0 were hardest hit were the banking
founded by favourites and by enlarging his own estates wgames an worn.d credit com who had lent money against
immediate source of concern, and great alarm was ex rt: force
p3.l'(11lCS take up their now depreciated
ume. ad who were
housels ‘
at the thought that he might be trying to reverse the frei:-trsaldd anTh C ri d (tio and was its worst in April
seCl11'1tY-. at
policy established by his uncle. ‘They fear the tendency of: 1365. °t_515 d°€Pt;_n1€ as the American Civil War came
inue_
spirit of monopoly so inherent in all preceding Egyptian rulers usiness in t(1)VIal
to an Prigesgoii
en the centre of the most im-
Iansura,
(except Said Pasha) which it required years of firmness on the portant De,1 ta cotton-growing district, was at a standstill even
part of foreign agents to counteract’, wrote Colquhoun of the was that a third of the local harvest re-
British mercantile community in June 1863, after announcing thongh it the fields,
estimated
finally, on C. Joyce and C0_ of
mained in :Ap;-11 9,
the formation of the Medjidiah and Trading companies.‘ Suspi- Egyptian merchants, collapsed un-
cions of this same kind also seem to have lain behind much of an:rms made losses (the Bank of Egypt
ost ot er
LondonéuEas1t\/IIndiar}i1
the foreign irritation expressed about such matters as Isma'il’s ue ese at £2,000,000)‘ even though few actually went
veiarpecttlethy.
decision to invest money in Dervieu’s bank, or the assertion bankrupt} But then, almost at once, business revived, In the
that the Trading Company was preventing foreigners from first place, Southern stocks of cotton were revealed to be far
lending freely to the cultivators by seizing all this business for smaller than anticipated. Furthermore, there was no immediate
itself, with the help of the local authorities.3 Complaints of this prospect of a
return
to the large American crops of pre-war
nature were clearly designed to show that Europeans would not Thus prices began to rise again. And this, combined with
tolerate any attempt to interfere with the ordinary pattern of ylearfs.act that the crop was 800,000 cantarslarger than the pre-
‘c
trade built up during the previous reign. vious year, meant that there was no decline in gross incomes from
of
At another level, even more was involved than a display cotton. In the second place, Isma'il was persuaded by a com-
trade. mittee oflocal financiers to assist those firms who had lent money
resolute determination to uphold the principles of free
Commercial protests also seem to have be en very much stimu- °n 13n_d, now a worthless security following the collapse of the
at the Egyptian property market. According to the plan proposed and
lated by a desire to reassert the position of Europeans
start of a new reign (especially after the anti-foreign
riots by accepted: the Government took over these ‘village debts’ as
reinforce the current called, paying European creditors cany-
which this start had been marked), to h botililds
wifi ect e money
pro- itI}]‘;Y7W€:e interest, while arranging to co
belief of the European community that the Capitulationsshow
than privileges, and to fmm tficrdcent ebtors over a period of seven years at 12 per cent.
vided them with rights rather _
restrict Euro- T° ISma'il this had a double advantage. Not only did it
Egyptian officials that any measure thought to
pean activity would be fierccly resisted. : 77" TM“. 5 Apr. 1865.
‘ 4_Iune 1863: 17.0. 73/'755' Bank ofEgypt, Half-Yearly Meeting, 26July 1865, Banker’: Magaziat, vol. xxv
I 77.: Twin, 9 Nov. i863. (Au3' ‘355). pp. ior5-i6. 3 Luidcs, pp. 237-8.
1 Ibid.; Colquhoun, 4. Aug. 1863: 17.0. 73/I755.

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120
The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866 The Cotton Boom, 1861-1355
provide an opportunity to make some money - 12‘
and perhaps t Overnment loan _ for wh'1Ch it was the
gain control over more land, but also the G overnment 0 . . contractor
be spared the confusion and recriminations which forccd t0 Tc°rgamze’ the .T”d1ng and Agricole ’ and was
- .
tainly have accompanied a general expropri t'
_
woulldvoculd
C r-
driven to suspend operations.x WCTC finally
In addition, several
b E ginning
creditors.‘ The total of such debts was fi:ell)naty171:(?:ean l ack of
sell their Work, some owners
francs (£680,000). As they comprised just those loans ,0oo attempting to machinery
. at a thi .
made on original cost} 185 for Isma'i1 himself, surro1ii(id(:lF1a<.-,\1}11:lfl‘7i_‘d1ts
land, they represented only a small portion of
indebted. creditors and unable, temporarily
ness. Nevertheless, their prompt repaymen t total by eager to berm sithes
P1'0V1ded much. he needed_, he at once began a
needed relief for many members of the Alexandria sums serie; of increw .6
business the land-tair which in a few years were to
community.‘ wipe out Iisest II;
Meanwhile, the sowing of the 1865 cotton crop was the boom-tlme profits which still remained in the hands (til tli)
in pro. °
gress. In an attempt to compensate for lower prices, cultivators.
cultivators extended the area they devoted many I Anglo-E-gYPti3n Bank, General Meetin8, 30 Nov. 1866,
to jumel, Isma'i1 Bankn’: Magaziyg’
himself increasing his.cotton fields by half. Others, particularly vol. xxvii (.l3“- ’867)s P-.29; Landes, PP- 233, 303-4. 1: w as, however, several
car: before both compames were finall y wound up.
peasants, sowed their cotton more closely together. Thus , Hale, 17Junc 1867: U.S. Egypt, iv_
although agricultural credit was more diflicult to obtain and
the shortage of draft animals still persisted, it is probable that
the total amount of land placed under Jumel was further
augmented! But to offset this there was a further decline in
yield, there being neither workers nor cattle enough to cope
with such a large area.4 In addition, on land where cotton had
been grown before, the soil was exhausted after two and three
years of continuous cultivation.5 Hence, in spite of all the
efforts made the harvest was some 30 to 40 per cent lower
than the previous season. Its sale coincided with the final
collapse of the boom. Trade had remained steady throughout
the rest of I865, but most firms were working from capital or by
means of loans, so that when the London Stock Market crash
of May 1866 finally put an end to the credit obtainable from
Europe, many of them were unable to continue. A large number
of Egyptian houses went bankrupt; the Anglo-Egyptian Bank
lost £205,000 on its second year’s activities when it proved
impossible to issue more than a small part of a projected
1 Hale, 14 June 1865: U.S. Egypt, iii.
1 Landu, pp. 24.0-i.
_
3 Stanley, in a series of estimates already quoted, put the cotton area in 1865 3‘
1,5oo,ooo feddans: ‘Egypt’, C.S.R., 1 Feb. 1867. See also p. 103, note 1- on 3"
basis ofcrop size this would seem to be too large. Just over a million fecldflll
would probably be nearer the truth. _
b ‘Letter from W. Wanklyn’, C.S.R., I June I855; Hale, I Apr. 1866. Us-
EDI". W-'
5 wajlacc, pp. 320-1.

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Cott0fl ’5D0minantPosition in the Rural Ecanam

J’ , I867‘I87g 123
TABLE
' I4
and
Production Expo" qfE87Ptian Cotton’ 1866-
V 7 to 1879.80-
Productionb rt
fr
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF COTTON’s cantars éugntlaglflmdria)

DOMINANT POSITION IN THE RURAL Tz

1 867-; 1 "’6°»9-t-5
ECONOMY 1868-9 1,305,, 55 :»’g3»455
1867-1879 1869-70 1,3625%
1870-1 1,970,717
I’; 53:714-
1:936131197
1871-2 2,044,254 2003302
I. THE PRODUCTION AND EXPORT OF COTTON AFTER THE 1872-3 2,298,942
goflpooo
AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 13734 2,538,351 ,,074’00°
1 874-5 2,106,699 2,2850%
year 1866 marked the end of the cotton boom and of
1876-7 2,773,258
the great prosperity it had brought to the Egyptian 2,455,000
‘877‘8 925931670 2,325,000
Cultivators.
THE Though prices remained high until the 1,465,000
‘873‘9 ‘»533:74-9
autumn, exports of the 1865 crop totalled only 1,800,000 1879-30 3,198,800
cantars valued at £EI1,40o,00o, compared with 2,500,000
cantars and £E15,0o0,0o0 a year earlier.‘ Thereafter, however, Sovxczs:
Production: G. P. Foaden, ‘The Cotto n S mm of ‘B99’1 ‘7'K'A's' "- no. 5
production remained more or less constant for the next four (Sept./Oct. 1899)» P. 181.
years, the size of the crop varying between 1,100,000 and Export: 1866-7 to 1871-2: Stalistique d¢1'Egp1¢ 137 E 17+
1872-3 to 187t3—9: _]. Rahino, ‘Some Statistics of l?3g(y:t’),’ qf an R001
1,400,000 cantarsfi Meanwhile, on the assumption that the Socugy ¢fLandar1, vol. xlvu, pt. 3 (Sept. 1884.), p. 4.28. (Rabino gives as
average yield at this time was in the region of two cantars per own source, the firm of Carver and Co.)
itlgustwal
feddan,3 the area placed under cotton must have diminished Nous:
to some 600,000 to 700,000 feddans, leaving perhaps a quarter
'
n. The years given refer to the cotton year 1 Sept ‘ to 31 Aug'1 with the ex CCPCIOD
_
left of those for export 1866-7 to 1871-2 which refer to the Coptic year, 15 Sept.
of a million feddans to be reallocated to other crops or to 14 Sept.
fallow during the summer. Some small compensation for b. Figures for production actually refer to cotton grown in the previous cotton
cultivators was provided by the continual expansion of the Vfar, but harvested in the given year.
°- F181!-rd given are in quintals 1866-7 to 1871-2, after which they are in cwu.
' For sources, see Table 7. _
‘ There are a great number of alternative series of figures for crop size and marltet for cotton seed, but once cotton prices had begun to
3°
volume and value of cotton exports for the period 1866 to 1879. I haV¢ Ghost‘!
14; and
decline this did not prevent a fall in their gross incomes of more
and the volume of exports to be found in Table
use those for production
those for the value of exports to be found in the followin sources:
(1866) Carp! 63 Eh“ 50 Per cent from the 1865 level;‘ and the main factor
Vivante, 2; (1867—g) de Regny, 1-1. (ed.),Slat1Im'q1u de 1' 9171: (Alexandria,
1870). Inhibiting a further decrease in production was probably that,
Export: at the For! ‘if average
pp. 59-60; (1870-3) Stalanent Showing the Quantiy and Value of
Commercial Relatioris
th°“8h 10W, prices remained well above their pre-war
Alexaidviafor the Year: 1865 to 1875 Inclvmlve, ‘Report Upon the and» as a rule, well above those of any alternative crop such as
oflhe United States with Foreign Countries for the Year 1876’—-‘Egypt’: Em-W" Wheat. Harvests began to increase again around 1870. Initially,
(hereafter, Statewni,
Docunad: (U.S.), and Session, 44th Congress, pp. 928-33
1&5-I875 (U.S.); (1874.—9) Egypt, Direction Générale dc: Douanes, this Seems to have been largely the result of a rise in yield, but
away 11: rtgpu. sraeemqw w»-pm. I884-I889 (Cairo, x891). pp. xvu-xv=- N0.“ .xThflfltimnteforthedeclineinineomeisbasedontheutentofthefallinthe
ofdsaefiguruhaveanygreatclaimtoaocuracynndallshouldbeusodwlt-ll 16.
Pnceofeottonandothereropsafi ei-1865:seeTahle
I See Table I4-
000,500.

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The Establishment of Cotton’: Dominant Position in the Rural Economy, 18674379 125
194
on the other hand, never regained
later, for reasons which are unclear, more land was devoted every thr_eel}";ars.1 Vtltheat,as an export
crop. Although harvests
to cotton.‘ By I875-6 exports had reached some 2,600,000 its ,.g.Civi dar posi lOfl’1a the three lean years, 1864-6, the
cantars, over 100,000 cantars more than their boom-time peak soon mcreaseb 3- ‘"03
agaiin tler reached that of the 1850s, while its
They then remained around this mark until 1880, with thé volume S¢n_t Tarcd)’eclmed to such an extent that, even
'0
exception of 1878-9, when cotton, in common with all other value r61at1V€ Citron
1
after a g00d 53350" 185743, export receipts amounted to only
Egyptian crops, suffered severely from the disastrously low fifth 0 f6those of the other} This change, though
over a
Nile of 1877. 3 little deplored at the was not as unfortunate
This rapid recovery from the after-effects of the boom con. almost universally To make the ObV10uS time,
point first, whereas in
as it first seemed.
firmed cotton’s predominant position in the Egyptian economy_ late 1850s gross returns from a feddan of cotton and one
The extent of this can best be seen in the more accurate foreign. the
the _5a111€, twenty years later the
trade statistics which began to be issued by the Government of wheat were 3-PP’°x1mate1Y
three to four times the size of the latter, a
were some
Statistical Department after its establishment in 1873. Table 15 former
was to at more or less the same level
shows that between 1874. and 1879 cotton and cotton seed differential which remain
until 1914.3 Again, Egyptian wheat was destined to become
world markets. Not only was
TABLE I5 increasingly uncompetitive ui.
methods of
and its grain of an inferior quality,4 but primitive
Export: of Egyptian Cotton and Cotton Seed by Value threshing meant
that it was inevitably mixed with earth and
as a Percentage of Total exports, 1874-9‘ substances and was thus almost impossible to
other foreign
also kept the costs of pro-
Cotton and preserve.5 Traditional techniques
high compared with those in other countries. Whereas
cotton seed as duction
agricultural expert writing
Cotton Cotton seed Total exports percentage of in Europe, according to one French
,€E {E total arports men with two horses could harvest fifteen acres a
,€E in 1868, two
the employ-
1,455.59? 14:914»959 31'9 day, in Egypt the same amount of work necessitated
I874. io,75i,4.24 men and was very much more
i875 9,837,371 1381.593 14,314,315 75‘7 ment of ninety to a hundred
15.068995 75-3 For this reason Egyptian cereals were less and less
1876 9,736,345 1,617,621 expensive.‘
1877 7.954.045 1,806,154 14.155»9=4
8:995:97-4
“'9
74'3 able to compete with those produced in America and Russia,
1,122.-ioo
1878
i879
5,559,455
9,020,947 1,463,183 14,939,235 70'? where the advantages of large-scale farming and mechanization
were already beginning to make themselves felt in lower costs.
(Eg.), pP- Xii-Xi3i»~XViii‘Xi*- Cotton, however, suffered from no such drawbacks: its quality
SOURCE: Le Commerce exlérieur do l’Egypte, 1884-1889
have been augmented by one-mntlh was good and, because the process of sowing, weeding, and
Norm: a. In each case the original figures
This is to account for the fact that the
Customs undervalued exports
by X0 P61‘
picking could be performed only by hand, the expense of its
r. major
cent from 1873 to August 1911. See Appendix cultivation remained in line with that of the other
cotton-producing areas, India, Brazil, and the southern states
per cent of the country’s
combined regularly contributed over 70 Of America.
is also demons trated in the figures f0f
export earnings. It
crops. In 1874, for example: ‘ For arm see Table :8. ' See Table 18.
the area placed under various _
3 For the 1850: see p. 80, for the 1870! see the prices in Table x6. I have Lsumed
850,000 feddans, or practically a third of the cultivated _
over Md: of three cantais and three ardabb:/feddan.
to cotton, On the assumption : Cguvidou, Dr. H., Em sue l'Egypte mntemporaine (Cairo, is-,3), pp.
196 r.
area of Lower Egypt, were devoted
rotation, a large 1}f°P°"' culture du coton en Egypte’, p. 577.
that Mako formed part of a triennial planted with it once
0 N139‘, ‘La
B°h1I1fl , A.. Observe!" my Pleat aeluel de (‘agriculture en Fgph
(1868), p. 7. (A
have been
tion of the Delta fields must C°PY '0 be found in A.E.PJ., Dos. m/1.)
1 ForestimatuofoottonaieaIndYi¢ld.I°¢Tlb1° ls-

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Position in the Rural Eoonom

/cantar to-nun
us:-raga‘: J) [867"I
position of cotton 127
Price Pt.
The predominant
€511?‘

td- .-, canasobeseen'

1
I 11 s . th
guusxaeas
one dgvelopmen
,dcl‘l,I;)l::gd aspia
of an important
most reign, to secltlbr oi‘
..w.."2"'i“:’q?°-3"3."1.
auxczcs xvi1'—x1'x. thc economy entirely its production and ex"
"3-0:0 aa<o°3 F33 This sector was naturally cen
Sugar Value {E --mc«0'>1nco1\
pp.
o,t_ . mid On Alexand ' '
of the_ma1n cotton market, the port from
proportion of the cotton whic}rl1aa,nth(e‘se1te
whelmmg was sent abroad and
(Eg.), the
Dim of entry of the large sums of money which W
D

from Europe to move d d

1879' 90 9885 89 87 8
1 each year the crop. In this :3:-£5? tic
Price Pt./ardabb 92 93 92

and 1684-1889 TABLE [7

Exports ry‘Eg11m'd71 CW1! 33'0" and After the American Civil War
Beans Value {E 257,500 469,912 734,587 291,505 325,137 734,626 391,750 208,744847,013 l’Egypte, (annual averages in ardabbs)
1866-73 dc
1849-50. 1352 1355 18614 1866-9 .570.‘ 137*“
/ardabb axtlrieur wheat 9°51744 "574-35’ ’»"5,3°6 579,403 /440,911
Exports, Price Pt. 127 122 115 88 109 123 104 119 117 gem, 387,224 445.246 598.981 513.409 554.411 688,131
Burl!!!’ 2351375 75,555 15,030 732,659
MNWC‘ 857563 651983 54,755 47,1095
Commerce
16 504n 895n 359. 422. 020a 983
l\ 436
5,000
_ Le
I 15 Soullcfl s:
1349-50, 1852: Macaulay, 22 M313 1549, De Leon, 1o_]an. 1854: U5. Egypt, ii.
902,096 ,2o4 385 559 902 468 ,493
Agricultural Value ,gE 1 I 1879: 1855: DeLeon, 1 May 1856: US. Egypt,‘ ii.
1861-2: See Table 11.
TABLE 1866-73: See Table 16.
(US), 1874-5: Statement I865-1875
Egyptian 1876-8: R. J. Moss and Co., Egyptian Statittiml Tableaufor thcjcar 1891 (n.p., n.d.)
1879: See Table 16.
Price Pt./ardab 61 71 78 71 76 77 79 73 84
Norms:
1855-1875 one-ninth. a. Described as ‘corn’, 1861-75.
Major Seed 83 by
072 364 037 1
503QONAA“ b. 1875, 1879 only.
of
427,140 495,345 666,789 557,623 708 983 ,057 ,006 town’s facilities were considerably improved. New jetfies,
Cotton Value 512 1 1 1,463 Statement,
Value augmented
wharves, and docks built by Greenfi eld and Co. were com-
pleted in 1880, while, in the ten years after 1869, over £200,000
and 1867-73: been was raised and spent by an International Committee. repre-
sugar: 2. senting the European inhabitants on paving and drauung the
Price 0 have streets around the railway station and Miniat al-Bassal, when
Price Pt./cantar 640 465 41 433 413 338 426 420 327 2.
n. beans, 1879
most of the cotton was sold.’ Alexandria also beflefittd fmm 31°
Vivante, government programme of public works. 111 the YC3-T5 33°’ 1853
122, et for
wheat, It Was connected by rail and telegraph Wltl} 1118
1,25o p.
centre of the main Delta cotton-prodllf-mg dlsmclsa thc
see seed,carpi Figure
1,424,o0o6,642,060 5,836,005,700 5,075,291 6,242,689 9,236,598 10,070,6319,020,947 ' R‘PWfb}Act:'ug-Comul Caluntontlw rraauuammefdbmfififvfi 7-2
Cotton Value £5 1 a.
1866: ’’’7‘- ‘’-P-- 1878-9, VOL 1101i, 1111- 39-40-
cotton: Cotton
1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1879 Sotmcn: N011:

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128 T/ie Establzlrlzment Qf Cotton’: Dominant

Position in the Rural Economy, 1867-1879 [29
Mahmudiya canal was dredged once again, and in 1863 the
Egyptian Post Ofl ice, established three years earlier be 3: to debtors.‘ Thus, cotton-cultivation remained largely in Egyptian
transmit money-orders of up to Pt. 8,000, and gold ,andgsiI1lvet hands. Very little can be learned of the actual conditions under
of any amount, to all branch ofiices in Middle and Lo which it.was produced at this period, but two points can be
Egypt, thus providing a regular, safe method of sendjn vtvfir6 made. Firstly, owing to the fact that cotton was grown over
funds into cotton areas at harvest time.‘ In the rriea such a Wldfi aT€3,_lt‘Can be presumed to have occupied the
necessary attention of the majority of proprietors in Lower Egypt whether
the growing importance of the cotton trade was attracli.-
time,
mg greater and greater attention. Houses like J. & 1>_ plant rich estate-holders or peasants. At one end of the scale there
which were originally general merchants, began to concentrgib was Isma'il, who in 1871 devoted an estimated ioo,ooo feddans
to cotton and by careful management obtained a yield of 54}
exclusively on cotton.’ B. Tilche and Sons took the same stee
cantars per feddan;2 at the other were the vast majority of the
when they moved the base of their activities from Cairo tp to employ the balli method of culti-
fellaheen, who continued
Alexandria in 1869.3 There was also a trend towards horizontatl
vation and a short rotation which emphasized quantity rather
integration inside the trade. Some houses, like Planta’s, opened second place, average productivity per
than quality} In the
branches in Liverpool to market their produce; later, others acre rose during the period. After
being roughly two cantars per
bought or established ginning factories or even, like Tilche’s feddan at the end of the Civil War boom, it was estimated to
began to grow their own cotton.‘ But specialization at each have reached two and three-quarters cantars by 1871 and three
stage of the production process also increased. The number of by 1874.4 Whether this represents a similar improvement in
ginning factories, which had shrunk immediately after the agricultural technique it is impossible to say. It would seem
boom when lack of business had forced some owners to close it was caused by such developments as the
more likely that
down, revived, and in 1877 the French COnSul—Gcnera] of the soil in certain areas after its exhaustion during
recovery
1863, and, perhaps
reported that there were seventy-one such establishments at the boom, the effect of new canals dug after
cotton such
work in the Delta.5 Again, in the mid 1870s, C. F. Moberly most important of all, the evolution of new types of
of initially, a higher
Bell, an Alexandria merchant and occasional correspondent as Ashmouni and Bahmiah with, at least
previously worked for the firm of Peels, yield.5
The Timer who had and
went into the business of transporting cotton through
the town Direct contact between the small Muslim cultivators
limited, owing
from railway station to port by means ofhorse-drawn
carriages.‘ European ginners and merchants was generally
of custom and
Little foreign capital was placed in the cultivation
of cotton to the many difliculties concerning differences such
while which still surrounded
itself, however, Tilche’s being a notable exception, language and commercial practice
after 1876
foreign ownership of land remained limited even ' By 1887, after the Mixed Courts had been in operation
for eleven ‘yea-B.
of the total cultlvatfid
European per cent
foreign nationals owned only 225,181 feddans or 4.} in the_Dc1t3. T-he P¢"3€m3_£°
when the institution of the Mixed Courts introduced
on their area. Even ifit is assumed that all thse holdings were
mortgage law and allowed creditors to foreclose for Lower Egypt alone was only 8 per Cent 58¢ B351‘;
H‘-‘W3’ ‘If LW‘d0"”|9’-WP:
. .
1 Frangois-Levemay, Guide-Annuaire d’l§g;p!e. Amide 1872-1873 (Cairo, 11-d-b p- 67- Commerce qfAlexandna Dnmug
’ Report by Consul Stanley on the Navigation, Trade and
P- 15+ the fear 1871, }’.P., 1872, vol. llvii, p. 382.
‘ Wright, p. 289. s McCoan, J. (1., Egypt A: 1:1: (London, 1877). pp- 19H-
1 Ibid., p. 4.52. 4 For sources, see Table I8.
to establish a LiVCfP‘_’°l widely cultivated for the nut
4 Ibid., pp. 289, 452. Planta’s were not the first house 5 Ashmouni was introduced in the 1860s and was
and there may have been 63-7115" ed in 1873 and had a slightly shorter
Cavafy’s had done so in the 1850s twenty years. Bahmiah was discover
branch;
1’. Cmfi (London. 195'): an account of the evolution of these
and other WP“ 5°C E57954" _ _
instances. See Dalven, R. (trans), 77:: Complete Poenuqfc. the British Cotton Industry Rc§e:_4mh Asocutxon.
Product: (Eg.), pp. 43-50, and
p. 21 r. Production and Cluxractmstur of the World’:
5 Guindi and Tagher, p. 136. See also Douin,
Hirloin, ii, p. I21. P Sllirlg Instituk Memoirs, vol. 20K! The 27-34-
54-5: '35‘9 ' cam Crops, ii, pt. 2, ‘Egypt’, by E. Lord (Fcb- 1946). PP-
‘ Mobetly Bell, 21 Oct. 1876, 13 Oct. 1878, M.B.P. (1876-81), fll
831“!
K
Wrisht. iv. 459-

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130 The Establishment of Cotton’: Dominant Position in the Rural Economy, 1867-1879 13;
transactions, and even after the establishment of the Mixed His clients, the 1aWY¢1' Wrote, Were used to buying considerable
Courts, the Alexandria houses, in particular, preferred to deal uantities of cotton every harvest-time by means of an arrange-
through intermediaries. Money-lending, for example, was left ment with the shaykhs Of 3 number of villages, who promised to
largely to the Greek, Syrian, and Jewish usurers who lived in supply an agreed amount in exchange for an advance. At the
the villages, supplied if necessary with funds from outside; same timc, Wh1tW01‘th’S dispatched a sufficient number of
Wallace mentions a lender who, by becoming the agent of an boats and sacks to collect the cotton, which was then brought
to the Canal- Of river-bank by the cultivators, weighed, and
TABLE 18 taken off to be ginned. This method had always worked smooth-
1y until a month before, when a series of complaints had been
Estimates of the Area Devoted to Cotton and of the Average Yield of
Cotton jzerfeddan, 1866-74 received concerning the systematic attempts of the ‘Wekil’
(wakil) of Daqahliya to hinder the commercial arrangements
Area Yield thus made.‘ On one occasion he had seized eight sacks of cotton
feddans cantars/feddan contracted for by Whitworth’s and sold them in Mansura for
the profit of the Government; on another, he had beaten a
1865-6 2 (5) shaykh who had contracted to supply cotton, making him
750,000 (1) 2 (6)
1869
2e (7) return the advance, of which ,€20 was then found to be missing;
1870-1
and, on a third, some fellaheen had themselves refused to hand
1871 718,997 (2) 2% (2)
699.000 (3) over their cotton without the ‘Wekil’s’ permission. The out-
I874 87r.847 (4) 3 (4) come of the protest is not known.
The last instance mentioned by the lawyer is also interesting
Souncas: from another point of view. The cotton which the shaykh had
during the
1. Report by Mr. Coruul Stanley an the Trade and Commerce of Alexandria originally agreed to supply at Pt. 255 a quintal was taken to
Tear I869, P.P., 1871, vol. lxv, p. 526.
Mansura on the ‘Wekil’s’ orders, and there Whitworth’s again
2. Slatistique de l’Eg;-pie, 1873 03.3.), p. 283.
3. Lahita, M., Tarflch mixr at-iqtimdi (Cairo, 194.4), p. 287. _ tried to purchase it, this time for Pt. 280. On the assumption
for the}-ear: 1874
4. Report by Consul Cookxon on the Trade and Commerce ofAlexandria that the second price was a competitive one, based on the
vol. lxxxi, p. 423.
and 1375, P.P., 1877, current Alexandria quotation for that type of cotton, less the
. Hale, I Apr. 1866: U.S. Egypt, iv.
O‘)U| . Douin, Histoire, ii. p. 137.
cost of ginning and transport, the profit which Whitworth’s had
7. Francois-Leverney, pp. 18-19. hoped to obtain by making their own arrangements with the
shaykh does not seem an excessive one and suggests that the
to 15
Alexandria merchant, was able to secure cash at 10 village leaders with whom they dealt were well acquainted
per cent a year which he would then relend at 3 to 4 P61‘ with the price their product could command.
cent a month.‘ Again, the buyers sent into the villages to pur- Different methods of sale were employed where the owners of
chase cotton would often draw up a contract for delivery with large estates were concerned. A few ginned their own cotton,
a shaykh rather than with the fellaheen themselves. An 111_11S' after which it was sold directly to an Alexandria merchant;
tration of this latter method, as well as of the dangers wh1_Ch others received advances from European-owned ginning
factories in exchange for future delivery of their crop.’ Isma'il
continued to attend such business, is provided by a complaint
sent to Stanton, the British Consul-General, in December 1375!
‘ It is not clear exactly who the ‘Wekil’ was. The Arabic Word 10051 (in man
anyone from a simple agent to someone who held important ofice. In this use it
by a lawyer representing the Alexandria firm of B. Whitwofl h-' seems to have been some senior ofiicial of the provincial governor.
x Wallace p. 288. ' Great Britain, Intelligence Branch, Qiarter-Master General’: Dept., War
. L, 9, Kirby, 3 Dec. 1875 (a copy cram letter is contained in A.E.P-I-. D0‘- omcf-‘, Report on Egypt (London, 1882), p. 115.
is/6).

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7"’
132 The Establishment of Cotton’: Dominant
himself took his cotton to a produce market he had established
in Alexandria where the buyers were able to examine each bale
carefully.‘ But it is significant that even some of the large
proprietors preferred to consign their cotton to a Muslim agent
who, in turn, sold it to a foreign exporter. Information about
this latter practice comes from the copy-book of one such agent
Mustafa Manzalawi.‘ Manzalawi owned 600 feddans of land
in the Delta at Abu'l-sir, near Samannud. Day—to-day manage_
ment was left in the hands of his brother, Shaykh ‘Ali Manzalawi
and a nozir, but the general direction of affairs was exercised
by Mustafa Manzalawi himself from Alexandria, where he
had gone to live some time in the x87os. In addition, he also
carried on business on behalf of fourteen or fifteen friends,
relatives, and neighbours, selling cereals which they consigned
to him, standing as security for any loans they might require,
assisting them in legal matters, and sending them the machinery
and goods they requested. He also acted as their broker for the
ginning and sale of their cotton.
Manzalawi’s copy-book contains a record of letters sent both
to his estate and to his clients between February 1880 andjune
1882, a period which is strictly outside the limits of this chapter
but described here because the type of business belongs also to
the last years of Isma'il’s reign. It seems unlikely that it in-
cludes all his correspondence, but there is sufficient to provide a
picture of his activities throughout each cotton year. Starting
in 1880, there is no mention of cotton until the autumn, the
spring and summer being mostly devoted to the settlement of
accounts between him and his correspondents, or between
individual correspondents (he acted as a kind of clearing-house),
and to details of the sale of wheat and beans. But on 31 August,
as the harvest approached, he wrote to a firm of merchants,
Messrs. Basili and Hanfuri and Co., to confirm his acceptance
of a contract they had made with one of his clients to purcha-SC
120 cantars of Fully Good Fair cotton and 200 ardabbs of cotton
I mpm by count Stanley on the Trade and commem ofAlexandn'afor the rm 107*-
73, pp. 1874, vol. lxvii, p. 4.9.
2 I have been allowed to read this copy-book thanks to the kindness of Dr-
Mzhmoud Manzalawi, from whom I have also obtained the information lbw‘
his family’: history. Mustafa Manzalawi inherited 4.00 feddans from his fatl1¢I'- In
addition he obtained another 200 feddans from his wife, who was left it by he? f“h“'
sobhj hey, Abbas’: Keeper of the Seal.
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Position in the Rural Economy, 1867-1879 133
seed, a transaction for which he seems to have stood as some
sort of security. Then, on 26 September he wrote to Hajj
Muhammad al-Majlub of a conversation he had had with a.
certain Mr. Bija: ‘We have spoken to him about ginning your
cotton. He showed readiness. He also said that if you are inter-
ested in some cash he can deliver it to you. If you agree please
advise us so that we can get the money from him and send it.’
Again on this subject, he wrote a day later to his brother
informing him that Bija had agreed to gin the cotton of al-
Majlub and others, after which it would be forwarded to him
(Mustafa Manzalawi) for sale. Cotton started to arrive in
Alexandria at the beginning of October. On the 7th a letter
was written to Hajj Ahmad Arabi acknowledging the receipt
of twenty-seven sacks, which had immediately been sold. There-
after, there was an increasing number of letters informing his
correspondents of the arrival of their cotton and of the price it
had received. At the same time, he generally advised them of the
dispatch of a money-order to cover the amount in question. He
also forwarded any additional cash or sacks they might require.
Occasionally he had to chide a client. For instance, on 26
October 1880 he wrote to Yahya Fakhri telling him that
Messrs. Khuri, merchants, had inquired three times about the
cotton he had contracted to deliver to them during the current
month. This was no good, he went on, and he hoped the con-
signment would soon be forthcoming. Again, on I November
he complained to al-Sayyid Fattuha that, when after great
difficulty he had sold his forty-three bales, the buyer had
refused to take delivery because they were greatly under-
weight. ‘Please note this in future’, he added.
Mustafa Manzalawi was also active in selling his own cotton.
In October 1880 he seems to have been particularly anxious to
get it to market as quickly as possible, presumably because of
favourable prices, and two letters to his nazir tell him to com-
plete the ginning at once and to forward the cotton without
delay to Alexandria, by rail. Later in the season he also obtained
cotton from other sources. A letter to the Alexandria station-
master in April 1882 concerns his successful bid at an auction
of cotton held at the station, while the same month he wrote to
°n¢_ Of his correspondents asking him to buy seventy cantaxs
which he had heard were for sale on the Daira (estate) of the
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134 The Establishment of Cotton’s Dominant Position in the Rural Economy, 1867-1879
135
was the work
Khedive’s grandmother, and another, unspecified, amount from to the of autumn mists, but as soon as
the Daira of the Khedive himself. bpllli in 1866 he found evidence of a
Whether, in the light of such activities, it is correct to call oanovicu
very Sma Wf’m‘ In
eganlresfiarches
Mustafa Manzalawi a broker or a merchant is diflicult to in his Cairo garden enabled him to learn
seed; Experiments
decide. His role seems to have been that of an agent for certain more Of its h9fb1t5- If-5 6855» he Wrote, were deposited on the
acquaintances who, it can be supposed, were much happier to cotton stalks 5PT111_g and flourished feebly there until the
deal with a fellow countryman and a fellow Muslim than plant flffwere :1
’ at whlch stage the)’ began to attack the seed,
directly with foreign merchants. Again, it was greatly to their preventingthe development of the capsule. Damage became
advantage to have someone living in Alexandria with a know. noticeable in S6Pt‘?mb°r and was particularly severe in cotton
ledge of European business practices. This was particularly so grown by the bell: _method, which reached maturity late due
after the establishment of the Mixed Courts with their often to the fact that it did not receive any major watering until the
baffling legal procedures. He was also better able than they to Nile started to NSC’ in _’]uly.2 In boll: areas there was often ‘la
secure credit. Not only could he put his signature on bills as perte totale de la .3 Joanovich ended his pamphlet by
security, but as an established member of the Alexandria suggesting ways an means of
refiolte the new scourge. As
combating
business world he could borrow money on his own account at a soon as.S1gnS <_3f the Worms appeared in any plantation a
lower rate than that offered directly to cultivators. In_]une 1882, minute inspection of all plants should be undertaken and the
for example, he was able to obtain a loan of nearly £8,000 infected ones uprooted, ‘put in sacks, and then placed in water
from a Greek firm at only 9 per cent, repayable the following for eighteen hours. .ThlS procedure should then be repeated
November and February. It is not possible to say how typical every eight days until November, when, after the final picking, i
such a role was. One present-day inhabitant of Alexandria all the remaining capsules and plants should be bumed.4
remembers at least three other Muslims as being engaged in the However, as an American planter pointed out in a letter to
cotton trade in the 18805 or a little later, but in view of the fact Joanovich, methods of this kind would work properly only if all
that their services were so useful it would be surprising if there the cultivators in a particular area were prepared to co-operate,
were not more.
otherwise the insects would merely move out of the infected
The predominant position reached by cotton in the economy fields the neighbouring ones.5 In fact such a degree of co-
into
was also reflected in growing concern about the quality of the operation rarely proved possible until it was enforced by the
crop and the methods by which it was cultivated. Two par- thirty years later, hence the boll-worm
ticular causes for worry emerged after 1866. One was the con nue its some
G0\:rnIr‘1ient estruction.
appearance of the boll-worm. Signs of the widespread des- A few years later, towards the end of the 18705, a second pest,
struction of cotton capsules were first noted in September 1865, the began to attract attention. Its attacks were
‘cotton-worm,
by the fact that
according to Joanovich writing in 1873.‘ Damage again distinguished from those of the boll-worm
occurred in 1866, this time ‘dam toutes les localitér’, and there- during its caterpillar stage it fed not so much on the boHs as
after, for the next six years, the worm was responsible for 9n the leaves, buds, and shoots of the growing plant.6 This madc
It easier to combat as its presence was more readily detectable.
‘immenses ravages’ .2 Initially, itwas assumed that the destruction
until the G_ovemment undertook to organize
‘ Joanovich. Desaiption dc l'imam ravageui du ooton en Egypt: (Cairo, 1873), p. 3- §‘lever.the1ess,
Caf-picking on an extensive scale, few cultivatois possesed
Individual instances of cotton fields being attacked by the boll-worm had been
noted before 1865. For instance,_]ames Bryn the cotton-selector mentioned on pp. 75-5 a
I {hid-. 12.4. Ibid., p. 10. : 11,;¢,p_ s_
wrote in his diary on 2 Nov. 1860, ‘Rode into the fields and visited villagfl in ’ “=*='--1>-=7-
Debaiba and Mit el Mor. Discovered trans of what looks like a boll-worm on 1119 pp"
. wll"cocks, . .
pods, and the trees in one field very full of cotton bugs’: Egptiaa Agnbultwal
'3“.
F. 0., The Insect Pest: of Cotton , C.S.j. iv, no. {.2 (Mar. 1910),
P. 57
Pro%I

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‘35 The Establishment of Cotton’: Dominant

either the will or the resources to d ' ' - - -
One rare exception is mentioned inoalri :iiltitc1l:lirn°tv}v1n ;m1at.“’°-
la Société Egyptimne d’Agriculture in 1880. There new Mm"
ted that in the previous year a certain Dranalit Pa:1s1as}s,er‘
managed to keep his cotton losses to I per cent of theat ad
Crop by arranging for the growing worms to be picked offotfifl
t e
plants, but that his neighbours, who had neglected this
caution, had lost 30 per cent.‘ pm‘
A second and equally serious cause for worry was the '
creasing volume of complaints from European Spinners that :if:\
quality of Egyptian cotton was deteriorating. Observations cf
O were always prone to over-react to any temporary fluctuations
this sort go back to at least as early as 1867, when the Amer’
Consul-General noted that the crop for that year was far titan
satisfactory as to colour or strength of fibre.‘ This criticism £1?
repeated several months later by a group of Alexandria mer-S
chants in a petition presented to the Minister of the Interior
Cotton from the 1867 harvest, they wrote, was white (instead
of brown, the traditional colour of ‘Egyptian’), weak and
woolly. They blamed this state of affairs on the use of iriferior
seed.3 Complaints of this kind persisted, but they did not reach
major proportions until 1874, when a deputation of six English
Members of Parliament from the cotton-manufacturing
districts around Manchester presented a Memorial at the
Foreign Offi cedeploring the inability of the Egyptian Govern.
ment to stimulate the growth of high-grade cotton at reason-
able prices. They wished, they said, to draw the Khedive’s
attention to ‘the gradual but certain deterioration of the cotton
crop of Egypt’.
Although this deterioration dates for some years it is especially
during the last eight years that it has become more evident. Former-
ly Egyptian cotton was brown in colour, but strong, silky and long,
and was used for the superior qualities of yarn, obtaining in conse-
quence a relatively higher price. It is [now]] irregular in length and
quality, and mixed with white and short cotton, which diminishes
its value and causes difficulty and loss in spinning. We believe that
this deterioration is produced by the following causes-—very little
attention to the quality of the seed sown, the bad seed coming from
' Lascaris, A., ‘Insectes dcstructeur: du ooton en Egypte', B.S.E.A. no. 3 (30
Apr. 1880), p. 57.
1 Hale, i7june 1867: U.S. Egypt, iv.
8 ‘Egypt’, C.S.R., 1 Jan. 1858.
Position in the Rural Economy, 1867-1879 137
.
the ginning factories where cotton of different qualities is ginned
d‘ without care to separate the good seed from the bad. This system is
detrimental to the interests of everyone for, notwithstanding the
suitability of certain lands for the cultivation of good cotton, this
advantage is neutralised by the mixture of seed coming from the
ginning establishments. Good seed can be distinguished from bad,
hybrid from Jumel, but there are difficulties in attempting to
separate them once mixed. . . .‘
Whether the decline of Egyptian cotton was as sharp or as
dangerous as the M.P.s asserted may now be doubted—spinners
in quality.‘ But what is certainly true is that the Memorial was
taken very seriously at the time, and at once became the centre
of considerable discussion and debate. B. F. Cobb, in a paper
read to the African Section of the Society of Arts in London in
1878, supported the M.P.s’ point of view. The plans for the
first ginning factories, he said, had been based on those of
similar establishments in the southern states of America. This
meant that they had two deep longitudinal cellars under the
gin-room floor into which the seed was dropped during the
process of separation. Thus, the seeds of all those who sent
cotton were mixed up together, this error being compounded
by the ginners who then sold the mixture for sowing the next
crop.3 Others were more ready to place the blame on the low
prices which prevailed throughout the 18705. The Times, for
example, pointed out in a comment on the M.P.s’ Memorial
that it would be diflicult to meet their views, for, unless higher
prices could be obtained for fine Mako than had recently been
the case, it would pay cultivators to grow coarse white cotton.‘
Yet another approach was provided by Ninet, writing in the
Revue des Deux Mondes in 1875. The real cause of complaint, he
maintained, was the lack of an adequate system of inspection
and classification of cotton, which allowed ginners, merchants,
‘ ‘Memorial from the Spinners of Egyptian Cotton to His Highn, the Khedive
of Egypt’ (presented to Lord Derby 12 June 1874.): F.O. 78/2345.
' Stanley, the British Consul at Aiexandria, implied that the infu-ior quality of
the 1873-4. crop was, in part, a temporary phenomenon produced by a low Ni];
and the fact that the cotton had been resown on the same ground as the previous
Yfl iif: lI(I§°Tradc ' Th Jami mi" Rm! “'9
oJ‘Ar¢:,gi;gi.';ixvi
‘
(Lrrtirriili cl->(r:il,ali{i:78), ii: :_:.5—5.pccu
5 Aug. 1874.

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133 The Establishment of Cotton’: Dominant
and brokers to adulterate the bales of supposedly good cotton
with low standard, balli, cotton bought from the peasants for
just this purpose. As a result, cotton classed as ‘fair’ in Alexandria
often only passed for ‘middling’ in Liverpool. The previous
year he had discovered in such a bale cotton of all sorts of
classifications, including some which was two to three years
old with dry white lint.‘ European spinners generally bought
cotton on the basis of telegraphed information about price
class, and quantity, so that if they were badly served by their:
local agents they often found they had paid for a consignment
of a type inferior to that designated, their only recourse being
to bring a troublesome and often costly case before the Egyptian
courts. By 1872 the existing situation had become so bad that
the spinners of Zurich agreed among themselves to pay only
90 per cent on bills for cotton, leaving I0 per cent as a guarantee
until after delivery?
Undoubtedly there is something in all these arguments. The
extensive area placed under cotton during the boom, and the
numerous different methods by which it was cultivated, en-
couraged the continual emergence of new strains, a develop-
ment which was further stimulated by the growing use of
steam-ginning factories where the seeds of cotton of all sorts and
from many different districts were mixed up together, as Cobb
described} Sometimes an improved type emerged, as with
Ashmouni or Bahmiah, but more usually a hybrid was pro-
duced with noticeably inferior qualities to the original Juinel.
And, even in the case of the superior types, further mixing
reduced their better qualities. For instance, the yield Of
Bahmiah declined sharply in the late 1870s as a result Of
ginners adulterating its seed in an effort to increase profits.‘
Again, the presence of a number of different strains in the
same field meant that the lint produced was of irregular staple-
length. Meanwhile, no penalties were attached to the growth 0f
poorer varieties; they were cheaper and easier to produce‘ and:
as Ninet pointed out, they were much in demand for the
purpose of ‘salting’ cotton of higher quality.‘
I ‘ du ooton enEsvp te’, pp . 592,
‘ It;iad:uIl,iu5r;8.
4 151.1,, p. 356: C'ot!an—T7u ]oimialof'tlu Cotton
5 See, for example, Douin, Hum". 11- P- "
m,_ I (1 Scpt. 1877), p. 5i3.
6 ‘La culture du ooton en Egypte’, p. 594.
Posilion in the Rural Economy, 1867-1879 i3g
public discussion about the cotton-worm, and the complaints
the decline in cotton quality, contributed much to the grow-
of
expeI'tlSC.a.b011t the cultivation of cotton which is apparent,
ing example, in the reports the foreign consuls after 1866. The
for employ more fertilizer in the
to growth of cotton was
need
universally commented upon;‘ so too was the necessity
almost
of better seed-selection} Both suggestions may have had some
with some of the larger proprietors. Again, Isma'il
influence
himself was easily persuaded of the dangers of allowing the
1am to degenerate too far. As early as 1867 there was a govern-
ment investigation into the sources of the apparent decline.‘
While a year later a ‘passage. in Isma'il’s speech to the
Assembly of Representatives calling attention to the need for
measures to prevent any further deterioration3 may well have
been the spur to a series of experiments by government experts
aimed at producing new, improved, varieties! Finally, follow-
ing the M.P.s’ Memorial in 1874., the Khedive sent orders to
the governors of the various Delta provinces, telling them to
supervise the cultivation of cotton more closely.5 A letter in the
Abdin Archives, which was written probably at this time, shows
that the latter were to set aside the best seed grown in each
area for sowing, and then to sell the rest.‘
These efforts may have been attended by some small degree
of success, at least if we are to judge from an article in the trade
journal Cotton, which maintained that, as a result of the action
taken by both Government and factory-owners, the practice of
mixing the various types of seed was much reduced.7 Others
were more sceptical of their success.‘ Some of the difficulties
which had to be faced can be seen from yet another letter in
the Abdin Archives, this time from nineteen Greek merchants
‘ See, for example, the report by the Swedish Consul-General, dc Boedtkcr,
March i877: F.0. 78/2862.
°“f1°(_:¢l_1nié1i:l7!ili‘riia;'i, 2:
= Addms qftlie
(t"a“5-)- (A copy can be found in Hale, 20 Mar. 1868: U.S. Egypt, v.)
Ministry of Agriculture, Cotton and Cotton Statistics in Egypt (Cairo,
I9;81)3zvpt.
2 P- 22.
2 Nina: ‘La culture du coton en Egypte’, p. 588.
of this undated letter to an unnamed governor was found in A.E.PJ.,
594-5 . _ qobb’ pp_ - 2 .
355-61.- '1_
A1971?
Trade matted {ndu_s_1rW- : V°1- i. no. i6 (I2 May i877), pp. 245-6.
V1: '
the dispatch of the French Consul of 21 Mar. 1877 quoted in Guindi and
Ta8591'. pp. i27—8.

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M0 The Establishment of Cotton’: Dominant Position in the Rural Economy ' 1367‘ 14.1
at Za azi . As the described the situa ' . 1379
ofliceghadgsigned 3.] contract with tWOti'i)1:l"(2tl11l:ril:)sC:v1}§(?vern°r‘s of bridgesand t€1cgraf_!h.11nes. In the six years after ' .
to tripled the existing length of railway ti-ac}1:s::cg:.1c:
have a monopoly of providing the province with gooiiere seed. Ema.“ concerned,
was this involved the provision of
But the latter were interested only in making a good S Lowe, Egypt
lation, and, instead of taking steps to obtain stocks of pure}::c:- further lmks betweef‘ the “lam areas of agricultural Pro-
the line to Zagazig,
duction, notably which stood at the centre
they purchased their supplies from the ordinary Zagazii
ginneries, selling this inferior product at a profit of 20 to 2g TABLE I9
per cent.‘ It is likely that similar difficulties continued :2
' '
Expenditure on Public Work b th Egyjittan
plague most of the early efforts to improve quality. At any rate Emma to: of Government
complaints of adulteration of cotton continued, and in 1879 i; during Ismatih n_}'(£)¢:
was still being asserted that bales exported contained from 7 to ——'*”—j
I 2
I2 per cent of foreign material. 3 4
1863-79
’863’73 ‘353‘75 I863—75
Railw3Y3 ‘°:°°°»°°° 9,899,417 13,310,000 13,361,000
2. THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR OF THE ECONOMY Canals
i2,6oo,ooo
246,000 2,, 50,000
Bridge, 353,000
Cotton-cultivation must now be placed in a wider agricul. Telegraph: 3502000
6,100,000
tural context. To Isma'il and his Government the land was 3118" mm
Alexandria Water-
Egypt’s main economic resource, a fact which the growing works 200,900
predominance of cotton served only to underline, and it Alexandria Harbour 2,000,000 1,210,989 2,542,000

followed that it was a major recipient of government invest- Cairo/Alexandria

(general
ment. Figures obtained by the British civil servant Cave in improvements) I ,5oo,ooo 3,5oo,ooo
138,009
1876 show that, if railway construction is included, some Lighthouses I 65,000 1 74,1 30
i4.,ooo,ooo 12,090,000
Suez Canal
,€3o,ooo,ooo was spent on works connected with the agri-
an un-
cultural sector between I863 and 1875.2 In addition, Souracas:
some portion of the
known sum was expended in reclaiming i. Anon., The Finance: ofEgypt, pp. 10-12.
300,000 to 400,000 feddans which were added to the cultivated 2. R. H. L., '17:: Financial Position of Egypt (London, 1874), pp. 7-8, 25.
that 3. ‘Report by Mr. Cave on the Financial Position of Egypt’ (GB), p. 106
area during these years.3 Estimates given in Table I9 show 4- Croucliley, Fwnomic Dmlopment, p. 117.
rail-
the bulk of the former investment was divided between NOTE: a. No great weight can be attached to these figure. See p. 14.0, note 3.
ways and canals, with small amounts going to the construction
of the rich cotton-growing districts of Sharqiya and Qalyubiya;
‘ Letter marked ‘De ig marchands giecs’, n.d., A.E.P.I., Doss. I2/6.
.I_375_» V°l' while in Middle and Upper Egypt the line to Rauda (extended
5
‘Report by Mr. Cave on the Financial Condition of Egypt’, P.P.,
lxxxiii, p. 108. However, as these figures were given to
Cave by Isma 11 _ to Asyut in 1874) greatly facilitated the export of grain, as well
doubt as to tl_1¢||'
(Cave, 1 Jan. 1876: F.O. 78/2 539A) there must be considerable as of the sugar grown on the Khedive’s own estates.‘ At the
them so as to give a
accuracy, for there was every incentive to inflate
19» better same time, the canals constructed throughout Egypt allowed a.
preuion. A similar doubt must extend to the other figures
in Table 3“°”’
considerable extension in the cultivation of summer crops. In
certainly come from government sources.
figures, that there WU‘ this context mention should also be made of the major works at
I Cave asserted, once again on the basis of ‘oflicial’
4,051,976 feddanslpfinanci in r874,—5;;R:l1;°;:h‘;' Alexandria designed to cope with the ever-increasing volume of
itiono%a'id'
taxegl12:1n (‘iunder Egypt’an:(1di.§«;s.Io7
. . p. I05. Artm.
Mr. Cave on the
hand, gives 4,395,302 feddans for 1863 and 4.,7o3,45(i
for I875: "affic which the rise in agricultural exports had produced:
nearer the truth. Not all tbll 1300 “me
219. Of these sources, Ai-tin wouldpeem ' Wiener, L., L’EgJpt¢ u u: clinnins dafor (Brunch. I932). PP-33-91%
action.
ixito cultivation as a result of government

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149 The Establishment of Cotton’s Dominant Position in the Rural Economy, 1867-1879
14-3
during the twenty years between 1850 and 18 the port begin with serious instruc
70 had should
they would tion of young men
from the eleventh to the fourth most important in then ot the
ers. What missing in Egypt was
-tram.
editerranean (measured 1n terms of tonnage of inco th
I1?/Isen_ . ° who was
and outgoing ships)! To this end a breakwater protectinmm ractical Cd-“cane-n mfmodem a rural techmques,
and he recom-
mended the school,
In addition, workers
exposed western harbour was completed in 1874, followegdtte crejltiontkp
In of specific implements; it was not
the construction of an inner harbour mole and a line of Y should b_6 ”am€_impor t6 tllllsc em and hope that they would be
to provide increased accommodation.‘ quays '
enough] YJtsstcdtci .
.
Isma'il’s concern for agriculture also showed itself in hi
S Several Of Behmcr s suggestions were later followed up.
employment of a number of European experts to advise hi Measures the stock of Egyptian cattle
and the newly created Ministry of Public Works and A t&;l<eI1kt)0H1mpArove
werel ta lan u
by impo;-tmg was creatc ,_3lth°“8h,
culture (later the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce)3g0l,.; cultural school
as Behmer himself wrote
practical means ofimproving agricultural teclmiques. One such four years later, too few_pup1ls were enrolled and the instruction
to make it a success.‘ Two other
man was W. L. Gastinel, the Director of the Government-S iven was too theoretical
jardin d’Acclimatation. In this post he conducted a series of of thecinfluence of advice should be mentioned.
examples expert
experiments with a view to producing better strains of wheat one was Isma 1l!’s attempt to diversify Egyptian agriculture
rice, and indigo. He also organized a study of local fertilizers’ by reintroducing such crops as indigo, and planting mulberry
paying particular attention to the kaum:—mounds of decaying’ trees with a VJCW to reviving the Sllk mdustry;3 the other, the
rubbish—which marked the sites of abandoned villages, and strenuous eflbrts made during the early part of his reign to
which were often employed by the fellaheen in lieu of manureg. promote the use of mechanical equipment on the land. Of these,
Another expert was the Frenchman, Behmer, whose report on the latter was much the least successful. Steam ploughs and other
Egyptian agriculture was presented to the Khedive in 1868. pieces of machinery were imported in large numbers, many of
Bchmer took as his starting-point the possibility of reducing them on government account, only for the vast majority of them
the amount Egypt paid out for agricultural imports which it to break down for want of attention or to be discarded by their
could readily produce itself, such as cows and oxen, sugar beet owners as unsuitable for use in Egyptian conditions.‘
(for cattle food), butter, tobacco, and fruits.5 But development But while Isma'il was investing in agriculture he was also
multiplying the demands made on it. According to the few
in this direction was inhibited by the fact that the peasants
budgets published during his reign, the land-tax continued to
were both ignorant and careless, while their tools, ‘datent
supply over half of total revenue and alternative sources proved
encore de 1’antiquité et sont tout a fait incompatibles avec
difficult to find. Profi ts from the railway, the next most im-
l’agriculture rationnelle de nos jours, car ils consument tout;
; portant item, rose slowly; customs receipts declined after 1865;5
sans exception, beaucoup trop de force, sans fournir un travail
I
_' while an attempt in 1873 to impose a house tax on the foreign
-
proportionnel’. The plough they used, for instance, only community failed in the face of consular opposition.‘ Increases
the top of the soil without exposing the subsoil to the. am in the land-tax began as soon as the boom was over, and by
water and sun it needed. Reforms would take a long time I Ibid.,
pp_ 5’ .
* Ibid., ‘Avant-propos’ (dated May 1875).
I New Cambridge Modem Histoov, vol. x (Cambridge, 1960), p. 419. 3 ‘Report on the Commercial Relations of the U.S. with Foreign Nafi ons for
1 McCoan,_]. C., Egypt Under I.s1na'il (London, 1889), p. I_30. _ i ll the Year ending 30 Sept. i87i—"Egypt” ’, Executive Document: (U.S.), and Scsion,
s The Ministry ofPublic Works and Agriculture was established In :96 3, 3 “'15 Congress, 1871, 2, pp. 1103-11.
p. 2 9- . . I: V 4 . V ‘ Wallace. 1). 344. see aiso Russell, w. H., A Diary in :1» Eu: (London, 1869),
4 Sec Direction du Jardin d’Acclimatat1on, Rapport a Son Alma 1"47: f0! 3 description of a field near Cairo full of abandoned machinery.
26 Feb. .358, and Gastinel, Rapport a Son Allen: 1; Klldiu, Cairo. I
A.E.P.l., Don. 12/5-
s nehmer, oburuazioru an Pasviallhvv (E9). 9- 2-

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144 The Establishment of Cotton’: Dominant
1868 the British Consul in Alexandria was reporting that
the
fellaheen then paid, directly and indirectly, 70 per cent
i865_ ‘The Government’,
more
than they had done in he wrote
ahas exacted more from them than it was thought they eve;
possessed and far more than they could hope to pay with an
hope of afterwards prospering.” Some slight relief may have
been afforded to taxpayers in 1869 following i868’s low flood
but the Government ensured that its losses, if any, we“;
covered by a 25 per cent surcharge in 1870. A further large
increase occurred in 1871, when not only was the extra sixth
imposed in 1868 as a temporary expedient, made permanent,
but landholders were expected to avail themselves of th;
Muqabala law by which anyone who paid six years’ tax in ad-
Vance, either in one lump sum or, later, by instalments, was
to be freed of half his tax-liability for life. In theory this was
voluntary, ‘but under the conviction that those who objected
would incur the displeasure of the authorities, the majority
of the landed proprietors acceded to the proposals, excepting
those under European protection or who had suffi-cient in-
fluence to enable them to resist with impunity’! Finally, in
1875, with bankruptcy only just round the corner, an attempt
was made to raise a £5,000,000 non-reimbursable loan for
which subscribers were to receive an annuity of g per
cent
for life. Of this, £3,400,000 was actually collected} In the mean-
time, the agricultural population was continually hampered
by extra taxes, including the professional or poll tax, a tax on
date trees, a house tax, a salt tax imposed
animal tax, as well as a great variety of such indirect lCV'lCS as
market,
bridge and ferry tolls, duties on goods brought to
and many others. Fma_11Y» thc
octrois round the main towns,
really another sort of tax, remained
corvée, which was
a p001 (a);
onerous as ever. The peasantry continued to form
cheap labour which could be drawn on, as necessary’, f°1' “*5
works. Again, the Khedivc
in the construction of government
ab1c_ 1°
himself and some of the richer proprietors were often
.9‘,
' A
raise a corvée for employment on their own fields.
Sometlnfifl
7"
- Report by Mr. emu: Stanley on the Trade and Comnu-ra tyuuaxmdriafir 9"
,w7, P.P,, i868—g, vol. lix, pp. 526-7.
: [z4»ytl;}Cam-ulRogor:ontlu rrad.mdcommm¢rcamforuurm:872.P-’~ ,
9 oL lxiv p. 218.
_
lzsitliucoanxl-’¢7P'"'4"1"'"' =1’-'59-
Position in the Rural Economy, 1867-1879 I45
of the disruption this caused to peasant agriculture can be seen
accounts. According to Dr. E. Rossi,
from contemporary
men were_taken away from their villages in 1874 to
150,000
build roads. For this they received no pay, they had to provide
their own food, and they were expected to work on the Khedive’s
cotton when they returned home.‘
Gag/c’s report on Egypt’s financial state contains details of
the 1876 budget which show that a sum of £4,200,000 was then
supposedly being paid in land-tax on 4,800,000 feddans, with
an additional ,5‘ 1,750,000
in Muqabala instalments, out of
receipts totalling ,€ 10,750,000.‘ The average tax on kharajiya
land was then 5 I -162 per feddan while 'usIzurz'ya paid £0-303.
As for other direct taxes, a study of two villages in Giza pro-
Vince in 1877 by G. Fitzgerald, a British employee of the
Egyptian Government, indicates that in addition to the land-
tax the villagers were expected to pay as much as a quarter to
three-quarters again for the professional tax, the date tax, and
other imp0sitions.3 However, it is unlikely that such figures
provide any real guide to the amounts of money actually
collected at this time. Throughout Isma'il’s reign taxes con-
tinued to be gathered by methods which varied little from those
employed under Muhammad ‘Ali. Collections were made at
all times of the year, often necessitating the enforced sale of
standing crops; animals and seed were seized when money was
not forthcoming; those with cash were expected to pay for
defaulters; and in general the tax-gatherers were free to make
any sort of demand they wished on an illiterate, unprotected
peasant population.‘ There were even occasions on which the
Government was prepared to ignore the official collectors
entirely and try other methods. According to the author
writing under the pseudonym ‘un Ancien _]uge Mixte’, it was
also its practice to borrow money from a banker against
future taxes, leaving the actual collection to him. The latter,
‘ La Population at le.i_/imuiocs: quution lgiwierm (Paris, 1878), p. 55.
‘ ‘Report by Mr. Cave on the Financial Condition of Egypt’ (GB) p. i 13.
,
’ _Egypt, Ministére dcs Financu, Rapport mi l’argani.rali'4m de la comptabiliu’ Jan; 1;;
Pmmlces, by G. Fitzgerald (Cairo, n.d.—i878?), p. 21.
‘ Wallace, p. 322; ‘Report by Mr. Cave on the Financial Condition of Egypt’
(G3), p. 109; see also Moberly Bell's description of a forced loan obtained from
by ‘stick torture’: 4. May 1867, M.B.P. (Jan. i865—june 1868),
éeaiepsanu
821 848 L

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145 The Establishment of’ Cotton’: Dominant

aided by local oflicials, would inevitably try
to rais
the legal amount.‘ Complaints against tactics
ofetiliore than
were aired in the first and second sessions of the AS118 nature
Representatives, and on the former occasion of
refofiembly
promised,¢ but it is unlikely that this promise was evgis were
to be taken very seriously. Without a thoroughgoin meant
o consequence: many WCTC forced deeper and deeper into debt to
of the whole system of provincial administration thttgorilerhaul
that the Government could ensure that taxes were paid Y way
allow the collectors a more or less free hand. Again suclivlas to
the urgent need for money to meet the ever-mountixig was
vol
of national debt that the methods by which it was raised
xigne
hardly likely have been questioned inside the administrath:
to
itself, a fact Whlcll was illustrated by the appointment of Isma‘j1
Sadik as Minister of Finance in 1868. His own peasant origins
were thought to provide him with particular skill in
money from the fellah population,3 and in a year extracting
when the
revenue officially totalled only £7,000,000 to £8,000,000 he is
said to have boasted of raising at least £2,000,000 more.4
A further attempt at reform was made in 1876 with the
appointment of inspectors whose duty it was to supervise the
activities of the collectors. But this brought little change, as
Fitzgerald discovered. The former were generally retired offi-
cers, who rarely visited the villages in their area and even more
rarely examined the accounts of the ofiicials under them. As an
example of their inability to exercise adequate supervision be
quoted an instance where a sarrqf of the district of Faraskur in
Daqahliya province was accused by the taxpayers of collecting
£2,000 in excess of legal rates. His superior was ordered to make
an inquiry but six months later this had not even begun,’
Perhaps an even better example of the difliculties of reform 18
illustrated by the fact that, when those on the Commlsslol} Of
Inquiry appointed in 1878 tried to find out on what principle
taxes were being levied, they were unable to discover whether
the sum due each year was the total of all the figures 1n-
scribed in the various tax registers or an arbitrary amount
I L’Egypte at l’Eump¢, vol. i (Leiden, n.d.—prefaoe written in 1881)» 13- ‘3"
' ‘ Rcport an the Trade and Commerce qfCax'rof0r the Year 1872, p. 218.
= Landau. J. M., Parliament: and Panic: in Em: (New York. 1954).» I3»
I 6-17.
1 Moberly Bell, 9 Apr. 1868, M.B.P. (Jan. I865-June I858): 5- 97°"°
Mccogn, lander Ismail, p. 151.
: Rapport ntr%rpgan¢'.tatI'on do la mnptabilitl dam to: pmvinm (E9). P» 45-
Position in the Rural Economy, 1867-1879 147
decided upon in Cairo and divided up among the different
rovinces.‘
The effects of rising taxation and an unreforrned system
of C01l€Cti°n natura-“Y fell most heavily on the fellaheen. In
the money-lenders.‘ Others had to give up their land.3 Com-
menting in 1873 on the conditions which followed the intro-
duction of the Muqabala law, the British Consul in Cairo wrote
that
many of the poorer classes of natives, calculating that they could not
obtain from the produce of the land suflicient to pay the increased
demands, offered their lands gratis to any person who would relieve
them of it and pay the newly imposed tax. Some wealthy persons
accepted the land of their poorer neighbours on those terms, others
paid nominal sums of £1, £2 or £3 an acre for it.4
Others had their land sequestered for non-payment of taxes or
seized by the Khedive on one pretext or another.5 Meanwhile,
many village shaykhs took advantage of the situation to build
up sizeable estates at the peasants’ expense.‘
How much land passed out of fellah hands at this stage it is
impossible to say with any accuracy. But if, as Baer maintains,
it is possible to equate 'us}zurz_'ya land with the large estates, its
extension during Isma‘il’s reign, and the consequent diminu-
tion of klmrajiya land, provides some sort of guide.7 Table 7
gives various estimates of the area of 'u:hurija, showing that it
almost doubled in the twelve years after 1863, just under two-
thirds of this increase appearing to come from fields pre-
viously classified as It/Larajiya and the remainder from hitherto
uncultivated land. However, it should be observed that not all
the large estates were, in fact, classified as ‘ushuriya, nor is it
clear that all the purchasers of khanyija land were able to
change its classification. This must have been particularly true
of those, like shaykhs and other village notables, who possessed
‘ Egypt, Commision supérieure d’Enquéte, Rapport priliminain adrusi d SA.
16 K7hJdiue (Cairo, 1878), pp. 27-8.
‘ Wallace, pp. 321-2. ’ Ibid., p. 322.
5 By 1878 the royal estates contained 916,000 feddans: Baer, History «J Law!-
nwncrship, p. 4|. 5 Wallace, pp. 197-8, 232.
7 Baer, Hitler; qfLandowneI.rhx'[I, p. 21. For the way in which the Khedive was
able to change the classification of his land see Wallace, p. 351.

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148 The Establishment cg’ Cotton’: Dominant Position in the Rural Economy, 1867-1879 149
only local influence.‘ Thus, the amount of land lost by the observers. ‘I hear sad accounts from the Saeed’,
been considerably to by European
fellaheen during Isma'il’s reign may have
wrote Lady Dufl 'Gordon in October 1866, ‘The new taxes and
in excess of 300,000 feddans. The peasants who were deprived the new levies of S0lCllCI'S are driving the people to despair, and
towns or swelled the
of their land either emigrated to the larger many are running away from their land, which will no longer
numbers of landless workers, a class which, by the early 1870,, paying all exactions, to join the Bedaween."
’ feed them after
included about a third of the rural population; to Egypt ten years later:
may have Wilfred Blunt reported of a visit
It was rare in those days to see a man in the fields with a
TABLE 20 turban
on his head, or more than a shirt on his back. . . . The principal
Estimate: of the Area of ‘Us/turbo and Klzarajija Land, 1863.30 towns on market days were full of women selling
their clothes and
their silver ornaments to the Greek usurers, because the tax
Kharajiya Total village, whip in hand.’
'U.rhun'ja
collectors were in their
(feddans) (feddans) (feddans)
Conditions of this kind could not fail to have serious reper-
for corvée
1863 636,177 3,759,125 4,395,304 (1) cussions. Large-scale recruitment of the fellaheen
1588 (Coptic) 1871-2 1,155,567 3,468,654 4,624,221 (2) duty disrupted the ordinary work of sowing and raising crops.
1591 (Coptic) 1874-5 1,291,166 3,513,941 4,805,107 (3) of rural labour} Again,
1,194,288 3,509,168 4,703,456 (1) It also aggravated the general shortage
1875 to the repeated demands of tax-collector and usurer"
1,281,925 3,460,685 4,742,610 (4) subjection
1877 ti
1880 1,294,343 3,425,555 4,719,899 (1) must inevitably have forced the majority of the peasants
on producing as large a harvest as possible as
concentrate
to
Souncns: quickly and easily as possible, while paying little attention
for 'u.rImn'ja land in 1880 include crop or the exhaustion of the soil. It was for
1. Artin, Landed Propergr, p. 219 (figurs the quality of their
743,725 feddans ofstate land).
2. Slatistique de l’Egyple, I873 (Eg.), p. goo.
this reason that many chose to grow cotton every two years
3. ‘Report by Mr. Cave on the Financial Condition of Egypt’
(GB), p. 114,. rather than every three or four.‘ It was for this reason, too, that
4- Egypt, Ministere dc l’Intérieur,
Bureau de la Statistique, Ersai do Jtatirliqlu there were repeated complaints about the condition not only
glnémle dz l’Eg;1pte, vol. i (Cairo, 1879), pp. 124-9. of cotton but of every other important item of agricultural
produce. Reference has already been made to Ninet’s criticism
As for the fellah who kept his land, he too can rarely have of Egyptian wheat.5 He also had harsh things to say about the
prospered unless he was able to obtain the protection of some flax brought to market which, so he asserted, contained 20
more powerful ally. The savings accumulated during the to 30 per cent of mustard seed and other grains.‘ Others men-
boom must have been rapidly exhausted or buried away so tioned the low quality of the rice, and the fact that a tenth of
deeply that they were virtually unusable; the shortage of the weight of barley was made up of soil and similar foreign
animals engendered by the murrain continued for a number of matter.7
years; he was constantly being called for corvée duty; debts t6 And yet, in spite of all this evidence, it remains a fact that
village usurers mounted. Rural poverty was repeatedly ref there seems to have been a considerable increase in the volume
‘ A report from Lord Cromer contains a table which shows that .
1 ‘ ' Dufi Gordon, Lady L., Lettcrsfiom Egypt (London, 1902), p. 310.
classified as ‘functionaries and notables’ had sizeable holdings of kIIang'I)¢ 2 Sam! History oftlw British Occupation ofEgyp! (New York, 1922). pp. 8-9.
1884.. It is impossible to say how much this situation differed fi‘om that d 1 3 Between 1869 and 1871 no less than three schemes were suggested for «stab-
1870s. Enclosure in Baring (Cromer), 8 Dec. 1884, P.P., 1884-5, vol. ’ first with Italian,
‘I lilhing foreign agricultural communities to relieve this shortage,
p. 712.
1 This latter calculation is based on the figures for the numbers of then with German, and finally with Chinese workers. A.E.P.I., 12/3, 12/4., and 12/5.
‘ McCoan, Egypt A: It 1:, p . 191-2. 5 Seep. 125.
labourers relative to landholders in three Lower Egyptian provincg .. ‘ ‘La culture du coton en gypte’, p. 577.
Slatt'ttI'4Il¢ 44 1'50)“: "973 (Es-), p. 269. In some villaga the handle: , .
» 7 Rtportontlu Tradoandcommcmtgfmaxandnaforllu 1‘carr679,p.556.
majority. Wallace, p. 232. See also Couvidou, p. 212.

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Position in the Rural Economy, i867=—»r87g :5:

150 The Establzir/zment of Cotton’: Dominant
of agricultural production in the years which followed thc end acted in concert, to prevent the utter destitution of their
often so long as the latter were left free to grow an annual
of the American Civil War. Between 1866-9 and I875—9 cotton clients}
exports rose by over a quarter, and the export
of sugar by at of cotton they could always be relied upon to make some
Crop towards what they owed. Secondly, complaints
least 600 per cent.‘ Meanwhile, the size of the annual cereal contribution notwithstanding, popu.
the. fact that the
must certainly have been of labour shortages
harvest (wheat, beans, and barley)
advancing as a result of the need to cope with the consumption increased by something like a million and a quarter
lation
requirements of a population
which may have risen by as the 1870s must have had some quite considerable effect
during production. A. third and final factor was the
per cent between 1871 and 1882.2 How was this agricultural
much as 30 on
achieved? Four factors would seem to have been important, towing concentrating of land in. the hands of the Khedive and
It is true that the owners of large
To begin with, the expansion of agricultural production must other rich and powerful men.
often criticized by Europeans for the baekwardness
certainly have been assisted to some degree by the construction estates were
methods they employed‘ or, in the case of Isma'il
of new railways and canals. It goes
without saying that any of the fact that his lands were much too extensive for
increase in the supply of water was
of particular significance_ himself‘, for the
t.3 It is also true, as Behmer pointed out,
It allowed hitherto waste areas to be brought
into cultivation eflicient managemen
It may also have number of absentee landlords was increasing, with a
and existing fields to be used more intensively. that the
in standards:
permitted some peasants to abandon the balli method of culti. concornitant decline
both higher quality and
vating cotton for one which permitted _ _ _ 13 plupart
des propriétaires particuliers aisés préierent un petit
although the creation of additional plutét que de surveiller
higher yields. Nevertheless, emploi dans une administration quelconque
network undoubtedly ce qui leur imposerait
canals and the extension of the railway eux-mémes Pexploitation de leurs terres,
played an important role, the advantages
which they brought dame part quelques privations dans la vie sociale, mais ce qui leur
que la paye qu’ils
could easily have been nullified by the concurrent disruption of assurerait d’autre part un gain plus important
economic life had it no t been for three other factors. The recoiventfi
rural
of cotton as a source
first of these was the growing importance Even so, the ownership of large estates continued to bring with
an ever-widening circle
of income. This meant that there was them, it a number of important advantages-—notably freedom from
of people, merchants, ginners, and money-lenders
to
among
promote its pro- harassment, and access to water, cheap labour, and the capital
all of whom must have been concerned
was men from these necessary for the purchase of steam pumps and other mecha-
It
duction by every means at their disposal. the nical devices5—which could not fail to have made the whole
for exploiting
groups who, for instance, were responsible process of cultivation very much more easy.‘
sufficient seed to
chance discovery of new strains by providing
introduction on a commercial basis} Again, it does 1 For a description of the co-operation which existed between usurer and tax-
allow their collector see ‘Un Ancien Juge Mixte’, 1, pp. 131-2. Also Wallace, pp. 284, 289,
may have used
not seem too much to suggest that the usurers so 4-69-70, and A. Chélu, Le Nil, 1: Simian, l’Eg)pto (Paris, iflgi), p. 261.
they
their influence over the tax-collectors, with whom ' See» for example, Behmer’s assertion that with better harvesting methods half
the existing agricultural labour force could be released for other work: Obsa-nation:
I For cotton see Table 14; for sugar s ee sources given in Table 16. sur l’agriaulture (Eg.), pp. 6-7.
3 The best available figures for the pop ulation of Egypt are: 1371 .525
_ _[I757 3 3°C. for example Schreiner, i3 Oct. 1866: A.A., I866, Box 76.
(Egypt, Mimi”
(statistique do I’Egy,ote, 1873 (Eg.), pp. 20-1) and i882—6,83i,I3!
statilrliqut :1: IEDIF:
4 Observation: sur Pagriculhm (Eg.), pp. 7-8.
des Finances, Département de la Statistique générale, Annuairs doubts I313‘
5 According to government figures there were 476 steam pumps in Egypt in the
1914 (Cairo, i914), p. 21 (hereafter A.S. 1914)).
However, serious
with the I 339
l’Egyple, 1373 (Eg.), p. 272.
“:1? 1870:, an or them in the Delta: Staliktique .1;counter
about the reliability of both seI3. For a discussion of those concerned not accom- It should be noted that this argurnentruns to Charles-Roux‘: firm
was
cauus, see p. 236. It should be noted that the rise in population “at
ue:":°1"dt (P- 105) that cotton-production did not benefit from the increase in the
panied‘ b any increase in cereal imports. _ 33 large estatu, owing to the fact that the peasants were les willing to
ofBahmllh 9°‘
I For ayn account of the commercial exploitation of the discovery work Ifard where they were not their own master. However, as he is trying to
Mobgrly Bell, 7 Dec. 1876, M.B.P. (1876-81), 11'. 63-6. .,
‘

l%",»'fI-3 1.5"

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‘52 The Establishment 1y’ Cotton’: Dominant

' '
Int -
should also be pointed out that by
there v1::SCat)rs1I‘cI<13:1t1 1112) utpgmwlflg _number of proprietors the 13 708
_
no longer satisfied with traditional methods 15 «-iv .0 were
h 3_ ISMA'IL
115
tation of large quantities of machines for worlila impor-
estates, the activities of European experts and thon his. Win
the quality of many of the most importanticrops C:):1:°_1lne in
med to
produce a situation in which, for a minority atixjet
about new techniques was increasing. This piocess 1’¢’it‘0 learn
ot the formation of the Société égyptienne d’Ae ‘m 1880
aimed, as its statutes declared, at assisting the d griculturea
and improvement of Egyptian agriculture by the iiiile Opmfnt
of new crops, by organizing agricultural exliibitionmdumon
and by
publishing a periodical bulletin containing informatio
modern European practices.‘ The interest which its foundab(')ut
anon
evoked can be seen from the fact that its membershi Pu
from 76 to 150 in the first two months of its existenldej Impeii
tably, most of its direction came from Europeans‘ in 88nIeYl-
eight-man committee contained only one with a ndn-Europe-:1:
name. However, as this same committee pointed out in its
second some contact was made with the principal lan.
report,
ded proprietors, many of whom had either joined the Society
or written to it to ask it for advice.‘ Once again, its activities
are strictly outside the period covered by this chapter, but
some of them will be mentioned briefly, as an illustration of the
type of approach to agricultural matters which was then con-
sidered important. In the two years of its existence the Society
carried out an investigation into the use of cotton-seed oil
residue as fertilizer, including practical experiments on twelve
feddans of land rented for this purpose; it initiated trials to see
how much fertilizer should be used for each Egyptian crop;
and it published articles on such topics as the correct way to
grow jute, the most effective way ofdestroying the cotton-worm,
and a new technique of threshing wheat developed on the State
Domains}
explain something which did not take place, namely the failure of production to -'
his assertion seriously.
expand after 1872, it is difficult to take
-;‘1
‘ Société égypticnne d’Agriculture, Statul: (Cairo, n.d.), Art. i.
2 Rapport du Comité pourl’éxcrcice I881, B.S.E.A., no. it (31 Mar. i88l),p«9g
pp- . Mazuel givt: the number
I B.S.E.A., no. i (31 Jan. 1880), pp. 15-16; no. 3 (30 Apr. 1880),
no. ii (3!
no. 4. (31 May iB8o),,pp. 69-74: no. 7 (31 Aug. I880), pp. i24.—9:
1881). P- 17-
Positiarz in the Rural Economy 135
’ 7-1379 I53
AND THE DEVELOPMENT or THE Ecy
pr IAN
ECONOMY
Like his grandfather, Muhammad ‘Ali, with whom he
so
often seemed consciously to identify himself’: Isma-il was n 0 t
'
merely concerned. with developments inside the agricultural
sector but also with almost every aspect of Egyptian life. In a
very short SP3“ 0f time, he attempted to lay the foundations
of independent, state with its own modem
‘an European-style
railways and port facilities, its own industry, and its own
magnifi centcapital city full of the long avenues, the parks and
the large public buildings he had seen in Haussmamfs }’>ari5_
This is no place to attempt to judge the success or failure of his
undertakings, which anyway must be seen in political and
cultural as much as economic terms. But what must be done is
to give a brief description of the permanent impact made by
some of Isma'il’s schemes on the future development of the ‘
Egyptian economy.
Apart from his efibrts to stimulate the growth of agiicultur
production, to which reference has already been made, one o
Isma'il’s most ambitious undertakings was his attempt to
create a modern sugar industry on his estates in Middle and
Upper Egypt. Here, as in so much else that he did, he was
continuing something that his grandfather had started, but
on a very much larger scale. Whereas Muhammad ‘Ali built
three factories, which by 1833 were managing to produce some
', 20,000 cantars of raw sugar a year,2 Isma'il’s schemes in-
volved a complex of twenty-two factories with a combined
I capacity of some 3,250,000 cantars} Work was begun in the
4 years immediately following the end of the American Civil
War in an effort, it has been said, to provide some compensation
of
for the losses which he had suffered from the fall in the price
cotton.4 Apart from the construction of seventeen new factories
(to join the four which had been built by members of the royal
family between 184.5 and I85g)5, and their equipment with
’ See, for example, his speech to the first meeting of the Assembly of Rep:-5
scntatives, 25 Nov. 1866: Douin, Hiiloin, i. pp. 302“‘3~
= Mazuel, 1., Le Sam on Egw/ate (Cairo. 1937). 1313- 31-2-
: Stalistique dc l’Egpta, 1.973 (Eg.), p. 209. 4 u Sun: at Egpu, pp. 34-5.
5 For a list of these factories see La MI, 22 July IB73.
of new factorits as sixteen: Ll Sum en 5879*‘: P- 35-

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154 The Establishment of Cotton’: Dominant

machinery from Europe, it was also necessary to
provide
summer water for the land on which the sugar was to be
grown by digging the Ibrahimiya Canal, to install a
large
number of pumps, and to lay out a system of agricultural rai1_
ways to enable the cane to be brought in from the fields.
Operations began in the late 1860s. But almost at once it was
discovered that, as a number of contemporary observers had
predicted,‘ the whole scheme had been conceived on too
ambitious a scale, that transport facilities, manpower resources
’ previously been forced to import from abroad.‘ Altogether,
and, above all, organizational ability were insuflicient to kee
the factories working at anything like full capacity‘: As a
result, by 1878, only ten factories were at work,3 while figures
for that year’s production show that some 762,680 cwt. of raw
sugar had been produced as well as 156,472 cwt. of molasses;
a little under a third of what had been originally planned.
Nevertheless, according to Jean Mazuel, the historian of the
Egyptian sugar industry, the Khedive and his successors wen;
able to make a profit on their operations for the years 1875 to
I880, in spite of fierce competition from foreign sugar;5 while
J. C. McCoan commented on the excellent quality of the
finished product, which he said was second only to that manu-
factured in the West Indies.‘ Two types of raw sugar were
produced, so-called ‘white’ sugar, which was either consumed
in Egypt or sent abroad for further processing (both plant and
skill were lacking to refine more than a small fraction locally),7
and ‘red’ sugar, which was made into molasses and alcohol.‘
Sugar factories aside, Isma‘il also operated a number of
other industrial plants, the majority of which he had inherited
from his predecessors. These latter included two mills for
weaving cotton cloth, a tarbush manufactury, a t3!1flC1'Y» 3
' ‘Report upon the Commercial Relations of the U.S. with Foreign COW?“
for the Year Ending 30 Sept. i873—“Egypt” ’, Exuutiu DMUMIU (US): F1'“
Session rd Co as, i8 - . io69—98.
I See',4i‘?>r l'.llS|’;il8:€, ‘Replii-tqiliypli/Ir. Cave on the Financial Condition Of E87?"
(GB . io .
1 Zllgportsupon the Commercial Relations of the U.S. with Foreign _C0l1l1m°'
for the Year 1878-“Egypt” ', Executive Documentr (US), Third session. 45"‘
Congress, iB78—g, pp. iii6—3o.
4 Rabino, p. 29.
I L: Sum en
6 Qrpt A: It 1:, p. 154..
I staziuiqw ti: rtwte. 1373 (ES-). P- 2I°«
Position in the Rural Economy, 1867-1879
155
bakery, and Several armaments works.’ Once again, as was the
cast: during M“ha"‘ma‘,1 ‘Allis reign, 51 large proportion of
their produce
many C3-565 the“ °_utPUt Was considerably increased to meet
the needs of Isn'1a'1l’.s greatly expanded army and navy. In
hltnsclf established a paper
addition, Ismaill factory at
Buiaq. in an °fl°°’‘’ 1* Would seem, to provide some of the
for the factories
which the country had
packing-paper sugar
some 2,000 men were employed in all these various industrial
establishments in the early 1870s, before a number of the plants
were forced to close as a result offinancial and other difficulties!
Contemporary reports would suggest that Egyptian factory
industry suffered from two major drawbacks at this time_thc
high cost of coal (the main source of energy) and the difiiculty
of obtaining skilled labour without having to import men from
Europe at inflated rates of pay.‘ Both these factors were cited
by the American Consul-General as reasons why the manu-
facture of cotton cloth was almost wholly discontinued round
about the year 1872.5 Again, in the case of its sugar and paper
factories, Egypt suffered severely from the competition of
foreign firms, many of whom received a government subsidy.‘
Isma'il showed that he was not unaware of these problems,
however. He reopened a school, which had been closed by Sa'id,
to train Egyptian engineers;7 he also sent out unsuccessful
expeditions to the east and south of the country in search of
coal.“ Other efforts to encourage the development of Egyptian
industry included the establishment of a Ministry of Commerce,
the adoption of the metric system for weights and measures,
and the creation of a government statistical service.°
‘ For a list offactories see Edmond, C. (pseud.), L’Egrptc d I’Expo.n'ti'on Uidumlh
dc 1867 (Paris, 1867), p. 250, and Stalirtique dc l’Eg7P1¢, ta‘/3 (Es-). PP- 2! I-26-
‘Egypt A: I! II, p. 30 .
3 See Stati'.m'quo dc Péyptc, 1873 (Eg.), pp. 2ir—26, for numbers of workmen
°mPl°Yed in the various factories. 4 Stanton, la 0°“ 1879‘
. 5 ‘Report upon the Commercial Relations of the U.S. with Foreign Countries
for flu Ycar
I876_uEgyptn s_
6
Edmmda p. 250; Mazuel, La Sum tn E0914. P- 33-
: :‘H°YWorth-Dunne, p. 357.
_ _ .
R°P°l't upon the Commercial Relations of the U.S. with foreign muonsibr
the Year Ending 30 Sept. l87l—-“Egypt” ', Ermctiu Dominant: (US), and sum,
’ lb‘ '
4”‘ c°“8!‘¢8!. I87i—a, pp. 1 io3—i i. 9 Guindi and Taghet, pp. 95. 95» 13°~

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155 The Establishment of Cotton’: Dominant Position in the Rural Economy

3
’357‘I5'79 157
A second aspect of Isma'il’_s plans to turn Egypt into to calculations made b
Y Cave, interest on this
a
modern, European-style state involved the creation of a new
According
to nearl)’ £4,750,000 in 1
sum
came 876’ °" 45 Per cent of that
quarter of Cairo. To this purpose a system of avenues was laid ca,-’s total receipts.‘ But depe Ildence on Europe
a case of borrowing mo
was not
out, connecting the park at Azbakia to the river, along which simply nCY- ISma'il himself recruited
people were given plots of building-land on condition that numbers of European “Fem; builders, mechanics,
large
they constructed houses worth at least £2,000} Meanwhile merit servants and 0th .2
ovém machifi e f 1:.“ He 53130 placed contracts for
the Khedive himself erected a series of public buildings_th; the iII1P°r.t of 17 fl°’ 15 factories and furniture for his
Opera House, the Hippodrome, several theatres—as well as a with E
alatces hluropean Ii‘/Ims,many of whom were formed
string of palaces for members of his family. But buildings alone eanwhile, the floatation of govern.
5 ecially for t 18
were not the limit of his ambitions, Isma‘il was also anxious loans, the pfirpose. bond
ment issues, and the provision
that the new quarter would become a place where leading of short-term ere3.d'(:CaU0n.Of
1 Pr°V1d¢d lucrative, though Sometimes
-
Egyptians would learn what it was to live a European kind of dangerous, W01‘k for the iricreasin
' g numbers of foreign banks,
life. Thus, the women of his harem were introduced to the idea resultwas further to stimulate that influx of foreigners into
The
of French dresses and European carriages; the purchase of which had begun in. the i§5os. According to official
Egypt
European furniture was generally encouraged? two g§r1s= figures, the numbers of foreign residents had reached nearly
schools were built to provide a modern education for the 80,000 by 1872,! 3.I1d.9I,(.)00 ten years later.4 Again, there was
daughters of the most powerful families.3 a considerable extension in the number of European commer-
Isma‘il’s efforts to encourage a taste for European life, cial enterprises. Apart from those connected with cotton, these
reinforced as they were by the presence of Cairo’s foreign naturally tended to concentrate on hnes directly connected
. 1' 5

community which may have already numbered nearly 20,000
by i872,4 was at once reflected in an increase in the import of
such foreign commodities as timber (for building), marble and
stone, and wines and liqueurs.5 Another important effect was
the stimulus which must undoubtedly have been given to the
local building industry. Unfortunately little can be learned
about the extent of these operations, although the fact that so
many public buildings were put up at this time, as well as a
number of private houses worth at least 352,000, would
suggest that they must have been on an extensive scale.
The scope of Isma'il’s various projects, and the methods 11°
employed to finance them, made it inevitable that he would
have to rely heavily on foreign assistance. To begin with, there
was the money he needed to borrow from Europe. In the
ten years between 1864. and i873—4 public loans totallefg
,(,‘65,2o4,36o, of which £4.4.,I2I,055 was actually received-
' Clerget, M., Le Caire, vol. i (Cairo, 1934.), p. ig8.
‘ ‘Un Ancien Jug: Mi.xte', i. pp. l4.3—4..
: Artin, Y., L’Instmclion publiqiu en Egypt: (Paris, i889), pp. 134-5-
4 Slalistique de l'Egyple, 1873 (Eg.), p. 25.
5 Statement, 1865-1875 (US).
6 Hainza, A.-M., 17.: min Debt qflfgpt (Cairo, 1944), pp. 256-7-
with Isma 11 s efforts to develop the country’s resources-
banking, the finance of foreign trade, construction, and so on.
By 1877, for example, there were eight banks providing tele-
graphic exchange on London and Paris.5 Some were branches
of major European banks, others had been founded by foreign
residents of Alexandria using, on occasions, quite considerable
quantities of local money!‘ Given the profits which could be
obtained from these and other enterprises, it is not surprising
‘ ‘Report by Mr. Cave on the Financial Condition of Egypt’ (GB), pp. ii i, i I3.
In fact the proportion was almost certainly higher than this due to ofiicial over-
utimatc of the revenue it was possible to raise.
3 There were, for instance, ioo Europeans in the police force by the end of the
i86os: Stanton, 7 Oct. 1869: F.O. 78/2093.
3 Stalirtique de l’Egypte, 1873 (Eg.), pp. 20-1. But this may have been an under-
estimate. Francois-Leverney (p. i0) places the figure at 150,000; although he
admits (p. i i) that the foreign consulates in Cairo and Alaiandria had only 75,000
foreigners registered on their books at this time.
4 Rmmmmit génlml de l’Egyp£e (1382) 03s.), vol. i (Cairo, 1884). PP- xiv-xv-
5 Issawi, ‘Egypt Since i8oo—A Study in Lop-sided Development’, p. I0.
5 See, for instance,
Le Nil, I 1 June 1872, for an account of the foundation of LI
B““‘l“¢ Greequc d’Alexandrie, more than half the capital of which (or over
£i,ooo,ooo) was subscribed by friends of the founders, all Greek merchant:
Iflident in Alexandria. According to another source there were seven locally
banks in Alexandria in I874, with a joint capital of £6,000,000: Anon., The
I°'f_°3ted
"'“"°“ '!fEypt, p. I7.

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Position in the Rural Economy, 1867-1879 159

158 The Establishment Qf Cotton’: Dominant
alike, was of less impor-
to start any sort of industrial
that so few Europeans attempted Ottoma:
tance t 5 a e new
an<it}Eurf0Ptt§a:1hg<t3v<t:li;nments
-"m_ 3-C _ system allowed foreign
from cotton-ginning and _
activity at this time, apart pressing
was the tobacco fac: business aCtlV1tY t_0 '36 Carried. in a much more orderly and
this rule on
The only notable exception to who had been forced way. Again, by establishing a _French type of mortgage
tories established by Greek entrepreneurs rcgulnr the way for European investment in companies
as a result of the transfer
their business in Istanbul law, 1t paved
to abandon
to a private company in connected with some aspect of the exploitation of Egyptian
of the Turkish tobacco monopoly that Nester Gianaclis land, something which was to have the most important conse-
in that year, for instance,
I875. It was Egypt’s largest firm of uences in the. years
which followed.‘
to become
founded what was later This last point 15
one. As far as Isma'il’s own
immigrants found the atmo_
cigarette-manufacturers.I The to cigarette-rolling schemes were
concerne_ , t e motive was generally more political
andimrportartt
well suited
sphere in Egypt particularly something which goes part of the way to account
enterprises aside, European: than economic,
and the industry prospered. These making oil from for the fact that they were so often over-ambitious and wasteful
owned factories were limited to a few plants money. And yet, in spite of all this, their effect on
flour mills, and an engineering and of borrowed
linseed and cotton, some the future development
of the economy was profound. Although
cotton-machinery company! the Khedive was anxious to develop
every aspect ofthe country’s
of European commercial
The overwhelming proportion expanding economic life himself, what in fact
happened was that nearly all
a rapidly
activity was confined to Alexandria, his schemes served to strengthen
just one part of it, that is
included, was the home of well
town which, if its suburbs are can be called the export sector. This consisted
resident in Egypt} There, it could bc
over half the foreigners whit
of e novy,
area 0 t e elta
flairllgr, where cotton was grown , and th e two
Egyptian control. As a result _
arried on almost entirely outside great towns, Alexandria and Cairo which provided a Euro-
was forced to rely on the
the fact that the Government pean style of life for the landowners, foreign merchants, ginners,
their own nationals and
venteen different consulates to police and others‘ who made their profits from it. It was those who
the law, not only were
to punish them when they broke lived in this sector whose interests had become paramount by
ignored with impunity but it also proved
official regulations the late 1870S- It
or foreign firms
impossible to levy taxes on foreign residents °V°1'Y One of Ismail s major initiatives contributed to their
to the ‘Ancien Juge Mixte',
without their consent! According own enrichment, they whose point of view that Egypt was
paid the land-tax were those who wished
the only foreigners who
abuses of purely an agricultural country finally triumphed over that of '
It was
to be on good terms with the administration.5 Isma‘il himself2 who had ho P ed to encou rage a more d‘iversi-
of Nubar Pasha’s famous _ _ .
this kind which led to the circulation legal fi d form of econormc activity.
memorandum of August 1867 on the reform of Egyptian on CT implications of this situation will form one of
carried
procedures, the first step in an eight-year campaign the Exiaflgifl
J_ ltflremes of Part 2 of this work. However, before
some of its lost authority
by the Egyptian Government to regain an °mPhng to analyse the events of 1880-1914, it is first neces-
eventually to the establish-
over foreign residents, which led in one important gap in the history of Egypt’s mono.
ment of the Mixed Courts to administer a new code of criminal :1§Z‘t1o filll
eve opment presented so far, the impact on the country’s
of this _
and civil law. In the event, however, the primary aim f"C1811 trade of the rapid growth in cotton exports.
against
measure, the assertion of Egyptian independence ‘ '
c f ded
'
th three
A‘l¢iIl!twoEuropean land com Panlfi
-
I wriglftx P- 437- ’ I-‘ran<;ois-Levemey, pp. 20-1, 170-3- “"3 anblflhment of the Mixed Courts andvisxlifafilllilabditilafiocn in Igcan7g—4bcD“:i:T:
the 0111385
‘
A"’"""‘ S’”‘i‘“9"’n ’W3 (E8-), pp. 20-1. For a description of Pan)’ which obtained a concession to drain Lake Maryut and the m.f“ed
Taylor, p. I4. Xom al-Akhd“ Co... Cobb, p. 357; MoberlYBell, 13 Dec. 1880, M.B.P. (:8-16.3‘),
Whldi 55*‘ uh“ PIWC in the twenty years before 1874 seeupon Consular .7141!‘-¢¢i"€"'°'v 5: 376-81.
4 See, for example, Report afou Inlernatioml Commission
PJ’. 1870, vol. lvi, pp. 637-50,
5 ‘Un Ancien Juge Mime’, p. 128-9.

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Cotton Export: and Egyptian Foreign Trade

, 1820-1879 161
of all kinds and prices were unusually
VI .
and 1826, French imports h‘ h.1 Th , ' 3
surpassed thoig of Liv:lrp::,1Ia:?1
Trieste as Muhammad ‘Ali began
to ship the bulk of the cotton
COTTON EXPORTS AND is own account. But this brief
EGYP TIAN came to an end when French period
manufacturers, seeing the
FOREIGN TRADE market

1820-1879 TABLE 21
Volume and Direction of Egyptian
Cotton Exports
Statixtioal note (Annual Averages)
N a discussion of Egyptian trade for the years
the writer is severely handicapped by 1820 to I 3 England France Austria Total
the unre 1'iable nature7 cantars
of the figures . _ cantars cantars cantan
Few.stat1stics from Egyptian
can available. sources 1822-4
be accepted without question: all raise problems, 55,,50
attempt will be made to subject them to detailed and no ‘‘’’5'9
analysis. For 177,294
this reason a third section has been added in 133°“? 139,475
which British 1835-9 61,31 1 56,600 78,290 229,047
trade figures will be used. These first began to 1840-4 66,459 42,534 34,377
appear 193,653
in 1853, and have a greater claim to accuracy and annually 1845-9 144,942 49,073 67,625 236,392
They will be used as the basis for consideration of theconsistency. 1850-4 274,464 90,114 126,297 473,737
important 1 855-9 302, 1 24 102,994 1 08,699 518,632
question of movements in Egypt’s terms of trade. They 1860-4 648,044‘
can also 943,829
be used as some sort of check on Egyptian statistics. 1865-9 1,269,673‘ 1,706,480
1370-4 1, 562,059'
1,892,302
1375-9 1,450,433‘ 2,229,800
1. EGYPTIAN EXPORTS or corron AND corron sun Souncns :
1820-1879 1822-59: Fowler, pp. 6-1 1.
1860-79: (England): United Kingdom. Annual
Statements of Trade.
The volume and direction of cotton exports (Total): Tables 7 and 14.
Non: a. British imports from Egypt (cwts).
The main movements in the volume of Egyptian Cotton
exports have already been described in previous chapters. Very glutted, attempted to force down prices, causing the Pasha
generally it may be said that there were four periods of major
to
divert an increasing proportion of future crops to Trieste.’-
increase. These were 1822-4, 1850-2, 1861-5, and _th° °“_"lY Much of this latter cotton, however, was sent overland
to the
1870s. Each was followed by a number of years 111 which mills on the Franco-German border. Trieste remained the
exports levelled off or declined (see Table 21). major export outlet for Make during the 1830s and
_ early
In the early years of production the bulk of Egyptian expofll 1840s. England’s share then began to increase, until by about
of long-staple cotton were divided between the of L1‘/¢_1" 1347-8 there began that British dominance of the market for
ports
pool, Marseilles, and Trieste (see Table 21). Initially, Egyptian cotton which was to last for the rest of the century.
was the major recipient, as the first efforts to find a Bnuffn;
0 he reasons for this development are unclear, but must have
Mako/jumel coincided with the commodity b00mmarkeg °f fig’, I Tooke, 11, A Himg QfPn'u.r, vol. i (London, 1838), p.
' 15511.
Julliany,
during which there was a large British demand for raw mati6 MIMI II

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159 Cotton Exports and Egyptian

been connected with the great extension of mill . Foreign Trade, 1820-1879 :63
capacit In
Lancashire in the early 1850s, when weekly cotton consul’
tion rose by nearly a third between 1850 and 18523 3,1 TABLE 22
By
England took 65 per cent of the Egyptian crop; eleven Liverpool Price qf Egyptian and American Cotton, 1820-79‘
years
later, in 1869, this proportion had increased to own. 75
per .
cent.‘ American American
Middlins Egyptian maar 3 « ’“‘.‘°"?"=
J./lb. J./lb. 4.115." 4,???“ ?dv_1I-IKE!-nu glib
Price 1
iflao 11} I944 43 5-8 ,3; I I,
The first recorded sale of Egyptian cotton on the Liverpo 1 182: 9} 1345 4} 5§—io I55; ii: :31!»
aconsignment was auction; I845 45 7|—s§ ms,
market was in May 1823 when I822
was
8}
3} 1847 6|‘ 137.,
“I.
9“
Hi‘,
[Hp
for I Ia’./lb.—2 fa’./lb. more than good-quality American Upland I824 3} 91"?‘ ‘S43 4} 18-” 3* 8”;
HI Ioi—24 I849 at .57,
Experts who examined it found it ‘long and tolcrably fine h; 1825
I826 65 5}-I I 1350 7 [373
mi
9
mi.
9}‘,
staple’ but rather dull in colour and not well cleaned} It seems may 6}
6|
6}-8}
6!-9
I85!
x85:
5}
59
.3,‘ 3 3*.
was 1875 7! Mb
rapidly to have gained a share of the small market for fine mac 5! 55-8} :85: 5! 13,5 5;
X854 .377 5*
cotton, and for this reason it was able to maintain its premium 1830 6%
6
61-10
7-9} 1355 5|
5|
I878 6§
1831
of some 2:1. to 3d./lb. over all but the best American varieties r832 6} 7-9} 1856 6fi- ,3”
5*
8} 1857 7!
until 1860. Nevertheless, its properties were not so unique as to I653
I834. 8| 1858 6}
allow it to avoid American price leadership, and throughout was not I859 6}
1860 6}
the period it was subject to the predominant, though not
1836 9}
1837 7 9-13 i861 B1;
exclusive, influence of the price of the very much larger 1838 7 19-16} :86: x7{

lF
1839 7} I 1-12} 1863 aai 30.50
American crop. Figures given in Table 22 indicate that, with x840 6 vi-I2 I864 27} 24-31}
certain rare exceptions, the Liverpool price of Egyptian cotton :84: 6} 61-10 1865 19 13.25.}
I342 5} 5*-9 I866 15} “*5
moved in harmony with that of Middling (an average American X843 4! 6-8
grade). Further confirmation of this movement is provided by
monthly figures where they exist. In 1855-6, for instance, the Souncas:

price of Egyptian followed almost every fluctuation in that of
was
the two major American varieties (see Fig. I). The same
true in 1863-6 and in 1871.4
The exact mechanism by which this American price leader- ‘ _
ship was exerted cannot be accounted for with any confidence.
Nevertheless, two very tentative hypotheses may be suggested«
American: T°dd: .l- Au The World’: Canon C1 3 London, 1 I .
Egyptian (I824-32) = Baines, E., A Ham qftI|:pC¢iuon Mmf..9cuir)Z .-§’.‘Z;.27‘.T.‘lé,‘,-*.3‘.'.-.'.
(London, 1835), p. 314,
(1837-46): Burn, 11., Statistics qfthe Cattan Trade (London, 184.7), p. 22.
0363-5) = Williams, M-, Sam Years’ Him»; qftlu Canon Trade in Europe (Liver-
P001, 1868), p. 207.
(1855-75) : ‘Report upon the Commercial Relations of the U.s. with Foreign
Countries for the Year I876’—“Egypt".’

Norm:
I. In the years before 1860, the special market for long-’ .' 3- lmposible to discover how these averagu were arrived at. They could
staple cotton was smaller than for the average Egypt!“ 4' ve been
iii!
calculated.by
a wide
variety
of methods and may repruent an
crop. Thus, exports to England over and above the amount .} “W380 Of _WecHy prices or of prices on the last day of each month or of
at '. monthly prices, etc.
needed to fill this limited demand could only be sold b. Thue prices refer to averages for the nearut cotton year, e.g. 1866 ‘B equiv‘.
lent to io Sept. 1865 to 9 Sept. 1866.
- Tooke, 'r. (with w. Newmarch), A Him; qfPn'm-, vo1.v (London. 1857):" A
p. 271.
5 Fowler, p. H; Char-les~Roux, p. 332. sEl1ison.P-39',
‘
4 For I863-6seep.gi; for i87neeR:porI outlu Tmdeandcornn-ml Ilf‘
Dying the fear 1&1, p. 383.

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154- Cotton Exports and Egyptian Foreign Trade, 1820-1879 165

pence Ilb.
moved more than marginally out ofline with the accepted
prerxuum. In either case, price would have been deter-
mined by marginal use.

If these 5u8§_c3ti°“5 are mic, Egypt could have little control

of the price of its own cotton during the period, except perhaps
in those years (like 1846) when the crop was too small to meet
the needs of its special market and its premium over American
certainly the prevalent view in
rose accordingly. This was
Egypt itself, as an article in the Alexandria newspaper Le Nil
for 14, October 1873 makes clear. Speaking of the prospects for
the coming crop it regretted the fact that: ‘Malheureusement
nous ne’en sommes pas encore a dicter les prix . . . Les cotons
égyptiens subissent l’influence des variations d’Amérique, qui
se produisent ici par ricochet, en frappent sur l’Angleterre.’
Proper statistical proof of such assertions cannot be made,
available figures.
however, due to the unreliable nature of the
Following that of American, the price of Egyptian moved
period in which world
downwards between 1820 and 1850, a
demand. This
cotton-production was expanding faster than
was particularly the case in the 18405, when there was a marked
--— Egyptian‘Fair‘
lands
----- Bowed or upland‘Fair' increase in supply owing to the opening up of new cotton
Ii’/' Price revived in the 1850s with the rapid
—— New 0rleans‘Fair' along the Mississippi.
rise in the number of spindles,‘ and then climbed sharply
more
I during the American Civil War, only to decline once
I I In I I I l I I 1 I I I I L during the long trade depression which began in the early
1870s. Within these long-term trends there were also shorter
5 I I I
4
JFMAMJ]ASONDl]FMAMJJASOND
I855 I856
movements in which cotton prices, like those of most raw
‘Fig, 1,‘ Liverpool prices of American and Egyptian materials, followed the ups and downs of the trade cycle.
cotton at end of each month. I855-I856 that
The price of Egyptian cotton at Alexandria followed
SOURCE: Ure, A., The Cotton Manufacture of Great Britain, vol. ii the
(London I861), p. 387. I at Liverpool more or less faithfully. This was particularly
Egypt and
case after the construction of the telegraph between
Europe in 1861, after which week-to-week fluctuations
in the
the price of their short-staple, American, rivals. Thil i
Egypt.
situation was described by Gliddon in 1841. He then British market were almost immediately reproduced in
estimated the size of the special market at 50,000 bales.‘ I
. After 1860, even though the special market remained, Grade:
in Egypt the
bulk of the Egyptian crop was used for purposes As various different varieties ofJumel appeared
became more apparent. Ure
which the better American varieties would have need for some system of grading
'
just as well; and spinners were prepared to substitufl ' The number of British spindles incl-eased. by 44 per cent in 1850-60:1-Iiighu,
latte!’ . (Oxford, 1960), p. 75.
American for Egyptian whenever the price of the J. R. T., Fluctuations in Trade, Industg, and Fauna, I850-6‘a
r Gliddon p. 37. Atthi: time abalewu equal tojustover two cant8I‘|- 1

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135 Cotton Exports and Egyptian

mentions four grades in 1856, ranging from Ordinary to Good
with a price spread of Id./lb. between them.‘ Later th’
emergence of further varieties meant that the system had ’to be
extended, and by the end of the 1870s Ashmouni (known it
Liverpool as ‘Brown Egyptian’) was divided into eight grade“
while Abiad (‘White Egyptian’) contained five more, Sue:
grades were not based on staple-length but on cleanliness
colour, and fineness of lint. There was as yet no one methoci
of classification which was accepted in both Alexandria and
Liverpool. After 1854 the average price given for Egyptian
cotton was based on that of ‘Good Fair’.
Foreign Trade, 182o—r87g 167
13405, and then of the rise in values after 1850, when price and
harvest size increased together. The influence of the American
in
Civil War boom can be clearly seen. Thereafter, the revival
the
output after 1869-70 was nearly sufficient to counteract
long downward trend in prices from 1865 onwards.
Cotton seed
Exports of cotton seed began in quantity in the mid 1850s.
90 per cent of
A few years later, during the boom, well over
24). The proportion
the crop was being sent abroad‘ (see Table

Value TABLE 24
Figures for the value of Egyptian cotton exports to 1879 are Volume, Value, and Price of Cotton-Seed Exports, 1861-79
given in Table 23.3 They show the impact of the low prices in the (Annual Averages)
TABLE 23 Price
Value of Egyptian Cotton Exports, 1835-79 Volume Value Pt./ardabb
ardabbx £E (computed)
(Annual Averages)
18gI—4 600.340 333.937 55‘
{E 909,749 585.550 64
1865-9
4 1870-3 1.228.971 939.769 76
1835-9 774954 1
l 1875-9 1,610,520‘ 1,468,208” 89
1840-4 393.450 l

I845-9 427.347 I

I850-4 917.763 Souncu:

1355-9 1.133.307 Volume: Tables 9 and 14..
124, 137.
1861-4 6,1 10,646 Value (1861—g): CarpietVivante, 1 and 2,and Douin,Hi:toire,ii. pp. 121,
(1870-53): Statement, 1865-1875 (US).
1865-9 9.073.655 (1875—9): Table 15.
1 870-3 7,656,302
I375-9 8.421.633‘ No-nu:
11.. 1875 only.
Souncu: b. Original figures augmented by one-ninth after 1873.
1835-59: Fowler, pp. 8-1 1. c. Excludes 1862.
1861-6: Table 7.
1867-9: de Reg-ny, pp. 59-60, remained at about this figure until 1879. Unlike that of cotton,
1870-3: Statanau, t&5‘5—1&5 (US).
1875-9: Table 15.
the price of cotton seed did not decline after 1865 but continued
5] to rise, so that by 1875-9 it was more than double what it had
Nan“ '- °"lSln31 58""! Iuslnentcd by one-ninth to offset decrease in value been in 1861. As a result there was no diminution in the value
customs.
of exports in the 1870s.
' Ure, ii. p. 367.
‘ See. for example, Cotton, vol. i, no. 1 (27 Jan. 1877), p. 14.. ‘ This assertion is based on the assumption made earlier (p. 94.) dug mqg wag
' Foriomcoftheproblumconneczedwizhzheoaiusaisguuu for the v-Int-0‘ 5‘ 3* lrdabb: of cotton seed for every 5 cantan of lint.
cotton export! see Appendix 1.

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168 Cotton Export: and Egyptian

2. FOREIGN TRADE, 1820-1879 Foreign Trade, 1820-1879 169
The balance qf trade was considerable evasion of the duty by European
residents.‘
Figures for the value of Egyptian trade betw Again, the system of establishing the price
of goods entering
1879 are given in Table 25. Once again, it mu
een 184; and leaving the country seems often to have led
st be obseritg to a consider-
that they are very unreliable and should be trea able reduction in their worth.‘ Furthermore, trade
with Turkey
ted only as was generally excluded from Egyptian figures
the before 1880, as
TABLE 25 was the commerce which passed through ports
other than
Alexandria before 1874.1 For these and other reasons there were
Egyptian Foreign Trade, 1841-79 (Annual Averages)- occasions in which so-called ‘official’ figures for Egyptian
exports to all countries were well below those for
Imports Exports British
imports from Egypt} Even so, it may be suggested that through-
£12: £13 out the period the figures underestimate the true value
of
184 1-4 1 ,838, 1 50 1 ,67o,8go exports less than they do of imports, an assumption which, if
’845‘9 I563 ‘:44! ‘£36,969 true, would mean that the favourable balance of trade which
1850-4 1,849,621 2,926,769 the country seemed to enjoy for almost every year between
1855-9 2.580.164 3,683,179 1850 and 1880 was, in reality, smaller than it appears on paper.
1860-4 3,520,422 8,623,632
1865-9 5,203,768 11,712,871
Exports, 1820-1879
I370-3 6.249.973 I 1.134,! 24
18751; 4.685.297 13.595318" In 1823, according to John Bowring, Egypt exported goods
worth £1,455,200. Of these just over £1,100,000-worth were
Sconces :
Imports (1841-72): Statirtique de l'Eg;-pte, r873 (Eg.),
sent to Europe.‘ Thereafter, for the next thirty years, the value
p. 166. of Egyptian goods sold abroad varied between £1,000,000 and
(1873): Statement 1865-1875 (US.)
(1875-9): Le Commerce exte‘n'eur tie l’EgypIe, 1884-1889 (Eg.), pp. £2,000,000. Cotton was usually responsible for a quarter to
Exports (1841-60): Statirtique de l’Egypte 1873 (£33.), p. 166. a third of the total, although this proportion might rise to as
(1861—6): Carpi ct Vivante, 1 and 2. high as a half in years of high prices and good harvests such as
(1867—9): De Regny, pp. 50-1.
( 1870-3): Statement, 1&$‘5—1875 (US). 1836, or sink to as low as a tenth in others, for example 1848
(1875—g): Same as imports. (see Table 26). The other major items of export were wheat
Nons- and beans. With the return of more peaceful conditions in the
n. Figures are for the port of Alexandria until 1875, when they are for the whole
1
1840s, 750,000 to 1,000,000 ardabbs of such cereals were sent
of Egypt. abroad each year, worth anywhere between £500,000 and
b. Original figures augmented by one-ninth.
£1,000,000. Other products exported in some quantity were
most general guide to movements in Egyptian commerce: In rice, gums (from the Sudan), and linen cloth.
particular, there is good reason to suppose that the series g'lVCn ' See the cxprasion quoted by Sacré and Outrebon (p. 231) which
was current
seriously undervalues both imports and exports. In the cast among Europeans in Alexandria in the mid 1860s: ‘Avez-vous fait une bonne
of the former, government purchases or those by the TOY’-I douanei”, meaning ‘Have you made a convenient arrangement with the Cusmnn
to pay at reduced ratm?’.
family rarely passed through the Customs House,‘ while the” 1 1 For a discussion of thuc and other problems connected with Egyptian
trade
I See, for example, Stanley’: mm on the Trade figures see Appendix 2.
and Commerce ¢aj'Alcxandril{DI”! ' For example, compare the figures for 1865-9 provided_ _
by the source given in
the Year 187! (p. 384), in which he asserts that, while he knew that the Kh0d1V° 11”‘
Table 33 with those for Egyptian exports given in Statirtique dc l’Egyptc, 1873 (£13.),
imported machinery worth £500,000 for his sugar plantations that year. 8 58"” 1). 166.
only £85,000 had appeared in the ofieial customs statistics. More sever“;- 4 ‘Report on Egypt and Candia’ (GB), p. 62. Bowring‘s figuru have
Stanley estimated that import: for 1871 were worth closer to £7,000,000 W" been con.
verted from Spanish dollars at the rate 5 Spanish dollars=£ 1.
‘official’ £5,000,000.

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170 Cotton Exports and Egyptian F0748" T7046. I82o—187g 171

TABLE 26 per cent at the end. The earl 18605 '
5 als
in the of cereals. valiie rising frbdiavgjfilgobnddbuiz
Major Egyptian Export: from Alexandria in Various Tears, 1830.50 cx}£)rt1, 00,000 In 1 éheir - . ’
52 _ However, it then dechned to only
1831 1335 1843 1859 ’1€8é;22t;(:)€0 in5I 865.
gr. £11 £13 .61‘- Although the share of export eamin provided by cotton
_ 83.
seed diminished a little after 1865, 1t still remained around
Cotton 429.454 3031394 157.95 1 1. 1 1 5.419
Wheat 232.257 389.724 75 per cent, and from then on Vanations in its price and
3”... 54.1 1 3‘ 295.249 222,343 harvest SIZC were the major facto rs determining the value
Barley 47.800 51 ,3go of total exports. Cereal exports, on the other hand were of
mac 66,169 124,842 1 1 1,856
Corn 62.712 103.630 66.876 96.783
considerably less relative importance than before the, war. In
Linen Cloth 45.365 54.645 3.656 absolute terms their worth varied from justover {E300 ooo

Total exports 1.178.613 1.400.665 1.553.655

in 1866 and 1870 10 £E2.ooo,ooo in .377. The most valuable
2.704312. new export of the period was refined and unrefined sugar.
Small amounts had been sent abroad in the 18505, but it was
Souncu: not until Isma'il began to invest heavily in its production after
1831: Jomnrd, E. F., Coup J’on'l impartial .1147 Pltal prérent dc l’Eg)Ipte (Paris, 1835),
p. 16. _]omard’s figures have been converted from francs at the rate of 1F =
1866 that it began to assume any significance. By the early
Pt. 2-86. 1870s the value of the sugar exported was as great as that of
1836: Colin, ‘Lettru su: l’Egypt—Commeroe', p. 71. Converted from francs at wheat or beans (see Table 27).
the rate of IF = Pt. 3-85.
184.8: Macaulay, 22 Mar. 1849: U.S. Egypt, ii.
1859: Fowler, p. 12. TABLE 27
Nara: 5. All cereals. Export: of Cereals and Sugar, 1861-79 (Annual Averages)‘

Exports doubled in value during the 18505. This was due

1351-4 1865-9 1870-3 1875-9‘
almost entirely to two factors, the increase in the size of the £13 £11? .61? £3
cotton crop, aided by the revival of prices at the end of the W"°‘*‘
decade, and the expanding market for Egyptian cereals in 571.160 514.807 486.446 941.731
gm“ 291.530 360.860 415.064 762.259
Europe. Wheat exports averaged well over 1,000,000 ardabb: ‘“'1.°V 74.733 38.876 9.055 55.853
a year throughout the period. And in 1855-6, during the gm‘ 43.462 56.317” 41.659 21,048
°° 76.468 36.186 28.851 148.349
Crimean War boom, when prices were at their highest, they
accounted for over 50 per cent of export earnings. These year: T°‘*_1 cereals 1.057.353 1.037.046 981.296 1.929.230
also saw the beginning of what was to become a major export.
cotton seed. s“8" 14.590 82.130 501.416 753.073
The demand occasioned by the American Civil War led to 8- SOURQJ :
sharp rise in the volume of exports of Egyptian cotton, whi1¢ 1861-9 (exoeptrioe 1867-:=g): Carpi et Vivante, 1 and 2, and Douin, Hi.11a'n, 11.
their value increased from {E1 ,40o,ooo in 1861 to {E1 5,400,000 _ PP- 120. I23. 137; (rice 1867-9): Slatnmut, 1155-1875 (US).
1870-3: sm.-ms, :as5—.s75 (us).
in ‘855- Total exports advanced from ,€E3,7oo,o0o 60 1375-9: Lo cmm «mu 1!: rtgpu, t38g—I&9_9 (Eg.), pp. xvi—xix.
z€E15.4°0.000 during the same period. At the same time th¢!‘° No-ru:
was a.fourfold increase in the value of cotton seed sent abroadv I. - -

If this 15 included with cotton, their joint share of b.

°' °"‘8|!IAl figure augmented by one-ninth.
¢"P°“5 m°Vcd f"°m 41 Per cent at the beginning of the W3!‘ t°

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*4‘

17, Comm Exports and Egyptian

Imports, 1820-1879 F""ig’1 TW19, 1820-1879
173
Egyptian imports after 1820 fell mainly into two TABLE 29
groups’
manufactured goods, of which at large 1_Dr0P01't10n was made up Major Egyptian Imports, 1863-79
which the country (Annual Averages)-
of cotton cloth, and raw materials did not
possess, such as wood, irofl, and C031 (539 T3216 2_3)- Wood was 1863-4 1355.9
’87°"3 i375-9‘
of particular importance in Muhammad Ali s reign, when the £3 £13 511
Egyptian fleet was being rebuilt at Alexandria. Later, with Tcxii-15 ma-““{3?t‘“'”b 'n7'3:57-1» 1 602,934,
the coming of the railways, iron and coal became more pro. Timb“ (f°" "“‘”‘“3) '9‘»45* 335,613 I’ii:’:£
Iron and “"1 57,403 107.026
"3133?
minent.’ l 125.534 1o5:357
C°PP°t '8’657
127,808 9°!95° 95,473 52,335
Coal . 176,397
TABLE 28 359_g33 575,303
M3°h’“°"V _ '5°v77° 135.732 245,452 53,435
T°b3°°°’ and C33" ‘46=6'3 115.757 107,702 65,380
Major Egyptian Imports at Alexandria in Various Years, 1839.60 Frill” 3314-09 12764-3 173,316 34,187
0“! '56:“!-9 274:9”: 252,001 78,255
1831 1836 184.8
Win” and 1i‘1“°““ ‘53:439 250,162 222,220 117,978
1359 Marble and stone 81,ooo 123,no7 159,555
£15 £5 £E £1: 27,553
silk: and raw ulk 177.706 245,967 213,665 124,711,
10580 931335 151573 9.391 165,924.
Cotton manufactures 235,033 422419 797,049 Other ‘:4-93=393 1:590:97? 1,896,881 2,207,210
Coal 34,909 47,209 48.597
Iron and steel 96,982 99.273 45318 39,884 Total imports 4,508,862 5.2031767 6,219,977 5,663,734
Copper 29.433 146.994
Timber (for building) 291,481‘ 240,052 70,495
Sounces:
Total Imports 1863-72: Slalirtique dc l’Egyptc, 1873 033.), Table 103, pp. 304-5.
1,370,646 I.3I9.oI2 1.480.334 2.468.813 1873: Statenu-11:, 1M5—1875 (US).
1875-9: [.4 Commerce extérieur dc l’Egy,bte, 1884-1889 (133,), pp. xvi—xix.
SOUR: See Table 26. Norms:
Non: a. Includu wood for burning. a. Imports to Alexandria only until 1874; afterwards to all ports. Import: from
Turkey excluded before 1879. Defi nition of categories may vary from year
to year.
Figures for the value of imported goods exist only for isolated b. Textile exclude ‘silks’, bonnets, carpets, and cloth-
years before 1841. Bowring gives a total of £650,000 for 1823 1:. Original figures augmented by one-ninth.
and just over £1,000,000 for 1824.1 During the 1830s imports
remained between ,4‘ 1,000,000 and ,Q 1,500,000. Thereafter; ‘*0 Sharp rise in the import of items required by the growing
very significant upward trend can be observed until the 18508, European community and Europeanized Egyptians, such as
when the advance in exports and Sa'id’s efforts to develop the coffee, cutlery, clothes, furniture, soap, and wines and hqueurs.
economy led to a marked increase in purchases from abroad. These trends were maintained in the years after the W3-1',_35
Egyptian imports received a second greater stimulus from exports remained at a high level and Isma‘1l continued with
the American Civil War boom. The demand for foreign mam‘ his plans to develop the count1y’s resources. ln _add1t10n, 01!}
factured goods and of certain much-needed raw materiali new group of imports began to be of some signilicance. This
showed a marked advance (see Table 29). There was 3150 3 consisted of products which were als0 PT°d“°¢d 1“ F-'EYPt but
not in sufliciont quantity nor of high enough quality for the
a_
' Mud: ofthe coal ‘ ' needs of the foreign residents, for instance, white flour, refined
d on gavanment aooount, howevd’1
“A do“ not ‘wear to‘-EC i|;°tll:e\I::Ia';:I‘:ii:rted Sugar, potatoes, and other vegetables and fruits. Imports of
1 ‘Report on Egypt and Candie’ ((33), these four items were valued at over £E225,00° 111 1379-
pp_ 5,_3_ BM"-n B» fig”, were arisifl‘
‘"Yln3PNi|hd0“3"-Th¢Yh8Vebeenoouvatedatthente5S'panishdo1llfl59"
"P":

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Foreign Trade, 132o_,879

and Egyptian I75
Cotton Exports This increase not only raised inco -
174 the 184.05. in Egypt; it
BRITAIN, I82o_1379 must also have encouraged British merchants Itnes
ADE WITH GREAT 0se°k‘° Pay for
3. EGYPTIAN TR the S°°d5. th°Y "“p°"°d ‘DY e$P0rting mo
roducts .111return. For, as R‘
C. 0. Mann: manufactured
I82o~I853 Points out,
showed -} gradualincrease between gcographlcal distance made the shipment “M250 ' bulhon an
Bri.t.ish ex? orts to Egypt(see Table 30). This was largely the expensive and unattractive_ method of
I827 and the mid 18405 _ _ n the export of cotton manufactured between London and countries outside Euroigthggc a::1<1:ounts
1
result of a steady rise well over half the trade. Thereafter, 1840s saw a major expansion in British expomuin ge:l_a1y’at:§
goods, which provided
3
an energetic search for new markets, lead. other
:)gl;u:‘eTl1_0_“E1
TABLE 30 things, to a concerted effort to exploit the cm P0551-
Mediterranean}
Britain, 1827-52 (Annual
Averages)- bilities of the trade - th .
Egyptian Trade with Great
Eastelrxn
The increase in nglo-Egyptian
[$405 hid
s 4 rapidly to the position in which Britain livlelcairienlilld
',,,,-,,-,,, ,,,,,.,..5:,,. Egptianeaporlrto Britain partner. In 1831, according to figures giVengg’PJs magi
R“" trading exilgofttliilé
Britain took only I0 per cent of the COlll'1tryaS
Cotton Cotton Wheat Total
Total
mmiilhcturu
£ £ £
,9 provided only 10 _per cent of its imports} By 1339 both these
a H. 3B.I45 49.410 proportions had risen to a third.‘ Subsequently, they increased
cent of
still further until, in 1848, 45 per
130.158
iB;o—q.
I835-g
ai,g68
l55,l35 914.590 51:3" Egypps ex om
,¢1.516 66.459 43 per cent of its imports came iverc
1840-4, 176.586
550.4120 lumen 148.52!‘ 553.731 sent to England while mm
,34__,,9 397,”; 547.905‘ 1.41o.ooo
1350-! 499.861 675.759‘ 473.120 that source. The next most important tradin art
cegttirotyvit
Turkey, which, in the same year, provided 16 gm}:
Souiicu: and took the same proportion of its exports;
Column 1. Mann, Table
25.
of the Nation (London, 847),
irn'p'o1‘-)ts 31 shows the mam Items in Anglo-Egyptian trade in
Column 2. Porter, G. R., Progress Cormneroe ofAlexuudna During
the Tear I872, 184 £1. Ilsey then Britain had become the main supplier of manu-
on the Trade and
Mr. Consul Stanley by Mr. Caru-ul Green on the Traduf
P.P., 1873, vol. lxvii, p. 65; Commercial Report fr::‘:'f?g1S°°d5s 0031, and metals, as_it was to remain for the
P.P., I856, vol. lvii, p. I37.
Alexaridria During the Year 1855, At the same time it was the most important
Column 3. Fowler, pp. 8-1 I. 187:. century.
of Alexandria During the Year markct fe
or Egyptian cotton and cereals.
Column 4. Report on the Trade and Commerce During the Year1655, 1). I33.
p. 66; Commmial Report on the Trade rgfiilexavidria I853: U.S. Egypt, ii.
Column 5. Macaulay, 22 Mar. 184.9, Jones, in May 1854-1379
N01-u:
Alexandria.
value of British imports from Egypt between I854. and
I- All figures refer to trade through the port of I8TheW38 3_.lmost entirely controlled by the imports of raw
b. Egyptian import: from Britain.
c. I848, I849 only. C03? which rose from an annual average of just over
for 1865-9,
d. I850, I852 only. £1 :3.00,009 for the years 1855-9 to over £9,000,000
b‘5ffOre falling to ,€5,600,000 in the last five years of the period
there was a rapid advance, Egyptian imports from Britaill: A 1954.), pp. 76-7.
more than doubling between I84.o—4 and 1845-9. The 1- 1 SW47 in Trade-Cycle History (Cambridge, the 1850s, Schlote, W., Brixigfi
1 o"mP“P°a‘ of all British goods doubled during H. Challoner (Oxford, I952),
for this must be seen partly in thc wa3/Egypt was opemng1lP .~ "dc. Inns. w. 0. Henderson and w.
71'}!
.
following the abandonment of Muh U " ;«
_ Appendix
I Jomug: ' ‘7"‘ -
ffiifnmcommelrce system. But two other factors were 3130 ’ 4 .
|84i: R. Catuiui,
03- The first was the very large increasc , “mom is22Feb.
3'cat iu?n°rl:n)’
P° Mar. I849: U.S. Egypt, ii.
"13)’.
E8YPti9-11 exports of cereals and cotton to Britain at the end‘

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176 Cotton Export: and Egptian Foreign Trade, 1820-1879 1 77

TABLE 31 TABLE 32
Anglo-Egyptian Trade in 1848 (Alexandria Only) Anglo-Egyptian Trade, 1354-79 (Annual Averages)
Egyptian imports from Britain British Import: from Egypt

% of total imports Cotton Cotton need when Benn Total imports‘

,5 to all sources l .5 £ £ £ .6
6 1354 5°3-'54 555.294 371.579 2,451,338
Manufactures 393.573 88 i 1855-9
1860-4
1.059.559
5.978.659 384.458“
78 I .291
607. 1 . x
316,415
425.750
3, 146,799
8.542.924
Indigo 48.153 84 ; 1865-9 9.035.916 810.537 656.753 $111,948 12,127,951
Coal 43s271 99 1870-4 7.313.600 1.347.618 519.504 536.770 . .,5s5,“9
I875-9 5.557.007 1.549.245 384,210 631,200 o,69g,o;9
Iron, assorted 35:83‘ 8‘
Copper 1 4.730 50

Total imports 640.595 43 1

Britllh Export: to Egypt

Cotton M:nufnc!ura° Coal‘ " " 1 Total export:

.6 £ £

Egyptian exports to Britain .854 627.285 29.114 25.440 1.253.353

1855-9 722.773 45.997 81.900 1.820.564
1860-4 1.385.490 172.865 288.452 3.524.508
% of total exports 1865-9 4.055.619 239.789 272.456 7.156.871
,5‘ to all sources 1870-4 3.494.835 427.358 340.032 6.557.115
1875-1; 1.254.456 304.994 99.230 2.437.455
Cotton I 19,245 7!
Beans 226,881 76 Sovmcn: United Kingdom Annual Statement: of Trade.
Wheat 128,562 35 Nona:
max 47.949 68 a. Figure: which appear in the United Kingdom Annual Statement of Trade
Barley 21.740 45 lus ‘raw silk’, which is included among the impom from Egypt even though
it
b .1 g 1-40desalilllaed1;: coming
y. otscpam @&a ,orel
y uigna andagapan.
X.
Total exports 715,885 45 . Cotton-manufactured goods ducribed as ‘entered by the yard’.
n.n .
Sauna: Macaulay, 22 Mar. 184.9: U.S. Egypt, ii. an .

(see Table 32). Cotton seed emerged from the war as the next '
most important export and continued to increase in value
throughout the period. Cereals, on the other hand, remained
more or less constant in worth until the end of the 1870s. T8-11°“
t°8°th¢!'. these four commodities, cotton, cotton seed, wheat.’-
Bnta1n’s xmportsfrom Egypt. British exports to Egypt show“!
the same sort of pattern. Here again a few items, notablY
§$:‘°'(:f‘:‘ha;“t‘f:lt.‘1T°d 8°°dS. Coal, and machinery, supplied ‘h’
Term: qf trade
There are no reliable Egyptian statistics for the price of
Egypt’s imports and exports before 1879. Nevertheless, it is
possible to build up a series of figures from other sources on
which to base a description of movements in the country’s
terms of trade. The price of Egypt’s four major exports can
be calculated from the information in the British Annual
Statements of Trade. All commodities were sufficiently
homogeneous to allow the assumption that their price, when
exported to England, was no different from that of their export
821043 N

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173 Cotton Exports and Egyptian Foreign Trade, 1820-1879 1 79

in general. As for imports, the Pnfe °f EEYP55 1113-In Purchasg on the basis of this brief analysis it would seem possible
from Britain is provided by Imlah s figures for the value of all to suggest tentatively that the terms of trade were moving
while the price of coal can also slowly in Egypt’s favour through the 18505, and then more
British cotton manufactures,
Statements of Trade. These two
be obtained from the Annual rapidly so during the American Civil War when the advantages
items made up between a third and a half of all Egyptian of high cotton prices clearly outweighed the corresponding rise
imports during the peri0t_i- _ in the price of coal and cotton goods. Thereafter, however,
Movements in the price of Egyptian cotton have already the terms of trade became less favourable and turned against
been described. Table 33 shows, once again, how it rose Egypt in the 18705. Looking at the period as a whole the
evidence would suggest that Egypt’s position showed a small
TABLE 33 improvement during the twenty-five years 1854 to 1879. That
this was due almost entirely to cotton is yet another illustration
Price of Major Egyptian Imports and Exports, 1854-:—7_9
of the way this one crop had now come to play a role of central
(Annual Averages) importance in the Egyptian economy.
1880 = 100

British Import: from Egypt British EXP°|"3 ‘-0 Egypt

Cotton Cotton needy Wheat Bun: Coal Cotton manufacture‘

.3“ so 99 in ms :06
1853-9 99 88 94- I04 I07
I860-1. an 106‘ 86 90 '39‘ 14-1
1365-9 :95 H7 [03 107 no I52
I370-1. mo :3: I04 me :80 I25
1875-9 :05 H! 97 98 H9 107

Souaczu:
All except cotton manufactures: Computed from figure contained in United
Kingdom Annual Statements of Trade.
Cotton manufactures: Imlah, A. H., Economic Elomenls
i in ' the Pa: Britannia
(Cambridge, Mass; 1958), Appendix Table 2.
Nona:
1. Export to all countries.
I). 1861-4. only.
c. 1862-4. only.

slowly through the 18505, climbed sharply during the American

_CiVil W3?» and then declined again, its fall being compensated
to some extent by the continued increase in the value Of
9"_“°“ mid. What, and beans after 1865. It was not until thc
",“d,dl? °f the ‘37os that the price of all Egypt’s major imports
dlfllmlshéd _at the same time. Table 33 also shows how th¢
price British cotton manufactures was closely related to that
filial‘: ‘mP°"t¢d raw material. It followed the same pattern 85
“€13 although the movement was less marked.

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PART II

COTTON AND THE GROWTH

OF THE ECONOMY
1880-1914

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the sarraf himself, but the area given

had to agree with the total
amount registered under each proprietor’s
name} This memod
was subject to numerous criticisms
at the time, but in a check
made in Daqahliya in 1906 it was discovered
that in so far as
cotton was concerned the error in the figures averaged no more
than 4-6 per cent.= A similar level of accuracy
was later con-
firmed by further examination.3 A second,
more important,
cause of unreliability was the fact that, until
1907, the statistics
for the areas owned by each cultivator were
based on the old
land~tax registers, many of which were shown
to need con-
siderable revision when a new cadastral
survey was begun in
1898.
Prior to 1895 the only figures which exist for the area under
cotton refer to a number of isolated years (see Table 34.).

I Lynne, K. 0., ‘Some Agricultm-al sminsu

orngyptx 013- I"-. In =0 ("-1
I9°8).pP~ I53-9
- H. G.h(.,‘Gollecti<n1ofG'opStat'nti<=’,5U"7-""5
PF I67-41
(G-i=°)-'**5(F°'*'9°7)-
= on-i¢,j. 1., ‘Notes on Cbttou Statktic in EerPt’.I1C-.n°~5
(Man 19")»
1>w14-s-

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184 The Production and Export of Cotton '

The Production Md E"P°" Q/‘F Cotton 185
TABLE 34.
2,366 villages in the six provinces produced no cotton t 11 I
to
Estimate: of the Area under Cotton, 188253 ,g93_4
"
Cultivation was most intense in certain areas of D am?lyai
T where, in 1886, as much as 41 per cent of the land ilqa
Lower Egypt UPPCT Egypt Total sown
feddang feddans with cotton! In Upper Egypt production was also risiivivasowing
in large measure to a considerable expansion in th,, is»ayyum.
After 1888 -there was no further increase in the comon area
132-3 593.001: for another six years. The reason for this is al most certainly
1 31 77 .
1884-5 855.000 132000 8593:: the sudden sharp fall in the price of cotton at the be i '
1885-6 826,114» 48.351 374,465 of the 1890s, when the annual average declined froinmimg
x886—7 797.337 53aI9° 3s5,5,5 dollars a cantar in 1889-90 to a low of 61,; dollars in Decemliril
1837-8 954.606 99.682 1,021,250 (W). 1394,. Thus, in spite of the large amount of extra summei
i893—4 912,201 53,344 955,545 water made available in the Delta by the completion of the
Barrage and its ancillary canals, and a marked rise in yield
Souizcas: cultivators had little incentive to seek to produce more. Somd
i882-3 to ‘ emoran
P-
_ proprietors may even have found it profitable to turn back to
iaaa, P.P. i887, M “:8 0; fisvpi.
1884-5:Elli1:;!n.
1885-6: Vincent, E. 3%7-um Respecting the Cotton statigfi
(GB) in Drummoncl Wolff, 25 ‘Oct. other crops.
Awarding to Vincent the margin of error for these figures did i-iotpelxgfgi
:57 per cent.
18g5—I9I3
1886-7, 1887-8: Gali, K., E::a_:' sur l’agn'cult.w-¢_ dc l’Egpu (pa,-is, mag) P 26
1393.4; Egypt, Ministry of Finances, Statistical Dept., stating,-a; y“"bo'ok In Lower Egypt the upturn in cotton production began in
'"
1909 (Cairo, 1909), pp. 268-9 (hereafter A.S. 1909). 1895; and in the next eighteen years the area devoted to its
cultivation increased by 427,000 feddans.3 This increase was
1880-1894 the result partly of its extension to land where it had not
During the 18803 and early 1890s the area devoted to previously been grown, partly of the more intensive use of
cotton showed almost no advance. This was due, in the first existing land. Of the two, the latter was ofparticular importance
between 1899 and 1907 when, according to calculations made
instance, to the fact that it took a number of years for the
by Craig, the cultivators of over 600,000 feddans changed their
countryside to recover from the confused conditions which had
system of crop rotations to include cotton every two rather than
accompanied the 'Urabi rebellion, when canals were blocked,
every three years, thus raising the annual cotton area by 100,000
ginning factories pillaged, and personal security made so
feddans.4 This change was very much a question of local prac-
uncertain for Europeans that many merchants were unwilling
tice, whole districts seeming to make a permanent alteration
to venture into the interior. As a result, the area placed under in their methods once the superior monetary advantages of
cotton shrank to just under 700,000 feddans in the following biennial cultivation became more widely known. Hence, in
season, and by 1887 it was still only 865,000 feddans, no
larger than it had been in 1874.. Increasing confidence and the 1 Boinet, A., ‘Statistique agricole cle l’Egypte’ in Drurnmond Wolff, 25 Oct.
1886, PJ’. 1886, vol. xcii, p. 287.
beginnings of an enlarged Delta water-supply then caused it to 1 Vincent, ‘Memorandum Respecting the Cotton Statistics’ (GB);
expand to i,020,o00 feddans in 1888. Of these, 955,000 were 3 All figures for crop areas after 1894-5 are Calicn fmm the f°l10Wm8
Egypt, Ministere des Finances, Direction de la Statistique, Annuam statutaqut dc
in Lower Egypt, a little over a third of the cultivated area. Fur-
l’Egypte, 1910 (Cairo, 1910), pp. 236-41 (hereafter
ther proof of the assumption that such a proportion implies that pp. 322-43. Figures for the cultivated area in each
province in 3330 like‘! 5'01”
cotton was grown in almost every district of the Delta comes these sources.
from the fact that, in the middle of the decade, only i 13 of the ‘ Craig, p. 177.

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Export of Cotton
186 The Production and The Production and Export qf Comm 137
was - .
Daqahliya, where only three-clglitlili oil;ntCl)15<: lzilnd subjeCt prices were depressed until 189 d
rotation 0 Ffered;
to a two-year cotton 9!‘ ield-S led t° 0111)’ a Small
increase in incom¢:9’pe2i'rl'edc1lxla11inli’di'bIi'E
the nex ve yea s, much of 1: in I 0 reason must °°"3«in1Y be Sought in more local
was converted within
°"er 50 per cent of the Delta was
und
4 this date‘ The
and 1905.‘ BY 1903 er causes.

TABLE 35 1, The blggfst expansion in cotton area took place in the

two provinces, Buhaira and Gharbiya, whcre there was
to 1912-13
Area under Cotton, 18494-5 315°’ Concurrently’ the largest 1110162186 in the cultivated
Tom] area, owing to the reclamation of land made possible by
Upper Egypt
Lower Egypt
feddans feddans better facilities for irrigation after the completion of the
fcddans
Delta Barrage.
7°=299 99 , In 1900 the shortage of summer water following a very
1894-5 917436 2
1895-6 967,534 83:‘ 15 1,0533: low Nile flood led the Irrigation Department to prohibit
I895-7 11°99)”-l 99’0I° 1,123,151 the sowing of rice in many districts.‘ This ban caused the
1,121,262
1897-8 1,023,543 9925519
1,153,307 rice area to decline by over 100,000 feddans, and it seems
1898-9 1,064,949 88,358 safe to assume that many cultivators in Buhaira, Shar-
1,230,319
1899-1900 1,14-3:049 87377
1,249,334 qiya, Daqahliya, and Gharbiya took this opportunity to
1900-I 1,144,555 105,318
1,169,106 106,571 1,275,577 switch to cotton, a crop which had now become more pro-
19014
1902-3 1,171,133 151,377 1,332,510 fitable and for which water would always be available.
1903-4 1, 193,298 24-3,41 1 1 ,436,7o9 of the extension of cotton to new
3101702 1,556,602 A second, shorter, period
1904-5 1,955,900 1903 to 1905. Once again the main in-
1905-5 1,260,107 245,184 1,5o6,2g, land took place from
in Buhaira and Gharbiya, and coincided with
1906-7 1,289,268 313,956 1,603,224 crease took place
341,514 1,64o,4,5 a further expansion in their cultivated area, made possible this
19o7-8 1,298,901 1,597,055
1908-9 1,326,588 270,467
time by the extra water from the Aswan Dam.
1,642,610 feddans
1909-10 1,325,334 3151775
1,711,241 In Upper Egypt the cotton area advanced by 328,000
1,347,536 363,705 of the rise occurring
1910-11 375,561 1,721,815 between 1895 and 1913, the greater part to
1,346,254 largely due
1911-12
1,339,609 383,435 1,723,094 during the years 1903 to 1905. This was of the
191'-‘~13 the increase in summer water following the completion
a subsidiary factor was the decline in the
1914, pp. 322-3. Aswan Dam. But
Sconces: A.S. 1910, pp. 240-1; 14.5‘. owners of some
relative profitability of sugar, which caused the
there was a more
in 1894; and this 50,000 feddans to change to cotton. Thereafter
a biennial system as against only 17 per cent gradual increase in the cotton area until
once again,
1910, when,
the land in the four main cotton-
included the major part of there were another two years of rapid advance.
Sharqiya, Daqahliya, and Ghar-
growing provinces, Buhaira,
largely kept
biya. Minufi yaand Qalubiya, on the other hand, The iryluence ofprice on the area sown with
cotton
the three-year rotation.‘ on which the area sown with
at an Although there were occasions
The extension of cotton to new land s took place mainly be to have responded to a
t can cotton in a particular year seems
earlier date. N0 general explanation for this movemcn evidence to support the
change in its price, there is little
Am: wnsulain, vol. 113 (1901),
' Egypt, Ministry ofFina.noe, Survey Dept., Collection o_fStat1'.m'c: qfthc 1 Belgium, Minister: des Affaim Etrangeres, Rum‘!
1111-47-3-
in 1909, by E. M. Dawson and]. 1. Craig (Cairo, 1910), p. 325.
P131131; 6:11;;

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188 The Production and Export of Cotton

' The Production and Export of Cotton
_ d C that, 139
HSSCFUOI‘ made bl, Dowilielizidrcid l‘iI(-KAI/g much aiaiicigeilliral
rule mounts of the white cottons, Abiad and Gallini; but in all
in‘_fiVidual ni)rIOoI;,n,F,:o1'r; cultivation on the basis of th: “feré fhree cases the quality was far from satisfactory.‘ Reports of
going to C P
m1in%5“"‘°(with ecember prior
1.) the ' to rplanting.‘ During the “Fe:
- F.’°1‘Ioci
8 8 thf:o:::p3.nSlOI'l
hmooni’s deterioration also were received from European
middle of the decade, and for the two years
, 395-1908 in innors during the
cotton area in Lower gyp excgptiotn CC:m:in9u2d Year to the 1336 and 1887 the Government was active in selecting and then
in price. it was not year a small quantity of good seed in an effort to effect an
I-cgardless of fliictuations more or Anc; ess stable,
until 190 clung
1-ovementfi However, the problem was solved by the intro-
when cultivation became that 3-}
seem to have to any sort of .C9i gfigtion of a new type, Mit Aflfi , selected accidentally from
considerations role’ fine
begui}
0 cu lplay
tivators. The hmounj about 1882.3 It began to be introduced commer-
then only with a s-mali minority reasons for
this situation are important. was no ciauy after_i887,' and. gained. rapid acceptance on
yield, its higher
account_of
out-tum, and its earlier
ha t e
crop which offered more thanFirs§lfy,hthere alternative
gross returns .6 great ginning
inaturity, which made it less liable to cotton-worm attacks in
by cotton, and no other crop was the object of such provided
extensive September.‘ This was the second of three occasions during the
and efficient arrangements for marketing and finance 1
Secondly, the vast majority of proprietors were tied by century when Egyptian agriculture was saved from the full con-
Gusto‘; sequence of the decline in quality of the major cotton type by
to a fixed form of crop rotation which adrrutted oflittle
varia_ the chance discovery of a two other instances
tion. This was as true for those who had made the successor.——the
onoe_f0l__aH being the introduction of Ashmouni itself in the 18605, and that
change from a triennial to a biennial system as it was for Ofsakel just before 1914. Ashmoum did not disappear, however,
those
who had not. Finally, after the sharp rise in rents which began but became the staple product of Upper Egypt, where it
just before the turn of the century, it may have been the
case quickly regained many of its pristine attributes. .
that a tenant was forced to grow cotton simply in order to pa
By 1905, the first year for which detailed oflicial figures are
his landlord what he owed. Cultivators would appear to have available, Mit Afifi was being planted over 90 per cent. of
been more responsive to price in Upper Egypt, where a fixed the cotton area in Lower Egypt.5 But it too was beginning
crop rotation was less rigidly adhered to,3 and in both 1905 to show marked signs of deterioration and pure seed was
and 1909 a rise in the December price was followed by a major becoming increasingly diflicult to obtain.‘ Some cultivators
increase in the cotton arca.4 On the other hand, it should be responded by turning to Abbasi and Joannovitch, both very
noted that between 1903 and 1905, and again between 1910 long-stapie varieties which had first at the
and I912, cotton-production expanded very rapidly regardless just un er 20 per turn
b€‘e1I1iI1t1‘0d1:lCCd
of the century. In 1908 they occupie ccn
of price fluctuations. of the iand. However, in spite of their high value neither type
possessed the qualities necessary for general cultivation_, and
Tlie type of cotton grown Mit Afifi regained some favour in 190.9 and 1910 b_Cf0f€ 1t W35
During the 1880s the type of cotton most commonly planted increasingly replaced by two new varieties, Nubafl and 531931-
was Ashmouni. In 1886 it occupied three-quarters of the - K '
it nstatisticsofE t’ (GB),p.285.
cotton land in the Delta and half that in Upper Egypt. In 3 i'i’§§§§§;£i°é"i?§Z.'i‘1‘§'§i‘é'§’.Zfn“§,'i§’,'°ii§.£Lg of the n..a.§"§r DixMectofl» 24.
addition, some Bahmiah continued to be sown as well as small Nov. 5836, and Ordinary Monthly Board Meetiflfi a
3° N°v- 1337» 3/2/‘°»
Proceedings, I885-I890.
I (.‘otlectiori of the Statmicr oftlu Area: Planted 3 Egyptian Agricultural Products (Eg.), p. 45-
in Cotton in 1909 (Eg.), p. 33. '
' Awarding to M. A. Rifaat, during 4 '- 'cvol. 31 ; o9‘-
the 1930: it was impossible to get credit for
any crop léut cotton; 77': Mama -93% #50?! (London. 1935). p- 4!- :
1 Cotlcctwn ofstatutics
‘ [1 ll probably no coincidence that, on the latter occasion, there had been
I at: tI‘a‘b:de‘ii:)2.tll;l,si1:i(i‘drsP?lctchcr, F., Tcxtbook ofEg7N5“" A£'i“‘""‘» "01- ii (cam:
urge increase in the are: planted with wheat the previous winter. igio), p. 367.

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190 The Production and Export of Com,

7:
The introduction of the latt r f - '
and although it took a ma.°...K§‘.§ g§?;“°E‘1ar ‘
The Pro duotzon and Export of Cotton
it had almost completely replaced Mirxigji read ace ) 191
tance discussion, as well as the sub‘Ject f - . _
special properties were its longer staple bl’ 19,6 °D~ scientific
earn - . Out of the many reasons then lnvestigafi
om
the fact that it could be grown on slightiy saltgg mat ’ :u:nf}(1)ch
decline five are of particular importagrgard to account for the
other types failed.‘ In Upper Egypt ’ on th gmund and
Ashmouni remained virtually the on 1 y cotton
e Other ere
TABLE 36
out the period. gr°Wf1 thrgfigfi.
Average Annual 1"ield of E87? ti-an Cotton (cantars/feddan)
2. YIELD, VOLUME, AND Lower Upper
VALU E S
.
Tzeld EEVP‘ Egypt Em. D?‘ .
Durin iel the 1880s cot-ton - 1830-4
18 5-9 343: 2..73
those ofgthe previous decadie, IC'l3sII:alli(:'i":dl1)lttle advan 1890-4. 3%“
Sm‘
9 72
three and a half cantars per feddan. ThEre£}V\Ieen three an 1895-9 5-56‘ 4-61- 5.4., 4:5‘
1900-4 4-69 4.43
widespread introduction of Mit Afifi , combihztiil‘, however, the 4:67 5.‘;
:20
1905-9 445 3-81 4.03
summer water from the Delta Barrage led t With the extra 1 91 0-1 3 4 - 5 '1 4. 51:
marked 4.“ WI
and by 1894. Egyptian fields were pr0’ducin0 rise
it
ave.ra8e of
5.21 cantars per feddan.= The dramatic naturi fr} the SOURCES:
Upper, Lower Egypt (1896-1909): Craig, P. ,7o_
can best be seen from the statistics provided 0b increase (1911-13): Egypt, Ministry of Agriculture, The Pink B ll ‘ -
missioners of the State Domains, on whose estates ‘Y1 the
-Com‘ '.
'
from 3-06 cantars per feddan in 1889 to Fllmbed E t 1880-9 1;)’:
I9I(6—t_9I7» 1 ul
3_97 cayligds gypharvest siz: Slveh in 'l‘aal:lc
cantars in 1891, and a high of 5-3 cantars in 11813318 -’ A.S. 1914, p. 356.
:1.-I9 ..
cnby. Report: by H.M.’s High Comminioner - 0,. 9,, F~mm’ A'1''""'‘'
(1895-1115):
(1913):
was not confined to the Delta alone B9 '3Th1s tration and Condition qfligypt and the Sudan f" the P"M1914-I9I9.PJ’-.1920,
improvement
Ashmouni had become so well acclimatized in
pper
vol. ii, 11. 778.
that it was yielding 4-5 cantars per feddan. State Domains: A.S. I914, p. 4.4.7.
Egypt
' ' NOTES:
Yields reach
a. 1 6-gonly.
to decline, thcfdnfiltlitlililiailezlalii/<:lii12igtl:1e}31:_1jt,(,:gI€33;a:g7th(:‘n:3¢8an
ars 2 b. 1911-13 only.
feddan in the period 1900-4 and 4.03 a feddan in c. 1883, 1884 only.
I905
against 5-67 a feddan in 1895-9 (see Table 36). This down—31’aracl d. 1885-8 only.
e. 1894 only.
trend in the production of what was Egypt's most valuable
crop was first brought to public notice in Lord Cromer’s I. The explanation most favoured by scientists interested in
annual “P0” for I905.4 Thereafter, it became a major topic of the problem was the rise in the level of the underground water-
table in the Delta after the completion of the Aswan Dam,
: §gPf:::c8"'?‘g“'“ P*:_W_w (Es-). 1212- 49:50- produced, on the one hand, by the over-watering of the summer
Afifi initially: w:1dgl1u:cw.S;eWa:ldzhl_.c:hT1lnfllea27As1l1:::$i:g(tL‘;Ci1h:;l:ual:°du:':l»: crops and by seepage from the high-level canals, on the other,
P- 194)- It IS Impossible to substantiate this statement, however, as the introduction by an inadequate drainage system. This rise was inhibited by
became
the low Niles of the first years of the century and only
of
duunction can bedrawn between the influence ofthese two factors on the rise late flood in
run
noticeable as a result of the concurrence of a high
in yield.
done, so it was
‘ A.S. 1914, p. 447. 1908 and an early flood in 1909. Damage was
' BR, 1906, vol. exxxvii, pp. 506-8,

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192
, .
The Production and
Export of Cotton
, Firstly1 as a result of the
1% The Production and Export of Cotton 193
two separate W9-Y5
d,
through the years the
mots hgenerai 1350, and the C°tt°h'_W01‘m, which first began to inflict major
. to extend. Second 1Y, th€Y were 3-d e
$516 irllflthe water-table damage on the cm? "‘_the_late 1870s. The latter was respon-
soil through which are
wave . accompanyinglally for much destruction in the 1880s and 1890s, but it was
underground
. .
asphyxiated by _ the f d raised _the
sible
the turn of the century, when the earlier planting of
3
T0? hm not until
annual flood which. consequence Pcffloh,
o t water-tablee
e same Sltuatlon Cotton and the extension of the area devoted to Nili maize and
further. An
other _ _ W the number of host plants on which it was
still ts the soil became waterlogged to birsim multlphed
fact that in many distric am‘; able to feed, that this Worm became a perennial menace.
salinated.‘ _ attacks °f°“”°d CVCYY Year after 1904, and in spite of
which was frequently mentioned was the Serious
2. A second factor the Governments eflbrts begun in 1905 to organize compul-
Of the land, Particularly Change the
more intensive cultivation cotton rotation. At first it 5 cry leaf-picking
on a country—wide scale, losses averaged about
to biennial This figure represented the total
from a triennial a W E1,ooo,ooo annually.‘
effect was to exhaust the soil_ But
thought that its main devastation of some 1oo,ooo
feddans. Boll-worm attacks also
of this point by the Government Con augmented by a new pest, the pink
thorough examination increased dllflhg the P¢T10d,
find an)’ Wldence to support sucho
Commission failed to 3' b011_worm, traces of which were first observed in 1910.1 If
to the Cotton Research Board, ereat Contemporary estimates are correct, in a bad year like 1905,
theoryl; and it was left
to explain that a much more serioed
after the First World War, of cultivation was the diminutigis
the activities of these
various insects must have led to the
to 800,000 cantars, suflicient to reduce
effect of the greater intensity 11 destruction of 600,000
as a result of the fact that there W the whole country from 4-25 cantars per
of the summer fallow period the average yield for
plant maize before rather than after this feddan to 3-8 cantars.3 At first, Upper
Egypt was spared such
now enough water to
conducted by the Board after 1913 woulg but there too worm damage became a serious prob-
flood. Experiments attacks,4
summer fallow period was of great lem at the turn of
the century.
seem to suggest that a long of the
importance in restoring fertility
as it allowed the soil to become 4. A fourth factor sometimes suggested as a cause
to kill much of the protozoa which was the deterioration of Mit Afifi itself. Com-
heated to a degree sufficient decline in yield
bacteria. This, in tum this was happening first began to be heard in about
limited the activities of the nitrifying plaints that
spinners
promoted conditions for rapid nitrification
and thus foi 1900. These multiplied in intensity, until by 1909-10
suffered a
vigorous plant growth.3 were almost unanimous in their opinion that it had
and regularity, while ginners were
3. A third factor was the increased activity
of two cotton serious diminution in strength out-
there had been a marked fall in ginning
was noticed in Egypt as early as equally sure that
pests, the boll-worm, which arguments were put forward to suggest that the
turn.5 Similar the
' See, for example: Balls, W. L., Egmt of the Eg;ptian.\‘ (London, 1915), p, 153, responsible for
33-6, and
deterioration in quality was also partially at
‘cotton investigations in 1908', C.S.]. iii, no.
29 (Feb. 1909), pp. was directed
Todd, J. A., The Wald’; decline in yield. In the meantime attention was
The Cotton Plant in Egypt (London, 1912), pp., 176-7; It
Cotton Crops (London, 1915), pp. 255-64.
the condition which had produced this deterioration. or less
emergence of seven or eight more
1 Egypt, Ministere de l’Intérieur, Rapport génlral de la Commission du Coton, 1910 pointed out that the
the decline in
(Cairo, 1910), p. 20. Further evidence is provided by the fact that
was practised, was, Agricultural Society
yield on the State Domains, where a three-year cotton rotation ‘ Foaden and Fletcher, ii, p. 696. In 1909 the Khedivial
On the other to 2,000,000,
ifanything, greater than that for the country as a whole: see Table 36. estimated the loss from the cotton-worm alone at from ,(,'E1,5oo,ooo
a long-
hand, there is no doubt that the change in the system of rotation did have E.T._7. ii, no. 42 (22 Jan. 1909), p. 125.
of this
term effect on the yields of almost every Egyptian crop. For a discussion 1 The Pink Boll Worm in Egypt, 1916-1917 (Eg.), p- 9-
and Fle clier, ii, pp. 696, 710.
point, see Rapport de la Conimitsion do Colon (Eg.), p. 8. 3 Calculation based on estimates in Foaden
‘ Egypt, Ministry of Agriculture, Cotton Research Board, Second Annual Report 4 Portal, 18 Aug. 1887, P.P., 1888, vol. cx, p. 152-
During Cotton in 1909-1910’. E-C-. 50- 5
1921 (Cairo, 1922), p. 4, and Technical Scientifi c Service, Soil Temperature: and 5 Todd,_]. A., ‘The Market for Egyptian
the Shower’ Period and their Agricultural Significance, by E. McKenzie Taylor 1911), p. 5.
A. Chamley Bum: (Cairo, 1924.), pp, 1-34,, 321043 0

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*9‘?
The Production and Export of Cotton
which
‘l’ The Production and Export of Cotton
distinct types of Egyptian 'cotton,fiII1l2C11nYhof
° 9’ ‘ed to were 0
In
to be found growingshown.that
adJ°“““8 . td hyb 'qit°I1 a scheme was inaugurated to ma
195
further mixing 1za_ kc - “P . for lost time ' by
fiom Again, it was occurred - 3' comprehensive network
little effort was made to in the crcatmg _ 0fd rains in the low-1
ginning factories, where kept apart.‘
ensur to the Buhaira Gharbiya where the eflieldltg
types were that areas 0 tolfe soil andand.
seeds from the different. nortl;
waterlogging
. Sallnat ion were most apparent
suggested that for of
5. Finally, some writers a
numb of which was to lower the water-table to a depth 0;‘
reasons cotton was being cultivated with less care_ An air. the mm metres below the surface.‘ In
half to
in the Agricultural Journal _of Egypt mentioned that so t_1c1e ac and a .tv1v(ps began
the mean-
cotton had been planted
in Upper Egypt before
190
time,
.
however,
.
yie
t fdd an in
to revive, the national
'
.
average
.
to learn
proprietors had had no chance
from their neighbours or from the larger estates where
lies
the correct tech '
':::i‘i.‘§7“:.f.i2.:E:‘i°92;.
o
It is impossible
to pass judgement on the various
causes
have been more efficiently produced 2 Ash.
moun.i might which have been suggested for the decline, or on the efficacy
Craig maintained that the cotton area had expanded 0 _ I1, of the measures
takento try reverse the trend. The war
to
everywhere that there had been a significant declinerllpldl
the and the changed conditions which followed virtually brought
manpower and animal power available for each re (:11 to
research into the matter an end, 50 that little information
Others pointed to the fact that the change to a b- den.” exists on such vital
questions as changes in the level ofthe water-
rotation meant that the ground was less thoroughly priennial table; and the debate between advocates of rival theories has
méipared satisfactory conclusion. The best that
never been brought to any
and that, in some areas,cotton was grown only as a
of it
obtaining scarce summer water from the Irrigation Deparnjlns can be said is that
seems
wrong to imagine that any one
The widespread public debate over the causes of the d factor was of overwhelming importance. There is no doubt that
elrim
me
in yield, and their examination by two commissionsec
3 One
over-watering and inadequate drainage played a vital role in
appointed by the Khedivial Agricultural Society in 190
8: One
Lower Egypt; on the other hand, yields also declined in Upper
by the Government in 1909, led to a number of measu Egypt, where conditions in this respect were quite different,
intended to improve the situation. These included, In certain years one particular cause can be isolated as being of
among otfies
things, the establishment of a Department of Agriculture wig: special significance—for example, the worm attacks in 1905 or
special responsibility for supplying quantities of pure seed and the special flood Conditions in 1909. But this does not mean that
for research into improved methods of cultivation, efforts t they operated with equal force on other occasions, or that they
ensure that the cultivators used less water, a law prohibitino alone were of suflicient general importance to be cited as the
the transport of unginned cotton between Upper and Low: major factors in the decline.
Egypt prevent the practice of fraudulently adulterating Afifi One last point should be noted. Viewed in a longer per-
to spective the fall in cotton yields was less dramatic than it
seed with that of Ashmouni, and a new and more rigorous
series of campaigns against the cotton-worm starting in 1909 seemed to people at the time. Its nature was exaggerated for
of the of drainage to cope with tho
three reasons. In the first place, the extent of the decline was
gfufprsfihelfailure system
pp ies of water provided by both Barrage and Aswan measured against the yields of the period 1895-9. But there is
some reason to suppose that these were abnomially high owing
1 Todd The World’: cm. Crop: . . to certain special causes. Secondly, the use of a single figure
g,"‘°‘78=,Dgd8°°n: 6-
° ° A3“°““""‘ 0-. ‘The Depl'°-z-'«5‘3.I.:";r"3i7.;'.aBci‘i"§.:. "lfn‘.§"'.Jami
i'§." i'.i'$i£.f.§’§§ of nearly 11; cantars per feddan to highlight the decline in the
vol. i, pt. I (ign), p_ "’°‘>‘=m= of Egypt’. The Agricultural of Egypt, average yield throughout the whole of Egypt between 1895-9
and 1905-9 obscured the fact that yields in the separate parts
‘ Fahm 1., 3_ ‘ ‘ ' . .
Y, cm” cwmm"
' Craig. pp. i8o—i. '” UN” 50?‘. ibid., vol. 1,, pt. i (191 1), p. 29.
t Cotum Research Board, Second Annual Report, :9," (1389, 1 Kitchener, Annual Reportfor 1911, P.P., I912-13, vol. 005. P- 553-
pp. 3..4_ ’- A.S. 1914, p. 356.

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Export of Cotton
196 The Production and The Production and Export of Cotton 197
'
only 1-1 cantars in the Delta_ and four-fifth _s of a can TABLE 37
fen by
Table 36). statistics wereti
in UPP" E-gYPt (See isastrous ham, 1Tl
ar y lzlie
llulalllli mg Value, and Price of Egyptian C0 aton and Comm-Sm!
d by the particu
_ of V0 7u ’
some waYs distorteluded the national average for the CHIPS, 1880-1913
1909. If this is exc yearseftg 06
° antars.‘ {J}

to 1913 was 4'42 1 2 1X2

Ewan Md‘ 3X4
Cotton Cotton
volume Price‘ Value ‘Hm _
{E/cnntar {E ",3"‘ET’ Pm?‘ Value
Volume and value canton
0009
' P‘-/W4“ (E
volume and value of cotton pr d , ooos 000! 000'
Figures for thfi ll
1913 are given in Table 37. It willbuct
e seen ——--f'''''-—’?
10.330
between 1880 and
3.199 5-229
. or less constant g o
3'°76 8.539
remained more duri ng ;.;?;l 2.776
that harvest size _
during the next decade owingthe 1881-2 '19"
2,284
3"39
3-271
91'“
7.47:
18805, but then doubled I38” 2.594 3‘007 3,101
Thereafter, the increase was slower, the i [8334 3,616
the rise in yield. ‘Ears
1885-5 “-1739” 2._7 3”
7-’ 5 9-133
2.355
70-:
63-2
1.573
1,484
fluence of the expansi 1886-7 9- 72 3 73.999 2.305 70.3 1.6"
decline in production per feddan. Only’?
51.99
almost offset by the
18874; :73.
.95 8.19%
.03 2,286 77.‘ M69
[8334 9.646 2.481 65-6 .,.-,,g
any considerable advance made Win 2,722
3.23
the years after 1910 was for the output
1539-90
1890-1
2.9?
:;3 “’-65° 31°55 59'!
57.3
1,814
1890s. Figures of Cottcfr1‘ -1-v‘g9 2.4.92 ,5”
the harvests of the late
,39;_2 4.7 5 2.5”
T064. ml °’
9.397 3o557 70-6
As a rule this was affected by the Same
I892-3 5.17‘
889 9.507 3.393 63-1 2,...
seed are also given. ,393_.,
5:33 08892
‘_ 81593 3-031 479 1,475
the size of the cotton crop. 1894-5 4: '9 11,760 3,514 45.3 1.5”
factors which influenced ‘E9545 5,276 2 229
12.487 4.034 44-2 2,03.
year’s harvest present mor 5.879 2:124
for the value of each
.396-7 1 10.451 4,261 47-. 2,00,
Figures .3974 6.544 _597 2.11.7
oflicial series exists, and the statistic: 5.588 1757 9-818 3.859 546
difficulty. No satisfactory 2,53.
.3934 15.689 4.090 63-1
1399-1900 6.510 ’_i10 677 Ma.
on the multiplication of the volume of each 13.136 3.664
.9oo..
given are based 2.435
.370 2_4é71
2.1 13.933 4-344 707 3,071
for the following cotton season 1901-2 62-8 2,“.
harvest by the average price 5.859 3 035 17.721 3.887
1902-3 22.912 4.221 57-9 2,445
particular spring.
cotton sown in a 6.509 3-520
This is to assume that all the
1903-4 17.096 4.397 58-1 2.467
1904-5 6.313 2-708 2.725
4.319 63-1
after the following 1 September, 5.960 3361 20.052
was sold in the twelve months
191:5-6 26.059 4.848 73-8 3.578
6.949 3-750
one for export raised by 10 Per 1905-7 23.159 5.101 75-7 5.861
The price used is the oflicial 1907-3 7.235 5-201 5.699
2-986 20.158 4.712 78-5
1908-9 6.751 3.206
made in it by the Custom; 24.065 3.504 915
cent to counteract the reduction 1909-10 5.000 4813 4.550
3-910 29.344 5.547 85-1
Figures for the value of 1910-11 7.505 4.866
Administration before August 1911. 5-771 27.853 5.261 92-5
1911-12 7.386 915 4.864
26.719 5.316
arrived at by the same 1912-13 7.499 3-563
cotton-seed production have been
in worth during
method. Cotton harvests increased regularly
yields coming just in time to SOURCES: of Commerce of Egypt.
the 1880s and 18905, the rise in Column 1. 1879-80 to
1884-5: The British Chamber
the advance 1901), p. 7.
balance the fall in prices after 1889. Thereafter, Annual Report for 1900 (Alexandria,
p. 357.
was greater, values increasing by 300 per cent between
1898 1885-6 to 1912-13: A.S. 1914,
Columns 2, 4.: AS. 1914. PP- 398'?-
and 1913 as prices moved steadily upwards. Column 3: Ibid., p. 357. until 1911-12.
been raised by one- ninth
Non: a. All the prices have
3. THE EXPORT OF COTTON the reductions
a ninth to account for _
once again, been raised by However, it sho“Id a1so
The volume and value of export: made by the Customs Administration.
found points. out. thfire is CVCTY ’“;‘5°“
Figures for the export of cotton and cotton seed will be be noted that, as Crouchley the basis Of
_ have, was higher still. On
in Table 38. In the case of values, the official statistics to suppose that their value
' Cotton Research Board, Second Annual Report, 1921 (Eg.), p. 2.

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Export of Cotton
:98 The Production and The Production and Export of Cotton ,99
TABLE 38
Germany and America. As a rule Lancashire mills acce ted
by W - h t to
Cotton and Cotton Seed “g aw only the higher
grades of Egyptian cotton, the lower grid”
Export of Egyptian (Annual Averages)‘ to a number of continental manufacturers}
Value, 1880-1913 being sent
—’ C
Value TABLE
Volume
\
Cotton gotta Com" Expo”:
Cotton Cotton seed '1 Seed Proport ion of
cantars ardabbs £3; £E I390-IQI3 (Annual Averages)
0008 0003 0008
0008
j—’'’—'——‘
8
1904 1905-9 1910-13
—Z
1.998 8,766 M7 (1)895-9 3900-4
/o % %
1880-4. 2,791
3.039 2.164 8,387 I 505 % A)

1885-9 $391 9,512 ,:3,,7, {f—-————4

4-9'1 494 59-7 46,7
1890-4 4.510 xo,759 England
54'°
I0'2 6-9 7.5
1895-9 5,765 3,324 B579 Russia
‘9‘° ‘5'9
8'6 8-8
‘5317 1 962 6'2 7'9 3'3
‘9°°*4 5194‘ 3"°3 2r,889 2:523 France 4'5 4'5 so 52
6.677 3.629 Austria—HungarY 5'2 3-6
1905-9 27,854 3,496 3'7 4'6 3.4
1910-13 6,982 3,751 Italy 5'9
7'7 8-5 3.9
T 2'5 4'4
German)’ 1-8 5-6 5-o 7.3 10,3
United States 4'4 4-6 4.2 3,9
Sounces: I '1
dc l’E9pk’ waklggg (E 8 . )’ pp‘ xV“'_x“‘- Switzerland
1880-4: Le Commerce extérieur __________.
1885-1913: A.S. 1914, pp. 304-7. 1914, p. 308.
Souncn: A.S.
up to and including I911 have been miscd bV One.
NOTE: a. All values for years
cotton
ninth.
The market for Egyptian
of the market for Egyptian cotton
imports of cotton from E Although the expansion
comparison b etween English Civil War led to a wide recognition
of its
to England he suggested Ext during the American later
and Egyptian exports of cotton it was not until twenty to thirty
years
figures understated th; special properties,
between 1906 and I9 10, the official in spinning techniques made possible the
cent. This he explained by his that improvements a well
worth of the latter by 8-3 per and fabrics on a large scale and
in fact of a high“ production of fine yarns
that Egyptian cotton exports were
to
discovery Lancashire trade devoted exclusively
defined sector of the to an
grade than the Customs allowed for.‘ cotton began to emerge! According
the use of long-staple was then
products for which Egyptian
The direction of cotton exports article written in 1896, sewing thread,
suitable included
to take half the considered to be particularly and hosiery, and fabrics
Between I380 and 1913 England continued medium-fi ne yarns, fine
underwear
and finish.3 A
In absolute terms highly lustred surface
exports of Egyptian cotton (see Table 39). requiring a smooth and of the
there was a gradual advance in its import
until 1909 after
later a new market was provided by the revival
few years results
ghtllcli‘ It1h‘:3)Wa5f3iJ51iSht decrease as a result of the reduction mercerizing process which,
initially, gave satisfactory these
Taken together
0 aflcaslure spindles long-staple cotton. cotton from Egypt.‘
‘using was the only when applied to
The In: c5}:ange in direction during the period Cotton’, p. H.
' Todd, ‘The Market for Egyptian «in. (London; 1993l3
_m in those
d°°fin° *1‘ °"P°1't8 to Russia and Italy and the increase vol. 1, no. 37
and
1 Todd, The World’: Cotton Crops,
of Manchester Cotton Amaatwu,
: c,,u,,,,__11., ofiimz journal
_ ’ pp. 1-2.
discussion of this point, see (11 Jan. 1896).
for Egyptian Cotton ,
935- PP- 497-507. For further 4 Todd, ‘The Market
, I. I‘.

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200 The Production and

the production of goods of such h_
Export of Cotton 7 The Production and Export of Com,” 20!

innovations allowed t° other *8}: provided by the continued deterioration of Mit Afifi
“P13-CC
quality that they q}1iCklY bfigan
linen. They
more ich compelled most spinners either to use a higher grade 0;
like silk and were
pensive fabrics accompaniede add increasing amounts of such superior types as Nubari and
a rapid growth in the number of factories engaged in y
fl
to merely to obtain the same results_i They suffered
nlnfitecn Such mills, com 319 JOanr'1oVltCl'1
spinning. In 1904» f0’ Cxam_P1€:
of construction ‘ addiuonal loss from the increasing proportion of short-staple
in the
ing 1,600,000 spindles, were cpurse in the to be found in each bale. These had to be laboriously
and the citys Chamber of Comm fibres
Oldham area alone, There was thus a considerable rise in the cost of
mills founded in the previous twe removed. which they were unable to pass on by raising the
reported that most of the for the same purpose? 0 roduction
established
three years had been on a smaller scale,
. of their yarn.‘
although occurr - price
The substitution of American
for Egyptian cotton naturally
similar development, was first imported in thfli
cotton the lower grades of goods
America, where Egyptian 3-te roceeded m05t raP1d1Y among in the
below). Buteven case of finer products,
18905, and also in Germany. counts of 40 and deficient in strength for the warp of longi.
demand for Egyptian C
The impact of this increased Amegtton where they proved
premium over the price of American could be used for the weft! Again,
more than doubled its tudinal threads,
By 1907 it had reached 62168.11 of other technical problemsconnected with their
at the turn of the century. a, number
some spinners were not pre Per usage went far towards
being‘ solved; a method for providing
cent, a proportion which grey cloth was worked out,
they knew that any chafanid finish for American
to tolerate for long, even though In a satisfactory found to mercerize nearly as well as
particularly difficult adge American cottons were
the type of cotton used required recently discovered process of Sclirien-
A search began for a substitlilifti Egyptian ones, while the
ments to their machinery! 6, in general and fine
which led several to experiment
with a number of the superi erizing opened up new lines for cotton
it was almost universafir Many Lancashire spinners who had
American varieties. At this time American in particular}
cottons instead and were
believed that American Uplands
could not be spun into high; always used Egyptian tried American
result, while manufacturers and buyers were
counts than 405, at least for twist
and warp yams where astonished at the traditional attachment
their
strength was essential} But by combing
and carding the yarn gradually persuaded to abandon fine yarns and fabrics
to Egyptian materials and to purchase
Egyptian, weft yarns as hig};
a process previously reserved for In both cases the lower price was
various successful efforts made from American instead.
as 120s were produced. Meanwhile,
a considerable inducement}
were made to mercerize American cottons! of one country’s cotton for
reduced the in. The extent of the substitution
Lower premiums in 1907-8 and 1908-9 can be asserted, however, is
that,
the price another is not known. What
centive for further experiment, but in 1909-10, when although such substitution
created considerable alarm in Cairo
attempts to find
of Egyptian reached a new high of I3-12d./lb., and Alexandria at the time, it seems to have been
only_a
in
stimulus article
a replacement were revived on a large scale. Further temporary phenomenon. As
Todd pointed out in an
be relied on‘ to return to Egyptian
I Oldham Incorporated Chamber of Commerce, and Annual Report (19434), 191 1, most spinners could
and this is in fact what
p. i3. when the price fell once more,5. the Imcmamn
seen:
a leading cotton- 13)’ ,
.1 According to _a statement made in 1912 by W. Howarth,
of one staple length ‘it [was] to have happened. In an inqu1ry.m3dC, and Manufactllfefs
spinner, when a mill was fitted up for spinning cotton Cotton Spinners
fixed definitely for at least twenty years’. Quoted in S. Lackany,
‘Cotton: Estima. Federation of Master Cotton’, P- 5-
tion of the Crop and Measurement of its Elasticity’, E.C., nos.
93-4, (Apr.-May * Todd, ‘The Market for Egyptian
278. 1 Ibid., p. 3. p. 223.
1926), p.
1 The ‘count’ of yarn: means the number of hanks (£840 yards
in length which 3 Todd, The World’: Cotton Crops (1915):
Cotto n’, pp. 4., 6.
4 Todd, ‘The Market for Egyptian
weigh I lb. The higher the count, the finer the yarn.
‘ Todd. .l- A’! ‘The Demand for Egyptian Cotton’, E.C., no. 2 (Mar. 1910), s Ibid., p. 4.
pp. 280-1.

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.1
The Production and
Export of Cotton 7 The Production and Export of Comm
A--°ciat‘°“‘ °“ ”i‘;“§£§i.‘f.‘:f ,i‘.Z*1§?.‘:,.,.i‘;“;::{:°:; or 9,
202 t’ D 203
E
‘ ‘
TABLE 40
inI9I3 °“ _ . he
1t Egyptian and American Cotton at Liverpool, 1880-1912/13
Fri“, of
Mit Afifi for good“ ‘i American Egyptian E - -

cc of Egyptian cotton -/1 %

The detmninatiofl of W' M
1;/fil¢:d1ln8
-/
t t d th t
rule It in ‘ih {if
2 94’
A5 9' general. maviveit deatdimingd Ildlovflments
Y ‘e 1830 '44-
of Egyptmi cottzo'l1‘h' C an be seen with lictuatio ‘88‘ 6- 2 8-
Price Amman‘ particular C1 4' 5 32

the Price °f 1-5

prices of the two cottons between
1882 8

from the annual average out of these twenty.fom. I 890

1334-
6'0
£5 25
twenty-one years -0
and 1913. In
H’
in the direction as that of A 1335 5'84
5-12 6-44 26 .
price of Egyptian moved providesaline in a tile X835 7'° 27
Further evidence is government publicatioh 1337 5‘5 21
can. 5'55 5'75
spot prices of ' Egyptian and American 1399
of 1914. Using the K1 5'94 7'44» 95
successive Fridays in the years 1900‘! ,939
7'37 *3
cotton at Liverpool on of correlation between the 1ssg~9o 5"9 6.31 26
the author found the coetficient for this close relationship Ni’): 189°" 5.0
s-°6 22
series to be o-7825.3 Two reasons hav .3914 4-12 10
VI. first
In the place, the; 4-61
already been suggested in Chapter produced such an 1892_3 4-'19
5-12 17
States 4.94
is the fact that the United
1393-4, 55
oven ,394—5 3'44 5 31
38
of the world supply, 4-38 6-06
whelmingly large proportion a recognizably different
secondly 18954; 4-22 26
com:
although Egyptian cottonwas ‘B95.-I
3'47
5-31
4- 44 95
to pay an over-large Premium 1397-8
modity, spinners were unwilling $99.9
3-28 5-0 52
the longer-staple American 40
for it and attempted to substitute 4-87 6-81
$994900 33
of line. 6-87
cottons if prices got too far out
5-16
‘£300., 32
say that Egypt was wholly 6'3‘
Nevertheless, it is not true to 1901-2 4973
5'44 3'44 55
of the price of its cottons, 1902-3
without influence in the matter 1903-4 5‘94- 3‘55 93
three aspects. The first of
This point will be examined from 1904-5 4'93 7'37 49
cotton created as 3, 55
these is the special market for Egyptian 1905-6 5'94 995
6’
result of technical developments in the fine spinning trade in 1905-7 5'33 ‘°'37
43
for Egyptian ‘go-7.8 6-19 8'31
the 1890s. The rapid expansion in the demand 53
obtained 1908-9 5'5 8'44
cotton was immediately reflected in the premium 7'35 *3“ 67
During the 1909-*0 35
over the average American price (see Table 40). 1910-1 1 7‘34- ‘°'75
between 10 and 28 per cent. 1911-12 5'09 9'56 57
1880s and 1890s this oscillated 9'79 42
1912-13 5'79 A
7-27 9'45 3
30
Int. Result ofa Special Enquiry Regarding Egyptian Cotton (Manchester, 1913-14,
Sc; t. 1913 .
Fid.
1 Todd, The World’: Couon Crops (1915), p. 299. SOURCES: . Cotton Crop: (1915), pp. 432-3.,
and Ministry of 330 to 1898-9: Todd, The wows ofsome of the Facton Afl utmz
whiad.
1 Egypt, Ministry of Finance, Department of General Statistics
Cotton Cm), i899~19°o to 1913~14:A Stah.1t1calSlud_y
Agriculture, Monthly Ratum Showing the State and Prasfaects qftlu Egptian A, p. 10-
Egyptian Cotton (Eg.), Table
8. See also, Egypt, Ministry of Finance, Cotton Bumu.
no. 11 (July 1914,), p. after 1839‘9°-
Afl uting tlu Print of Nanz a. F. G. F. Brown
Technical Bulletin no. 1, A Statirtical Study ofsanw qfdu Factor:
%pti¢n Cotton, by M. A. Zahra and M. El Darwish (Cairo, 1930).

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204 The Production and Export of Cotton f

But in 1395 it jumped to 55 per cent, and thereafter av The Production and Export of Cotton
205
well over 40 per cent. Secondly,on the supply
Side’ the ereged 90 cent of this seed. But after 1905 there was
of the premium would seem also to have been afiect eight im ortcd per.
in the proportion sent to Germany, until, by
This e
occasions by the size of the Egyptian crop_ can 11 on a large increase
this new took'over third of the total.‘ In
impossible t a
demonstrated as it is almost to assess the be 1912,
England markgt an position, be.
importance of demand and supply conditions, but he ative (sic: intermediate
ing muchEgypttian
P” fo :i)C((‘.ildplCd.
nA1an’,‘ts mam_T1V31, but less highly
probable that the extra-high premiums of 1908_9 and seems than “hm
t at rom merica. Its oil was limited mainly
10 were at least partially influenced by the decline _Igo9\ regarded
in the manufacture of soap, and it was not until igog that
to use
size of the Egyptian crop in those years. A third fal E shortage of edible oils and fats. caused many manu-
Egypt’s capacity to influence the price of its own Cotcmr in a world
to pay particular to improving its quality.
in in, facturers attention
volved the transfer of local estimates of the probabl The success of these efforts led to its employment by some of the
siz
each crop, reflected in the Alexandria futures mark; 0f makers of margarine and lard who previously had used only
Liverpool Cotton Exchange. This can be seen by 10 :k_to e animal fat and American ‘sweet 0ll.2 Prices tended to follow
any number of particular years. In 1900, for Qt] mg at those of cotton, although with occasional deviations. The latter
example 1°
opened with Egyptian prices advancing rapidly owi; Year important after 1909, when demand became
to e were particularly
pessimistic crop forecasts induced by the unprecedengt more intense.
low About 8 to_ 10 per cent of each year’s cotton-seed harvest
level of the Nile.‘ American prices were also rising butcd
sharply. Then, as it became clear that the Irrigation Dnot was retained in Egypt for.sowing. In addition, an increasing
ment was going to be able to provide suflicient water anépart. proportion was crushed in local 011 factories, where con-
an annual average of 23,000 M14555
the harvest would be a good one, prices began to decline . Qthat sumption rose from
again this accompanied a similar, though less marked nee between 1885-6 and i889—go to 824,000 ardahhs in the years
ment of American. Crop estimates were revised a secoiid t‘
m0Ve. 1910-11 and 1912-13.3
in September when the weakness of many of the plants bee§‘he
apparent, and in anticipation of a small yield, prices advanemg 4,. THE COTTON YEAR IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH
by Iid./lb. in the first two weeks of that month. This movemeflt CENTURY

was maintained by speculators until February 190;, when
it
was discovered that cultivators were holding back larger stock;
than usual. American prices, after helping to sustain the price
rise, had already fallen much more rapidly. From this brief
description it may be concluded that on certain occasions the
Alexandria market had considerable influence on the Liver-
pool market, being able to amplify existing trends or even, as
from October 1900 to January 1901, to cause Egyptian prices
to run counter to those of American.
Cotton seed
The value and volume of exports of Egyptian cotton seed are
also given in Table 38. During most of the period England
' Information on the price movements
in i 900oome.-. from 13 n‘fish Cham be of
Commerc¢,AnnualR:pmf,,, ,9oo’p_+.
The cultivation of cotton
Until the beginning of the twentieth century it was common
for larger proprietors to allow cotton land to remain fallow
after the previous summer’s crop had been harvested, and by
1910 this was still the practice on some of the big estates! But,
in general, the increasing practice of renting land meant that
it was no longer possible to allow fields to remain idle for such
a length of time, and it was more usual to grow maize between
1 A.S. 1914, p. 308.
1 Todd, J. A., ‘The Uses of Egyptian Cotton Seed’, E.C., no. 6 (Mar. 191 i),
p. 217; The World’: Cotton Crop: (1915), pp. 357-9.
3 A-S- 1914. p- 357- . . . .
¢ Information about the cultivation and harvesting
of cotton contained in thu
and the folllowing paragraphs comes largely from Foaden and Fletcher, II, pp. 359-
Sudan (Manchflwh '93):
64.; Schariz, M., Cotton in Egypt and the Anglo-Egyptian
by A. Schmidt (Mandlfil fly
pp. 63—6; and Int. Fed., La Culture du colon en Egypte,
1912), pp. 14-22.

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and E7590" 9f Cotton The Production and E

The Production 1 "W" of Cotton 207
206
11. —d cultivators the rooting was made compuho b
November. The the decree of
July and 1 it it em Wang? th‘; spring.
. .
with
. p:OEe0ru§h;:
bimm,
,
from K1
_ ,
UP
Deccmberf 1909 which orderedrihmz :“E:ycmment
c old plants be ,e_
d d maize
:lnth:r:,th;- hand, followed the it .
was plou 8hed 1h_ lch Oved be ore 31 December each year to cut down the
- taken before 15_
e or two cuttings Wereextra revenue but left the soil in a 1 number of host plants on which the’ S1301?-worrn could fecd
throughout the winter.
mrlovided a considerable '
est
good condition. land was P 1 W8h5d fo_‘~“' t_1m€S’1n 0 PO_ The sale, £i”"i"8» and
export of cotton
Ideally, cotton to the air before ridging Ame
then left exposed 3 A great variety of different methods of 1e
directions an more thorough the Working, the he a twentieth century. No atteghfia Wlll ‘were practised
rule, the deeper
and
were the ar often used on liter in the early be made to
Steam p lough-s E describe them all.
On the large (mates it vhat for the
was the crop. continued to emplo
estates, butthe smaller cultivator
oxen, The
Y the exporter to buy direct from the owner.‘ All tli: c°‘_‘1mon
Alexandria
plough drawn by two agents in the interior form:-in
traditional Egyptian sown were made therldges houses employed tT‘l‘:’ Purpose to
which the cotton was by Same whomthey paid
brokerage of 2 to 3 per Cent
*3 cotton was
along
finished off by hand with a hot in the exporter’s own facth
implement and then than ginned, either or elsewhere,
sowing began in late March or and sold direct to the spinners. According to SEQ‘?
anz over a third
Oh the bigger estates
This practice was encouraged bat Y the of the crop was
disposed of in this way i ,
beginning of April. as early cotton branhhed better - .
Department of Agriculture and matured sooner, so As part of the arrangement it w asoghlleahmost invariable
tha‘i there . to make a contract in advance
the plant which
from the bottom of ractice in
boll-worm attacks, which were agreed to deliver a fixed quamfirvest,
was less danger from the their the cultivator of cotton. In
On the other hand it iat
CORY
received an advance to the cost of
most intense in September. return, he often
necessitated a great arhrlvolved
and It was usual to obtain £Eo. toVCI‘E a cantar.z
the use of more seed of cultivation. adva5r3lced£thiI
smaller cultivators began to sow sevemlillnt The Alexandria house of Plantajs _at
resowing. The week”
many cuttings of bin-im as posslble. but the majority charged a higher rat 33 l"{‘1;)l1lCY
e price
later, in an effort to get as 8 per cent, .
The seeds were generally sown
dry, about ten to tw to a to be paid for the cotton was either fixed he.
e contract or
Where any fahegflw left open; In the latter case, it was arm indt that seller
hole, and then immediately watered. to
come the
up they were replaced by new ones
which had been &°3k¢d in was able to deliver his crop on any da xige. pre-
water to accelerate germination. When the you“ 1ants were viously decided on, the price being that
Tm‘)
tlfllllthaC h):riod
_ lexandria
5
fairly well established the field was hoed by hand 0
i)
thc futures contract for the particular day said to
clear was in response to assertions hjhgractlllcttthis
n a 6 Cotton
weeds and break up the clods of earth The next
sh°°t8°pCI'8.tl0n
have arisen ‘ that
after the h t , the
was being sold at the same tim e Just
thinning, in which only the two strongest futuh:“ves
auolvcd buyers were able to depress the price by selling contracts
to remain in each hole. This was followed b a. secowtdrc "
a third towards the end of Ma YT}; 1n waterfng. on the exchange as cover for their purchases
and then assdvhas irri.
fourteen days throughout Jug; » Jug’» ugust. ‘ pp. 83-4.
- . ally F er , Le Cam
' .
éyphm ‘I la bwm dc‘ mmhmw" A Af"‘“"d'i‘ (A16!-
n er E
gaiedtelvery 1 ichanz,

SeptcmlI>J§i'; inglggwtfrlgsung andria, i9ir:i)::. 63-

e middle of September_ 3 Charles Roux,LaProduc!i'an du coton,p - 2 75- Accoi-din gto Mr .R.B.Cai-vu-the
There were generally d1m8cYPi::k;n first of which was the inmmchargcd 1 d ed by Caner Bmmm was a mm“ f°" 53183111
most important and pmduged 3183: Eh; cotton. The between the parti;' ::ril:e:n:cll.nc
- ( .
4 Soc'é é Sul tamcnne d i Agriculture, Almmach, I336‘H mm),
work was generally carried out he hhtdquahty
and old pcoplci (191?)
pp. 3251;.
who could manage about 30 lb - YacdaY.rehfter all the bolls 6
cawai H' B-2 ‘The 5Y3tcn'i
u
of Cotton Purchase in the htaiosshtnnzihpi
D
-5

were removed, thc comm stalks we“ Pullfi d up for fuel. This
'
Ofi cial Rzflfl qflhe International C0330’! Congress’ 1997 hhdanchamh ma‘), P. ‘S8.

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Export of Cotton
208 The Production and
the above 3'
As an alternative to- Prgccfiulf’
gm 1 an
ginlllling facto
t en
accoun _ ry 1int wasrcssed into bales of 700.800 1
might buy (1:53 Vhllntracts were also genera“-iell it in to Alexandria. Glnnerg
In t 1
Alexandria.cottoI1h‘_’: dusnsent on chargfid seven to eight
n(1 included an advance of mone , ade
' Sues 3 Cantar
for their the cost to them
before the harvest, ases a large proprietor might obtaigl ‘er. services, of ginning
being something like five to seven piasn-es’:
pifid ressing
liis cotton himself, either on the sa 10am fincotton began in Alexan dria from
a an af(:'l‘(;.’ :11
nativelyhlnka .
it
. Qt
arrfivsing
the ginning
warehouse, where S6pc.’Slted_ ‘ls secu ‘Or at
lid: the bank’s between 4,000,000
d the advantage w?5
0 a owing hlm to factories theczfihllags wfi fdfglrlfvzrdédé
mtmlle
seemed best! °h°°sé an 5:°°O’o00Pr o ortion of the cro P enexm-memonthsfi
sent
Th? lat?/:lIi<:rli1ettlIi1<:) illczzle ' ' by which
fall’ was
8 tll'nC
The greater
althougIli more ex P en51“: thas
t
crop D710-tgrlnf.
The bulk of the ieker,transport f"1 b)’ boat. Generally, the
bought “P by commlssl g€(I)1tS1eII::Sl:l
’ yerGcu1tlvat0rs was born by. the ginner. The pace at which
was reeks a
cotton reached not seem to have been
does
influenced by tiglexandria
e November and Decem.
had it ginne t ems . . . _ 13- T e uch in
exceptions, however, and in
priceslruhng
her. There 190 .
interest‘ In many cases the and we‘: 7 occasionta{JTS may have hurried their cotton
bdh ht cotton p fella. 1902-3 PTOPUCI in order to take advantage of the
hem “'lth.sccd' SomeclIf Vllonm ‘dd
to
market faster
thanhusua
1 various early in t e season.
the majority purchase . district high
prices
pl 1
centres to which it was brought b)’ t E511 t1V3t0rS.3 bulk of the cotton crop passed through the cotton
As
scope for mampu e. smaller
The
exchange
at Miniat 31-Basal, where each exporter possessed a
sma11 office. Consignments were offered for sale by means of
merchants were ableatmi
to thpcultivators
e u d.er their
n. These were examined. by the
Sample,-,_ experts employed. by
by means of advances wefieph Id be cofmola repaid, Wou1d_be
purchasers, after which a price was provisionally
f1§Vf€l' Q31:
1Cf C011: rein
position of power which was established. The expert then went to the warehouse where
cg
they often had a monopoly 9 539 SUPP<irceA
tart Y- E3-111, they wcre the cotton was stored and examined further samples which he
at random. After this a final price was
able to make CXCCSSIVC reductions for brokerage and for gradin chose from the bales
the crop, as well as to trade. on thelfact that the fellaheen fixcd_ Once the market ‘was closed for the day, the purchaser
generally had great difficulty in following rapid fluctuations in returned to take possession. He had all the bales opened, the
the Alexandria price of cotton! It dirt removed, and the cotton sent off for re-pressing. It was then
hold of such dealers that Kitchener introduced the system of sh 1 ed to Europe} .
(open markets) which will be described in
o owinghafizqa:
govcirplment
the c apter. both Alexandria and Liverpool, most of the cotton was expor-
Cotton coming from the fields was carried to the ginning ted by ‘type’, or special blend, which remained more or less
factories in large sacks. There it received a superficial examina. permanent and which was well known to the spinners! For
tion as to
type,
for it was general practice to gin only om; this reason links between merchants and mill-owners tended
variety at a time. It was then carried into the gin room by a to become more and more close, the latter preferring to con-
porter and fed into the machines by hand. After ginning, the duct their business with one particular firm on whom they could
' Roux, Production du ootoll, p. 274.. en Kc, . - .
1 %?rl:
y réru, p. I:4..
pp_ 33$‘
3 sebum’ 1 can be found in AS.
fblF:llE:lit:e"0i'u1:i:)‘:nflflyfi§’r€valf‘:3gg[97-I912/13
‘ Chlfld R0111. 1-4 Production du man, pp. 276-7; Kitchuier, Anal
Reponfv 1914, p. 358.
19'’. 9-7-5 '9'31 )'0l- ‘XXII. p. 233; Nalns, J. I-‘., Situation Joovlouiqu (I weigh du 2 Int. Fcd., La Cultm du colon en Esme, pp- 41-2-
ft/14* low-av (Pam. I9°I). pp. H6-I8. 4 Todd, J. A., The Marketing ofcauou (London. 1934). P- 153»
32104: 1’

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77,, Production and Export

of Cotton
t e same sort of
l’ The Production and Export of Cotton 211

he amount ordered by its clients. Secondly, it en-

cotton possessing amib ut,
I-C1): to send thelrn 3 execs 9 0 eredit facihties than any other important firm,
further_ light ma)’ be thro W11 better able to obtain advances from banks in Europe
Year after yeain
1 11, SOIHC _ . . jail‘ was It.
In conc usio giving a_ brief descriptionogf the Not on 3 ainst its cotton, but it also had an arrangement
exports by
loyed b)’ tW° Very cllsslmflar Alexandria
in the y fl . 3
the Dcutsche Orient Bank of Alexandria by which it could
d Egypt C
and R, and O. Lindemann, without security or against shares held in
money.either
To take Carvers first. Eaiifi s Jlis; tian companies. Its last pre-war owner, Hugo
First World War_2 ea, ambitious man and used these
before the from spinners in F’bus mm, was clearly a very
reccive orders England
the firm would ‘mark’ Of 3 Pamcular Wpe (each
for secure a larger andllarger share of the market.
:1 . to try to than his
cotton of a particular one to ten ‘markS,): and pe ,6
. end he generally gave higher premiums
into anydimg froin agents in the
being divided
transmitted to
its rural di . at
stric T t . org. A5 a result, he ‘was able to secure an increasing
nce orders were When makin the villages, as well in 1912-13, to
of just such a classification. of business in as,
l) find cotton by his experience of the qup an ount is chief rivals, Carvers and Choremi Benaclii, as the
a buyer would be guided C6 many of the most important
O(I)‘dCI‘ annually by a_nurnber
of
Cultivate ality re? 3 er of the cotton grown on
aml
of the crop produced
and small; and it might often be them in - cluding that of the Khedive himself.
his area both great a large number of lndlvldual
- - . C
I
purch as
P‘:
es
that he had to make suflicient to make up the
had accumulated
before he bought at Alexaorder.
be made up with cotton
Orders might also was in thisn::a'
the'business
As a rule almost all the firmponducted
s total exports (pub a a
of
only a very small proportion 8
made up of cotton for which
2 to 3 per cent) being glaegg
had been no specific
'

aiifiil ténfiroiiifl fid°“ the

requlest. fiinks
I‘ Vwithhthe
t fiancashire

”°-"i:ei’§» ’LZ°§E?i?icZi'Z Effigy? this as a result cf?

with
than
Slliiit 'the wanted But more
its re.
com an shortl afo
ter
tibn as a lrivate limited 99°.
the pflrtlilpationyaS
ilicgaalilrlfrii was exparpided to allow '
maiomy
Finc Cotton S
shareholders of the recently formed
J. and P. Coats ’ makliizlrlxincflishilnd
0 lgh‘
Doublers’ Association and '
ualiW sewin E-thread’2 both of which w ere anxious to cnsurc
_ .
ilheir supply of the best types of Egyptian cotton by establish-
ing more direct contact with Egypt and its cultivato .
employed a very different style of or;eratiom_
irst y, it was prepared to purchase a. great deal of ootton in
F.Lipde.mann's
‘ -
' Ll » C- N‘) Jolm Sakcuafi dis "" 34*“ CW0" (Alexandria. I939).
. 0' r 3.; - » . ,
*IamindebtodtoM.R.B.Ca Th‘
source for the material about Ijndunmwer:s|oo:nn;aftr:,:i:br?d:oh: f"mlnpay"slfi.'m'

in Rutraint at "I ’ TM’ ‘ °°"V °“"'”°" “"1 5°

found in r.o. 368/I720.

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ac ac
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in the Cotton Sector of the

Economy,
Dwelapment i88o—ig13 213
Egypt bi’ T¢S“l3t“18 “8 Passage
along the main
VIII Lower feeder
can als.‘rcfOrm5 led to a consider
he able increase
in Lower Egypt. Th in agricultural
ELOPMENT IN THE corro tivm,
productton CY also reduced
crop from a low su mmer Nile. Neverthe danger to
h C0 the restoration of the Ba
DEZECTOR or THE ECONOMY irrigation need
“age was
theless, even
complete, it was clear
188o—I9I3 beforeE P65
thaisivegstheme of water-
ht?“
OF
I. THE CHANGING ROLE GOVERNMENT
' ' ' '
an :1 transport
Improvement: m the system of irrigation if William Willcocks was
.
for the great 3‘ dvance in in Upper Egypt, giyen the task of inspecting
. cotton-productiOn aft _b1e Sites it was on the
Hff9(l))avi:s
I provided 13)’ 3 “"65 of er 0SS1t in 1894, that it was eventually basis of his
and
_ government ref‘) relfor published decided to
emcnts the majority of which were initilatfdg new work at Aswan! When completed
l b\11ld ’the of holding up 1,000 million in 1902 the
h iiiiiiiiivomciais’ following the 0°°“,Pa“°“ °‘ ESYPF in :33 dam W as Capable cubic metres of
Bee field which received much attention'was_that of . the release of which, between April and July, added
Wm." to the country’s
Efiliorts proceeded in three ¥‘h_th€
irrigation_ rably
C%r$?1fCocks’s scheme, the buildin g of a
summer supply.
The second part
‘”°"‘ P“
1 e the existing systems diHerenttdil:1¢‘$‘(’1‘e‘:_'
' iirst
‘-5 action o barrage at Asyut, was
P the proper cleaning of the canals, finished in 1902. This allowed some of the extra water from
acl,
invo d not only the 31 So
repa to be
of ti)’Le and regulatory mochanisms, and the construction ASW3n wherediverted along the Ibrahimiya canal into Middle
can also the reorganization of the admimstrat-ion of it enabled the conversion of extensive areas from
of a series of rules governing an Eg:;p!t,t0 perennial irrigation. The Aswan Darn was further
the
dI‘a.ll’lS,ornu1gation the ba_
relations htened between 1907 and 1912.
Pin Cultivators and engineers. Secondly, the corvée hag
and was h r field in which important improvements
abolis d bctwoen 1885 and I889
betwch the
‘work
of Anotaif
were
old cana cl nd digging new ones given to private dredging undcrt n was that of transport. As it existed in 1880 there
contractors:
The pt aw” a Considerable release of men for agricultural was a recl tively well-developed system of communications
She larger towns by rail, river, and navigable
reS1_1rh_‘_rdl the supply of summer water available to thc
labour. betwccxllg t movement between
canal. u village and village, or village
cultivators in ggwer Egypt was greatly enlarged by the repair
often depended on narrow, winding paths, which
of the d its Connection with the system of irrigation andd 3tog: transport of heavy goods diflicult. A first
anBdarragf (iii the Central Delta by means of the re-cxca- ma- . - - ' attempt
Casi o fwlis canal and the repair Of the Sh‘“‘liY3- to lmpmve this situation
. was made in I 8 9o with the decision
' '
vation t c Buhaira
_
_
to create a series 0 f agricultural roads in SharQiya and
(“named fi 3) canal which had been abandoned - I _
aid for out of 100 al taxation‘; Th“
'13:! aglili had beeii begun over forty years earlier. Daqamlyalastzxtldfidfd
measure w to Buhaira in 189‘: and late’ l'hr°“gh'
a“l’tl?:l:ttlal: Si?/hole Project was comPl¢t¢d in 189" the 3
out the rest of Lower EEYPL‘ Between I 90 and i899 over
were able to distribute the available water equallyengmem
I One of the firms . -
,1, Bchcn
th“°“Eh
C0,, received considerable
,.;;:..i;......,....i
x B wn pp- 47355 . .
3 Dgcrcc 0f6 R2-Saiby
- EoM(Cair°- ‘$943: .
mg88;l”"|‘n'el‘:)’f‘i’::mde8ing equipment previously "‘ 4"“"’”"‘i"' ‘3°78§;§IB92'(Alcxa'ndria, 1393)‘
“'ri‘;'o §é3§i‘.f§§'.’.i.iii.ai’ 1308 (9 Pet»
pp.
hanesfiurcforn mgrgfm mdebwd .0 Ma -r. a F. Dixon for this information.)
W ‘ and o Decree 189')» °°‘‘‘~ ‘* *°“

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.
Y‘,
t I'n the Cotton Secto r
2i4 Developmen
built, of the Economy, 1880-1913
of such roads were mostly alon 215
2,000 ki10m° tres E _Basse
k f rials.‘ _
the cmins dc fer de la Egypte owned iog kilometres of
of this Pmgramme encouraged the Gov d sch nd the Fayoum Light Railways Ltd. i68 kilometres.i
ba¥'hs<:(iiu::ess introduction of light ‘Zka In ajor means of communication also received the
a Bel 1 an com a 3 and
' w as iven toagricultural railwernxnent
to com.der the 8 _ 8 other Of importance was the
- I 3 a concession
d Chemins de fer ec - a Y th particular
vernment’s attf=ntl<?;p._in 190:.
m-June -95 v of the Nile to s produced an immediate
is
Coirlpagnlfi Eenémlea line M °“°“‘1ques’ e This
of
the establishment
3-11511” and Mata -’a ff» . in river traffic, forcing the railways to reduce their freight
abolition
b_etwe¥1h company 5 in "Stags in order to be able to compete for the carriage of goods.‘
the north of Daqahliya 1“ 3 obtained
mon0P°lYprovlilnce.
“S t5 the and 3130 a at navigation along ‘the canals was made easier by
were virtually 30% racanwhile,
rece1Pt§ “P to is E233’
210° 3- Year. In ret F“. and by. the construction of locks.
ment guarantee of net s are of urn’ dredging
to receive a any effect of improvements in the system of irrigation and
the Government was was then
profits The be overstated. The extra from the
3 kilometre. The concession bye cannot
£13225 Société des
transferred t
Chemin transportand the Aswan Dam increased cottonwater yields, allowed
Egyptian company, the anonyme S E arrage to lands, and reduced the
in Cairo in 1896, be eictended
de la Basse Egypte, founded l_fei- Work on the cultivation to
its of cultivation, new
while the creation of the agricultural roads
in i897_z me
was begun in the same Y€3T_ Md C0mp1eted In opened up fresh areas for production and provided
meantime two more concessions had been granted on simithe
lai- and Tailw ays of carrying the crop to the main Delta
John Birch of England for
terms, one to Messrs. a rail 3 Cheap’
easy method
in Gharbiya and Buhaira and one to a syndicatza collection points.
network of
Egyptian firms for Sharqiya, Qalubiya, and Daqahliy-a_ T intervention in the cotton sector of the economy
to exploit these concessions Go Wmment
companies were then formed Bwo
1“ The very success of these various government measures made
almost at once they decided to amalgamate, and by 1961
further intervention in'the_cotton sector unavoidable. This was
their shares had been bought by a new, joint concern till°
much against the inchnation of many of the British adminis-
Egyptian Delta Light Railways Company} Finally, in :8 Lord Cromer who was not anxious to
3, group of Copts obtained the right to build a line in trators, particularly
involve the state more closely in the actual process of pro-
Fayyumfi
Sections of the line belonging to the Egyptian Delta Light duction. But by the 1880s, the crop was much too important
or
Railways Company were opened in 1899, and by r9o2_.3 it had to the Egyptian economy for any deterioration in output
quality to be easily ignored. In the early period of the Occu-
806 kilometres in operation connecting many of the villages of
the main cotton districts north ofTanta and east of the Damjctta
pation the Government was forced into action in two separate
branch of the Nile with stations on the state railways; The
directions. In the first place, it had to take fresh steps to cope
with the growing menace of the cotton-worm. After particu-
nature of the service supplied to Cultivators and merchants
larly bad attacks in the early 1880s the Government constituted
can be seen from the fact that, in this same year, the Company
commissions to study the question in 1883, and invited the
carried IIl,04.9 tons of cotton or nearly 40 per cent of thc
members to tour the Delta provinces in an eflbrt to get the
seasonis crop, as well as 360,481 tons of other merchandise,
cultivators to take voluntary action} Then, in 1888 and 1889,
cotton seed, cereals, coal, and manure.‘ The other
circulars were sent to all mudirs requiring them to explain to
E1c}llud1r_ig
g t-railway systems were not so extensive. In 1902 the S.A.
- 'umdas (village hcadmen) and fellahecn how best to cope with
‘Gavel-nmentofE t,Stati'.r'alR; i.9.9o—i899 (Cum. igoo). P. ios.
, ' Ibid., pp. ig3, 201.
’ Wigner, p.Pp.:83.
493_:yi>wfism,t;: lestumf, 1 Rccueil coruulairc, vol. 126 (1904), p. 261.
‘ Wiener, pp. 541-2. I Ismalun, A., ‘Communication sur lc ravageur du cotonnier’, Bulletin du
I ‘hzélght, - _
‘ Ibid:.9;: Camila’ agricole, no. 1 (Apr. 1884.), pp. 8-9; ‘Chroniquc', L’Egpl¢, nos. xxii—xxiii
(I Sept I895). P- 758-

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Cotton Sector
Development in the 217
216
to take thc a of the Economy, 1880-1913
encourage them
the after another bad attack, 3,2 gpriate anwhile, an Intensive Campaign of public instruction was
v:o1r“mi:ln¢iint<:894,
steps. ga " ' ned yet another investigation into Vern‘ -ed out in order to convince the peasants of the advantage of
' met ° 8
ment commlsslo There.Wa.s
5 till no desiret0
intervene °f ate action. The Government was also forced to become
controlling the P95” I 1y active in providing the cultivators with pure seed,
s°r,y' But Such a .°“e
positively and make leaf-pitlzkinfgtfmpu
3' ms” t o }_ncr n effort to ‘maintain the quality of the cotton crop. Several
cdnliouitltlng damage 13 ion
became necessaf)’ 35 YIS tried. In 1886, for example, an attempt was madc
E ca,-,5 were
croP in the early 199% Encmliragé
t C Ovemmefl t declded5
SuCCess_i“ tit"lg cooperation of the leading
ginneries
‘to sell ‘good
3, plague of locusts 1I1.I9°.‘l‘ to combat the t use the
with
seed, at a price somewhat below the price of ordinary
same type of organization cottomwor Sowingwith the Government to make good half the loss
the
a, Khedival decree was issued compelling all C. 1,1 seed.’
agreeing
was tried for two years but was not
April 1905 of the worm to local _lti. , valved} This experiment
vators to report the appearance pick off and autho ‘n The next experiment was in operation for
d in 1888.2
and then to take immediate steps to destroy alllltles
eveml years from 1894, when
specially selected seed was sold
on which eggs had b_‘3€1‘- laid. :Th0se_who ignored t the 5
leaves
be punished, while their fields Government to the cultivators at a cheap price repay-
instructions were to were thebe
in insta lments.3 Further
direct intervention was avoided
officials at a charge of
cleaned for them by government also
two
provided that all boys en
able
the formation of the
Khedivial Agricultural Society in 1898.
piastres a feddan. The decree Society then took
over the selection and distribution of
work could be requisitionwho
were accustomed to agricultural ed The
the Government merely advancing the ‘money
necessary
in areas where there was a shorta if seed,
necessary for leaf-picking, ge of make the preliminary
purchase and allowing the sums due
to local officials in the first
labour} Supervision was left to
the fellaheen to be collected along
with the land-tax.4
But in 1906 special British inspectors were sent into provyfiar. me“
from
The efficacy of this arrangement may
be doubted, however. On
correctly executed.‘ were complaints of the quality of the seed
to see that the orders were the one hand, there
The success which seemed to attend these efforts meant th rovidcd; on the other, the resources of the Society were never
the regulations were less strictly applied in 1907 and I at Suffi cient to distribute more than a very
small fraction of
But the reappearance of the worm in great numbers jn9:h' Egypfl s requirements. In 1902-3, for example, the 28,500 ardabb:
latter year led, in 1909, to more comprehensive central controle were only enough to sow 114,000 feddans, or under
ofseed s0ld5
Seventy-seven inspectors were engaged, 11 1,000 childm; ,0 per cent of the total cotton area.
mobilized for work in the fields, while 1 1,000 cultivators we, With the formation of the Department
of Agriculture in 191 1
punished for infringing the regulations about reporting th: pure seed was resumed by the
the function of providing
appearance of the pest.5 Similar methods were employed eve Government. Then, not only did the quality improve but, in
season until the war. Recourse was also made to legislatioiqy amounted
1913-14, the quantity distributed to the cultivators
The seed was
Laws of 1909, 1912, and 1914 decreed that by a certain date to over a quarter of the country’s requirements.“
in December all cotton and other host plants had to be pulled with the more careful ginners, and
obtained by arrangement
out or cut below ground level, so as to deprive the new batches from cotton grown on the State Domains!
came originally
of worms of food during the winter months. For the same reason 1 Manchester Chamber of Commerce, Meeting of the Board of Directors, 24.
3 Chélu, p. 235.
all the bolls remaining on the cotton stalks or lying on the Nov. 1886, M 8/2/10, Proceedings, 1885-1890.
1896, vol. xcvii, pp.
3 Cromer, Annual Report for I895, P.P.,
ground after the harvest was over were to be destroyed.‘ 4 Carey (Acting-Secretary, Khedival Agricultural
Society), 24, May 1904., in
5 Ibid.
1' PP- 275-6- Cromer, 25 May 1904.: F.O. 78/5370.
1913-14: Allenby, Annual Report for
fzlgin 11-cn 1895).
’ I -
6 118,099 ardabb: of seed were supplied in
R0‘ '4! /3:?” EDlWs)(;:Ug. 1914-19, 1» 791- , _ and Yield ,
_ of Cotton, , in Int. Fed.,
‘ For this and other legislation 00 oem' ‘ .
thc Isncu1 tural sector, see 1/811. 7 Dudgeon, G. C., ‘Improvement in Quality
hm,“ agiwh it “WWI” mg.) (Cair°’nl92o;ng to Egypt (Manchester, 1913), pp. 29-30.
Ofl icialReport of the Visit qflhe Delegation . . .

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5,; the Cotton Sector

Dave10pm”, , s .aCC€Pt3-nce of the Economy, 1880-1913 219
218 . 5 Government of r
A further Stage mtothprotect the <1“a1‘tY and quantitfisgghsi. 111 VATE
[NVESTMENT IN THE COTTON SECTOR
u December 1909 2. 7 pressing capacity
was rcachednn With the fl afgjmzing and
merit the Causegtkt gaxpaflS10 increase in the size of the cotton harvests in the
. Its report T°°°m _e C 3 C0nsid
C01'nII1lSS101:nt(:lZU:1dY “F t
_ 1l'1.)f1e _ accompanied by considerable investment in
the dcchhe state over a wide area. This The gig: was
b the incerable I ginning factories and the purchase of
in drainage system many 6 arl)’ nstructl‘on of new . . .
ment of the cultivators to return to aarts of ti: the co
chinery,
At the beginning of the_twent_ieth century t h ere
t to get tri new ma establishments in operation with 3, 521 gins and
country, an of the annual campaign a {Ila} such
atrtligzification were 1 _ of under 7,000,000 cantars. Of these, 87 with
such ci just
and In ‘Qt in Lower Egypt. About a third of the machines
the cotton-worm:
. _ water
furtherhexpcrlmints
ble, t e correc use Inf
0
man“ ins were export honses, another third
as the rise in
the 2,97‘ $1 owned by Alexandrian
tdnrieties of cotton. It als e’ and t en names—the majority of whom were
the producnonf °f gevnlaitment of Agriculture to (.108: _°3ted n ith European by local Egyptians or Syrians.‘ The
0 vrvgd the remainder
the creat10I1_ da at halting a further diminution in rdfltate
all efforts aime TeCk’a factories in the 1890s resulted in considerable
dafions were all implemented in thY1eld_x 1‘ to Op'en and the intense competition which followed led
These world War. As already describe cw
years recomrtr11;nFirSt establied in he smaller units to reduce their prices below an
befcgtfi a Department of Agriculture was ve1_z In an effort to rationalize the situation, a
schemes were the £231};
giigiiiiiie drainage
icpauguratiddn
of the leading Alexandrian merchants who owned
in igrz, into
Delta. by Kitchener means of formed a trust, a process which was developed still
the various strains 2(1)? Eresegfi
gyp 11c cotton
was in‘ inneriesin 1905 when they amalgamated their factories into at
improving
. . fur th r the Associated Cotton Ginners of Egypt Ltd.
tensified. _ Eompany,
A final example of government ‘intervention in tne cotton
occurred 1912 with Kitcheneps
sector of the economy .111 a third of the total.3 Other attempts to ration-
a system of halaqas, in ins or just over
institution of alizé the industry also seem to have met with some success, and
activities of
smaller cultivators against the unscrupulous the number of factories had risen only to 127, of which
dealers. These consisted of an enclosed space of about an gem by 1913 in operation in that year. The size of the
111 were actually
in which there was an official weighing-machine, notice of the
individual units had increased, however, and each establish-
daily opening price of ginned cotton at Alexandria, and, later
ment then contained 50 gins as against 34 ten years earlier!
astorehouse from which cheap seed and chemical fertilizer wen: The expansion of ginning capacity was accompanied, to some
distributed. Those with cotton to sell could use these f3.Cllltlc3 increase in productivity. The first McCarthy
on payment of Pt. o-05 a cantar. Ninety-two such halaga; Wm, degree, by an
gins introduced during and after the American Civil War could
opened during the first year. Initially they encountered fierce
opposition from the smaller merchants, many of whom refused produce only 45-50 lb. of clean cotton an hour.5 Thereafter,
according to Chélu, writing in 1891, these old machines had
either to enter them or to purchase cotton which had passed
through them. Nevertheless, by December 1912 they had 1 For a list of those who owned gins, sec Charles Roux, La Pmdlution du coton,
been used by 185,000 proprietors, bringing 593 000 cantars of PP- 395'9-
’ 3 El-Gritly, A. A. I. (al-Giritli), ‘The Structure of Industryin Modern Egypt’,
cotton}
E.C. nos. 241-2 (Nov.—Dec. 1947), p. 503.
'SocRappmt énérldelacmm‘ ‘ 3 Int. Fed., La Culture du colon en Egyple, p. 34; Schanz, p. 84.. The firms who
cm, '9'" , forasuinmuy
dd” commimifmk “rcc°mmcnda";':)°":S (3892 Pp. 3l=6, surrendered their gins to the new company agreed neither to construct nor to work
' Kitchener, Annual any others: A.E.M., 8_]a.n. I909, ii, no. 4.0, p. 93.
Rtfl rlfoy 1959, 4 Schanz, p. 84.
pP_ 233_4_ 5 Ghélu, pp. 238-9.

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Cotton Sector
Development in the of the Economy, 1880-1913 2,;
220 . as to allow out u -
lIl _
been modifi ed suIt:laIt;V‘:eYw gins were 1-mpg": tease process _was almost entirely in the hands of the large
85‘9° lb‘ an hour'
h H, z’La1-gely
as a result of the . cont‘) rs, and it was they who provided the capital necessary
an
manage 120 lb. the expense of SP1!“ Tovld expo nd capacity at the turn of the century. In 1889 a number
fell Sharp01 ‘Whereas
ments costs to found the Sociétéigénérale de Pressage
erated ylo by the State Dglnning oe‘ 585 combined over the plant belonging to the Alexandria
cantar in the factorlejfi it had been reduced toomalns will of h to take
PT am’ Craas Dépéts
pressing Co.’ Thereafter, two more large concerns
Pt I7'5i" I878#9’ by Euro ea e
bill gbltheless C0 “on also by merchants, the Société anonyme
0f °"ly Pt‘ fl"7-6-'9':were
evenot well run and) a I'111 umber
standards» thee founded, Pressescotton
libres égyptiennes in 1892 and the
EEYPM“ gmrienes their inefli 0 co weretienne deg
Wm” commes
temp°r="Y One
nted on Clem’ W wan‘ des Presses allemandes in 1906.1 Together
was Arno Chmidt ’ the s eclctary 0f the I Ste
égYP
égypticnne
them pressed all the cotton leaving Alexandria.
of labour. Master Cotton. Spinners’ and .a.three of
0f the steam presses of the latest model and was able
national Federation
' ' 's o b servations are
Mme,‘
anll.
, Particu Eac h Possessed were much more tightly packed than
facturersl (ff 1-oduce bales which
because CWal-sllable to comP are pra~ClIlCCS in E ‘F
importanceAssocmmlils 0 P . America, freight costs,
and elsewhere. As
with those in America 11? pointed opt ut, In to Schanz therlfby mateiljally
t e same s ip wasred11i)<l:ing
a e to carry 50 per
from the warehouse to
cotton was carried the gum and the Acctozgo,-E Egyptian than American cotton.3 As in the case of
of, as in American Gen '
the presses by hand instead factories-llt factories there was also an increase in efliciency.
only one establishment Y the gmm'38 ave rage weight .
of a bale was 666 lb. in 1880, a bale
suction-pump. Again, possessea the
fed
system whereby the gins were More In glgéegmc size weighed 760 lb. in igio—ii.3
In automatically.
the vast .
power was wasted in pressing. majority of C
or so men trampling dow ages
compression was effected by six the 77,, cotton-exporters
cotton into boxes rather than by machines. Schmidtll In the season 191 i—i2 nearly
half the Egyptian cotton crop
discovered that ginners were going to considerable troublalso
e to was
exported by four large foreign houses, Choremi, Benachi &
water the lint after it had been ginned, even though 110 one & Co. Ltd., R. and O. Lindemann, and
Co” Carver Brothers these, Chorerrii, Benachi’s was the oldest,
could give him any good reason for the practice.4 peel & Co. Ltd.‘ Of
Factory-owners used a number of arguments to defend their having been founded in its original form in 1864.5 But all dated
methods. One was that the use of suction-pumps would harm from before the
British Occupation. Almost all the remainder of
the cotton, another that the prevalence of manual operations the crop was sent abroad by a further thirty-one firms, many of
was Schmidt himself which were also founded before 1882.‘ It would thus
be true
suc [by t1l1eulp‘yx;1lt:v::acfi'
Jtusitified e wgeggeri liuthas to say that a very large proportion of the business of cotton
assere , ag
principle that things were being done in a particular way export was in the hands of relatively old firms, and that it was
This con. their own internal expansion, not the establishment of new
::<:,:;1:semthat ngaslltiowdtlgeytlliadbalvlvays
ere_
ur arge beenfidone.
pro houses, which allowed the great increase in the trade in the
Schmiist “waif ofs ICE lyways fix their prices in such 18905.
a way as tocasreaacltiilriels ig recotuurn.i
In its journey from field to mill a bale of cotton was pressed 1 The Alexandria Cotton Pressing 00. had been founded by the house of Cho-
remi, Mellor & Co. some time before 1876: Wright, p. 289.
by the ginning factory for transport to Alexandria, 1 Schanz, p. gi. 3 Ibid., p. 92.
en infiljltexandria itself, after sale, for shipment abroad. This
3:/ice: 4 Int. Fed., Ofl icialReport of the Visit of the Delegation . . . to Egypt, p. 185.
5 This firm was founded as Choremi, Mellor and Co. in 1864.. It changed its
' Chélu, .
La Production uh uh; flaw 0”" mm’ pp" '95‘
name in 1876: Wright, p. 289.
2 Charlesp.Roux,
239.
5 Int. Fed., Ofi icialReport qfthe Visit zfthe Delegation . . . to Eg)-,ot, p. 185. For a
' ""‘ F°“'"’ L‘ °""“" ‘l‘ “"0" a‘ 501°", PP- 34-5- s Ibid., pp. 33-9. complete list of the cotton exporter: in igi rem see Appendix 4..

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j--' ..,‘,.

Development
in the Cotton Sector
V of the Economy, 1880-1913
a single dividend, and
223

222 did not merely confine shareholders did not receive

n mCI'C hants t its to liquidate. In their annual reports
However, the
cotto
d export
of cotton. They ah en,‘ 3 pro at’é later it was forced
the urchase an
. . . 0
‘ Died h shareholders the directors put forward
to create new facilities f°1‘ Six ye meetings wit _
this lack of success. One
Pmfi ts ’ . nihg at reasons to account for
e -
twas Lmdemanfl 5, _
ililvi:Sat<:‘i:umulIited
.
for example D wh'ich an er of training local labour.‘ Again, there was a
house, H- Bmdcrnagel, to foiglgos 3 problem of
and 111136 of working capital which forced the
company
pressiplg. Zlmother des. Presses allemande“ An E was
égyptiennewas in financing the cons a.nt shortageexpensive overdraft and to have to raise fresh
a
_]0lI1'€CléW:1onyrne
Sociét crop . A1 er
In win an of two issues of debentures, the interest on
To C they Played' interior who were he P to T“ means
1mP°’ta“t limited financial resources.‘
of any medium. or lar C. laced new burdens on its
o the owner difficulty in finding a local retail
cotton! In the case of Ca w as also considerable
hed to grow ICC Finally, there was the question
money for such loans was b0"
1 goods produced.3
instance, the °weq t for the duty of 8 per cent imposed by the
Gov-
oflices in Lancashi
a bank near the firm’s would allow
for 0 countervalllng
the company
, ..
mma11Y from turn, 50 -re’ of the on all its output, in order to prevent
. t n This in in . from the similar duty placed on
the Security
of cot in exchange forverel to em deriv1nE_ my benefit
(Alexandria bank ilgeque. cot tons. There is at least some
for
evidence
dc to Cultivators on the strengt: - orted forelgnthe contemporary French writer, F. Charles
d the temporary surrender of the title to their thepasseftio“ by made an important contribution
reputation an as little as five f their that this charge
In some case s
the owner of a plot of X
Mills C0.’s failure.‘
At any rate, once the
land. would depend on hisillifils Rolihe Cotton
dvance, but - turned down a petition from its share-
might receive an 3- thishere were als 0 Occasions government had
local agent . 3 duty ‘be removed, the
well~ known ' to the - 0“ in February 1907 that the
tt -ex orters sponsored the i t of holders maintained that it had no alternative but to suspend
which the Sakellaridcs, the] ditclsiicnon
verer of
l?lilg1eC(c)>nl))l1wa}})’ John company
new conservatism of manufactu . . . .
Cou overcome the operations.5 and Weaving Co. was little
Sake ’ltypcsld The Anglo-Egyptian Spinning
his cotton on the market by meariitrsS 0 find and
ginners was to launch . an
It too was never able to pay a dividend,
more succe ssful.
' .
h ,€E2o,ooo,° its £1
’zlfilnfacsili i zho u"d°’.‘°°k
reached
arrangemen 1908, when its total losses.h_ad
to dispose o 1 8 tfv'vtlti1hii>l11.iorlimtl1i’<:iiof‘e:aCn}l
.
COI'lI'lCCtl0ns.
cultivators the
by
shares were worth only ‘five Sl‘llll1l'1gS.7 The same year it proved
They also persuaded a
number to.t1-y new an instalment of the excise duty owing to
their -Delta cl1ents.4 It was impossible to meet
type by distributing its seed among Government an
d, like the Cotton Mills Co., it too petitioned
introduced in this way that its the
On this occasion, Gorst, the new
only after Sakel had been for the duty’s removal.
properties began to be widely appreciated. that the duty should be waived for five
British Agent, agreed
time Egyptian business activity was almost
The establishment of cotton mill: years.3 But by this of 1907 and the
financial crisis
establish cotton mil], at a standstill following the
Two companies were formed in 1899 to situation had gone too far
for improvement. In 1912 the
in Egypt, the Egyptian Cotton Mills Co. and the Anglo. 1902.
Dec. 1902, The Titnes, 24. Dec.
former built a I Ordinary General Meeting, 23
Egyptian Spinning and Weaving C0. The 1 PRO, BT (Board of Trade) 31/16264/2641.
factory at Cairo containing 20,000 spindles which began 3 Seventh Annual Report, Egyptian
Game, 9 Jan. 1907.

operations in 1901.5 However, it was only rarely able to makc 4 La Production du colon, p. 296.
5 Egyptian Gazette, 8 Feb. 1907.
F.O. 371/661. The loss of £E2o,oo0
289. ' ' 5 Enclosure I in Gorst, 19 Mar. 1909: duty paid—,€E! 3,000.
; 11 tian terms a medium-size property be claccd of excise
p.
50 1ed;sa::°s:em;“:ng should be compared with the amount
of 296.
7 Charles Roux, La Production du colon, p.
of from 5 to 50 feddans and a large one as one innrdim
' I ' Gorst, 19 Mar. 1909: F.O. 371/661.
a Lwanol, p. 71. 5 sdnnz, P. 99‘

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j"? ,
Development in the Cotton
Sector L’ of the Economy, 1880-1913
225
224 - d ca ital ’ b Y a Q
P , COTTON
my was r floated, With reduce.
d EEYPte,i ermfin Gmmazs IN THE SYSTEM OF ExPoR'riNG
compa the
and re nalined Almzndria General Produce Association
‘
U g Filatupe - IIi:at10It1_3«lC
Ian
at
by eX‘ The British Occupation saw important
rc')I'1i)€ mill °Wne. all fidliil) oo%)yIs>JPindl::.a:ri)du1t 5 first years of the
7&0 100 Although
andria. BY 1906 ’£f£::.$1§bout;gE5o,ooo ayear; in the arrangements for exporting cotton.
Like gas first in the world,
and Pmduccd deft rei ii were erI1P1‘-Wed. on1ythe Eworkersl
tit“; dria had had the
cotton futures market
de la
man)’ °f them 32,, iriglo-Egyptian
used 10 - ed under the auspices of the Société anonyme
was because the local
markelskqufi lity of sales during
co ' 1 This
Com”? Mllilbn fabrics. For established in 1851, the Vast expansion by any further
E‘o’Ypmm e expensive A simillavas Bourse,
American Civil War was not accompanied
for the. I110? - . r
se cloth n0t by the Fllature n3~t10I1ale. It 6
rovide rules for the conduct of the trade.
And until
was continued uyled
hgiwrperationls
U Egypt or
from India _ , and spun the two essentials of a large-scale commodity market
per
cotton fmm P165 to 20s with occasional 30s. Abouznélg low : a method of grading so that goods could
be
is .
counts, that db E ti h
an
. nd described with certainty without actually
cent ofthe yarn_was purchased y tgypl P 31“ S find-loomweaveper
irtiilgs and cith I ‘Geog and a means of arbitrating disputes, The
first
was ma being inspected,
while the remainder to Tur 03
ey,
61:11 where they were abl e to to miprove this situation were taken11].
February 1883
or exp orted Steps a meeting
sold locally
of a tari_fl_ w h_ic
h gave a pre fcreme to of merchants and brokers decided to form an
take advantage Egyptian when d’Alexandrie to draw up the necessary
sociation Cotonniere
goods.‘ Two years later its name was changed to the
reg“ lations.
General Produce Association.‘ The Association
Cotton-reed presses ' . Alex andria be
first factories for crushing Egyptian Cotton
_ standard grades, it laid down the premium to
Although the established those grades, and it decided
the American Civil War, local prod“ above and below
seed were built during aid for cotton
in the I880s only 1 per °‘f differences concerning
future contracts.’ It also acted as the
tion remained limited, and for this purpose.5 Later,
cent
howev; governing body of a second institution, the Société égyptienne
the total crop was beiingused
erected, so that by 1905 thcr de la Bourse commerciale dc Minet-el-Bassel, the company
a number of new factories were as well as twenty other owned the building in which all spot
were seven oil mills in
operation, smallee established in 1884 which
sixteen presses or less;5 and conr' of cotton took place} Such business had previously been
soap and oil plants with
' '
sales
carried on in the Miniat al-Bassal area of Alexandria but the
a qu
_l 7PM]:
2:1, °:;:’.:::
::i;;S::,°
8 0 per
t
P:
cmained
8
more or
of the oil p;°_
db
‘3°“5"u°ti°" °f_th° Bourse:
rooms for those interested in
bl’ P1‘0VidiI1g offices and sample
the export of cotton, allowed it all
place in a
was eit er use
ucei(:ionstant_i;1nti
lpss . .
cflntto neighbouring
19:14.as f00(glutor exporte . t0 take Place under one roof.3 Future sales took
. . a protected second Bourse, operated by the Société anonyme de la
Bourse

;:::lnkt3es1¢po:ltieOfOttlt1c;n:an Emtpire, where egjoyedthe Egyptian khédiviale d’Alexandrie.4

soa indust The h us(kmalli llr s, wad ot
utllllze by were made
er residue
‘an The currency reform of 1885
impc attl ryl; a 1 most sils
a 0 fe which was exported. In 1913 the ’
e, Another change which occu d t th
va1 ue ofigca gyptian cotton-seed-oil exports was ,€E38,ooo and
that of cattle cake £E2g6,ooo.3 facilitated the process by whichrizrclittozrli wasc cs:PI::t:im§~}2°:vtz1i:’
' Alleman F., ‘Aims and Ob‘ ts r th A; - .
I Schanz. P. 99. 2 Charles Roux, La Proa'uct:'on du mtan, p. 295_
-‘ Schanz, pp. 99-100. ation’, in Int.’ Fcd., Ofi cialRzport-:;cthe clkimncationiliagollrtdna s 1.937»
‘ Raliporl de la Commission du commerce at all Piudurtrio p. 127.
' AS. 1914, p. 357. o sch am’ ’ 45- 1914» P- 357- 1 Ibid.; Schanz, p. 105. , Schanz, p. 103,
PP‘ “'5' _
' 4-9-1914.99. 304-5. 4 Abd El_ Motaal, M. Z., Le: Baum: en Egypt: (Pans, 1930), pp, m;_4_
821643 Q

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226 Developing”
'
5 m the Cotton Sector
B C I"ore th~‘-5 d ate the E
.,’___ 227
reform of 1385- _ _ Qf the Economy, 1880-1913
the suffered from two serious drawb Ptian
currencitem had ac commercial transactions were conducted in
monetary sy 1 Y 0f. money was made u . cm almost all
thfi fiI'St places the supp cash, Secondly, it that there was an elastic supply of
C0un[I‘lCS: genera Y Clrculatin °_I11 meant
a numbCf_0f foreign from month to month but at for extra coins could be imported at short notice if
Currency,
which varied 11ot only also
fromanfi. size of the cotton harvest demanded it. _
another. Secondly, there was
a the
art of the country to Ch 0;}, Egypt’;
supply of gold sovereigns was built up by the differ-
coins once the copper ones, rile
Shortage of small the amount imported annually and that exported.
minted fer
reform, had become so _ ence between
Muhammad ¢A1iss currency d to accept them m ‘ depre Between 1885 and 1913 it would seem, from the customs figures,
h th Government refuse . pa difference came to.£E44,955,558.' There is, however,
appointed to study this ):irtl1E;:lk. of that this
iaiiis. iii commission was ‘Ion
some reason to suppose that it was actually somewhat less, owing
work was then interrupted and it although the import of gold_was checked very
before 1882, but its 1884.. Its report
W
‘.13 not to the fact that,
formally reappointed until August was thoroughly
to prevent the entry of coins which were not legal
The commission I‘CCO1'n;n.1emded1SSllCd in only a
exports were exarrunecl perfunctory way.‘
thirteen months later. tender, most
seldom sufficient to provide for all the needs of
there should be a new Egyptian °°inag€ based on a old that This supply was
worth ioo piastres. However, three other coins were 5130 team the cotton sector, and each autumn the banks imported a large
' 0
late the French Napoleon, the E 1' gold, the total amount being determined by their
d
Pound sum, of extra
all of which werexiiigt size of the crop. These coins were then lent to
atliiiililrf :1ci1((llil<llC1Tu;klSl1 pound, estimate of the
Pound» Pr°Suma_b1Y to C0r\i,:1'l1illli: customers or passed on to the merchants, who, in turn,
in terrg; of the their
Egg?“-la“
nay:em.
t f remintingt or some reason, not given th E . used them to pay the cultivators. The flow of gold from Alex-
(p(<))iiri)d was the least undervalued of the three. Smalief Q0’i1g1ish andria into the interior began to be reversed each spring as
was to be provided by silver issued up to a limit of forty piazza: debts were settled, advances repaid, and imports purchased.
Much of it was re-exported to Europe when there were no
per head of population (to prevent the gold being driven om)
and and half piastres of copper, also in limiteé further opportunities for its investment in Egypt itself.
This annual movement had an important effect on the rate of
i1 .
quanlpyetiiastres _ _ _
in Khedivial exchange. In the autumn the rate fell, as the gold imported
These
Novem er I 5 wet:an higcorlporgtgedz
are I 7. However, in from England was paid for with bills on London. But it rose
decrees ofrecommegdautgiés i again each spring, when there was a large demand for such
practice, only ,€E5o,ooo worth of Egyptian pounds wcrc
bills, these being the easiest means of paying for imports and of
minted between I885 and 1891, and none thereafter
transmitting the interest owing to foreign holders of shares in
According to J. A. Todd this was because they had become very Egyptian companies.3
unpopular owing to the number of false Egyptian coins in
circulation, which caused them to be viewed with suspicion} A;
4.. INCOME FROM COTTON
a result, the English pound, the least undervalued of the foreign
coins and thus the weakest, drove out the other two and became The distribution of cotton income
almost the sole gold unit. F the point of View of the cotton It will have become clear from a descri tion of the rocess
rom. P

trade this had two important advantages. In the a u I P

by which cotton was cultivated, ginned, and then exported that,

situation
first place, it provided an absolutely stable currency in which to
settle accounts. This was of particular consequence in a country
' Esvpn Commission monétaim, La Rlfonnc monllain en Egypt: (Cairo, i886),
9 59”“) (Glasgow and Edinburgh, igio), pp. 195-6.
to a very large extent, the profits derived from this process
‘ A.S. I914, p. 521.
1 Crouchley, ‘The Visible Balance of Trade since 1884’, p. 508.
3 France, Minister: du Commerce et de l’Indust1-ie, Rapport: mnunerciaux dc:
agent: diplornatique: cl con.vulai'm de France, no. 965, Situation tcoiwmique dc l'EgMc.
Importali'on—Exporlation (Paris, 191 1), pp. 73-5.

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Development in the Cotton Sector

228 ' of the Economy, 1880-1913 229
owners of th C .
. . b t een the cultivator, the
were divided on behalf of the Al the by small commission agents who charged
ct:/riot who acted 3:13, bought up
agents ' in the in firms Ildha Waste cent for their services.‘ If this was so, the poorer
fi ms and the exporting
. themselves. . 30 Per obtained somewhere around 55 to 65
interest to trace the changes It can only have.
E2533: wlauld be of great ' ' Vite ultivators price.
cent of the export
' th come streams flo
‘"3 hm taken pliiiii llie liicllil of reliable inrorx:iv;iii§ri°d°“°h
0
of get
TABLES 4.1.». AND 4113
these four groups’ done is > fi rst1 Y, to exa not
ermit it.. Instea d , the best, th a t C3nbe .
. -
of cotton 1 ncome towards the end of it Distribution of Profi tsfrom the 1912-13 Cotton Crop
the distribution the Period
and then, secondly, to at A
under discussion, the moveme Pt./cantar
ll)ook M,”
'rAl:-'::;p'qfi“ M
' Cain“, commission in interior (2 to 3 PC!‘ C31“) 5'5‘9'3‘
c an be discovere , to Sinnmg f“°t°ry:
gross profits per cantar ¥‘:nsP0rt
Table 4” gives the accruing to the watt‘! 3-
the net profits per cantar 5 7
brokers, and to‘ the ghmers and tan d hydraulic pressing
during the season 1912-13. In addition, such
exporters, on Alexandria), Costs Gigfififidfi profit of up to Pt 5)” 7"°
not
transport to the gins (but to ginning
and to Alexandria)
so (Transport
insurance are included, F0- Alexandria: . ..
portion of total receipts which went to those who pl-OctSsed insurance (°'5 to 3 Fla ccc:¢t:)cnl) (I!-!8Jg~i-I83
'50 ° 5 P
and moved the cotton. The data come largely from two 1-epor
brokerage 315
(fJ';5
. TCSSID
7-'1!
on the cultivation of cotton in Egypt published in 1913 thts Ex::$,§* profit (lo to 15:. a bale)
only exception being the figures for the net profits obtaihgd be at Alexandria 365-6
Price of cantar of cotton
the exporters. These last are contained in an estimate made by
TABLE 4-"3
an Alexandria merchant in 1916 of the sort of return which gm, of total income 1912-13‘ {E
could be hoped for by a medium-size firm dealing with some Cultivators: .
40,000 to 50,000 bales a year. In neither case can the statistics , /3 .-_,-op sold direct to exporters 7,924,716
2/3 crop sold ‘to local commission agents 1 1,887,074
given be regarded as more than a very general sort of guide to
Brokers in interior (153:215 ‘° 246x078)
the true position. Local commission asw“ (a,962.3s8 to 4.755.834)
The figures given in Table 41A would seem to suggest that Ginners (up to 376,650)
the costs and profit margins involved in moving a cantar of Exporters (527310 t0 3331530)
cotton from the fields to Alexandria in ig12—13 lay somewhere Total 97:532z°°°
in the region of Pt. 30-55 (to which must be added the cost of Souncim:
transport from ginning factory to Miniat al-Bassal, which may Schanz, pp. 83-5, 88, 91, 102; Int. Fed., La Culture du colon en Eypte, p. 4.0, and
Ofi cialReport of the Visit qfth: Delegation . . . To Egypt, p. 184; Twelva, 8 June
have averaged another Pt. 8). This represents a range of 1916 in McMahon, 25_]unc 1916: R0. 368/1505.
IO and per cent the average NOTES:
:1‘m:::h<;li':c gertgleen 5 a cantar. Iof
_ P P at Scason, {E3 656 On the assump- 5.. Based on export price less all costs and profits prior to initial sale.
tion that these were the major costs involved, almost all the b. According to Schanz (p. 88) the actual cost of ginning and hydraulic pressing
was Pt. 5-7 a cantar, for which the owner charged PL 7-8 or even Pt. 10 in
remainder must have gone to those cultivators who were able an area where he had a monopoly of the business.
t° d°a1d‘_"C°t1Y With an Alexandria firm or its agent. However c. The calculation of the cultivators’ and commission agents’ sharawas based on
the assumption that the figures for costs and profits in Table 41A averaged
w_° haw ‘t °}‘ 800d authority that only a third of the crop was: Pt. 4.ll -69 (midway between the highest and lowest combinations), to which an
d‘sp°S°d °f m this W3)’, and that most of the other two-thirds extra Pt. 8 was added to cover the cost of transport to Alacandria.
' (LS. 1914, p. 356_ ' Schanz, pp. 83-5.

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Development in the Cotton Sector

230
looking at the question of the
‘W
A second W3y of total amountdist
_ of the Economy, 1880-1913 231
is to
of cotton. income
calculatie bthe h - orlbufi been correspondingly higher. Later, as the reforms in the
which might In t isms? have
halvelzfibrhsefiigéiverii fialiabiioup system became more effective, costs may have fallen
1Trigation
5°a5°“'t Thfiica figfiiiat about two-thirds went til 6They - W031: ' a number of areas.. In the first example the expense of water-
111 1C
was shared between the 10%] Cllltlvaton Eg a fcddan was given as {IE2-45 (,(,‘E2 for the purchase of
zjliillc the remainder
. and exporters.‘
Commm- .
agents, brokers, 8‘1"““’S> anon TABLE 4.2
obtained by cultwatorsfrom comm Average Gross Income per Feddan from Cotton and Cotton Seed 1880-
Movements in the income
Statistics for yxcld “"1 Pm’ 3"‘ 5“‘fi°¥°“t1y reliable lb
to 1913 to allow the construction of a series r ——?j
1913 (Annual Averages)

period I 894 Sh , e I 2 3 4
income per feddan from cotton. Prior to 18 v°
Egypt‘ State Domains
gross used to extend the covera e
scattered figures have been Cotton seed Cotton Cotton seed‘
be compared with the Cotton
1880. As a check this can inform _ £E £13 £3 £1‘?
for the estates belonging to the State Domains’ alth I1
allowance must be made for the fact that the latter is base?! [3304 8-8" 7-3 1-6
0 6'6
the actual price at which the cotton was sold to the march r885-9 8'5°
3.8:: 3.5 "5
1.5
whereas the former, for want of anything better, has 2"“: l89o‘4
1 1-0 1-8 9-9 I -9
,395.9
calculated from the Alexandria export price. From Table cc." 1900.4 12-8 20 12-7
‘
2-2
will be seen that the gross income per feddan advanced ha‘1:j1t 1905.9
14-7 2-1 12-2 2-0
1?’ 15-5
at all during the first fifteen years of the period, and th ,9,o_;3 16-6‘ 2-7‘ 2-6
fifteen. en
doubled during the next
SouRcES=
As for net profits, contemporary estimates would seem commn 1. 1880-94.: calculated from figures for cotton area and the value of the
t
suggest that these were a third to a half of gross incomcso cotton harvest contained in Tables 35 and 37.
1895-1913: A.S. 1914, p. 356. The prices used are those of the Alexandria
where no rent was paid. In 1884. J. Gibson, the Director of thé General Produce Association, and are a little higher than those provided by
Survey Department, gave an example of an estate of mo the Customs Administration. (See Appendix 1.)
feddans on which one feddan of cotton cost {E5-84 to produce Column 2. Ibid.
Columns 3, 4. Ibid., 13- 44-7-
The crop was then sold, with seed, for {E8-40.2 And, on a large
NOTES:
property mentioned in a report forwarded by Sir Henry a. These are export prices. For the return actually obtained by the cultivator:
Drummond Wolfl ‘two years later, gross receipts from cotton it is necessary to deduct transport costs, broker’s profits, etc.
b. 1883, 1884. only.
were £E7-7 a feddan and net profits ,€E3.3 In both instances, . 1885-8 only.
expenses included payment of the land-tax at a high Kharaji ::.n . 1894 only.
rate, so that returns for those who owned 'u.rhuri}a land would . 1910-12 only.
‘ In reality, of 1''!!! Includes the value of cotton straw.
course, the proportion obtained by agents, broken, ginners, ma
¢°‘P°ft¢I3 W8-1 ccrtamly very much larger than this on account of the fact that the
majority ofthem advanced ' '
to cotton-cu | tivators. The interest on these loans
water and {E0-45 for labour), while in the second it was
should be added to their pglggey
' ‘StatcofE
{E1-20. Thereafter, the rise in the level of the summer canals
dR - -- -
one fedclans in Lower Egypt for made many pumps redundant,‘ and it is probably significant
year.’ in §§°c:::l’32June:eIié>t;s4’o£"l3.’xpl;J1;§;l’8v:)ll)o
' des frais nécessaires, et des produim deila Culf.i’V£iil2l3|5&'une “Bad!-In that in a table of agricultural costs given by Chélu for the
d 43'“
‘Taglieau Karad:-’. m Drummond wour, rgjan. I336, p.r., 1886, vol. lxxiv, season 1888-9 watering expenses were only Pt. I71}!
Pf 1 Cromer, 22 Nov. 1887, C.C.: F.0. 633/5. 3 Chélu, pp. 250-4.

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Development in the Cotton Sector W

232
- - 1
'“‘° *’'°‘“ fig“"5 “iii iLt°fb§§t°§ 313$t§r1§i§i ° “=81‘ of the Economy, 1880-1913
receipts could vary by as much as 20 to 30 per cent._They
233

in both W?‘ Wagis C: few feddans with the assistants" 1:: ears
at these variations could have been greater 1f1t had
feuah farming of hi: also Show ‘Eh the fact that movements in price and yield took
oetillhuch expenses 2 and provided tin?
.
famlll’ was S P 31- I .3 a or
the a verage yield for his cotton, his net file wa, not be“ posite directions in seven of the seventeen years for
able to obtain _ I etu place in op
1 h. h C
-
assertion comes from an 31‘ s, the 3
Chad1-. LE ,_._.— Income per feddan(£E)
rédit Foncier Egyptien, in 1883. Where ____-— Price per fcddan (LE)
iflgntfifliilsecglculations, cotton could be cultivated 2:; — I‘
Zccord. 10 .— Yield per feddan(Cantars)
property for an outlay
0f>€El‘31r''*’
working his own land, 0n1Y >€ 2'9-
3! feddan, it cost a peaszrge
ma v1
II'\\

,' 1
Costs of producing cotton seem have
to rgmained fail ry
/‘
/‘ ' \\
constant for the remainder of the period. In 1897 Foaden
them at {IE4-77 a feddan, while fifteen years later \
Cress
ave a national average of 5134- 5 (excluding taxes) and Schity 15 - /\ III “
\\ ll \
Hz I \ ’ 1 1
one of ,€E5-5 (including taxes of {E1-5).‘ In all three cases I 1 ’ \ I
Allowance must ’
mention is made of rents.
where methods
certainly be made im ’I 1
\ ’ 1
\
1
1
the fact that, in a country of cultivation 31:;
/\ 1, \\ II \ l
thus costs varied so greatly,3 such figures can only represent th I
IA
\\ ,/ \\\.'I \I]
Vl

most general sort of Nevertheless, are V

approximation: they '0 ' \\ II
probably sufliciently reliable to allow it to be suggested that foe \ I
\ I
those who cultivated their own property, net profits firm: .% V
cotton may have increased by anything up to 200 per cent Cantars
_ 6
between the 18805 and 1910-13.
I/"~\\

Fluctuations in individual ineomerfiom cotton ’. .__\

5
Apart from looking at basic trends in the gross and net

/¥ ‘
returns from cotton, it is also important to consider ycar-to-y¢a1.
fluctuations in the value of the crop. Both prices and yields
0 1 A
varied widely from one season to the next, often causing a, 1395 1900 1905 V1910
cultivator’s income to rise and fall by a considerable amount_ FIG. 2. Fluctuations in the average income from a feddan of cotton in Egypt,
Movements in the average income obtained from a feddan of [B95-1912

cotton in Egypt are plotted in Fig. 2. They show that in some Sourcc: A.S. 1914, pp. 356, 387.

' ‘DC 1'38|’iCu1ture en Egyptc telle qu’elle at pratiquée which data are available. Two qualifications have to be made,
de nos joun’’ in Duffe- however. Firstly, the magnitude of the annual changes in
m:» 1333. RR‘, 1883, vol. lxxxiii, pp. 243-50.
:13S"P|'- income is reduced if the underlying upward trend in returns is
cm taken into account. Secondly, when considering a cultivator’s
em

. . :.,:;.=: : :=; ;,:.~~ !“': °c*> 1;: J~ .‘;é"“‘ so

Eton d’a(gourd Inn 1912), p. 166; Schanz, p. 78.
1.9-pte (Paris, annual income, attention must also be paid to the returns from
. . “‘8.C°_‘ On In rec i crcnt areas of Lower Egypt, Egyptian
the other crops in his rotation. Unfortunately no national figures
lmgalwn (3rd edn.), vol. 11 (London, 1913), pp, 782.3, exist for such important products as wheat and beans. But

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234 Development in Cotton Sector of Economy,

13gO‘I9I3
from the information from the State Domains which
plotted in Fig. 3, it can be seen how ‘fluctuations in inco eon

offset in a me {E
cotton were to some eittent of
i‘ ’
number scam from
contrary movements in the sums derived from
principal cereals. _ _
the 1:3l'l1'cby
E Cotton —--e-—-- I
Nevertheless it goes without SaY1Flg that fluctuatio Wheat ————— _l'\
n [i
income played 3- VCYY ‘mP°Ttant role in rural life. Ts
111 Barley
affected the level of consumption as well as the cr edit requfev
. Beans
----- "
ments for the following season. They may also h 3.VC bee re‘ ' st ' l ' '
11 on ll‘ l
of the reasons why the peasants continued to board - a ee ,-\.,- U 1 J
able proportion of each year’s . receipts: this cle arly
_ .
them with some sort of protection against future fluctpuation
I'0v'
‘
1*. i ‘-/’ V
lded
It is equally possible that the trend towards paymen I 1'‘. I '\ -'
in cash may have been accelerated by the landowner’s
ts‘ Of .’\. _I \. _/ .'
rent
discove
that such rents were a more steady and reliable form Of
I ll \./ ‘-!V
incgmc
ion;
-’‘-J i,‘ V
than the returns they could obtain by growing so tton them _/
selves. These and other considerations will form \ ‘l / ’
Part of the \
subject-matter of the following chapter, which is
Concfl fned
with developments in the agricultural sector as a who1c_
\/t'/.’\J
. I

I880 1890
I900 l9l0
Fro. 3. Income obtained from a feddan of what, beam, barley, and cotton
on the State Domains, 1880-1913‘
Source: A.S. 1914, pp. 447-50.
I Cotton includes income from seed and straw; cereal: include income from
straw.

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The Growth ofthe Economy 1880-1914, Agriculture 237

census in 1897, the 0f.Egyptians had reached
second number
IX 9 734,405.
Thereafter, the population increased at an average
o’f cent a year to
1.52 per 11,287,359
in 1907 and then by
cent a year to 1917. A division of these
THE GROWTH OF THE ECONOMY [33 per 12,75.0,_918'1n
the numbers living in urban and rural areas is
tom]; to show
1880-1914 in Table 43. In 1897 8,337,935 people (857 per cent of
given
TABLE 43
AGRICULTURE
Population and Cultivated Land, 1882-1917
OTTON-CULTIVATION must now be placed in its
context. As in the previous
a H‘_ Tau] Rural
. Rut-pl Cultivated Rural populstionl
cultural two popubation population area (feddano) cullivnted (‘gum
chapters l':m1l1a
subject will be dealt with schematically_
The ghe
mt , .ooo‘ »f5.376.08o‘ i.o6a.o8o' 4.956.744‘ I
section of the present chapter will discuss the rise in ''23.‘, ;,;;:,4o5b 8.337.935‘ 1.389.656‘ 5.o47.693'* 1;;
popmati ., 11,287,359” 9.736.453‘ 1.622.744’ 5.402.716‘ I-43
the pattern of landownership, and, a related topic, the increon, iii7 m.7so,g1B° 10,366,498‘ 1.811.083‘ 5.232.271‘ 2-o4
in land values and rents after 1890. Then, having establipfiisd
the conditions in which cultivations took place, Section 2 Weill s outta!’-51 _
a_ clclmd, Population Problem, p. 9.
be devoted to a study of what crops were produced, whil b. 14.8. 1914, p. 21..
Section 3 will be concerned with the advance in agriculture: c_ Cldmd, Population Problem, p. 7. I
d_ Computed on the assumption that the rural population was 85-7 per cent of
income and its distribution among the rural
an effort to discover something
population the total population (see p. 238, note 1).
Finally, in of the work on om; e_ Computed from the figurm for Egypt’: urban population contained in
particular estate, the chapter will conclude with an account of (,',]¢_-land, Population Problem, p. 63.
f, Computed on the assumption of a family size of six. This amurnption was
the situation on the Manzalawi lands between 1907 and 1g1o_ '
made in 1920 by Sir 0. Thomas in his report Agricultur and Economic Position
gfEgpt (26 Apr. 1920), p. 21 (a copy of which can be found in Milan Papm,
Box 164.).
1. CHANGES IN POPULATION AND THE OWNERSHHI g. Figura for the year 1886 in ‘Commercial Relations of the United States with
OF LAND Foreign Countries during the Years 1885, 1886—Egypt’, Emuiinc Docwrurur
(US), 2nd Semion, 4.9th Congres, p. 1503.
Population and land h. A.S. 1914, pp. 322-3.
i. Figure for 1915-16: Baer, History Q/'Lar1dawn¢r:",:, pp. 91-2.
The first Egyptian census was taken in May 1882 and showed
the population to be 6,831,131.‘ However, it is impossible to the population) lived outside the major towns.‘ Twenty years
suppose that any great accuracy could have been achieved in the later their numbers had risen to 10,866,498, an increase of
unsettled conditions which preceded the British Occupation, 30 per cent. A figure has also been computed for the rural
and W. Cleland maintains that the true figure must have been ' I have taken Cleland’s definition of the urban population as that living in the
nearer 7,500,000.‘ Seventeen years later, at the time of the five governorates (Cairo, Alexandria, Canal Zone, Suez, Damietta) and the 14.
‘ The figura for the provincial capitals: Population Problem, p. 63. This clearly excludm a ‘
censuses of 1882, 1897, 1907, and 1917 can be found in
people living in other, sizeable, towns. In 1907 the number of towns with a
A-S- 1914, pp. 21-42, and Egypt, Ministry of Finance, Annuaire stalistiquo 1933:: population of over 10,000 was 87. A.S. 1914, p. 30. It should also be noted that a
19319
‘
(Cairo. 1941:), p. 10 (hereafter A.S. 1933-15119). number of contemporaries were very critical about the accuracy of the 1907 census
Cleland estimates the population 1882 at 7,440,000. He reaches this total on
the basis of extrapolating backwards from the as it referred to the populations of Cairo and Alexan‘ la. According to calculations
1897 census figure at a rate of made by A. Eid the population of the former should have been 800,000 (rather
CC!!! 8 year. The Population Problem in Egypt (Lancaster, Pa., 1936), than 570,000) and of the latter 416,000 (rather than 315,000), La Fortune imrrlobiliérr
PP-
"7565?" -
dc l’EgypIe at so dztle Iypothémire (Part, 1907), pp. 55451.

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The Growth Qf the Economy 1880-1914, Agriculture 237

second census in 1897, the number of Egyptians had reached
IX Thereafter, the population increased at an average
3}734,405.
1.52
per cent a year to 11,287,359 in 1907 and then by
cent a year to 12,759,918 in 1917. A division of these
1,33 per
THE GROWTH OF THE
ECONOMY total; to show the numbers living in urban and rural areas is
Table 43- In 1897 8,337,935 people (857 per cent of
1880-1914 given in
TABLE 4,3
AGRICULTURE Population and Cultivated Land, 1882-1917
OTTON-CULTIVATION must now be placed in its a . 1-om] Rural Rural Cultivated Rural population]
As in the previous two Bu. ,. ,ulation families are: (feddans) cultivated feddnn
cultural context. Chapters
population

subject will be dealt with schematically. The fithe '83, 7,440,000‘

9,734,405”
6.376.030‘
8.337.935‘
1.062.080‘
i.s89.6.-.6;
4.956.744!
5.047.698!‘
I 24
166
section of the present chapter will discuss the rise in popuiatiom II,
1897
, 7 11,287.35
.,_75o,g1e°
9.736.453‘
io.B66.498°
1.622.744
1.811.083‘
5.402.716‘
5,232.27!‘
1-43
2-04
the pattern of landownership, and, a related topic, the inert ,9”
in land values and rents after 1890. Then, having establishasg ans:
the conditions in which cultivations took place, Section 2 will
"
3 c.1¢1a.nd, Population I’ 1 P- 9-
be devoted to a study of what crops were produced, whill b. 11.5. 1914, p. 21-. U p. 7.
C, Cleland, Population P , .
Section 3 will be concerned with the advance in agricultural d_ Computed on the assumption that the rural population was 85-7 per cent of
income and its distribution among the rural population the total population (see p. 238, note 1).
Computed from the figures for Egypt’s urban population contained in
Finally, in an effort to discover something of the work on 0,1,; Cleland, Population Problem, p. 63.
particular estate, the chapter will conclude with an account of f. Computed on the assumption of a family size of six. This assumption
was
the situation on the Manzalawi lands between 1907 and 19m_ made in 1920 by Sir 0. Thomas in his report Agricultural and Economic Poi-ition
gfEgpt (26 Apr. 1920), p. 21 (a copy of which can be found in Milne! Papcrr,
Box 164).
g. Figurs for the year 1886 in ‘Commercial Relations of the United States with
I. CHANGES IN POPULATION AND THE OWNERSH[p Foreign Countries during the Years 1885, 1886—Egypt’, Emifl iutDociuneiiti
OF LAND (US), and Session, 4.9th Congress, p. 1503.
h. A.S. 1914, pp. 322-3.
Population and land i. Figure for 1915-16: Baer, History qfLandownmIu'p, pp. 91-a.
The first Egyptian census was taken in May 1882 and showed
the population to be 6,831 ,131.‘ However, it is impossible to the population) lived outside the major towns.‘ Twenty years
suppose that any great accuracy could have been achieved in the later their numbers had risen to 10,866,498, an increase of
unsettled conditions which preceded the British Occupation, 30 per cent. A figure has also been computed for the rural
and W. Cleland maintains that the true figure must have been ' I have taken Cleland’s definition of the urban population as that living in the
nearer 7,500,000.‘ Seventeen years later, at the time of the five govemorates (Cairo, Alexandria, Canal Zone, Suez, Damietta) and the 14.
provincial capitals: Population Problem, p. 63. This clearly excludes a number of
1 The figures for the censuses of 1882, 1897, 1907, and 1917 can be found in people living in other, sizeable, towns. In 1907 the number of towns with a
45- 1914, PP- 21-42. and Egypt, Ministry of Finance, Annuaire statirtique 1931- population of over 10,000 was 87. A.S. 1914, p. 30. It should also be noted that a
'.939 (Calm: |9§»°): 13- lo (hereafter A.S. 1938-193). number of contemporaries were very critical about the accuracy of the 1907 census
1 Cleland estimates the population 1882 at 7,440,000. He reaches this total on as it referred to the populations of Cairo and Alexandria. According to calculations
the basis of extrapolating backwards from the 1897 census figure at a rate of made by A. Eid the population of the former should have been 800,000 (rather
cent a year. The Population Problem 1. Egypt (Lancaster, P.-1., 1936), than 570,000) and of the latter 416,000 (rather than 315,000), La Fortune invnabiliiir
11:561;? dc l’Egypte at :a dell: tiypothécaire (Paris, 1907), pp. 55-61.

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233 The Growth of the Economy 1880-1914, Agriculture 239

population in 1882. This is based on the assumption that
was no change in the proportion of urban to rural ere
inhab_“ants
during the 1880s and 1890s.‘ I :0 be levied in 1884, from three categories of proprietors,
The increase in the rural population far exceeded, thfl
able land. Table 43 gives a very general idea of this avail
measuring it in terms of the rise in the number of pc OHS
cultivated feddan. However, this over-all picture is sub. Per
three major qualifications. The first concerns the statixsfict
to
These cannot be wfcs for
the cultivated area itself. accepted
serious reservations, for there was no proper survey of E ithout
land before the period 1898-1907. Prior to this the figure Sptlan
were based on measurements taken during Sa'id’s reign usfid
I88o;Nh
over-estimated the size of many holdings. By the
the
also included large areas of ground taken for railways C
and other public works.‘ The density of population Vivasamalsi
rather greater for the years up to, and including, 1907 ttlllms
an
the calculations in the Table would suggest. Secondl
population was not spread evenly over the country’ aria tie
amount of available land varied accordingly_ In
1907 ft
example, there were 2-84 people per cultivated feddai, (in
Upper Egypt compared with only r-71 in the Delta. Againn
there were wide variations between areas, provinces like,
Minufi ya and Qalubiya being twice as densely populated,“
others like Buhaira.3 Finally, the use of general figures for the
numbers of persons per cultivated feddan tends to oversimpljfy
the situation by ignoring the fact that the ownership of land was
extremely unequal. This last qualification will now be dealt with
at greater length.
Landownmhip, 1880-1894
The first oflicial statistics relating to the division of privately
owned land into properties of various sizes were not issued until
1894. But some idea of the areas held by various social groups
‘ There is no evidence for this assumption except that, according to the census
figures, the proportion remained almost unchanged for the twenty years after 1897.
It was I3-9 per cent in 1907 and 14-8 per cent in 1917.
' Egypt, Ministry of Finance, Survey Dept., The Cadastml Survey of Egypt, 1892-
’.997a l'-'YH- G- I-Yon: (Cairo, 1908), p. 139. The extent to which the area of culti-
vated land was over-estimated was offset, to some extent, by the fact that a. certain
amount of government land not included in the survey under Sa'id, had been
brought into cultivation; Ibid., pp. io7-8.
3 Computed from figures in A.s'. 1914, pp. 28, 322-3.
date can be obtained from figures contained in a
before that Lord Cromer indicating the amount of land-tax
sport from
‘Europeans’, ‘Notables and Ofi icials’, and ‘Villagers’! Calcu-
based on this information show that those in the first
lations owned roughly 220,000 feddans, those in the
category then
1,200,000 feddans, and those in the third 2,5oo,ooo.=
Second
goo,ooo.feddans of taxable land were adminis-
The remaining
by the Commissioners of the State Domains and the
tered
saniya. Foreigners and the class ‘Notables and Ofl icials’
Dam
thus held a third of the privately owned land. They were able
to increase this
proportion considerably in the next ten years.
much land was placed on the market by
Prices were low and
companies, and the two
the State Domains, the foreign land
companies, the Credit Foncier Egyptien and
large mortgage Co., both of which were anxious to sell
the Land and Mortgage
the properties they had been forced to expropriate for non-
ayment of interest. In addition, the Government began to
make it possible for cultivators to purchase state land not
were
included in the tax registers. Foreigners in particular
held rising from
active in purchasing land, the amount they
225,000 feddans in 1887 to 550,000 feddans ten years later.3
Landownership, 1894-1913
In I894 the government figures show that 4.2-5 per cent of the
land in private ownership was held in estates of fifty feddans
and above.4 In an Egyptian context such estates must be re-
garded as large. Medium-size properties (five to fifty feddans)
occupied another 37-7 per cent, while those of five feddans and
under accounted for the remaining 19-8 per cent. Thereafter,
the proportion held in large estates increased to a high of
45-1 per cent in 1907. This was mainly the result of the sale of
1 Enclosure in Baring (Cromer), 8 Dec. 1884., P.P., I884.-5, vol‘. lxxxviii, p. 712.
'Umdas were classified as ‘notables’ at this period (Wallace, p. 208) and must
certainly have been included in this category rather than in that of ‘viliagers’.
3 These figures have been arrived at by dividing the total amount of kharqj and
'iuhr tax due from each group by the average rate per feddan then being paid on
each category of land. The rates used were kharaj, Pt. 128/feddan; 'u.rIir, Pt. 50-5]
feddan: Baer, History qfLandawner.ihi'p, p. 31.
3 Ibid., p. 67.
4 All figures for the distribution of land into estates ofvarious sizes are takenfi-om
A.S. 1914, p. 320, and Baer, History qfLandawnmhip, pp. 224-5.

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240 The Growth of the Economy 24!

1880-1914, Agriculture
land between 1900
450,000 feddasns of Daim Samja elsewhere. In 1901 properties of
was‘ purchased by big landowners taxes in the Delta than
most of which large and over occupied 51 per cent of the privately
was a tendency for the
companies. Meanwhile, there "1 [6efidans Egypt compared with only 27 per cent ‘in
find 5_ma1ler 3 nd in Lower
size estates to break “P “$0 Small“ pi-Open I t_i This evidence of the power of rich men to obtain
Muslim law of inheritance which
either because of the of so much of the most valuable soil is further empha-
of land between all the Pro.
vided for the equal partition h cits of contflff1 four main cotton-growing provinces,
extent, because of the 3 one looks at the
deceased owner or, to some purch as‘? of sized _1
Sharqiya, Daqahliya, and Gharbiya. There, estates of
such estates by the richer fCl.l3.l1Cen.I
parcels from and over accounted for 56 per cent of the land in
By 1907 (a convenient year for analysis) there were fiBghafggéans
W
and 133,988 of five 12:624 ownership.
estates of fifty feddans or over,
for 75-6 per cent o fif
t private
feddans. Together they accounted
of the LAND VALUES AND RENTS
privately owned land.’ The remaining 24-4. per cent (1 ’323)3 I3 2 THE RISE IN
feddans) was divided into i,I2o,79I properties with an 3.Vera_ e
Th, value of land
size of 1'6 feddans. This was condiderably less than was needed security for property
of the consequences of the greater
to support a single family.‘ On the assumption that each family one
the increasing European control of the
contained six members and that there was only one landowne Whigh . accompanied
' ‘ ' the tion of _a
nan administration after 1880 ‘was ‘crea
per family, the following picture emerges. Of the 1,700 oar - bl market in land. Advertisements in the Bulletm
rural families in 1907, only Just over one-twelfth owned 311 mo Society in 1880 and .1381 show
cient land to secure an adequate living for themselves, gnome; (C)?!-lsl:l$e£‘«:y}:tlan Agriculturalof large estates were being offered
that in those years a number
two-thirds possessed some property but not enough to satisfy ranged from {E35 to {E50 a feddan.
no land at
their needs, while a quarter had all. With the steady for sale at prices which
such a development was very much assisted by the introduc-
rise in population the effects of the unusual distribution of which
tion in 1876, of a mortgage law along French lines,
ownership grew worse. By 1913 the land held in properties of ‘d d guarantees for anyone who lent money on land by
under five feddans had mounted by only 95,646 feddans. But capital or interest.
allgairig him to seize it for non-payment of
as these were now owned by an extra 290,467 cultivators, the
Until then both law and
average size of such plots had shrunk to just over one feddan, traidiltion
'zure of property againsta e tor’sw . is was 0 owe , our
In the meantime, the number of landless families had continued irllalars later, by the establishment of two large mortgage com-
to increase, until by 1917 they accounted for 53 per cent of the panies, the Credit Foncier Egyptien and the Land and Mort-
population in Upper Egypt, 40 per cent of that in the Middle gage Co. Once land could be freely used as security against
Egypt, and 36 per cent in the Delta.3 loans it became an important asset, and the value attached to
The figures for the distribution of landownership into hold- services of these companies can be seen from the fact that
ings of various sizes also allow some comparison between within the first five months of operation the Crédit Foncier
conditions in the country’s two regions. Most importantly, made advances worth over ,€Ei,ooo,ooo.1
they show that there was a very much greater concentration of Further development of the market in land was hindered by
‘ According to the survey of the use made of loans from the Agricultural Bank the 'Urabi rebellion, the occupation of Egypt by British troops,
in I908, 25-26 per cent of the money advanced was used for land purchase by ‘ These calculations are based on figures in Baer, Histoy of Landowneuhip,
small proprietors. Harvey, Sir P., ‘Memorandum Regarding the Agricultural pp. 226-7.
Bank of Egypt’, in Gorst, 20 Mar. igog: F.O. 368/284. 3 Credit Foncier Egyptien, Crldit Foncier Egyptian, 1880-1930 (Cairo n.d.), p. r 5.
1 It was generally assumed that it took about four feddans of land to support I The Credit Foncier only advanced money up to 50 per cent of the Value of the
fl-mi1Y:W. Cleland, ‘A Population Plan for Egypt’, E.C., no. 185 (May 1939), p. 47!- land given as security. Assuming that good land was worth ,(,'E25 3 feddan, loans
3 Thomas, Agricultural and Economic Paritian of Qypt (GB), 1:. 21. of {E1 million would have affected 30,000 feddans.
821643 R

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242 The Growth qf the Economy

and the uncertain conditions which followed, At eh I88°“’.9’4: Agriculture
same 943
agricultural incomes declined and instalments Ge hm {E4 Ten years later Schanz
Between 1883 and 1889 the Crédfnortgagg was about stated that
loans went unpaid. it ermanentalfeddans
irri ated -
was forced to expropriate nearly 20,000 feddans, which ,F°I1cie,
‘_t Could r, mentioned
sell only on the most generous terms.‘ Other Com anies as high as £EI2~18ll3
a and that some rents
institutions with land to sell had similar experienc This wetre fiheln
ll'l ren a two important consc
rise s.
Land prices began to revive again in the early S. 5,5: place, it greatly increased the incentive for
‘)3 as a
result of such factors as the increase in agricultural . Ids, the tu.m if the °°m“1'Y a number of the richlelr
the his land‘ By
development of rural transport, and the growing fee“ landlords were beginning to discover that they could secure
property-owners that the British Occupation was 0‘? a return by renting out their land as by farnnn
among
to almost as high
more permanent than had at first seemed likely_ vlghmg be it themselves.‘
The advatlta-E6 of such a practice was furthei
:_ Upward augmented by a change in the method of leasing land. Tradi-
movement in values was then continued by the sharp in the tionally the vast majority of Egyptian rented property had
price of agricultural products after I898, and the iiseflllx
to the métcyer (sharecropping) system) whereby the
foreign capital seeking investment opportunities in n? of
been subject
and land companies which began at the turn of the eemortgage owner let the ground and buildings to his tenants under an
1901 the Belgian Consul-General was reporting that h:'fl’-
I agreement that the produce of the land was to be shared
between them in a certain proportion. This was the only means
of land which had risen by I00 per cent in value in the pre lifiw
seven or eight years: And in 1904. Delta fields were charlius
feasible in a society where the fellaheen were unable to provide
all their own working capital and where profits from the
hands at ,€E6o—8o a feddan,3 while a year later some Eallg
traditional crops were so uncertain.5 Such an arrangement
went as high as £E16o a feddan.4 Such an increase providee;
involved the close supervision of the tenant’s activities by
a large, almost wholly unearned, increment for those fortunate the owner to ensure that he received his proper share and
that
enough to possess property. Prices continued to rise until the the land was worked in the way he desired.“ However, with the
financial crisis of 1907. There was then a brief fall in values! rise in cash incomes in the 18905 and the provision of easier
but by 1914. they seem to have been back at their former high credit facilities produced by ever-increasing
concentration on
level.‘ the conditions which had given birth to the
cotton cultivation,
Delta, while
métayer system began to disappear, at least in the
the bother of arrang-
Rent: landlords were less and less willing to go to
thus a tendency to
One other factor which helped to make landownership more ing for the necessary supervision. There was
known as fermage, in
that
profitable was the rise in money rents which started in the change to a new method of renting,
tenant for a certain
1890s. At the beginning of the decade they may have been as which the land was taken over by the
particularly suitable
low as Pt. 140-50 a feddan, but then increasing agricultural period of time for a fixed sum. This was was
for the landlord
incomes and growing competition among the fellaheen to lease for land where cotton was grown, to assurid
collect t e
also avoid the need
land caused a sharp upward movement!’ In 1902 the Belgian of a steady income.7 He could would, in turn,
agents who
Consul-General suggested that the average rent in the Delta rent himself by letting his land to ‘ Sdlimx PP- 44'5-
‘ Recueil cmmilaire, vol. 119 (1901): P- 297- '
I Papasian, E., L’Eg;-pa lconomique etfluamiérr (Cairo, 1926), pp. 238-9. 3 Annual Rcporlfvf 1919- PP- 9l4“5' , The Sm¢Y§l "?::E °{E mum
' 4 Schanz, p. 81. See also _I. H. Monson,
Ruwil cansulaire, vol. 113 (1901), p. 330. no. 3 (M3Yl.l‘-1“ ’ '
5 Egyptian Gazette, 6_Ian. I904. Landed Property’, pt. 2, _7.K.A.S., i,
‘ 5 K. G li, p. 138. 1" 7"
o Mongin, pt. 1. J.K.A.s.. i. no. I (Mar-/Arr ‘$99)’
The Timer, 1 Jan. I906.
5 Ruwil coruulaire, vol. 146 (1909), pp. 116-17.
‘ Balls, Egypt qfthe Egwiam, p. I80. 7 Todd,'_Poli'li’cal Economy. M53-
7 Schanz. PP» +4-5-

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(17,; Growth of the Economy

944- I330-1914, Agriculture 245
Another advantage StcmmC cl
it to the fellaheenfls stem was essential] fro bl’ Talsmg fhe rellfa anyone using the
sublet
the fact that the owner to takey azllxihomterm 3 ricultural Prlfiacz to content himself
method only 3, part of the
arraI1g€m°‘"' t'1I1'le1i‘:r¢lamllf)$i:I<-.cl,
of products was‘wage of mad)”.
extra income- H°W_‘;’°Ts
with
3lth0Ugh there is a great deal of
eriods when the price agzricultural risin about di ercnt type of sharecropping agreements,‘
information
' impossible to state categorically that landlords of this latter
V0 ue mm C . . it is able, over time, to ‘alter the basic arrangement
the of
‘as
to the 8 were not
llnfortunately a.I1);1:t?1t1StlCS area of to secure a greater share of rising receipts,
50 as
absenceh
to at mdeffd, as
land rented according if ‘me kc .(0F’
at a ) ma 65 It impossible to ass C
of land rented of the tax system
total area have been re 38 The ,,fl,m
the
the extent to which On one
méta_yer}S1YSt€m1:naY we Placed
One last factor
which made the ownership of land more
thefgmzage before 1914. have Penws
by
the former thee usua land,
means of rofitable was the series of refonns in the system of taxation
statement that wash
t e by two ren-tmg
in th
which began after
1880. 'I_‘he many abuses in the system of
on the other, Writers) . Ac
early 13905; and collection before that date have already
Todd5 and P. G. Elgood,7 that tlilssertion
P°P_“1a“tY of the latter was" a portionment
about 1910- tT1:ere 15 3150 been described.’ A first attempt at a remedy was made under
increasing round the Dual Control. _Later, in the early years of the British
suggestion that fermage was thescommon practice on the larger occupation, other minor but important improvements followed.
the same but that is all. Meanwhfl e’
estates at about time; the These included paying tax-collectors a regular monthly salary
still further by the fact that there was
situation is complicated and subjecting them to closer supervision, efibrts to ensure that
a hybrid known as s/zirk, which
also much use made of system, all the large landowners actually paid their taxes, and the
tenant in both cash and kind_9
involved payments by the ublication of comprehensive regulations governing every
concerns the arrangements involved in a
A second problem aspect of assessment and collection. Thus, by the middle of the
Such an
tenancy based on a sharecropping'agreem_eiit. agree_ 1880s, it is possible to assume that for the first time in the
to divide the produce of
ment traditionally involved a decision century the majority of cultivators were paying only what was
the land according to some fixed
proportion, perhaps a third
officially inscribed in the tax registers. In addition, the maxi-
to the tenant and two-thirds to the landlord, where the latter mum rate of tax on any piece of land was fixed at Pt. 164 a
provided most of the working capital. It follows that, whereas feddan, arrears of over ,€Ei ,ooo,ooo were cancelled, and, in the
system could ensure that
an owner who employed the fennage 18905, when the threat of bankruptcy was averted, reductions
he alone obtained all the benefit deriving from an increase in in assessments worth over ,€E5oo,ooo were made in various
arts of the country} As a result, the average amount collected
l Bong,-._ni, H. S., Pour l’agn'culture lg;-ptienne (Cairo, i920), p. 2!.
* Ga1i.p- I35- per feddan declined from {E1-046 in 1884 to £Eo-842 in
-1 Some owners were employing one- to three-year contracts as early as I881: 1898.4
Société égyptienne d’Agriculture, ‘Rapport du comité pour l’wtei'ice iB8i’, However, in spite of these substantial improvements taxes
B.S.E.A., no. ii (gi Mar. i88i), p. i7.
continued to be assessed on the basis of the land-tax registers
4 The methodological introduction to the 1917 census contains the information
that the census enumerators were instructed to discover whether land was rented drawn up under Sa'id, a situation which resulted in many people
or farmed by its owner: Census of Egypt taken in 1917, vol. i (Cairo, I920), Annexe paying money for land they did not own. Again, the tax often
VI. However, these data were never published. had little relevance to the actual value of the land. One example
5 Pensa, H., L’Eg;$t¢ :1 le Soudan lgyptien (Paris, 1895), p. I I3.
° Political Economy, p. 53.
‘ See, for example, Cartwright, pp. 29-3! ; G3-us PP- '35‘4°-
7 ‘Egyptian Agriculture’, C.S'.]., iv, no. 4i (Feb. 1910), ioo.
‘ ‘Nora on Rent, Labour and Joint-ownership in Egyptian Agriculture’, ‘ See pp. 145-6.
__
3 Cromcr, Annual Report for 1897, P.P., i898, vol. cvu, p. 632.
C.S._7. iv, no. 4| (Apr. 1910), p. 30.
° Boustani, Pour l’agn'culturc égmtienne, p. 22. 4 A.S. 1914, p. 414.

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245 The Growth of the Economy

- ' ' 1880-1914, Agriculture 247
for 1 07
t oned by Gorst in his report __ 9 conc erned a —
of the holders of kharajiya land had paid registers gave owners a more title to their pro-
fievrahlich some atvillage revised secure
of 82 per cent of the rental value, while a number of -u;mra_te a factor of great importance especially when it came to
- arty,
'91: mortgages. Finally, an owner whose tax assessment
holders paid only at 3 Per Gen“ _ obtaining
remedy have been raised could assured that, according to
No attempt was iriade to this'st_ate
of
iaffairs might rest
Wlucocks uh” there would be no new adjustment for a period of thirty
1895, when a law,
- in 1
to comrnissiolili untci_<:C;'e:(i:it; a -
\:f7‘llll13.I'(I'1l - W1 cam:
As a result he was able to keep for himself all the benefit
as It th
ap.p°mt,e(% gxarilomaelldyethe fears of manylrllaiiacl en from the rapid rise in the price of agricultural produce which
a in the late 1890s. Throughout the remainder of the
Eflstedi nxsiut-iie fllieir co-operation it was made clgwners’
3 began
the eriod there. was a steady dmunution of the fraction of gross
pulispdge eof the examination was not to increaseartltliéatt
paid—this was to remain the same\b om paid in tax.
amount of land-tax
- - ' ‘ “‘ Profi ts
undertake a redistribution o t e e r 1. xisting tax burden 50 th to,
bore a closer relation to the and the fertility of the 3. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
éalue 1:1;
The work of the
ten sub-commissionsW11lCltl).Cl;lS ';)i:1'1al'l1SSlC;I'l
e was accomplished
in the countby‘,
'1’he area under crops other than cotton

:‘: :.: s:S: ‘: .‘";:~°:‘.,: ::.r: 2.215.. 1.: 2:13“:

t
vlv 1C1 Vlf Ev}: ylrvihage . Table 44 shows the changes in the areas devoted to each
C S age was major crop between 1886-7 and 1910-13. These figures do not
to have the same claim to accuracy as those for cotton. In a
calculate w h at proper t'10 n of the val
I .u_e
0 f each hod should be
taken in taxes. This was done by dividing the total rental value
TABLE 44
for all the cultivated land of Egypt, £EI6,356,ooo’
by the
amount in The result was a of23.5 Am: Devoted to Each Major Egyptian Crop, 1886-7 and 1894-5 to
PE]?
e ore 153194.
ese new figiire 1912-13 (Annual Averages)
offlland-tax
per cent. owever, could be introduced
rates
a new cadastral was needed, it was known
survey since that 1894.-5 to 1899-1900 1904-5 In 1909-10 to
the areas recorded in the land—tax were often in. 1886-7 1893-4. 1898-9 to 1903-4 1908-9 1912-13
registers ... ... U. H. ... ....
correct and that the boundaries of many villages were uncertain,
The survey was begun in 1898. As the relevant maps Wheat 1.241.160 1 .296.-i1 1 :214;4.6s 1.270.276 1.207.038 1.269.:l1s
Beans 755.868 689.472 650.996 647.292 574.176 524.51 1
duced, the new tax rates were introduced province by were-pro.
province. Barlev 520.351 459.947 499.114 537.151 447.542 373.102
Maize 1.125.121 1.474.326 1.474.227 1.726.504 1.781.771 1.638.151
Once this was done the old distinction between karajiya and Rice 149.717 160.776 198.554. 164.162 249.273 245.657
Sugar 71,203 72.339 79.233 79.232 46.847 48.25.14
‘urhuriya land disappeared and everyone paid at the same rate} comm 865.526 965.946 1.090.240 1.565.019 1.582.717 1.699.690
Owners whose property was now assessed at a lower figure Fruit
veéetablu .. 13,675 16,467 20.493 26.997 29,166
clearly derived great benefit from these reforms. But even
those who were forced to pay more received considerable Souiums:
advantages. Ever since the beginning of the British Occupation 1886-7: Recueil coruulaire, vol. 78 (1893), pp. 86-7.
1893-4: A.S. 1909, pp. 268-9.
it had been clear that some changes in the system were neces- 1894.-5 to 1898-9: 14.8. 1910, pp. 238-41.
sary, and the removal of the uncertainty surrounding the 1899-1900 to 1912-13: AS. 1914, pp. 322-5.
intentions was one of the number of reasons
Governrnent’s
underlying the rise in land values in the 1890s. Again, the sample check made in Q_alubiya in 1905-6, the sarrafs’ returns
were shown to be 6-7 per cent too high for wheat, 12 per cent
'
A"'f'“l R‘P°"f>'_l907. 1’-P-. 1908, vol. cxxv, p. 200.
' Thu too high for beans, and 39-2 per cent too high for barley. As for
paragraph is based on information in Th: Cadastral Survg of Fgypt (Eg.),
3 Willcocks and Craig, ii, p. 802. ‘ Michel, B., ‘Etude sur les reccttes do I'Etat‘, E.C., no. 72 (Apr. 1923), p. 301.
Pp’ "3‘39'

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248 The Growth qf the Economy

‘T
birsim, here they were I27'4. per cent too low’!
an
seems to be so large as to make such figures useless
uprror
and they have been excluded for this reason, A . T1:
anwith
accuracy of this magnitude must be takcn t0
statistics for the total
flgairl, in.
doubts on the crop area a
’ nrgw sent)“.
have been excluded. these tog
The most obvious point, apart from the
advanc
cotton, is the increase in the cultivation of rice ande made
the decrease in that of beans and barley. The aize by
whe and
the other hand, remained almost constant throlilit area,
on
period. Two main factors underlay these movemenihout e The first step is to make an
the extra summer water allowed the expansion 110- Firs
’ time taken to produce each crop. The following average
cotton cultivation, but of maize and rice as well. éecot Om)’ of
result of the substitution of a biennial for a triennirlllll , one
rotation was that a cereal crop could generally be rt‘: cotton
one winter out of every two instead of two out of
three
probably sufficient to account for the decline in hisis
£11
devoted to beans and barley. As far as can be ascertaihfida
small changes which took place in the comparative price:
ifthe
various crops played only a minor role in these movemeggthe
As in the case of cotton, price changes were ' actually under cultivation, expressed as a fraction of a year,
. . . also of 1‘
importance in influencing the cultivators’ annual deciiige
about what to plant. Wheat-cultivation failed to expang
following the 20 per cent increase in receipts in 1897
and
an even larger rise in 1908; the area devoted to beans remained
constant in spite of the fact that prices were augmented by
35 per cent in 1906. This is in line with the assertion,
made earlier, that the fixed system of rotations practised in
Lower Egypt ensured that fields were cultivated in the same
way year after year. In Upper Egypt, on the other hand, culti.
vators seem to have paid greater attention to price, and on a
number of occasions they appear to have increased the area
under cereals in response to prospects of greater profit. As
already noted in Chapter VII, they were also willing to substi-
tute cotton for sugar when the value of the latter harvest
declined after 1900. A more important cause of annual
‘ H.G.M., p. 169. The regular collection of statistics began only in 1893-4, but
the village xarrqfs were also used in an earlier attempt to calculate the area devoted
to the major Egyptian crops, that made by A. Boinet for the year 1885-6.
188°"-9'4, Agriculture
the Delta was
949
'
the regulations
rtmmt rcmictin
wral land. This trend can be me asured statistically
by a method
suggested by Dr. El-Iman of the Institute of National '
Pla
in Egypt} estimate of the lenmlimgf
5:1-03
used: 6
will be wheat’ mimths; barley: 5*}; b93115» Htspbirsims
2%; cotton, 93 51183’: 191 “CC; 5; maize, 4; and other crops 4;
Each of these average periods is then multiplied
by the area
cultivated withtthat particular crop, to give what Dr. E1-Iman
calls ‘the exploitation area’. Finally, the sum of the individual
exploitation: areas 1S obtained and divided by the total amount
of cultivated land to obtain ‘the exploitation rate’, that is the
average amount of time for which each Egyptian feddan was
This procedure has been followed for 1886-7 and 1912-13.3
During the first of these two seasons the exploitation rate was
0-531 (6-37 months), while during the second it was 0-662
(7-94 months). Such a comparison provides a good indication
of the more intensive use of land and of the consequent diminu-
tion in the annual fallow period. One other significant develop-
ment should be mentioned. This was the way in which there
was a further decrease in the variety of crops grown in Egypt.
On the one hand, no new product of any importance was
introduced during this period; on the other, there was a decline
in the cultivation of sugar, while tobacco was banned entirely
in 1890 in an effort to raise the revenue obtained from the special
duty levied on imports.‘ The only exception to
ever-increasing concentration on five or six major crops was the
. of National
. - ‘
‘ Egypt Institute Planmng, M_cln0 110- 2592 A P""‘l"“""' Fwictionfor
_
Egyptian Agriculture, by D11 M- Emma“ (034102 3‘ DC“ 1962)‘
The cxpgamnon
which follows is taken from pp. 5-7.
3I914» PI» 322-3- “W "“."“'°5
1 Cressaty, p. 28.

ft"“;°“‘2.:."f.f'.?:’..“.‘:°;.1”:.‘:.§
_
’°' “‘° "'3 °”°
_ _

. Gelat, PP. 46545.

d A_s_

3 For an example of both systems of rotation, see pp. 253, 258. regardless of their great inaccuracy.

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250 The Growth of the Economy 7

paid to the production of f .
’&9°‘1.9’4a Agriculture ,5,
growing attentio n being which nearly doubled betwgglltlzénd TABLE 46
ea under
vegetables, the M 9 ' '
aman between Figures from the State D 4 0
and 1914. Cam
Average 1’ields of Various Egyptian z‘7:r:izrl:C:;:, 1
Sources for the
‘
to 1914 (ardabbs/feddan)
The volume of ‘1.€'i5“”“’”l production
'
- all E P t‘ ’,....—7 E
It seems likely that under crops showed I “"3"
?"°.l “"“‘°’ ti)’_e P612:11to((:1ereal
"‘ th; (rinajpr dlscussio s9:§f:3
19°34 I909-13* Domains I .. Statc_ 1914:
some imPf°V°m°“‘statistics are lacking before 1909 and ' ‘ E913
3"” D°‘““"“
H ever oflicial Em” :Em‘ : Em‘
the
series of figures comes from the State’D0 "mi 4 4'33 5-48 - . ,

These
Y C onsbcutive
0“Clw _ .
l3?‘l°y E 2-34
4 5'86 6'23 5'24
TABLE 45 6
f,':,,¢ 6} 6-74 1 6-33
. Beans, and Barley on the State Domaim ’___,_r
Average Tzeld of Wheat, Averages)
my
1880~rgI3. (Annual Sopncrc-ssaty’ pp. l77_9_ 1914-1919, p. 789.
b: Report
Allcfgby,
. P_P-fwsfears
;
Wheat Bcans Barley 1 C, c. A. 1.914..
In P . 1,9I3~r929. by M. El-Darwish
feddans feddans feddans I 7:32) Tali: 3, P. 5'
0

‘ 1886-7, 1895-9
1:30-4 3.93 of three of
:89g:2 4.55 3.23 ase
tire foiur
on ures
mggor or
cepealihfor yefars on the
to
1895-9 5-I2 3 , 55 3 _ 97 I9I'01isI?lt
. is certainlgY le g itimateetyle
0 e, owever, Stlite
01 utiioplsi at
3-78 3-71 Domai _ . I conc t.
,9oo.4_ 5-37
5-72 3-43 3-57 there was a substantial increase in the S126 of the Egyptian
1905.9
1910-13 5-45 3'7 5'1
TABLE 47
. . .
SOURCE :A.S. '9”, pp - 443-50 - Estimate of the Egyptian Productzan of Wheat, Beans, and Barley,
1886-7, 1895-9 to 1910-13 (Annual Averages)
of the country, there
were taken from estates in different parts
much relation 1900-4 1905-9 I910-I3
is no real reason to suppose that they bear very 1335-7 1395-9
4744595 Wdabbi W44”! 0'44“?!
the various oflicial 0744553
to the national average. Comparison with 5_.,.,g,05, 5,3,,,33._. 5,904,543 5,,95,7,,,
46 shows wheat 4,353,494
figures for the years 1908-9 to 1914, given in Table 1,851,877 2,446.764 1.969.424 I.9I9,7I°
between the two. Beam 2.31 1,036
that, at this time, there were marked variations Barley 1503.814 1.981.483 1,992,756 1.597.725 2,104,295
Again, there is evidence to suppose that during the early 1880s 10,510,570 11,260,902 10,471,692 10,219,228
the yields on the Domains were lower than those for Egypt as a
Totals 7,749,185

whole, very largely owing -to bad management,‘ and thus that sowars:
-
was mo“? rapid dim“ the nauonal a_'vera’_gc for
the Productiorihas been computcdfrornfigurt-_-. for theareaofthcthreecropseontairned
the
afivancc in Table 44 and for the yields on the State Domains contained In Table ,5,
remainder of the period! This must be born in mind when when the oflicial figures for yields of
with the exception of the years 1910-13,
been used._ In the use of
' Chélu, pp. 256-7. wheat and barley (also to be found in Table 4.6) have
1886-7 I have used the yields for the five-yea: period 1885-9.
3 Cm:-nu-, Annual Repartfor 1895, p. icon. the season

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Q52 The Growth of the Economy

cereal harvest during the early 1890s. This was followe I 88°19’4: Agriculture
period in which output remained almost constant, the f by a 253
rise in yields being offset by the reduction in the areas du her . . . of an additional
. bl’ ll“? Sl‘0Wth
incre8S€d f
maize
to beans and barley. Figures for other crops are almo evoted ‘Mk made possible by the extra SUP(]:3lll)CI; sf
lillalllmefllor
er‘ he
com, other crops in the rotation varied accordin t0 local -
pletely lacking. But where they exist they provide 8 practice,
but one common system was as follows:
additional evidence that the rise in yields was a gene, e
Maize, for example, yielded 3 -64 ardabbs per feddan on Dal one_ Summer NW
land in 1379,: whereas, by 1913, the national avera°ge ains F’irs tYear irsim
‘I:},'in'tcr Cotton F311
6-33 ardabbs per feddanfi _ _ was Secon d year Fallow Mme .°W
O,
The reasons for this advance in yields can only be
ues
Bvszpgtor fallow!
In particular, as in the case of cotton, it is diflicult to :l°d_at, It has also been suggested that, at this same period
should be attached to there
how much importance the role ofefti I
irri. was a marked increase in the productivity of Egyptian a '-
gation and how much to better management. As the
ye ars of culture, made possible not only by the more intensive usc ofilc
the 1890s, coincided with
most rapid increase, the Perioq land but also by a rapid advance in the yield of all the major
the effects of the reconstruction of the Delta Barrage werglthen crops. On the face of it such an improvement might seem
being felt, it would seem reasonable to assume that the first a tremendous achievement. However, it has to be pointed
vision of extra water was one factor underlying the risprs. out that it was only brought about at the price of a serious
yields. And yet it seems unlikely that this could be the W1: exhaustion of the soil which limited any further increase in
story, particularly as the increase seems to have continuedole productivity for the next twenty-five years. For one thing,
long after the first effects of the Barrage must certainly haze investment in new drains had been allowed to lag far behind
passed. In the case of wheat some general advantage may have that in new dams and barrages, leading to salination in many
accrued from the introduction of a new strain, developed be areas and to a rise in the water table. This was not due to
the State Domains administration, which, according t:
ignorance—from their first years in Egypt the Anglo-Indian
engineers had shown themselves aware of the need to spend
J. Anhoury, soon came to be preferred to the traditional types
money on drainage2—but rather to a habitual tendency to
by the majority of cultivators on account ofits higher yield.3 on
think on a scale which totally failed to match the scope of the
the other hand, there is very little evidence to suppose that country’s requirements; and it was only right at the end of the
there was anything but the most marginal improvement in the period, in i912, that something was done to remedy the situa-
skills with which such crops were grown. However, this is a tion with the inauguration of Kitchener’s large schemes in
point which will be dealt with at greater length in the following the North Delta. Secondly, the cultivators themselves, though
section. quick to change their method of crop-rotation or to use new and
more prolific varieties of wheat and cotton, were much slower
Methods of cultivation in Lower Egypt in the early twentieth century to learn the lesson that a more intense system of cultivation
It has already been suggested that by the first decade of the must, of necessity, be matched by measures to restore the
twentieth century the majority of cultivators in Lower Egypt fertility of the soil by the use of chemical and other fertilizers.
had changed from a triennial to a biennial cotton rotation, and ‘
B.C.G.A. Cotton Cultivation in Egypt and Ill! 5114117! Md 09'" A£7'l"“l‘“’“‘ M“m_"
can be found
that the more intensive use of the land had been further (Manchester, Apr. 1906), p. 12. Examples of other rotations
Charles Roux, La Production du coton, pp: 153_'5§ Sdlama P- 293 Bousmm’ CV55“?! P‘ 3°!
1 Administration dcs Domaina dc l’Etat égyptien, Rapport . . . d Pappui du H' S"
‘Soil Temperatures during the Sharaql P°“°d’ (Eg‘)’ P‘ 33;
comple général dc: reoetle: et de: dlpense: de l’exen'ae 1880 (Alexandria, Cairo, 1881). L’A
' 94‘5-
ltu I la mise en valeur der term‘ en Egvliie (C3l1'°_a 19‘ 1): PP- Scott Mmm]_
p. 16. M. A (cd.), T71: Lgfe of Colonel
I See Table . : , fgerecxamplc’ Homngs,
(London, 19x7), p. 175.
1 ‘Le blé en te’, E.C., no. 85 (Mar. 1925), p. 202.

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954
Agricultural experts
The Growth of the Economy
and agricultural societies had bee
from at least as
‘
‘V ’83°".9'4, Agriculture 255
to this fact am; this in Spite of the expenditure oflar
to draw attention _ early as Tying its 190943 Volume“
must h 3“? gone largely unh 30,: on improvements in the 5 Stem ii‘
but initially their warnings
of money continuous
cultivators, for b I ted sums
even among the more well-to-do irrigation and drainage, the introduction of morey rolifi
figures are available’ im 02, the varieties of cotton} and the fact that imports of chzmicatl
first year for which detailed orts
at only two tons. Thereafter h of had ’°?°h°d an. average °f575,000 metric tons a ear 1
at-tificial fertilizers stood fertilizers
to seventy-two tons in 1913,: lérgzl er’ A second major qualification about the increase in iiielcls
the amount increased the foreign land companies_ V as before the First World War has also to be mentioned. Rapid
of Mea
result of the activities just
phosphates by a German compailwhil , the advance may have been, it did not, as yet, approach
though
the sale of Egyptian
source of supply, so that by 1909_£Y Pro. anywhere near the country’s full potential. It is true that by
vided an additional w cereal yields compared very favourably
per cent of the total cultivated are: I9o9._13 Egyptian
estimated that 5 many European states, while those for cotton
As for the peasant proprietor with those in
being artificially manured.3 produced organic were over twice as high as
the American average (see Table 48).
locally
bulk of whom relied on manure 6
Even though the major;s,hth Nevertheless, such was the basic fertility of Egypt’s 3011
that
the situation was less happy.
sort of treatment at least? of with better methods and the greater use of chemical fertilizer’
Egyptian fields receivedsome
insufficient manure to meet
n roduction could have been very much larger than it was:
two years, there found by looking at the yields obtained by
every ‘was
cultivation! Furthermore, Sn Proof of this can be
demands of more intensive better-managed estates. For example, on the farm
The mounds of decaying matter pi; ‘es some of the
of Agriculture, I4-5 ardabbs of barley
were diminishing. attached to the School
being fast used up,5 while the f0
ancient cities (kaums) were were obtained
per feddan in 1906, as well as 8-6 aydabb; of
during the first decade of aft
that the number of cattle declined wheat and 8-7 ardabbs
of maize! There is also W. L. Balls’s
was not enough dung te
twentieth century meant that there Somg assertion that cotton, if cultivated correctly, could be made to
the cultivated area_e
keep pace with the expansion of roduce twelve cantars a feddan.5
been provided, for those who Meanwhile, yields apart, the quality of the majority
of
small compensation may have
sewage products by such enter. Egypt’s cereal crops remained low. The ordinary barley
was too
could afford it, by the sale of unwilling
prises as the Cairo Manure Company,
although, not surprisingly dirty and too adulterated for export, cultivators being
it took some years for proprietors
to appreciate the advantagé to go to the trouble of removing the fenugreek seed it contained
wheat was
which could be derived from their use.7 so that it could be used for malting!’ Similarly,
and, in the case of traditional
The effects of soil-exhaustion began
to show themselves during generally full of foreign matter
irregular that it could be employed in a
and after the First World War, so that
by 1920-4 the yield of varieties, so stiff and
of bread only if mixed with imported fiour.7
crop, with the exception ofmaize, was well European-type
every major Egyptian ‘ This figure comes from a Laspcyres Index consisting of the annual production
situation took
below its 1913 level.“ Some improvement in the of the seven principal Egyptian crops: cotton,
wheat, beans, barley, maize, rice,
as late as 1935-9
place from the late 1920s onwards, but even and sugar. The base period is 1909-I3. See
my paper ‘The Uneven Increase in
(to be published in the proceedings
per cent above
total agricultural production averaged only 25-7 Egyptian Agricultural Production, 1890-1939’
1952, held at the School of Oriental and African
of the Conference on Egypt since
1 See, for example, B.S.E.A., no. it (31 Mar. 1881), p. 14. Studies, London in Sept. 1966). _
1.9‘9'1939
1 A.S. 1914, pp. 302-3. 3 Selim, H. K., Twenty Tears of Agni-idtwal DMIOPWM "1 E99’:
’ A-S- I933-I939. p- 377-
3 Schanz, p. 36. (Cairo. 1940), PP~ 36-8. 55-8, 31- _
‘ Willcocks and Craig, ii, pp. 762-3. 4 Yearbook qftlie Khediuial Agricultural Society, I906 (Cairo. 1907). pp- 208-9-
by Sir W. Garstin _
5 Egypt, Ministry of Public Works, Report for the 1'car 1902, 5 Egyptqfthc Egyptian: p. 191. 19°’ (A1¢*3nd"3o
(Cairo. 3903). P- 447- 6 British Chamber of,Commerce of Egypt. Annual R4’""f0'
‘ Craig, p. 181. 1903). p- 9- 9°2-
7 E.T.]. i, no. [I (29 Nov. I907), pp. 12-13. 7 Balls, Egypt qftha I1'{gypti'an.s, p. 186; Anhol-WY: P-
' A-S- I938-1939.1» 375-

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256 The Growth of the Economy

further
‘Pr 1880-1914, Agriculture 257
of all cereals was
Again, the qu ality reduced
system of thras hing by norag which left the grains in
.. 1panti. also 5
uffered from bilharzia, a water-borne disease,
loss of energy. Again, the
which led
implements at their
ticularly bad condition. to 3, pronounced had been employed all through
disposal remained those which
TABLE 48 the nineteenth century and for which no satisfactory substitute
' native plough, for instance, left much
- ‘
Yields of Cotton, Wlz eat’ and B had yet been found. The not
ComP amon of Egyptzan I it only disturbed the soil and did
Those of Other Countries “'19 with to be desired in that
aerated. On the other hand, it
anew it to become properly upkeepg
twenty piastres to construct, required no
Wheat Barley \C°
cost only for weak animals to draw. Peasants
bushels»/acre “on and was not too heavy.
bushels"/acre 1 found it difficult to obtain cheap credit. Again, the changes in
1885-9 1909-13 1909-13 I‘;/acre deprived those who paid a cash rent
io.,
3 the method of leasing land
29-5“ they might have gained from close
18-52‘ 25-55‘
42. from any of the advantages
Egypt 31 under the fermage system there
Denmark 37'8 supervision by their landlord:
30-1 32-62 35-08 the latter to go to any trouble to assist
United Kingdom 3358 was little incentive for himself was
3 1'88 fertilizers or better seed if he
Germany
249 his tenants to obtain
France 19'72 any rise in yield which might result! Finally,
28-04 28-04. not to profit from
Austria fact that a large number of the smaller pro-
United States 12-85 14-58 23-9 18 there was also the strips of land scattered
Russia 8-o7 io-78 I6-64. 7'8 prietorsdid not own on e single plot but
the village, so that much time was
F in various fields around
one to the other.’
Souizcss: wasted simply moving from
Emit. Tables 37. 45. 46- Wotinsky,
. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to suppose that at this
W. S. and E.S., World Population and P
Other countries 1885-9: peasant was incapable of
period, or at any other, the Egyptian
ro-
dnclion (New York, 1953), p. 550. can be seen, for
1909-13 : U.S. Department of Agriculture, Yearbook,
1914 (Washington
1914) improving the practice of his agriculture. This
which the balli method of cotton culti-
PP- 52!. 527. 54.2. 544. 576- instance, in the way in i89os,4 or
totally abandoned by the late
Noru: vation was almost have paid
a. For the years 1909-13 the figures
refer to bushels of the following type, seem to
from the fact that some peasants at least
Egypt (Imperial); U.S. (U.S.); Russia, Germany, Austria (60 lb.) ; U_K' plant their cotton in late
France (Winchester). For further information
see The Economist’: Guy, suflicient attention to expert advice to the
as a means of reducing
Weight: and Measures, 2nd edn. (London, 1962), pp.
8, 23. February, rather than early March,
-
b. Figum refer to bushels of the following types: Egypt (Imperial) ; U.S. (U.S.) ’ the plants could be subject to boll-worm
time during which
Russia, Germany, Austria (48 lb.) ; U.K., France (Winchatet). attack at the end of the season.5 It is true that
most changes-
at me
c. Yield on the State Domains, see Table 4.5, converted to bushels/acre place in
of i ardabb = 5-444 bushels. the alteration in the system of rotation above all—took
rate_ me,
d. National average, see Table 46, converted to bushels/acre at the (above)
‘ Schanz, p. 30.
p. 36.
3 Charles Roux, La Production du colon, p. 169; Schanz,
Such a state of affairs was a direct reflection of the pre- 3 This phenomena was observed by Wallace
(pp. 232-3) as early as 1883. He
dominantly peasant character of Egyptian agriculture. The mentions the fact that some proprietors might
own 20 to 30 narrow strips, some not
writing over 80 years later, loses _
overwhelming majority of the cultivators were illiterate‘ and more than 2 yards wide. According to G. Saab,
at 30 per cent of gross profit;
due to fragmentation of holdings were then estimated
untouched by even the most rudimentary education. Many of The Egyptian Agrarian Reform, 1952-1962 (London,
1967), p. 10.
those in Lower Egypt (perhaps over half the population there)‘ 4 Lecomte, H., Le Colon (Paris, 1900), p. 4.4. 1899), p. 179.
5 Foaden, G. P., ‘The Cotton Season of i8g9’,].K'.A..S'. (Sept./Oct.
I population over 5 about the merits of early sowing; sec
A“’°'di"3 ‘° thc 1907 0615118 85-9 per cent of the male Later, however, the experts were less sure
could neither read nor write: A.S. 1914, p. 35. Foaden and Fletcher, ii. pp. 383-5.
' F58“-'0": A- R-s ‘Bin!’-1"li3's 05-]. iv, no. 45 (June igio), p. 129. S
B21048

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253 The Growth of the Economy

.
response to the prospect
of an immediate ris _
in inco '88°".9’4a Agriculture 259
real long-term ie Q - ,
did not always coincide with
b a was also an
igterests, b anfi a German and mana ed n_?ana::’:;:-t
rule. The use of manure DY interest in gogod TS'here
was not a universal in oihls inc reased
some peasants employed
whatever supplies wen: tease
0 hand) wfi ft: ed pupils from the Governments! College
by emP1°Y
to the soil properties. Others sent their sogilsnhih “H31 study
others sought to add nitrogen P10 in thlle run their
an action which deprivgldghiiig to
modern methods.
For example, Victor Mossérioahto of
spring crop of bim'm,I them Q
large landholder, studied ’at1-(ii Si)?
cu
obtained from one two tilt:2
income they could have greatest in, ort°P ext Moses Mosséri, a. and Paris in the 18903 beforeg u.”‘1
of the science at Montpelher , retummg
cuttings. Another change ance was ‘I?
over She
metal tips placed t to manage his father’s estates}
growing use made of Wooden spur E
twentieth century were also mark cl b
earth on the traditional wood ° The first years of the
used to turn the P!°ugh.z ‘"1 the Part Of the Government to do Eomy
main interest in imen increasing efforts the general
As a rule, however, the standard of Egyptian agricultur:-1
shown by a numI1)3reo,.v:fi§ha8ricul. thing to improve
with, great reliance was placed on agricultural
egin W1toflbe, such men demonstratefilar ractice..To begin e
op re ors. ocor1i)tinued
pt1l1.ralrpi;actice';
of soil fertility b
their _ of a tYP€ Which had proved successful in Euro
education was created in 1890 followed bps.
concern ‘for the preservation retaining ,1 A School of Agriculture schools for the son; of cultivatzrs
grown only once eve)’
rotation in which cotton was Ty three Yeam‘
number of
other technical
Other crops might then
be planted as follows:
the Khedivial Agricultural Society was given 3 subsidy‘
Again,
to enable it to expand its work of organizing
Winter Summer Nil. art of which was and of
pal; new techniques were described
meetings at whichliterature it
Birsim Cotton out into the villages. However,
First year _°“’
Maize sending instructive or no
B or Fallow that methods of this kind had little
Second Year was soon realized and 3, search
B231’: on the vast bulk of the peasant population,
Fallow Maize, impact much closer relation to
Third year Wheat which bore a very
was made for ways process was given considerable
This
tendenc to urcha E ptian conditions. of Agriculture in
There was also an increasing creation of the Department
pumps and plilyughz in pftifgllzipean imp etus by the
were established in
agricultural machinery, 191 1. Under its aegis,
experimental farms
to nearly ,€E25o,ooo in 1907 b’fthe the country in an effort
to provide a more
import of which mounted various parts of
of the general economic depressioon: instruction. Average or sub-average
land would
declining again as a result practical sort 0 f
greater use was made of the facilitim some local cultivator, who
himselfundertook
Again, for a while at least, Society, among them ti: be borrowed from operations on the
offered by the Khedivial Agricultural to carry out all
the necessary agricultural
this means the
the publication of the results the Department. By
provision of artificial fertilizer, of production, and thg advice of Inspectors from could be demonstrated
in a
methods
of experiments into better methods advantage of improved own farms.
during which new tools were on the Government’s
organization of agricultural shows way which was impossible were carried out in 191 I (eleven
on display. Membership of the Society mounted from 243 Twenty-four such experiments all of which produced better
put following year.5 Foreign pro. involving the growth
of cotton),
1n_r9o4 to well over 3,000 the to the spread of improved on neighbouring fields}
As a result
rietors made a special contribution results than those obtained the number of
finest model farm in the which attended this innovation,
methods. Schanz writes that the of the success Meanwhile, a second
Zagazig, was owned forty-four in 1912.4
near plots was increased to
country, an estate of 1,200 feddans 1 Wright, p. 362.
3
_ of Cotton’, in Int. Fed.
ii. pp. 363.
Epgtimr, p. :79; Foaden and Fletcher,
‘ Ibid., p. 42. in Quality and Yield ‘
: Ba1'=J5erPtv>ftIae 11' : l'z'ndu.rm'e (Cairo, I918), p. n8. 4 Dudgeon, G. C., '
‘Improvement
. . .10 Egypt, p. 31.
de la Cormnm-wn du commerce at
Rapport p. i I. of the Via'1 ofthe Delegation
Ofi cial Report
and the Sudan,
1 B.C.G.A., Cotton Cultivation in Egypt 5 schanz, p, 3;,
4 A..S'. 1914, pp. 302-3.

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.é
260 The Growth of the Economy 1880-1914, Agriculture 261
brought more closely in _ four or five‘ cuttings could have been sold for
way in which assistance was.involved the provision of line Ylllt maintain that
requirements
the coumryys spe than the ,QE5 on which Cressaty bases his calculations.‘
to the P00F€5t Cultivators, on crcla_uY more also includes a second estimate, that of M. El-
selected cotton seed
came too_ near the end of the edit: Tame 49 the year 1913. This was obtained by multiplying
However, such activities 3:’-Vlod for
it to be possible to come to any Imam volume of the 1913 harvest by 1914 prices.‘ It
under discussion for "_ of 5 ures for the
assessment of the effect they may have had on E exdudes birsim.
gyptlin
agriculture in general.
TABLE 49
4.. AGRICULTURAL INCOME
Value of Egyptian Cropsfor the Year: 1908-9 and
Estimated Gross
The value of agricultural production 1913
attempts were made before
Only two thoroughgoing 1913
total value of Egypt’s agricultural produlill 190%)
to calculate the £19 £3
livestock, milk, and eggs). The first was bction
(excluding Sir
was part of his revisii’
William Willcocks in 1895. This 7,183,268‘ 9,256,000
of Wheat
basis of the rentable value (SE1 3,230,121‘ 3,551,000
land-tax assessments on the Beans
2.071.000
fact that it was a perilte 2.692.142‘
properties in question. In spite of the Barley 8,202, 14.0‘ 1 1 ,67 5,000
major crops were at a very low level lid Maize
when the prices of all e Rice 2,693,736‘ 3,21 1,000
produced an estimate for gross agricultural productiori 659,730 1,016,000
Sugar
,€E39,o6o,5oo,1 a figure which, in the light of later calcof 26,720,880 29,145,000
Cotton
Kali. 4,682,000
lations, would seem to be somewhat too high. Fifteen Cotton seed
7,658,965
Comte Cressaty, the founder of the Banque Hypothgs Birsim
later, the Fruit and vegetables 455,010
caire Franco-Egyptienne, made a second estimate “sin. Onions 346,580 561,000
information about area and average price which refers to the Other 731,005
year 1908-9, obtained from the Government Statistical Yearbook 3 Total 60,573,577 67,315,000
Estimates for the average yield of the main agricultural p,~(;_
ducts came from the Department of Agriculture and do not Sounciisz
have the same claim to accuracy. In particular, the figure for 1908-9: Cressaty, pp. 178-9.
Agriculture (Eg).
1913: A Production Function for Egyptian
wheat looks surprisingly low and that for barley too high (see value of straw.
N012: a. Includa
Table 46). Cressaty put the gross value of Egypt’s crops at
,€E6o,60o,ooo, of which cotton produced ,€E26,7oo,ooo, and Other estimates for the value of agricultural
production also
the four principal cereals, wheat, beans, barley, and maize War. But in every case they
appeared before the First World
,€E21,3oo,oo0. This estimate will be found in Table 49. F0; were unsupported by any evidence as to how they were ob-
some reason it excludes cotton seed, the value of which must tained;3 and a more satisfactory way of
trying to assess changes
have come to around ,€E4.,o0o,00o. There is also a problem
‘ A.E.M. i, no. 1 (1 Nov. 1907), p. 8.
connected with bzmm. Not only may the crop have been very ‘ A Production Function for Eyplian Agriculture (Eg.),
pp. 16, 38-4!.
an
much larger than the official statistics all0w,4 but some sources 1884., that of £E15,200,000 made by
3 See, for example, two estimates for
Clwtes palitique: de l’Egypte, 1883-1895
anonymous author quoted in Borclli, 0.,
; francs (£31,800,o00) by A. Zogheb,
(Paris, n.d.), p. 501, and that of 795,000,000 (11 Oct.
l’Egypte', L’Ecorwmirtefi'an;ais
to be found in ‘La production agricole de two extrema.
th; 1884), p. 447. The truth certainly lay between these

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2562 The Growth of the Economy

7 253
1880-1914, Agriculture
through time would seem to be to follow Cressatws ’ ' in price.
undcr
the area ld w s lar ly offset by the fall
Imam’s method of multiplying the mafind EL
the aged yields levelled off or declined
average export price, obtained odcuried,
by a figure for the
lfo crops
fill alivzlligerdtegsf
to advance. Figures for the yields Of
one for the , e ltirices continued
Customs Administration, and average AR?
while her major crops are lacking, but it seems unlikely that
This has been done for cotton, Wheat, heigield per
feddan. ns, and on the basis of the general advance
barley for 1887-8, and for five-year he otdeclined . Thus 2
periods between 1890s, ‘it
18 t Cy
prices which occurred in the late
‘l1‘5.a.nd
1912-13. In such calculations the most obvious dime u t ricultural
that they too showed a marked advance
in
obtain reliable figures for the
yield of crops other
C otton
than mu Etgbe supposed
for the years before 1909, and there is no altemativ6 value-
to
rely, once again, on those provided by the State D0 but . TABLE 51
spite of the reservations already made about theiflali
accounts for the fact that only the three winter Germ.
cal
1!
Export Price of Major Egyptian Crops‘
have been included (see Table 50). crops
____,.._.7
,€E/ardabb £13/Ks I00
TABLE 50
Wheat Beans Barl6Y Maize Rice
Estimated Value of Egypt’: Production of Wheat, Beg,“ Ba I
and I .102 1-010 0-630 0-871
Cotton, 1886-7 and 1895-1913, at Export Price; (Annual AZ?’ 18804 0-583 0-774.
(,€E,ooo) ’“£«)' ]885_9 0.999 0-851
l890‘4- 0-940 0-797 0-532 °'557
0-560 0-549 1-1 2 1
8 T , 395.9 o-886 0-774,
886- 7 1905’9 0-902 0-593 0-714 H83
;é)5~9 19Eoo—4- 1. 19004 1-072 0-694 0-976 1 -200
LE ;1€9£o_,3 1 -266 0-930
1 ,905_9
"955 1-092 0-854 0-895 N25
Wheat 4,186 5303 7,3,4 8 738 I
1 191043
B°a'“‘ 1269‘ B790 2:203 1,831 233%
Barlcv 880 1,110 1,196 mm 1’
Souncas:
Cotton 7.999 11,064 16,688 2, 3°, 5797 1380-94,: Figures provided by G.
Randorne, Director of Statistiml Service of the
rapport de M. Villiers-Stuart sur
Cotton seed 1,484. 1,860 2,604 3:266 24,392 Customs, and given in Chakour, J. G., ‘Le
1’Eg-yptc’, L’Eg;uple, nos. xviii—x.ix (1 July 1895), p. 605.
Total 16,240 21,331 30,010 36,245 1895-1913: A.S. 1914, p. 387.
43,,”
1912.
Norris: a. Prices have been raised by one-ninth until
Souncu:
Cereals: . _ _ . - , -
The question of movements in the value of Egyptian crops
gross
Non: a. Prices have been raised by one-ninth until 1912. can also be approached fiom the point of view of their
profits per feddan. In Table 52, figures from the State Domains
that the gross value of these four have been used to give the returns of the three cereals, wheat,
Cr031:0?“;acl;l;l(2i1t:)ons shgw beans, and barley, from 1880 to 1913. Wheat, like cotton,
X887 and 1913'
As the area devoriedmtl0 2l1h'alftm'les
C“ tgetwem
rose shows a period of rapid advance between 1890-4 and 1905-9,
cent durin the sac t‘ cultivanon by °n1Y 15 Per when both yield and price rose sharply. The value of beans
Pcrlpd, the almost entirely
the result 5f the 8:16 increase was
_Vance In both pI‘lCC and yield. The rise in and barley, on the other hand, increased gradually over the
value was most taPld bflwcen I897 and 1907. Before this time whole period until 1910-13, when prices moved quickly
' See p. 250. ' upwards.

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264. The Growth of the Economy

TABLE 52
.? 1880-1914, Agriculture 255
during the first decade of the
C rice of chemical fertilizer
Beans, and Barley 0,, the
Gm: Income per Feddan from W/leaf,(Annual
in _ _
Avera3er) Star, entieth century. _
advance in agricultural incomes
Domains, 1880-1913. MC nfirmation of the general
of independent indexes of rural
Obe found in a number
Wheat‘ Beans‘ Barley.
can
erity Some of these will be mentioned in a later section
£15 £3 {E Pro?“ with changes in the pattern of cultivators’ expenditure.
about the
done it is necessary to say something
T175 [-503 dc: hegfore this is
obtained from the land during the thirty
1880-4. 3677
income
1885-9 3'773 2-128 1-663 gittribution of War.
I890-4 4'4-4-7 T594 2-102 before the First World
1895-9 5-358 2-650 2-15., years
income
i9oo—4 5'57° 2'99! 2-303 77,, dimibution of agricultural
8-954 3-266 2-885 assumed that the major'propor-
1905-9
4-593 As a general rule, it can be
1910-13 8-440 4-139 profits from agricultural production after
increased
tion 0 f the grew cotton themselves or
went to landowners who either who worked fields
SOURCE: A.S. 1914, pp. 443-50. to those who did. Tenants
1887a their land must also
Nora: a. Includes income from straw. system of sharecropping
leased according to some
rise in incomes. On the other
:2: benefited from the general
The general rise in agricultural incomes, 1887-1913 who grew
who paid their rents in cash or
hand, cultivators labourers, can have obtained only
It has just been stated that the total value of four of Egy . s only cereals, as well as day assertions
main crops increased by r50 per cent during the period
Iggt
the rising prosperity. Proof of these
becarlis a small share of the following discussion Of the
1913. It has also been suggested that other commodities will, it is hoped, emerge during categories.
various
more profitable. This clearly resulted in a considerable rise 1,: osition of persons in all these
growth in incomes from cotton have
rural incomes, particularly as there is reason to suppose that it Figures to illustrate the
VIII. They suggest that gross
was not accompanied by any great advance in costs.’ Figures already been given in Chapter
between 1885-9 and 1910-13.
to support such an assertion in the case of cotton have already profits per feddan doubled general ex-
from the
been given in Chapter VIII. Further evidence comes from the Movements in the income obtained
are more difficult to gauge, however, for
fact that agricultural wages, where paid, seem to have remained ploitation of the land
also the problem posed by
more or less constant} while the expense of watering cl-ops statistics are lacking; and there is
rotation produced diffcrcnt
almost certainly declined owing to the improvements in the the fact that different systems of
the only continuous series comes from
system of irrigation. The introduction of agricultural roads profits. Once again
where cotton was grown
which allowed the use ofcarts rather than the traditional camel the State Domains. On these estates, ,€E6-18
advanced from
or _donl<ey,3 of light railways, and, later, the reduction of triennially, gross returns per feddan
freight rates on the state railway system produced a further fall in the years 1895-9 to {E9-66 in 1910-13.‘
their land,‘ the figures
in costs! For those who owned land and who were not forced to As for those estate-owners who let out
that it was possible to raise
rent, the only important increase in expenses was the small rise cited earlier in this chapter indicate
with the increase in profits from
cash rents to keep pace
’ A. number of contradictory studies of total agricultural com were made in the from leasing may
cotton.‘ In some cases the returns obtained
_Y°3-1'5 Just before 1914. but will not be given here on account of the fact that there an example of a small
19 "0 W_3Y Of Chccliing on their reliability. See, for instance, Cressaty, p. 165. even have advanced faster. Elgood gives
1 Evidence for assertion will be found on p. 266. ' Computed from figures in A.S. 1914, PP- 4-443-5-
’ Jullicn, L., ‘Chronique agrioole de l’année 1923', EC. xv, no. 76 (Jan. 1924), 1 See pp. 242-3.
p. 20. 4 Rccueil cormdaire, vol. 126 (1904), p. 261.

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255 The Growth of the Economy

told him that he had 1880-1914, Agriculture 267
1 downer in Minufi ya who b
given
tznrent- his land for 11flan
of the corvée, the. public-works contractors
’l ears in w iic income rom for canal-cleaning were forced to recruit gangs
Sibimy
:§;Il:)i27_r:npdi?:2nt.yIt seems possible to assume tlc1:ttt(l):, thse by rC5P°nkcrs in the south of the country, there was con-
where
oi unemployment owing to the absence of
decade of the twentieth century tenants were payin a first wort‘)16 Seasonal
in rents. This is arge “dew in} irrigation.‘ Later, this movement additional
received
part of their gross income certainl
those who rented land from the Aboukir Company_ A b C of erenns from labour shortages in various parts of the Delta
shows irrl ctfhe rapid expansion of cotton-cultivation at the turn of
sheet prepared for foreign visitors in 1912 thata3- ancc_
who had been leased eight feddans received {E51 for h. man and from the fact that the inhabitants of Upper
and paid £E4_8 of this in rent. His profit was made on taffrcentury, to bilharzia and were thus physically
t were less prone
of wheat hirsim, and maize, and from the milk of his
ll °’°ps 2 The existence of this pool of workers, willing to work
stronger’ at low rates of pay, must certainly have helped
buffaloes?‘ ‘W0
for contractors general level of wages.’ A second reason why
If the assertions contained in the previous to depress
the
true, then, clearly, who their ren ParagraPh are es remained low was the way in which many agricul-
t5 in cash
tgnants gand Were
$51 labourers were attached to the estates on which ‘they
“°‘-‘"1?‘§§§‘”f$‘fi§§ %fi §’§‘a$Z’i§aiifiilnail 1.‘/ed Nahas,
writing in igoi, described one system by which a
of land at reduced rent
i/lvgerrlg by?the day It has already beenosii Ofgetworkers leasant would receive several feddans
wages may not have risen at all during the peigrf Edfi. hat. their in exchange for an undertaking to provide a certain number of
his article, ‘Causerie ethnographique sur le fellah’ i-Ploiti“ workers when required. Such men were then paid forty to
that in 1899 agricultural labourers were paid t:,,,r:a:t‘3lT1red
' sixty centimes a day (Pt. 1-5 to Pt. 2-3). In other cases, those
'
h 1 “C
labourers who were paid with a share of the crops produced on
an estate were often deeply in debt to the landowners, on whom
contractors for the Ma-nzalawi estate were still b:lIS1gSl}1)I;Ii)c1{::l til’ they depended for cash to meet any sudden exigencies between
. h h - - ° harvest and harvest.‘
A third group which failed to share fully in the rise in agri-
no
one ever obtaiged more than thrie -piastres a 3:5’ cultural profits was that of_cu1tivators who had to rely on
Y, btiiifihotei
this had become the national averag‘ e 5 E 'd YIQOQ cereals for a large part of their income. Although receipts from
tbtk e a en 1- H owever, ‘."°“°°°f‘h15S0rt
it suggests wheat, beans, and barley increased proportionately as much as
Eantnrlif‘ b
as
y a very smail
C?lI1C1iSlVC. that, at
of the increase those from cotton, in absolute terms they provided a decreasing
receive share fraction of_its returns. This was the situation in much of Upper
irfsa, ‘filters 0;wo for this situation may be
5“ gfltclcll
e . 1;‘; ifpcomes:
reasons Egypt. Evidence of the difference in income between Egypt’s
rst, which applies only to the Delta,
_e eonccms two regions comes from an estimate made by H. Verschoyle in
thgges mfl uxof workers from Upper Egypt. This annual
summer 1906. According to his figures, the gross value of crops then
mic seems to have begun in the 18805, when, following the
’ gfirlation
good, p.
averaged £131 5-5 a feddan in the Delta, compared with only
101.
3
La £E7-7 in Upper Egypt.5
, in Int. Fcd., Ojiml
= .s.1r.c., - '
580” VeZ::cu;R"eclam;ti£‘iyip:f;a2k;4Abouku
‘ Artin, Y., ‘Essai sur les causes du rencbérineinent de la vie matérielle an
4 See p. nsith mm’ M’ 4 0899)’ P‘ M‘
RIM;
Caire dans le courant du XIX‘ siecle (18o0—igo7)’, Minwim presentés 1) l’I1u¢:'£ut
- 5 Dc Chamberet ¢'£J’P¢1'en, vol. v (Cairo, 1907), p. 87. Artin estimated that 500,000 to 800,000 men
s ’ R., Enqug
. M 1, wad,-am ,1"fillah
- ..
lsiwwn (Duon 1909) p 17-
_
.Lc;a]s:l°who gives 3 dz)’ Wage of Pt. 2}—3 for Lower Elgypt iii i914:
‘came north each year between I888 and i891.
‘ RUSSCH. Sir T., Egyptian Service (London, 1949), pp. 38-9.
t'°P"|€ asncole égypuenne’, E.C., no. 211 (Mar. 1943), 3 De Chamberet, p. i7.
p_ 229. 4 Nahas, pp. 135-6, 141-3,
" Egyptian Gazette, 29 Oct. igo6.

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253 The Growth of the Economy

original assertion that it wa
% 1880-1914, Agriculture 269
Finally, let us return to the were
cotton themselves or rented land tos those 0VCl'.,€EI3,000,000.‘ ‘Some of the purchasers
who either grew for just but, according to Baer, the ‘lion’s share’
who obt_amCd the major Proportion “he, land companies} 85,000
cotton-cultivators The private estates.’ In addition, nearly
from agriculture after ‘I887_ figur0f the went to form new
increased profits into estates of sizes feddans belonging to
the State Domains were sold between
the distribution of land closer look at _]llSt
yarious given
Who these menearller 1397 and 1906,‘
and there must have been a host of smaller
a
in the chapter allow
cultivated area of the Delta was he‘£’erle_ transactions. _ .
As 50 per cent of the Land sales virtually came
to a halt during the worst of the
or over by some 8,000 to d in
properties of fifty feddans depression in business
activity during the second half of 1907
men who must have received nearly h9=°00 ‘X908. Yet even after conditions had
owners, it was these and the early part of
from cotton in any one year whalfof on anything like the
all the income obtained to revive they did not take place
it or not. Hence, it was they whoiwer ether begun was less public land for sale, of
they themselves grew also scale of the boom years..There
of the rise'in gross pl-ofits_ The re was that proprietors
the primary beneficiaries hungst of but an equally important reason
by the remainder of the many course; the greater part of their available
the increase was shared were now
forced to use
who owned smaller pieces ofcotltzills on purchases made on credit
of thousands of proprietors resources to re?
ay instalments
growing land. before 1907- _ _
can be seen in the case of
income on the pattern of The same pattern of expenditure between
The eflct of increasing agricultural rural shares. Heretoo the great increase in activity took place
of money placed in Egyptian
expenditure 1397 and 1907, the amount
section is correct, and th in Egypt mounting from just under
If the reasoning in the previous C concerns by residents during this period} It is
in agricultural income aft
primary beneficiaries of the rise £E2,5oo,o0o to over ,QE3o,ooo,o00
capital which derived directly
the mid 1890s were the large-estate
holders, it provides 2? true that not all this represents a number of
in which the extra money was spen? but there is evidence from
important clue to the way from agriculture?
in buying rural land; bu; the rural sector was much affected by the general
Such men had a particular interest sources that
and that even some of the
they were also ready to purchase houses for themselves in the speculative fever of those years,
their profits in this way.7
two principal cities, to increase their consumption
of European smaller proprietors began to invest
in 1907. However, in
imports, and, after 1900, to invest in shares in Egyptian Once again activity came to a standstill
a small revival before i914. The
at the position in regard to this case there was not even
companies. Let us begin by looking of houses in Alexandria and Cairo
of the period was the sale of purchase or construction
land. Here the major development the boom. Calcu-
Daira Saniya, one of must also have proved attractive during
the remaining property belonging to the the value of buildings subject
by the Khedive Isma'il, and then, from lations made by A. Eid show that
the great estates created increased by nearly
to the urban house tax in the former city
1876 onwards, administered on behalf of those who held stock the richer
,€Ei0,oo0,00o between 1905 and 1907.3 Finally, some, at
In 1898
in the loan for which it had been pledged as security. proprietors must certainly have been responsible for
to
the Government surrendered its right to dispose of the land least, of the increase in the consumption
of luxury imports
a private enterprise, the Daira Sanieh Company, in exchange foreign-trade
the from Europe. Unfortunately the Egyptian
for a. sum of money suflicient to pay off the remainder of 1906), p. I03.
' African World, Annual 1906 (London, 7 Dec.3
debt. At least 300,000 feddans were sold between i 900 and 1906,‘ 1 Ibid., pp. 103-4..
Hismy of Landawrimltip, p. 96.
5 See Table 53.
‘ According to Lord Cromer the estate had consisted of 306,330 feddans in i896 4 A.S. 1914, p. 44.6.
by
(A"’"“’l R‘PW‘f0' 1395. P. 1001). But Baer states that 450,000 feddans were sold ° For a discussion of this point see pp. 287-90. I903), p. 231,
to reconcile these two 7 See, for example, Métin, A., La Transformation de l’Egy}zIe (Paris,‘
the company: History of La-downmhip, p. 95. It is difiicult large areas of unculti-
Eid, p. 4,1.
it is assumed that Cromer failed to include and Nahas, p. iio.
figzzuhigicss
va

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270 The Growth of the Economy

detailed to allow a sun, I880-IQI4, Agriculture 271
statistics are not sufficiently of
are isolated pieces of evidenc in d‘.
vidual items, but there agricultural incomes
took place between 1895-9 and 1905-9,
In 1907, for instance, 250 the rate of increase slowed down con-
sorts of articles involved. and that, thereafter,
francs (£123,354) , ot0X'~cara
were imported worth 3,083,860 sidcfabll“ _ .
just described substantial part of the
Apart from the types of expenditure In addition,‘ there 13.110 doubt that a
was also spent in developing E ’,p3-rt of simply hoarded or converted
the extra income
worth over E
ts increase in agriculturalBritish
income was
administrators like Lord Cromer
resources. Agricultural machinery rural mm gold ornaments.
feeling that the money
imported between 1906 and 1913.2 Again $359,000 tended to complain about the practice,
was imgro F ri in productive works. However, some
some money in er inyested
cultivators must have invested would be better
may also have used some of their their of saving of this kind was clearly no more than good sense
own fields. They i"1I18 to sort crops like cotton
presses and to make loanpcome whose economic depeiidenceon cash
construct cotton gins and to their for men wide fluctuations of income. It is also the case
exposed them to
tenants. But there is no reason to suppose that the a reserve of this kind to fall back on the efl'ect of
spent in these sorts of ways was more than a very
small? . that without would certainly have been very much
raction depression
of that devoted to land purchase. This is in marlegdwhéltrast
C0 to
the p0St.;9o7
it actually was.
the situation which obtained in another country more serious than
durin agri.
cultural income was also advancing rapidly tr}? Agricultural indebtedness
ehlate
nineteenth century, Japan. There, the richer farmerfne ants One last factor
relating to agricultural incomes must now
seem to have played an important role in rural develdc be discussed. This is the
indebtedness
rise in the level of rural
by investing their profits in the establishment of creditplnfint between 1880 and 1914.
Debts arose from three sources:
tutions, commercial enterprises, and even industries in in]-lstii
e“ mortgages on land, the purchase of property on credit, and the
own districts} small cultivators by village usurers or, after 1902,
. loans made to
As for the small cultivators, they too spent much of th by the Agricultural Bank.
before 1907, often entering irftlr land in Egypt began with the
extra income on land purchase The practice of mortgaging
laws after the establish-
obligations which they then found dilficult to meet once :11: introduction of European property
became very
It immediately
boom was over and credit less easy to obtain. The purchase of ment of the Mixed Courts in 1876.
money, and by 1882
raise
goods from Europe was also important. The value of imported popular with landowners anxious to
risen to ,QE5,82i,g12, secured
cotton cloth and thread doubled between 1885-9 and 1905.9. the total mortgage debt had
increase in this
that of butter, margarine, and cheeses increased two and
3; against nearly 400,000 feddans.‘ No further when the
the 1890s,
half times during the same period! Vegetable oil was another form of indebtedness then took place until augmented,
was greatly
commodity which began to be purchased from abroad in
greater capital invested in mortgage companies
sums of money by
quantity. A second index of increasing rural prosperity is the allowing owners to obtain larger and larger
to an estimated
number of passengers buying third-class railway tickets on the pledging their property. As a result the debt rose
in 1912.3 The clients
from 12,454,000 in 1900 to ,€E19,0oo,ooo in 19052 and ,€E44,227,oi2
State Railways. These increased exclusively the bigger
Both indexes of the mortgage companies were almost
25,033,000 in 1907 and 28,574,000 in 1913.5 in landowners. In 1894, for example, over 70 per cent of all
support the assertion already made that the greatest advance of fifty feddans or
such borrowing was secured on properties
the money mainly to
‘ REPPWT-3 wmmem'awr (Fr.), 1911, no. 965, ‘L’Egypte’, p. 52. over.4 In the years before 1907 they used
1 A.S. 1914, pp. 302-3.
and Savings (Feb. 1883), P.P.,
3 Nal<amura,_]. 1., ‘Meiji Land Reform, Redistribution of Income ‘ Lord Dufferin ‘Report on the Reorganization of Egypt’
(July I Cressaty, p. 195.
Cultural Change, vol. xiv, no. 4 ‘ Eid, p. 93.
5°31 a8|'l°“lm!‘¢.' Ewwmic Dtwlofi menl and 19:4, pp. 300-3.
1883, vol. lxxxiii, p. 106.
vol. cix, pp. 9a4—7.
1955)» PP» 4-37‘8- 4 A.S. 4 Cromer, Annual Reportfor 1894, P.P., i895,
5 A.S. I910, pp. 140-1; A.S. 1914, pp. 172-3,

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‘T
272 The Growth of the Economy 1880-1914, Agriculture
273
But after the financial crisis of th as a result of the introduction of the Five-
purchase more land.‘ to meet previous debts_2 In adiifiyear st to a standstill land under five
it was also employed lt' which, by making the seizure of
re used to purchase
shares or u T b an r 10 31, Foddan Law, of debt illegal, made it virtually
small amounts we .
tenants.3 It was not Deny feddans for non-payment money to small cultivators on
to lend to their Bank to lend
or, in some cases,
bought direct fronilsual impossible for the
e where land was 3 Ian
obtain a mortgag the transaction ' of the First World
company. On suc
h occasions
. was P
O
It has now been shown that by the start
the company itself! In 1905 Eid estimatgguOut amount of rural indebtedness
may have exceeded
financed by _ war the total over ,€E44,ooo,ooo,
this variety at £EI0,752,72o_s But bY 1912 ———i.e. a mortgage debt ofjust
standing debts of and a sum
volume of land sales had reduced th e Sum to balance of land sales of £E2,ooo,ooo, and other
E58,0007o0O
the decline in the an outstanding cultivators to usurers
owed by small
just over ,(,‘E2,ooo,ooo.° both unwilling and unable t of money On the assumption that
Peasants were generallydid they fear any arrangerne 0 mort.
‘ of at least ,€Ei2,ooo,ooo. interest at the rate of
only which first two categories carried
age their lands. Not of their property lpt debts in the (the legal rate), and that those in the third
the eventual seizure er cent a year
might lead to the large companies did no; ggrtletrl‘? this total must have represented
annual
at 25 per cent,‘
was also the fact that a
paid debtors of almost ,€E6,7oo,ooo.
On the basis
which were small enough to meet f ayments by the seem
agree to provide sums the usfluah amount of information
available it would
continued to obtain loans from of the limited money on the
needs.7 Thus they of those who had raised
rerg
secured such an entrenched position for them that the majority their instalments with-
who had land were able to meet
Isma'il’s reign. In such a situatiolfelvis it 15 security of their in 1911, a year when
in the villages during attempts to difficulty. For example,
that contemporary a out too great the Crédit Foncier was
impossible to suppose more than glilit over ,€E28,ooo,ooo,
this sort were anything its loans totalled ,€E84,ooo.= Those who
figure to debts of only forced to expropriate
land worth
the government comrriission whsiei; well off, and many of
them
the one exception being arid to usurers were less
among small cultivators in 1913 owed money
forced to pay most of their
available income to
examined indebtedness to usurers by the owners of must have been which undoubtedly
owed this is a situation
which placed the amount at ,€EI2,123,i89,8 their creditors. However,onwards, and it would be wrong to use
or less
properties of five feddans obtained from
the 1870s
condition was any
which made loans to the poorer fella- to conclude that their
The only institution
Bank, a private enterprise created the size of their debts
heen was the Agricultural W orse off in
1914. than in previous years.
lent out ovcr
years of its existence it
in 1902. In the first six loans of up to
either in short-term
,€Eio,ooo,ooo in small sums,
1907-1910
of MUSTAFA MANZALAWI,
longer term ones on the security 5. THE ESTATES 0 F
{E20 on signature or in restricted in response to agriculture after 1880 has
land.9 However, operations
were then So far the discussion of Egyptiannow be useful to close this
the total of arrears. A second factor was the at- been of a general nature.
It will estate.
an increase in were operation of one particular
that requests for fresh loans chapter by considering the
tempt which was made to ensure had shrunklending
belonging
comes from a letter-book a record
scrutinized more closely.° By
I91 1-12 new Once again, information
while a year later activities
came On this occasion it containshis Greek
to only just over ,€E6oo,ooo,'° to the Manzalawi family. and
Mustafa Manzalawi
of correspondence between 1910, giving details
' 336?, Hifl ou qflandownmhip’ p. io3. 1907 and April
3 De Chamberet,
p. 65. nazir between September of his lands. Unfortunately,
1 Ibid., p. I04.
crises de 1907 at 1908 on Egypt: (Nancy. of the day-to-day management
‘ Uganda F-, 14: Fluctuation: dc: prix et la: 5 Ci-essaty, p. 196. average rate for local
usurers.
5 Eid, p. H4.
' A.S. 1914, p. 509. ‘ Nahas (p. ii 5) describes this as an
V909)» P- 20-
’ Nah”: P- "4" (GB). 1 Papasian, pp. 237, 239.
Bank of Egypt’
9 Harvey, ‘Memorandum regarding the Agricultural 82ln43
T
‘° 45'. 191;, p. 588.

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275
T/ze Growl/z of t/ze Economy 1880-1914, Agriculture
974 financial
are illegible but enou h it provide s of the very tight
many of the letters 6
[ea (1
aibout how fucfiagnb(Estate ne is
the €.Vl dence the management of his
provide interesting i nformation d by Manzalawi over
WE: Control
CXCTCISC
from cotto n sales or rents were
run. a rule the proceeds very little cash was
1882 and 1907 Mustafa M estates. As to him in Alexandria,
Some time between hed at once ' constantly to rely on
abandoned his activ
ities as a cotton broker. But altgnlalawi
0u self, and the nazir had
large current expense.
Alexandria, he still exercised co ntrol E cl to him to meet any
continued to live in funds being returne disposal of his tenants’
near Abu ‘l-Sir in Gharbiya province_ Th. _ 0V
control also exte
nded to the
his estate Manzalawi’s had two important advantages.
family land as well as 2'8
°°lI1Clllded an arrangemen t
400 feddans of Manzalawi in 1905 fedda, cotton. Such of ensuring th at all rents were paid promptly,
In addition, and
belonging to his wife.feddans from a neighbour]-n ‘905, if not a means
It was It also meant that th e tenants .
themselves secured a
before, he rented 200 wuqfat just fu11_ the nazir was careful to see that it
was increased to 455 (‘Edi in '
e for their cotton,
for
under {E6 a feddan. Thisleast 1,050 feddans’ of in
r9o7_ graded.
aned and properly the dependence of the estate
giving him a total of at ,6E7 a feddan_
whiéépls s°Ine
It 0 the letters illustrate
tenants at Hence, on 2 March
per cent was let out to fields, and then
seem
lied by various contractors. cleaning wheat and
his own e
that he leased most of Tentltfuld were employed on
to grow cotton as the stat e of ms funds such workers had increased to
extra land on which ' The next day this number
I cotton. of workers receiving only
allowed. the majority
the estate roduced over I of cotton. Wa es were low, hours in the fields.
During 1907 177 for ten to twelve difficulties
Of this amount, 1,120
iiantars were sdld1)°i§a‘g:rs for two p iastres raised by the correspondence is the
the Alexandria exporielfilber A final p oint of the estate by the Egyptian
,(,‘E6,o75 to an agent of Ouse. of d on the management
have been of very hi h had lost large sums of
Carver Brothers. It must crisis of 1907. Manzalawi as
for it was purchased forgmquahtl’. financial of his stocks and shares,
probably joannovitch, R)‘ 542 a money fr om
the decline in the value which he had been
Alexandria quotation factory
cantar, at a time when the .G°°d the failure of a soap to
was only Pt, 35 i I: well as from and he was often unable
Fair Brown, the standard grade, attempting to s tart in Alexandria, re quired. From May
Pt. 8 a cantar at l\5/fanz rlor his lands
delivery it was ginned locally for rovide the working
capital
nazir contained a
hand, was,so1d to tzawls every letter from the
expense. The seed, on the other 1908 onwards almost But little was forth-
from the cotton cro ea?“ us meet pressing exp enses.
owner for ,€E588-9.1 Gross profits plea for money to land-tax could only
,€E22 a fifdd June instalment of the
came to just over ,€E6,650, or approximately coming. Thus, the in _]uly it was found
In addition, Manzalawi received at least £E3,ooo from reiilis sale of wheat, while
be met out of the cereals rather than
sale of his maize, wheat, and agricultural labour in
and an uncertain sum from the necessary to pay for the irrigation pumps had stopped
details of the who]
birrim. The letter-book does not contain money. In the meantime many of the contractors went
to October I90; fuel, while
year’s expenses. But those for the period June working for lack of 'ble to get the cot-
of the autumn, it was possi
‘:0 :6-E2»035i including £E88o for instalmentslabour unpaid. Later, in the
next land-tax instal-
Egllgutnted for transported and the
- 8-X, {E277 for local labour, and
,€E6r8 ton crop picked and a local ginner.
a large loan from
by various contractors. ment paid only after the period covered by the
two situation persisted throughout
e correspondence is less complete for the following
sugpllied
to raise a number of interesting points correspondence.
years, but it continues
-
Fair
I The '“’°"‘8° ¢¥P°l’t price for th4: month of December [907 for Good by
AS. 191;, p_. 398. I havetheraised this figure
B
o;:f:‘1?nt‘;“:o‘;‘§j‘wd;:’1:art;/canm- um Customs.
mad: by
for the next season’: sowing.
deduction
3 A small portion of ti:C xslielderwas retamed

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277
The Growth of the Economy, 1880-1914
to out projected government
number of enterprises carry
These included the Société
fa system of irrigation.
X in the and the Egyptian Public
reforms Travaux Publiques‘
dygntreprises et de founded in the
But the major institutions
ECQNO Works Company? after Isma'il’s abdication were two large mort-
THE GROWTH OF THE MY firs: two years Egyptian and the Land
the Crédit Foncier
I 88 0_ I 9 I 4 gandage Mortgage
companies,
Co. The former was founded
in 1880 by a
financiers and a group of Alexandria
French
INDUSTRY, SERVICES,
AND
QOMMER CE
‘ combination of
and Cairo bankers. Capital was
fixed initially at 80,000,000
raised by another 40,000,000
(£3,200,000), and then.
francs year. Of this, half was paid up} The Land
wo developments of major importance francs the following
a smaller concern with a capital
of
Igizlfcuoriled In the Mortgage Co. was
I Egyptian economy between 1880 'and . °W8.s and British moncy,4
founded mainly.with '
s ectacular rise in a ic lt has btiialrl i,ooo,ooo, overwhelming proportion
of the capital for
1dliaat1pt1t:1r(::s(.)n'l“e};e1231s was Although the rtant to
discuiied in the three pI‘CgrVlOllllS the ‘ anies was subscribed_ abroad
_ _ _
: 5 it is
‘
im130
in the investment of private Capitafi ier
n E - these new .comP cases the. initiative . wluch led to their
great increase ' - 8YDtia number of .
' con nected with transactions 5: note that in a . it was the
companies ; P articularl Y those
was taken in Egypt itself. Sometimes
foundation been recruited into
rural land. Much of th E“1_‘°P€—alrnost as the Europeans who had
raisedeaxsfoieg’ 33:16 Rim t 6 Period as that box work of one of reign. One such was A. E.
large a Sum was government service
during Isma'il’s
the country in 1877 as
rowed by the Khcdivc Ismael i — biriglit a considerable who had come to
amount
- Garwood a Welshman Administration and who was
il35€1f- In this wa Railway
derived from savings Within EgYPt were closely iIlter}i‘l:l::o:-1“ chief engineer of the
of the Anglo-Egyptian
“hers: the W0 df3V€l0p_ments responsible for the creation
of the in. partially Co., as well as of the Egyptian Public
$;':Ypresent chapter will begin with a description Coal, Iron, and Machine
go on to consider the effect of was the role played by Raphael
vestment boom. ‘It will then Works Co!’ More significant important group ofJewish and
on in_ but
company-promotion and agricultural development Snares, a member of a small
It was he
chapter will conclude with a long established in Egypt.
dustry and foreign trade. The Greek banking families financiers in the idea
interesting French
discussion of the role of the Government and the forei n Com- \ who was responsible for took a leading part in the
the tinfe and who
munity in the industrial and commercial life of 1 of the Crédit Foncier, sugar refinery at
money, of a small
establishment, with local the first enterprise he was
1881.7 In
IN EGYPTIAN Hawamdiya near Cairo in main field of activities
I. THE GROWTH OF CAPITAL INVESTED ‘ of foreign companies whose
not refer to branches in Egypt
PUBLIC COMPANIES was elsewhere. 8 (Nov. igii),
en Egypte', E.C., no.
1 Charles Roux, I-‘., ‘Le Capital francais
Investment in Egyptian companies before 1893 _ . P- 484- Life at Home and Abroad (Newport,
- . _
direction 1 Garwood, A. E., Fury Tears of an Engineer’:
Isma il s abdication and the increased European
c- 3

Foncier p. :4.
°f : aré_c1i}tl Egyiptien,
-
large-scale foreign investment in Egyptian companies, ms t» PP- 315-1 ofsharcs and debentures
in Egyptian oompu-ii:
_ ' - - was to C911‘
5 For an estimate of the amount
; 53.
pclél in pf
an orei
eratfin c?mEr:)ameSxwh°se
Pnnc1l_’al Purpose l maid in Egypt and abroad, see Table .
the creation
I18 In gypt. One form this took was
‘‘ Garwood, pp. 1 9, I54.
duct 0 P
. _ _
i F th I bmh p. 37.
E8;£fi a: gomlpmii for “Z remainder of this chapter. This classification does 2
as

V1
i JEAL; __

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273 The Growth of the Economy, 1880-1914

‘V Industry, Services, and Commerce 279
three bankers and merchants, Israel
TABLE 53 fined by
. an . a va 0.‘
alli Ale§a(r:1d1‘Siap
Aggignévtktlfi of 11,882 brought this short period offoreign interest
Paid-up Capital and Debentures 0f in
Showing Amount Held Abroad C0’”PI‘11"i‘5_0P9Tating
and Amount eld in Egypt, 9[it _ tgan economy to a close. Banks, already hard hit by the
1333‘, -9'4‘ In in government bonds, had to
(£E,ooo) (Afler Crouohley) Egyfi) the lucrative market
end further. A number of companies,
‘at their activities still
1835 1392 189\ .resm§'n the Société d’Entreprises et dc Travaux Publiquesf
mclu
- Id Held in ER {grid into liquidation; others only narrowly escaped. In
wire ntext it is significant that the Alexandria and Ramleh
Held Held 11: H: Held in
Type of abroad Egypt Total abroad
‘brad Egypz Total
comp“), Ex"),

425 4.547
Tm“
thlilcg, Co. was saved from bankruptcy by the intervention of
Mom,” 3,4... 425 3.826 4.122 5.543 4.5 Rm
Bankinll
5 ' we ‘J,e:1thy merchants, Zervudachi and Salvago.3 As often
68! 93 774 681
mgpcncd, income derived from cotton was relatively un-
finnncill 1.843 1.845 93
Agricultural] 7"
368 350 could be used to support enterprises
fi‘ cted by the crisis and
.30 180 221 589
“hm Ind 932 I ‘3
"
Transport]
5“ '45 ‘45 ‘-351 367 The two mortgage compames
of the economy.
can 5* 2'2 ' B 31 ether
In 0 sectors
Annuities
1...1...m.1/
mining] x erienced considerable difficulty at this period.
under-
commercial 669 669 915 856 1.271 2.974 509 mg alsofulhpaid, expropriation proceedings had often to be
7.326 11.409 9,475 rfitn at great expense, and land taken over had to be farmed
5.975 605 6.580 6.085 1.242
mus
when no purchasers could be
T by the companies themselves
found, Thus, in 1888, a year in which its paid-up capital and
to just under £E3,ooo,ooo, the Credit
debentures amounted
feddans which
Foncier found itself in control of nearly 20,000
also had
cost over ,5E500,000 a year to manage! The companies
190! 1907 I914

who were
Type of Held Held in Held
abroad
Held in
Egypt Total
Held
abroad
Held in
Egypt Tom
to face the problem of competition from Egyptians
coupon abroad Egypt Total
for opportunities to invest their money now that other
looking
losses on a
Mona-ze 9.601 924 10.525 34.090 5.590 39.680 48.369 6.200 $4,569 outlets were closed. For these reasons they sustained
8.095 3.229 2.498 5.727 number of years’ i11 and
financial 1.770 522 2.292 4.895 3.200
to su er mmtht;c12:-lte
Other institutionsoperagon: epresse ons1i59t:;.5
188osd congiatrily in e
urban land 2,096 878 2.974. 7,135 12,221 19,356 7,261 11,312 18,573
agricultural sector were those formed to exploit large estates.
2.327 5.947 3.988 2.088 6.076
Chélu, in his book Le Nil, le Soudan, l’Egypta, mentions four
3.24:. 725 3.970 3.620
I08!
commercial 5,418 1,101 6,159 7,170 6.928 14,093 8,406 6,801 15,207 which failed between 1878 and 1891, including the French-
owned Kom al-Akhdar Company, which was wound up in 1888
after spending more than ,€Er,ooo,ooo in an effort to farm
22,130 4,150 26,280 56,910 30,266 87,176 71,253 28,899 1oo.1_-,2

30,000 feddansfi Companies formed to reclaim and _then sell

Somme: Cnoucbley, A. E., The Investment q/'Fam'g11 Capital in Egmtiau Companies and
waste land were only a little more successful. The pioneer 111
Debt. Ministry of!-‘inanoe, Technical Paper, no. in (Cairo, 1936). pp. 148.
P0611‘;
154- . this field was the Aboukir Company, which was created t0
N0'l_'l: a. The ‘ Credit Foncier Egyptien, p. 6.
swcm that 0. gross additions to capital Im the capital in liquidated compames. 1 Charles Roux, ‘Le Capital frangais’, p. 4.84.-
The Suez Canal Company in not included_ 3 Cameron, D. A., ‘Memorandum on the Interim Report of the Inter-depart-
mental Committee on the Protection of British Companies Abroad’, 1.4. July 1313,
p. .0; 10,0, 39./25/3, 4 Credit Foncier Egypucn, p. 16.
6 Chem, 1:. 187-
s Ibid., p. 16.

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‘j
230 The Growth of the Economy, I830-I914 Industry, Services, and Commerce 28:
to a Scots agronomist in in spite of an agricultural crisis of con-
exploit a concession given May 18 87 cupation. Thus,
to drain Lake Aboukir, near Alexandria. During
the rst Qgcrablc magnitude in 1394 when cotton reached its lowest
handicapped by a before the American Civil War, there was a large
years of its existence it was severely short
si
ice sinceEuropean capital into Egyptian enterprises in. 1895
plots of reclaimed land at
of funds and was forced to sell vase of
H7 1Pnrfl ux Money from Europe played a prominent role in the
low rates.‘ _ _ d 1395
in Egyptian com of the companies established to construct light agri-
In these conditions new investment an. ‘is
standstill. According to_Crouchlcy’s Efi mationrailways.‘ But Just as was the interest
came almost to a estim 3 ; Rural important
of their paid-up abroad in the efforts of Egyptian and foreign finan.
contained in Table 53, the amount capital ctlfown creating concerns having to do with some aspect of
than ,€Ei,ooo,ooo from Igagmd
debentures increased by less 5. at
1892. Only two types of enterprises can be said to have prom of rural land. In 1394. the Behera Company,
the exploitation
had previously been occupied with government-contract
pered during this period and -to have attracted new invcstgbt.s. hich to change its purpose
One was the ginning and pressing
of cotton and the manufactu work asked for and received permission
of cotton-seed oil. The other was the business of undertakige :2 thét of land reclamation. W.h1lC in i896 a combination of the
government public-works contracts. This became particular] most powerful Alexandria banking houses, Suares Fréres,
three Figlio
profitable after the abolition of the corvée, when the dredgin L_ Menasce, d’Egypte to operate an estate of
of major canals was handed over to private firms. In addition fgunded the Société Fonciere
province purchased from the State
there was a certain amount of activity in the Alexandria area’ 5250 feddans in Giza
d’Irrigation to establish
conducted for the most part by cotton merchants and bankers. fiomains, and the Société Egyptienne
station at Nag Hamadi on the Nile.‘ Another
and assisted, it may be supposed, by the money which many 0} a pumping
them received as compensation for the destruction of property established in 1896 was the Société _Anonyme
company d’Egypte, the purpose of which was to
during the riots and bombardment of 1882. As a rule it took the Agricole et Industrielle
as irrigation, drainage, the manu-
undertake such activities
shape of forming companies to manage large buildings which
facture and of manure, and the transformation of agri-
were leased as offices or shops, a practice which had begun in
1874. with the establishment of the St. Mark’s Building Asso- ltural prodsale
uce.3
almost
ciation and the Société Immobiliére d’Alexandrie.1 Another cuThC funds for these and other enterprises came
In 1897 the amount of foreign money
enterprise of the same type was the Alexandria Bonded Ware. wholly from abroad.
out of a
house Co., founded in 1888 by the directors of Carvers’, the invested in Egyptian companies was ,€Ei 1,912,000,
3,885,000.
cotton-exporters, and the merchants F. Allen and G. R. total of paid-up capital and debentures of {E1
out of
Alderson.3 In almost every instance, however, the amount of Five years later this sum had increased to ,€E24,642,ooo
began to
capital involved was small. Funds were limited and there was ,QE26,28o,ooo.4 English investors, in particular,
in Egypt. One sign of this the foundation
no great confidence in Egypt’s economic future. show great interest was
for a
in London in 1899 of two syndicates to provide capital
and
The baomjears, 1893:1907 number of Egyptian subsidiaries, the Egyptian Syndicate
the work of_a leading
Egyptian business activity began to revive in the early 1890s, the New Egyptian Co.5 Another was
stimulated, in the first instance, by the rise in land values and English financier Sir Ernest Cassel, who was active in promot-
There
the growing feeling of security engendered by the British ing several Egyptian enterprises on the London market.
was also a considerable purchase of shares
‘ Lang Anderson, ‘The reclamation of Lake Aboukir’, in Int. Fed., Ofi oialRzporl
qftlu Vin’! mic Dzlzgalion. . . to Egpz, pp. 234-5. panies by Belgian and French investors. In addition, Alexandria
3 British Chamber of Commerce of Egypt, List Qf Financial, Manufacturillgs 3 Papasian, pp. 442-3. ’ W585‘: P 355-
‘ See pp. 214-15. _
Tmupm and other Campaiia: Established in Egyfl (Alexandria, june 1901), pp. 9-18- 5 Rzcueil consulam, vol. 108 (1900), P. 2%.
‘ Sec Table 53_
3 Cameron, ‘Memorandum on the Interim Report’ (GB), p. 8.

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‘r
282 The Growth of the Economy, 1880-1914 233
Industry, Services, and Commerce
one of the leading co
benefited from the fact that, as ercia1 and business premises, but the majority
were concerned
was a natural repository for
centres of the Levant, it ‘honey hOP5: sites and then to resell them as
soon as
of Syria, and to obtain urban
which the bankers and landowners Asia simP1Y from a number of sources show
that
the Ottoman EmpireIM1noi- re able. Examples
were unwilling to place inside they a profit of 100 per cent on trans-
the way did investors eesi-d weften possible to make
after foreigners had shown .Y it 0
within a few months.‘
exten was 0f the latter kind
Egypt begin to support local companies to any large actions om land companies, money was also placed, in, the_
gained in intensity int- t fr
The boom in company-promotion in the the banks and other credit insti-
Rural land Valu Aglzghment or expansion of
the great expansion in trade and
the twentieth century.
early years of con. needed to finance
tinued to rise ; cotton yielded higher and higher dividenfl estgons
fill 1 for 10 per cent of the increase in
the Aswan erce——this accounted and 1907. Transport under-
reconquest of the Sudan, the completion of Ethe co::1r:,aid.up capital between 1898
and the Anglo-French Agreement of 1904 all reinfoi-Q dam, .cent,.and a of firms grouped
prose the gkings, took another 8 per yariety
impression that Egypt was to have a peaceful and Cmuchley under the _]O1nt
title of industrial, mining
and
future. In the seven years after 1900, 160 new companieperous bY cent. As a general rule firms in the last
Were 18 per
formed, representing a paid-up capital
of
£543,335 0:0. Of commercial’ with activities directly connected
553,000 ’a were concerned either with
these, no less than 119, with a capital of {E32, as food-processing, or
c8:t;,g(¢)}:: agricultural sector, such
ed between 1905 and 1907.1 In addition, there was a ;,,§sl?§ai. the large towns, for example the provision of
:33 development of
able increase in the resources of existing companies‘ (1)er. telephones and electricity.
In addition, there was some ex-
again, a major proportion of investors’ money was placednfe in three of Ilgypt’s traditional
pansion in the capital placed
concerns connected in some way with rural land_ Mort ain cotton-ginning and pressing, the manufac-
factory industries,
companies were the most important recipients, In thegtge sugar-refining,‘ as well as in the estabhsh-
ture of cigarettes, and
years, 1898 to 1907, they accounted for 46 per cent of the i? ment of the two cotton
mills.
crease in paid-up capital and debentures! Another 26 per Gen;
of the increase involved in land companies. The latter included Thefinanoial crisis‘ of 1907
a variety of enterprises. Some were concerned with the reclama. its height in 1905 and 1906
The investment boom reached market
tion of waste areas; others with the purchase of large tracts The ever-rising stock
in an excess of speculative fever.
of land and their resale in smaller lots, the exploitation of certainty. Credit was simple to
made quick profits almost a or
purchase property
their own estates, or die provision of credit with which to obtain and people who borrowed to
finance sales of property. Companies dealing in urban land had only to wait a few weeks before selling at a profit.
shares
are also included in this category. The last activity was particu. were needed for a man to
Only the most minimal of resources
Land companies sold land
larly lucrative in the early years of the twentieth century, when engage in this lucrative commerce.
shares, often
the rapid growth of the foreign population and the Europeaniz- for very small deposits; banks lent liberally on ;3 value
and prosperity of wealthy Egyptians, combined with a taking them at their market rather than at their nominal
311011.
scarcity
of building land in
ofmodern housing, meant that plots second or even third mortgages could be readily obtained.
an in-
Cairo and Alexandria became increasingly valuable. A num- Foreign securities were largely ignored, but there was
and many new companies
ber of companies were formed to erect European-style houses, satiable appetite for Egyptian issues,
make huge
‘E.T._7.,i,no.3i 7A .1 _ were formed merely to allow their promoters to
, . a premium on the
1 Crouchlcy, sums of money by unloading the shares at
EZYPP5-I1 Companies can be found in A.S. 1910, pp. 327-32, and Egypt, Minintére 1 See, for example, Recueil consulaire, vol. I ig (1902), p. 300, and Egyptian Gczut,
d“F“'3“°°S:S‘4m-Wlwdexwlcws niobililm trailJ¢:dlaBour.roduCai'u. . .p¢ridan1l¢: I A.S. 1914, pp. 530-1.
3,
aakn_9o6—7(CairO i9o8 ) , PP , 20-3 i 5 Dec. 1906. .
1 See Table 53. 3 Ruwil mmulam, vol. 141 (i908), pp. 93-4..

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-“oi rt,

234 The Growth (f the Economy, 188o—19;4 Industry, Services, and Commerce 235
able to
greedy market, or b)’_ m3«11iP“l:t_i“E the Price of f0 undcl-as .5h6d for several years before their owners were
such cases prices were riven up out of all pro Portion uflmfl fresh advances, while new building activity was greatly
shares.'l)ili
OSS1 e revenue. obtafflted 1 Again, the number of bankruptcies applied for in
to
restr1C Li, increased from 310 in 1907 to 520 in 1908 and 546
1; ket was quic y ransmi e 0 ur _ 1. th€ GT3; Equally significant, there was a decline in luxury
Paris, already much distuzrhihliidirfig land fell sharply.‘ As for the
l:J:.I[l1l(S(:I(‘)SC innlibrndon and ' The price of urban
{D 196';
the largest employer of
frenetic speculation in and to tighten 1InP°r 3 es in the building industry,
Alexandigla gypt to imit
Claire, credit: The position in the
and to call on their branches in advances;
M workemuzvlrcg reduced by a small amount.5
forced to try and realize their labour, Those who had contracted loans to
people were at once
' °
assay side is less clear.
't 1 to meet their instalments
d all °°“",:z,e land often found it diflicult
genc)’, _ Plfllrecn they fell due.‘ And if Mustapha Manza1awi’s is a typical
suspension of accelerated W on the stock exchange
by a bad harvest and payments b proprietors who had lost money
thgtarnporary casC experienced diflicnlties in providing their estates
:3“Se;
I
an 3.
cfrdreditl institutions energeticall soue hot
obtain new
,t have
‘
urchase of agricultural
mac 1nery.7
’
n e 0 er an , 1t is
return
0rlfuilslV aaiirhes already made The sale of sharles theg ctihe oubled in
la an of them being unloaded outside th I-‘l3 were directly affecte Y C 2 ’P Y
we“ to buy land which they now found
lililumihnilr iioted rice The Panic had its effcc te ours?ISSUES tered into obligations
ffi(.l:]t :1 ' rqcom P aiiiies as well as on the mores lnhthe
auve boom- A more serious problem was provided by the
(ciljlfficult to meet.
0' output in 1908, although
umc f-ord: nd accordin to Crou hl Pecli cw 61°55 °" ti” decline in the value of agricultural
market v °u:1an°is’1f h, b tw gm
o a s an Cd to even here the eflect was probably not a longlasting one. Some
well over ug
,5 are: T; Stem 9o}'l; frgo9_ amounted
was llelght. evidence of this comes
from. the fact that there was only a
_e in the imports of such widely purchased
ened by the unexpecte 13,ooo,oo:.d ecision fotslpe fieixe odcgsis ofAPpea1 momentary
0' ourt co .
redu<1:t131n
in ‘April 1908 that a company which was formed with the sole ds as cotton
object of exploiting an enterprise in Egypt must be considered goglgyptian business did not fully recover from the effects of
War.
as Egyptian, and thus needed a. Khedival. decree before it the e co nornic crisis until after the start of the First World _
could start operations, a ruhng which had serious consequences In I911, for instance, the price of Cairo building land was still
for the many companies which had been registered abroad for only half that of its boom-time peak,” while a study of the
the purpose of avoiding certain local regulations} Those that Egyptian stock market on October 1912 has revealed that
were unable to reorganize themselves were forced into liquida- shares in land companies, both urban and rural, were being
tion; and main quoted at more than 12 per cent below their nominal value,
companies,thisor -six and those in financial concerns at 46 per cent below.° The
thein alrleasondfor
, wi pai -up capit wort
,€E8,222,ooo, wound up their affairs between 1907 and 1914.4 only establishments which were able to return to anything
of particular severity ‘Cl ,M.,LeC','C', ,. .
I Figiiil: from the ziiiiiulal l‘ea;::‘tS!(9)l?3 ofjustice.
thTltie efl'ect1.:{anythefcfi
e owns. 0 ise ibwcirlpfifslt
u egun in 1907 remamei:
gs vgith 3 See, for example, Rapport: commerciawr, 1911, no. 955, ‘L’Egyptc', p- 52-
4 Remit mimlaire vol. 14.6 (1909) p. 14.. 5 A.S. 1914, p. 376.
' _For n dacription of the financial crisis see Crouchley, 77:: Investment tz_fFo1:ign 7 AS. 1914. P- 203-
6 A.E.M. 1, no. 3’ (15 Nov. igo7)., p. 37.
‘7‘’»‘’‘’‘'’’ PP- 54‘9? MM‘ "WM": ‘'01-= 141 (I908). pp- 93-5; Arminjon. PP- 539-
Capital, p. 15:.
‘ Taylor, I’. S., ‘Prosperity in Egypt’, in African World Annual 1911 (London,
616; and I-égr_ar_:d, ch. 1. _ The Imam q/'Fom'gn 20 Dec. igi 1), p. 4.5. .
’ M““5“V °f.l“3‘|°¢» Rtfi mforlhcymr rgro (Cairo, 1911), pp. 24-25. . _
* E3VPt>
Crouchlcv. The Inmtmenz qfFmign Capital, p. 65. A number of thae companies
9 Econornidei, j. G., ‘Essai sur les valeurs mobilieres en Egypte’, E.C., no. 132,
were later refioated under another name. (Jan- I932).l1=- 70-

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Economy, 188o—1_9,4
286 The Growth of the Industry, Services, and Commerce 937
of activity were th
P1‘ e-i9o7 level
approaching their nies. Trade continued at a h is of to
survive by turn-
°°‘“P“‘
and the mortgagereq“i’°d level nu be}: a.tten_io p azttble
other frilrrgs iéve: ions the.crisis
merchandise, principally
cultivators still 1‘;:‘f‘5§° “”°(Y1”b‘h‘1’“‘d‘° gro
c in eman y an
ingheir in
to cultivators, and, if necessary,
_ a Cotton’ atdvancing5“lmotfiey
while m0rt833°5 werctiihu securifY of their Proiivglers to 0113 the °_°_ °r°If3- Apart from the fact that this
institmi0nstY ndertaklflg
to raise money onesult both types of C“ hem to participate in the activities of a sector of the
As could ‘7 which had suffered little from the financial crisis of
earlier debts. and together they acc n.
ainirestors the additional advantage in that such business
time to am-actr155 er dent of the net addition tgunted for it had
. °apitai-
,€EI4,339»°°°»°.
...2;;:;.i2:
W°:*:°:::::“;,?.:..
went tofxlstmg gigdeiii thdse years.‘ Shares
0 and,
five new
19073 C] only the temporary use of the firm’s capital.‘
require

l,a,;i;ipatian in companies, 18934914

' anciluéieebentllre5 ‘Local.
The extent of
investment in Egyptian
in the investment boom and
companies fowl‘ subSCF1'b C d ab T03d. , Investment by 1
were almost _entirely . . . drasl-1CamY b)’ the shoclicii‘ aftermath canloctpl
e par1t(ic(i1pati(;n
e at rom two
points of view. The
its
residents haV1ng been dlmlmshed firs: of these contcelrlns
plpe of Egyptian capital devoted
analrniount
ebentiires in Egyptian
I907.1 _ ingly business confidence remained at a 10w to the
purchase o_ s Companies_
Not surprls
a situation which was not assisted
by the failure of
“"0
e
bb
old: crouchlev Pu.“ 1‘ ataresE
This was
£ 4»‘5°:°°° In I902 and :€E30,256,ooo
sizeable advance and represents
the Bank °f Egypt and the in 1907.1 V}/161')’
established cnterprises’. merchant neady 40 per cent 0aft t e total amount of capital subscribed
house of Zervudachi’S, In 191 1» f°“_T Years after the worst Qfth five years. It that by 1907 the proportion of
durjngthose
cn'sis_: Nevertheless, there were still a few entrepreneurs wimf
meant
Foremost among these was shares in Egyptian C0mP3J11C§ h_elc_1 abroad had declined from
ing to start new enterprises. the ‘S F0 note that these
Hugo Lindemann, _who continued 78 t0 5’ if?“ fem‘: However’ 1; by’mP°”a‘n,t
German cotton merchant re 0 hving in Egypt, not
people
in a number of directions. In this he figures er
to expand his interests _itnoncY Xlryctltste
assistance from the Deutsche Orient Bank, an
received much
been founded _only in 1905, was
institution which, having i‘)ers(idlent in the cou%:ry.’Mostei)f ti)ii:ei:gaIpi:.l:}d::)es1:l:ic'lyi)d:nxP‘an
long
other obligations with which
largely free of the bad debts and facilities for ginning and pressing cotton was su H db f -
With its capital and credit
the other banks were encumbered. owned out
of profits, while
was in a particularly good position to seek new
still intact, it cerns asex;1)1ortAlliouses
derived most of his profit
business.‘ The fact that Lindemann Alexandria Waterworks also came from this same source!
Income from this
from cotton was clearly no coincidence. Again, half the shares of the National Bank of Egypt, founded
by the crisis and provided
source was, of course, unimpaired C. M. Salvago &'Co., the
cotton-exporters,
colleagues with the funds to found a
him and several of his }I:KI15i‘98,
3 1‘0mcgme reres & Co.5 There is some evidence, however,
uar (f\:Is‘(i?m
enterprises in the years just before the that at the turn of the century a number of Muslim Egyptians
number of different
First World War, among them his own Egyptischc Egrenir- :1‘: C1‘:Pt5 bcg_an to use the profits they _were making from
Fabriken founded in 19m,‘ and the Egyptian Shoe Company 3 C“ We to invest in Egyptian compames,° although it is
established the same year by the owners of the house of Bally ' Wright I p - 31 4- a _See Table 53.
Fréresfi In this context it ought also to be mentioned that a - for example,
3 566. . .
I _ excludes debentures. In their case the proportion held abroad
' C|'°ud11€_Y. dedi::IgfThis 82 cent only.
‘ Camerom peg‘um on the Interim Report’ (GB) ’ pp ' 4,, yo'
1 Twin: (Financial Supplement), I9 Oct., II Nov. 1911. '0“; to
cmoran
' .
5 Natio al B nk
4 War Trade Dept, ‘Report on the Policy Adopted in Restraint and Liquida- m Natumal Bank ef Emu, :89e~x943 (Cairo n.d.,
tion of Enemy Trade’ (Eg.).
’ .7W'M10fin'cl, no. 18 (14. Feb. I912) (Supplement) (Eg.). ‘.0: pfimgrdmj-miozilr)
For references see p. 269, note 7

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1?’
239
“98°"9’4 Industry, Services, and Commerce
Tli6 Growth
0f the EW”"”‘}"might have
much this the liquidation of one or two concerns
been '
. dds forced to them at a time
ggest 1,10 b made ab t
sharchol 5 of getting their capital returned
eilicizastlion whlli‘ hajhztilres ewere boiigohut }3?.mrl:c.hl°Y’s
S
a mean . c 0 f their shares was well below par.‘ As a result,
w ere the pI'lC
h t, even 0 do this
was often _borrgwed1%en When -on of capital held in Egyptian companies by
from just
_ mon r through some
foreign bank. the P. d foreigners resident in Egypt declined
‘“ Egyp ’- er directl)’ ° uggest what sort of sums 00 in 1907 to just under 30
per cent in 1914.
S er cent
ssible to migflet is to
50 P d way of looking at Egyptian participation
fian companies reached ~ Scam enterprise played an
volvcd' .
In
A sc companies in which local
Local investment 1 e .p"3~
gives an estimate of thlts 1e_ Very generally, these were of two types. First,
filstri. ortant 1' O
ea]; in 1907- Tab 6.34 capita1 in 5“? Cat 1-mP in which almost all the capital was
were com? anies Crouchley identifies thirty-three
there inside the country.
u
TABLE 54 subscribed in with paid-up capital and debentures worth
S 1900, of small
Such firglogg} These included a very large numberassets, the
, .
""""‘“"” Dciliifiiii go; (£E,ooo> (After
-
Crouchl e y) ‘°”"“"
.
Holdings of Paid-up Capital in E
E2’o?,i;s ’ as well as
compa
four with more substantial
Light Railway Co., the Société
h Land Co., the Fayoum I A
et de Depots, and the land company,
Ht” lbw”,
Held in Egypt
g:..ierr:ie cle Pressages d’Egypte. Another large company
Total
_
Shares Debentiu-3 the Société des Immeubles was the National
which Crouchley does not mention
Debentura To, .1
shim
TYPE of com!-WW .090 884 4.70‘ of-this gypc at Alexandria in 1900 with a capital of
7'”
mm 31.895 3.200 Insurance Co., founded which included the owners
a board of directors
£200,000 and
of the town’s leading banks and cotton-
of almost every one
dfi;lnm 1.960 367
,:,,,, 1,826 3.260 “,7
T 5,9,, export houses.3 In the same year there were forty-five com-
3,007 7.170 6.134 594 »
in;iouI;¢Irni:/ud1§*i"5"5/ the bulk of which was
41,5, panies with a capital of ,€Er9,io8,ooo,
56,910 22,763 7,503 it is impossible to learn very
subscribed abroad.4 Unfortunately
SM“
“I360 3,_5_.,°
i companies in
j much about local holdings of shares in Egyptian
P’ 154' which followed. But it seems safe to assume that a
Souncr Crouchley. 77" 1'""“"“"‘ "fF°"ig" Capital’ the years
founded and
companies were the number of large concerns continued to be both
car. It shows that land financed by Egyptians or foreign residents in Egypt. A list
of
enterpfise for that Y of Egyptian funds, followed by the the country’s second
t o ular repositories _ . _ , such firms would almost certainly include
mining, and commercial . Local
ldiifedpbgg of firms, ‘industrial, largest mortgage institution, the Land Bank of Egypt, founded
to purchase the deben-
residents showed no great inclination by the Alexandria merchants and bankers Zervudachi, Salvage,
companies, preferring, it and Aghion.5 Secondly, there were a number of enterprises in
tures put up for sale by the mortgage
for capital gains offered which money from abroad played an important part, but which
can be assumed, the greater opportunity
years before the start of owed their creation largely to the initiative of Alexandrian
by shares. Thereafter, in the seven
the amount of local money invested financiers. Among companies in this category were the National
the First World War,
in Egyptian concerns declined by nearly £EI,4,00,000."T:l1lS ' See, for example, A.E.M. i, no. i 5 (7 Feb. 1908), p. 177.
represents not only the withdrawal of funds from existing ' TIie_Inm!ment af Foreign Capital, p. 43.
of
companies but also money lost through the bankruptcy 3
4
British Chamber of Commerce, List of Companies, p. 4.8.
Crouchley, The Investment of Fonign Capital, p. 4,3.
certain others. In addition, there is some evidence that Egyptian 5 ‘Limited Liability Companies in Egypt’, in African World Animal I906 (London,
' See Table 53. 7 Dec. 19:16), p. io5.
521043 U

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.
,7 291
The Growth of the Economy,
188o—19;4 Industry, Services, and Commerce
290 was in
d th Daira Sanieh Co. In each case, th . _ Daira Sanieh Co. in 1905. The latter
h affai rs of the
, had disposed of almost all the land belong-
in
f<;i]<i{es;:n had been SW9" to Raphafil S“aréS3 but tllitifzgégal tecdilficultyi ‘t
foundation had only
been made possible as a result of. fina “C.1 al ,on1 to the Daira
Sanijaestates, but was unable to meet its
- . ado,-1 to share half the profits with the Government
on
_
assistance from Sir Ernest Cassel and some of ms
Britigl obl1E of the fact that much of the property had been sold on
business acquaintances.‘ acco}:
nt
of payment. As a result, there was some talk
in advance
Cred‘-t’ might have to transform itself into an ordinary mortgage
Companies dealing in rural land . that the possible appearance of yet another
greatest importance lany. To prevent Foncier decided to assist the Daira
Another subject of the Concerning th ompetitor, the Crédit
history between 1893 and 19,4 is °°m.Py, Co. in settling its accounts with the Government by
country’s financial H:
exploit some aspect of rural landh e Samiasing all its assets for ,€E8,0oo,ooo. The money was
raised
creation of companies to N
share of the capital invested debentures, most of which were
only did they attract a large i0t
alsn urfihé issue of
shares and
years, but their market.‘ The Egyptian mortgage
Egyptian concerns during these activities byken up on the French
exercised a considerable
influence on developments in the were the one type of enterprise not to suffer from
Some were responsible the tam allies The demand for their services
agricultural sector of the economy. :36 Einancial crisis of 1907.
reclaiming sizeable tracts of waste
ground, others were thr large, and they were able to find new investors in
remained
means by which large areas of
state land passed into the hand: without great difficulty. The Credit Foncier increased
Europe £6,000,000 in the seven years before
of private owners. Meanwhile, all contributed to the marked its share capital by over
rise in the price of rural land which took place in the last ygars Meanwhile, 111 1908, a new the Mortgage
I ,4; company,
of the nineteenth century, by providing would-be purchasers Company of Egypt, was founded by Sir Ernest Cassel Wltll a
View to encouragi g English financial interests to place
their
with almost unlimited sums of money in mortgages or some
other form of credit. money in Egyptian mortgages}
It has already been asserted that the amount of capital placed A second group of companies concerned with the exploita-
in Egyptian mortgage companies rose from ,€E4,574,0o0 in of those founded to buy and sell,
tion of rural land consisted
1892 to ,€EIo,525,ooo in 1902 and £E3g,68o,o0o in 19073 properties. A list of such
to rent out, or to reclaim agricultural
This was the result partly of the expansion of the two existing companies, with the land they owned in 1906 and 1907-8, willbe
companies, the Credit Foncier Egyptien and the Land and sources, an article in
found in Table 55. This is drawn from two
Mortgage Co., partly of the foundation of three new institu. made
the African World Annual for 1906 and a series of estimates
tions after I900. The total amount of lending on mortgage by Gabriel Baer, to which certain additions have been made.
advanced at almost the same rate, from ,€E4,434,ooo in 1897 Unfortunately the list is not complete. The Annuairc statistique
to ,€E35,465,ooo in I9o7,3 and was largely responsible for for 1910 gives the names of eleven companies dealing with
the great increase in private land purchases during those years! urban and rural land4 about which no information can be
One company, the Credit Foncier, continued to dominate the found. However, on the basis of this partial coverage, it would
field. By 1907 it possessed two-thirds of the capital invested in seem that Egyptian land companies owned at least 250,000
Egyptian mortgage institutions, and had made two-thirds of feddans of rural property between 1906 and 1908. The owner-
the loans.4 A major factor in this situation was its involvement ship of this land formed the basis of a number of difierent types
‘ National Bank of Egypt‘
Pp, |5_16_
of activities. Some companies purchased waste land, reclaimed
a‘°"§Z..T.?.§“° 5%.;
1.gn.cu1n"'a"l'hnd;”:”‘::u"’ ~ - mortsascs were ' Grouchley, The Invextrncnt of Foreign Capital, p. 56.
1 Credit Foncier Egyptien, p. 20.
on Effl fpomrtligf flfilczlyol: :1 4 A.S. 1910, pp. 327-32.
‘ 333‘: H5530!) ofLaadouawrxhip, p. 103. 3 Wright, p. 304.

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‘V
293
the E6onomJ’: 1880-1.9 1 4 Industry, Services, and Commerce
292 The Growth of- d it out to t . of practice. There was then an increasing
° '31‘: 3- Change
then eith“ to sell l C h(:II‘ : 1arl l ' t 1s’ ro duced l° m akc money from idle land by renting as much of
it 7 and 5°1dit:heiiiI1ii:d
55118165 an .
whic h they had Ob,
Small
. er also unfortunate that only isolated figures
bought large ag am farmed the land ossible. It is
i’ender1CY from
lulled land reclaimed at this period; but
parcels; others ,- the amount of
TABLE 55 exist fo found it must have been well over 100,000
which can be Land Co. was responsible for about
:1 ' Their Holdings qf Rural Prap,"J an.
those
of this, the Behera
Egyptian Lan
d . Cgmpantfl llfl fedda ns_I
1906 and 19074 75¥E:'2,_mount of capital invested in land companies
of all sorts,
in 1902 to
_.___.______2’M-—,--—',,,,,,,m
fmllnedzlion feddnnl ',—: ,’,7,’_‘:_ rural and urban, increased
from £E2,974.,ooo
of the very
both in 1907.1 This was in part a reflection
1888 ".000
£1319, 356,000 be made. For instance, in 1907 the
Aboukir Co - 994 ( ‘nearIy‘ ) ioo,ooo ts which could
' h Land Co. sold 385 feddans of reclaimed land at an
profit of
of {E1 17,808 a feddan, giving it a net
Bdml-‘I
Eff, 6
aver g a price The pages of the Anglo-Egyptian Mail are
I904 32 a feddan.3 Business was less good after
l9°‘‘ (" l°"‘l°3’::::
£E45’7 f m lcs of a similar kind. _
‘(Eel-’hlI,Pfl:Il:°A(:i'icole dudNi| went bankrupt‘, the
?g1‘1),;)_ gift Elthough a few companies
~ En risen:
I904’ 4.000
to surmount the crisis by letting out land
wm::p®. 1904 7.300
. 4 Dgvclopment Co.
cmainder were able
Nile Land In 1905 9 ’ 00° 6 -500°
Ghlrbigh B.8oo to sell, and so profiting from the
ghich they were unable
‘W5
Cheilrh Fad] Co. '9°5 l5.ooo4
Co. is a
Egypdln Patna: 1905
593.
in agricultural income. The Aboukir
um Land Investment Go. ‘9°5 In -°°° 12.3:-o continuing rise and sold
Union Funciere Prior to 1907 the company reclaimed
ginger:
W *v°°° 2.7.. case in point. of over 100 per cent. Further sales
"'u,.;..a
i‘.‘.‘i'Z.’.Egyptian
i"’..;.“:‘:’.'.. L-nda I-Id- 2906 4.793’ I , 77 feddans at a profit
sldl Salem Co. orsgvint ‘9°6 I4.5oo
then stopped, and 7,000 of the remaining 10,600 feddans
were
rate of {E5 a feddan. Largely as
1907 9-475‘
Knfr-el-Dawnr
let out to tenants at an average
soc. Ag:-icole de

the company was able to pay an

7 - - a result of the rents received,
on capital for the six years up
- -
SOURX: . . . in Egypt , in African World Annual K905, cent
1906: ‘Limited Liability Companies
__
annual dividend of 8 per
. io3—7. _
p. 125 (with additions). to 1913.5
193:3; Baa, History qfLandaummhip,
public debt and public
Nona
a. Figure for Jan. 1908, Wright, p. 355.
Foreign investment in Egypt other than in the
b. A.E.M., i. no. 13 (24,_Ian. 1908), p. 154.. companies
a figure of 8, 3o feddans. history in the
c. Ibid., no. 26 (24. Apr. 1908), p. 311, gives
5 (29 Nov. I907), p. 62. Before leaving the subject of Egypt’s financial
. Ibid., no.
one final problemwhich must be
Ibid., no. I4. (31 Jan. 1908), p. 164.. twenty years before I 91 4 there is
to Egypt
Ibid., no. 8 (20 Dec. i9o7), p. 98. mentioned. This concerns the flow of European capital
351. the pur-
‘F:-5963. Ibid., no. 29 (5 June 1908), p. for employment in financial transactions other than
on their own account.‘ As a rule, it would seem that before 1907 chase of shares and debentures issued by Egyptian companies.
were anxious to resell their land as quickly as
most companies
3 See Table 53.
1 Wright, p. 4.58.
possible to take advantage of the rising prices, but that the 3 A.E.M. i, no. 26 (24. Apr. r9o8), p. 311.
from abroad in
financial crisis and the decline in land sales which followed f According to Crouchley of the 31 land companies with capital
of Foreign
1 I - - . . . . existence in 1907, 9 had gone into liquidation by igi4.: The Inmbnm!
an.-ci.""31'.'i". ‘.’.-'.’2’.§inf ?.'§§L‘i 5f'c‘:’§'n7”pa'3.i'.‘l '§i’."'i‘:’§§‘,'.§?, °?l‘ 2'.5‘.'.i.'.:z"I,3'a°,
Capital, p. 65.
’ Lang Anderson, ‘The Reclamation of Lake Aboukir’, in Int. Fed,
the Vanou: number: of the Anglo-Egyptian Mail and the Egyptian Report afuu Vii-it qfthe Delegation . . . to Egypt, pp. 23465.
!;;d:°;;:;2d

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294 The Growth of the Economy, 1880-19”

Foreign money passed into the country in 3 Variet of
banks obtained
Local branches of European additionzfi’ ways
from their head oflice to allow them to increase their resource;
on property or cotton; private individuals gem gdvances
Egyptian lawyers and others for relending in the ‘E ds to
mortgages to landowners; insurance companies in E °rfIi of
Pt used
money from abroad to make investments in a nu
business enterprises. Another form of foreign lendlhber of
discovered by the Chief Inspector of the Ionian E1ank
Alexandria. Travelling on the Greek island of Mi 1 enc at
before the outbreak of the First World War, he fountg that lust
peasants and small landowners had entrusted Over £I
the
of their savings to intermediaries in Egypt for invest,ooo,ooo
Thent_ at
«usurious rates’_I In the nature of things it is impossibl to
give
a figure for the amount of European capital used 1}:
actions of all these various kinds; but there are a nur Sans-
of
isolated estimates. According to Eid, some ,€137,650 0001: ler I
on
ing to foreign insurance companies and private individual
used to provide mortgages on land and other pmpers W.“
In
Egypt between 1903 and 1906.‘ Again, Charles Roux 3?
that a number of large Paris banks advanced several ndlfirts
francs a year to Egyptian banks and export houses a Jon
shares or cotton.3 The amount lent by British institutionsgnimt
have been many times as large. Were it possible, sums of tliit
kind ought to be added to the public debt held abroad and t:
the European purchase of shares and debentures in Egyptian
compames, so that a proper assessment of Egypt’s total foreign
debt could be made.
2. THE DEVELOPMENT OF EGYPTIAN INDUSTRY
The structure qf employment in 1907
According to the 1907 census, 376,341 people out of a total
P°P“13-t‘1_0I1 Of 11,287,359 were then engaged in what was classi-
fied
‘as
mdustry’.4 However, for statistical purposes the word
was 1m°1'P1‘¢tCd 35 Widely as possible. It included, among other
; ‘ ‘ 1 Mazuel, Le Sucre en Egypte, p. 38.
- - , . _ mi 1'
Pp‘
7
Industry, Services, and Commerce 295
occupations, 45:5°°_ hand-100m weavers and 10,622 railway
workers._ BY °°mPa”‘°’°“ °“1Y 3 V°1‘Y few men were engaged in
factory 1nd113“'Y¢_°“d“Ct¢d _on a European scale, that is in
used sizeable quantities of capital and
establishments Wl'11Ch
contained several hundred workers under one roof. Industries
sense were confined to.cotton-ginning and pressing, the
in this COtt0Il-SCCd.01l and cakes, and two cotton
manufacture of the
mms, as well as the production of raw and refined sugar (which
employed 15,000 men in 1907), the cigarette factories (3,ooo
men), and a nuinbcr of srnall works making cement, bricks
and other building materials, and food and drink products
like alcohol, beef, and bF€ad-
already_ been described in Chapter VII, only the
cotton have in detail at this point.
remainder will be discussed
77,, manufacture of raw and refined sugar
The manufacture of sugar was Egypt’s oldest and most
important industry. In its modern form it owed its creation to
It was he who had planned to establish it
the Khedive Isma'il.
as a factory industry on a large scale, and who constructed the
necessary plant and rail network to bring in the cane from the
fields. However, as has already been described in Chapter IV,
excess of the culti-
the capacity of the factories was greatly in
which
vators’ ability to produce sugar, and this was something
continued to place a considerable burden on the industry long
after its administration was taken over by the Daira Saniya in
1876. It is true that there was a short period of prosperity in
the 1880s and early 1890s, when improvements in manage-
ment led to not only an increase in output but a fall in costs,‘
and when profits were such as to attract others to set up new
plant, among them the two French companies which in I897
combined to form the Société Générale des Sucreries et de la
Raffi neried’Egypte, and five local concerns, two of which were
founded by Muslim Egyptians and two by Coptsfi However,
by this time conditions had begun to deteriorate. A fall in the
price of manufactured sugar! was followed, from 1901 onwards,
by shortages of cane due to the cultivators’ discovery that cotton
’, . . 1 Ibid., pp. 42-3.
(London, 1903), p.
3 Williams, De Broe & Co., Sugar in Egypt and ELmuhm

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297
the Economy, 188o—1_9,4 Industry, Services, and Commerce
The Growth of at
296 proposition. None f the remainder was sent to the refinery
more profitable three season: S3: consumers, while refinery had
had become more than two
-
or -
. n
five
Hawamdiya, ‘twenty-fiby ve miles from Cairo. This
concern salasted Raphael Suares in 1881. It was then
local built originally
one of the French companies which joined
en over in i893'by the early years its capacity was limited
it was t0, bu)’ all of itscrrefhfrlli ii. e Sucreries.’ In
decldtld ades Sucreries railways. But this was to form t was sent abroad for processing.
11 as its network n 0t “8 much of Egypts sugar
was remedied, so that by 1908-9
0'; later the Sn the
crcries however, this situation most of Eg-ypt’s production
end of the indusmlls tr'(f‘lll1l')1es'as illigielsiilfs’
the hea Late,’
factory was refining
not only
parily 9f
in making the amount of imported material as well.‘
°°1laPS-ed.
itS¢1falm°5t which it had blsil n e ditself' its purch
but also a considerablesales of raw and refined sugar amounted
ur e
charges wi decline in the
supply of cane. Acco zlse’ the company’s
f a further Egyptian sugar Fdlng n 1914
of the industry’ there molasses
to Mazuel. the historian
bad managemenu to >€EI,152>°°°'z
- roducts of sugar must also be mentioned,
of considerable both were manufactured in six plants
is also evidence near-collapse 1. In the 1880s
however, the or‘ 1905 can be Seen The alcohol, which was dis-
In the event, in disguise, Not only did it lead to a In to the Daira Sam'ya.3 degree of
not of a very high
to have been a blessing
belongmg the molasses,
in which, among other thirfre was
arrangement tilled from drinks and also, in small quan-
beneficial financial to repurchase and to run the H h t.
, It was used in making though supplies
agreed
the Government it also allowed the adnunistrators to e; purity, heating and lighting. However, even
titles, for whole ofthe country’s
railway system, but large enough to allow the
whole indust1'Y' A
of the
Ttiggitt ofmolasses were were not used, the Daira
a radical reorganization closillgr alcohol to be met, they
was the reduction of surplus capacity by demand for
that it would be unprofitable
to try to
improvement
factories, all of which
had been bunt so do administration believing from Russia, Germany, and France, all
six of the original ea,sj1y be tranit compete with
imports
their operations could very an export subsidy from their
governments.
to other plants that streamlined basis that the compan‘ of which received
led a group of merchants
this more in 1892,
which,
ferredfi It was on t_h¢ are: It was this situation their own
to surmount a second crisis in 1908, when imported alcohol to try to manufacture
was able feddans, under half who dealt in distilled at
placed under cane
shrank to only 35,000 from the Daira which they
roduct, using molasses first
at the turn of the century} But almost at at Tura. The results of the
of what it had been in its fortunes. Prices rose a plant they had constructed the capacity
once there was a marked
revival were disastrous. But in 1895
as yields declined, and by few years’ operations
cotton became less popular and it was provided with equipment
again, was able to make a sub. of the plant was increased
the outbreak of war the company of the highest purity. Thereafter
capable of distilling alcohol allowed
continuous policy of expansion 18905
stantial annual profit. success was assured. A in the
complete, the Sucreries possessed 1,500,000 kilograms
When its reorganization was output to be raised from of
Of these, three were the In addition, the manufacture in
five factories for making raw sugar. to nearly 7,500,000 in 1914. acid
two dated from the 1903, and that of carbonic
last survivors of those built by Isma‘il and amylique oil was begun in to buy
1890s. A sixth was added in 1910. It is
asserted by Arminjon of war interrupted plans
some methods January i9r4. The outbreak carbonate and
employed to make potassium
‘ha-fa Whereas the older establishments a very the machinery needed
he described as ‘premzhf’, the newer ones practised chemical fertilizer.
of the raw sugar
Glen! forrn of production.4 A small amountsold to Egyptian
6wfl lpeh
Pmduced (Just over a fifth in i9o8—9)5 was ‘ Ibid.
‘ Mazuel, Le Sum en Egypte, p. 151. M. P.,
is based comes from Couika,
I L! SW1‘! 0| Egyple, pp_ ’ Arminjon, p. 24.2. 3 The information on which this paragraph pp. 44-8.
viii, no. 29 (Jan. 1917),
3 A..'S'. 1914, p. 323, ‘ Arminjon, p. 250. ‘La Distillerie de Tourah‘, E.C.,
5 Ibid., p. 253.

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and Commerce 299

1880-1914 Indushy, Services,
of the Economy, for making bricks, pipes,
The Growth in 1895 by S. Sornaga needed in house-
298 other articles
. . a number of
d me fifty- five
to had first to be overcome
Cigarette mafl léfw"
. ster . A 5.reat many obstacles
¥::,:ede frdin enterprises
witslixtgnlgifi aarette were placed on a sound basis. Credit was
In 1906 plastnict1°“- activities shortage of skilled workmen;
.
its
Clair‘; cofifore 1t to obtain; there was a
fies} 135' _ me“ am
f t
t he Gmnach-S war]: - zwnliiigiityed
J Y 0 £400Owners be
Euro pean
rivals was intense, a situation
190 we
\:(():I‘(l)(CI'S nd 500 In 'tion from many of its potential
worse.by the fact that
' 06‘ 8 C
Greek, as made Egyptian products.‘ Never-
{the cigarette-rollers aM1/)ere so All the
‘cultivation _e W lwmers had a prejudice against
co]:{1§l to expand
from ma 3., its
In cus Sornaga was able gradually
years,
sed was imported.in 1890. Thus ‘the import fl over the a number of new
to exten d his range to include
n banned This mustgfi lafes nd insulators.
0
A second
f the industry’s capacity.
' u
ware and pottery .
as sanitary
J
Ve such after encountering great
and 1913.4 The number of C C managed to prosper
the late 1880s fizz,‘ W ‘tch also Co. When it was
than sufficient to meet E 3
was the Cairo
Sand Bnck
were unknown,
decade of the twemiittli -nitial difficulties advantages of the sand brick
during the first
,

3 nd lfounded the
many in 191 I that
emand;
well over ,€E4oo,oo0
a ycai-.5
until after it had been reorganized the
century exports
averaged and it was notfind a large market for its products. During and
to were made out of sand
it was able the bricks, which
_ a
Building materials . should First World War a rate of 90,000 to 95,000
Egypt s industrial development be produced at
that could manufacture, as
It was natural one group of limestone, 150 men were employed in their
largely on import-substitution. . About in the quarry.‘
be based very a local market clearly
existed consisted of 100 to 150 who worked
products for which projects and the bricks and well as another
in public-works
the cement used construction of
business premises. A num_
other industrial
activity
which have
in the around the turn of the of factory production
tiles required the examples
works were established A art from industrial enter-
ber of cement that the industry enjoyed a therewere a number of other
spite of the fact 'ust been given, These included con-
century, but in in the important matter of also be mentioned.
advantage which should brandy, and
marked competitive not seein to have prospered in the way rises
producing paper, furniture, beer, an
it does firm, the for workshops
transport costs, For instance, the largest
cems
ds, as well as several engineering
one might have supposed. leather goo used in irrigation,
des Cirnents d’Egypte,
made a loss every and repairing instruments was a tarbush
Belgian-owned S.A. partly the result of foundries making Again, there
1910.‘ This was land-levelling}
year between 1907 and in dredging, and by Isma'il Assam Pasha.
The project
cement, which was produced factory at Kaha owned after which a number of years were
competition from Portland difference in the 1902,
it could overcome the was conceived in Europe.
Europe so cheaply that by the low of similar factories in
also the problem posed spent in studying the organization
Istanbul and the most
cost of shipment.‘ There was meant that at least then obtained from
clay, which workers were and
quality of Egyptian lime and it needed Skilled Germany,
purchased from Austria,before the First
of the raw material up-to-date machinery
one company had to unport much began operations
just
to manufacture a product of standard
quality.7 France! The factory employed a staff of some seventy to
seem to have this stage it
other types of building materials World War. At
was the factory
en a ittle more successful. Among them
p. I 59.
beFirrnslrnaking at de l’iridurtn'e (Eg.),
' Rapport dc la Commission du commerce
x E. 71]. i, no. i (22 Oct_ 1905), pp. 4_5 ' Ibid., p. r 58. Apr. 1907, p. 131.
4 A.S. 19:4. p. 303. Supplement), 24
= 3 771: Time: (Engineering du comrnrm 2! dc l’mdu.stri: (Eg.), p. 156.
: R’i';s_’11:'i;-°:;87. . ' mm. 49 (lgjuly 19")’ P" 277'
ibis; E 4 Rapport de la Conarnisrion
1 Ibid. iv. no- 4° (31 Ma)’ 1911):

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30’
Services, and Commerce
1880-1914 Industoh and
of the Economy, che ap cloth,‘
The Growth _ for the manufacture of be kept
300 oil-refiner t 3 sive could not
1 ii hich in some years
which wals zibleutez’ °Wncd 2:: fiztories, W the amount of cane grown in Egypt
Ci ht)’ Persons’! Thelf l:’(:l:l?I:lo(?0.; crude
bytheAns1‘g5§:§fin: out of the oil from 31§r°du beirlige ts(i1o
Of.t at full capacityon
E g-yp tian firms experienced
great difficulty in
the died. Sea‘: Filxllewly often forced
an Hm-gada on needed, and were
kerosene
industry’ willy itse _- Finally,‘
golfllfgz
the trained workers they high
of the building they had to pay particularly local
ht to be made to meet the increasing lch fifldlng Europeans to whom
0118 employment of cheap
mention
underwent a F8 pid expansion new houses were
dem to hire At the same time, the as it first seemed, on account
mmodation—-i9,ooo In this latter yea” bwlan
for modern acco rarely as advantageous worker.3
1897 and 1907.3 F. the of the average Egyptian from the
Cairo alone
between
“ early 95,ooo_ workers4, and pro labour OW roductivity of di fficulties stemmed
number
industry emp10Y°d basic skills as well as stimulaztded d]
scam Y,
a large
d evelopment, like
that in many
training in certain plumbingand 'an industrial
valuable activities such as the inst largely on impo rt-substitution.
variety of ancillary
211. was based very could rest assured
equipment. ther countries, an entrepreneur
lation of electrical antage that On the other hand, in
for his pro duct. _ _
development offactory industry rket existed
fierce foreign competi
tion with only
Barriers to tlzefiertlzer had to face
the state of Egyptian industry in th first t he often the extern al tarifl',
which the British
The description of otection from
century just given should dispe:
to raise above a_
uniform 8 per cent ad
decade of the twentieth no industrial development an)’ unable
was otficials felt European manufac-
impression that there at. this a number of rival own
were no Muslims or Copts with Wlmm. In addition, subsidies from their
. _ .
period, or that there quite substantial in
just what difficulties the earlbufiipiess turers received to make them more competitive
ability. But it also shows
For the purpose of exposition the); emire‘ in an 9 ifort several
sugar and
preneurs had to face. dlfii‘ overnmerits,
Such was the case with
culties may be grouped under
four headings. overseas markets. To make matters worse, the Egyptian
factor d related products! goods were
The first concerns the country’s is
already come to believe that foreign
that Egypt possessed Rf; s:lifrd:::fT;here consumer had This was not just
the obvious point -Energy» to those produced locally.5
d always preferable
and that until the Red Sea oilfi ld the Where products like cotton-piece
goods
First World War, almost all theecoallv :lSIldet‘l]'1ee10\£)(:dddunng to a matter of prejudice. to protect him-
consumer was accustomed
run power-driven machines had to be imported fciomleziged
road‘ were concerned the only those which
by purchasing
Perhaps more surprising is the fact that self against inferior articles reputable
of their!i‘1aE,l:rym‘:,f;etI11-1:llt:.arIY carried the familiar trade mark of one of the large,
industries had also to import much- - Pom
the local cotton mills had
overseas. This tr f mdustf)’. of at least one importcrsfi In the years before 1912
tarbush factory at Kaha
of the cementVV:’S0rkl.;C <;ngie0pigdalrette ‘ Schanz, p. 99. on the
which required high tlualit woolcf Australia,5 It was also ‘ M““°l» 1-‘ SW en Eevlm. pp. 47~8. Another industrial activity based
true’ paradoxically, of the~ gotta“ ml rrfin, which often purchased
.
supplies of low-81‘adc Indian cotton’ °rd ma-TY Egyptian cotton
I ~ . _
WCHS, S. ’ ‘Ta;-bush making m E mt’I 17 0"‘ '9’4» "1 R- Grey (for Cheet- 4“ mmwm dd‘ Pind'm'i‘ (F-8.).
ham R0‘ 368/957.
* lit iiieoocrlgilri.-:14;Srcemcnt ’ I 5 ’ “mm d‘ la Commumm
the GoV _ _
em
yum, "3"°d "1 1912 the company p. 162.
agmed
toconstruct15 aenclosed
refinery with a capaci tyof 200 tons of crude i1 a daY»Acopy
om“: agreement
1 Rawfl mmulai" vofi
.
in _
Wingate,3;Ju1y WIT F0 680 y9:3§;°,3_
4
. in Egml (8;)Pp. ¢79-83.
- .
"‘ ‘.997 E . 6
' W dis. "I'arbueli Mlkjng .

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e— .-.,
7-’ 303
Industry 3 Services, and Commerce
Economy’ 1880-19” on imP°N€d Cloth, by imposing
The Grow!/1 ‘If the' selling their goods , fo r Gen t dutY levied own products; but 13*”: 35
. m 8 P“ cise duty on their
ma’rk ’ ‘ and it was “'3 Cloub
at dllfiwlty ‘*3’ of
.kn0Wfl trade ' uivalent ext fought fiercely to prevent the imposition
suc . 1 t amen he seems to have come to
' regalgd
0 cuthte-
or ff lager
the leading i_ P , cloth th rough us
-
thlng which a ffected his own prestige.
no 0 . sort of barrier in
the Filature s own ir 33 5°me d d termined to place every
of the fact that, he
'ders he aplfifzggttorf Mills Co., regardless as
the fact that unanimous in think-
of difiiculties was the WZY 0“ d public opinion was almost
ret’:ilfl:tetiwg:To1;;
Ir
_ . . 1 rec e ayvith
. E pt was Zzionncécfiled most exclug -
_ himself not‘ ’ , An example of this occurred in the month or
economlc actm l0llt:tl0IglyOf the countrY’s agriculture. llllfixl and the
him
WI'0l;lE'CoInP1ctlO1'|
t
of the mill in March 1901
the exp be made. Banks were were to imposing the 8 per cent
towards 6 d “cm. o betW5,6n f the Khcdival decree
s where the 131'E profit; t to _
Atherton, the chairman of the
lend
on provlde ulflicatllfi: ‘According to Giles
iliined to
factory-owners
"?°"°y
resident foreigners
-
cottocI:1aoirI:allar'll‘hit:nl1imril’t(i:ttl
with short-term
p
with any degree of
Egy.ptians and t1 engaged in managing mortgage compames
number
business
.
of

f°r work
i
to
' e
a greater horse-power
begldletinwas ' gof
' hthan that
abimy Wale mosliiiih bought. and sold suburban land ' . Wh
nterprises W
orffinaflly, there was
the to ll'ldus_
.
'd*‘=°‘ ‘°’ 33.‘ -‘l‘°.~§FI§§§To ‘§§Z‘i ’§l§"fhe ro.;°§ui§ §.f3ig.?ci:
-
s question to
attitiitde o:"n’telir<=;1GOo\;;:1ri‘i)iIi‘iient case ovemment to submit the
trial development Contrary 0d?a.t neitheli‘ L d Egood l) lcziltaiions were based or
for the assertion or _
romer no,
gfiperts' Only after the decree imposing the excise
can be made were oppo S e d , in principle, to the oW(I11e:: '
the other British officials
thgir
inc” 'hGornmt'th-
of Egyptian be-f01‘€ Or} the one
establishment
hand, much of what was
en 0 e opposi_1fi9‘4-3
tafl':tctotr1e]SD on was in reafi
draw "5 °b-le9t1°I-)5dan-
this km _m1ght 1cgltlIIl:1tCl.
have been taken bY
on the rules of Frep Trade ; on Measures of - Y
no more than a rigid insistence o f deep h os tility
towards the end of his per-rod in entrepreneursand businessmen as evidence a
the other, it is clear that, of any
Egypt, Cromer himself began to look to
industry to provide to factory industry with those hke the members 0
employment for the surplus agricultural
population! Never. certainly have weighed heavily and de Menasce families who
oflittials, there can be the important Cattaui, Suares,
theless, whatever the real beliefs of the continued co-operation with
did to potential had everything to gain from
little doubt had already been responsible for their
niucllie toCl1StCh0l.lI‘EgC
romer’s attitu
or pjolicies
thatLthe(ilr c otton Mills administration which
entrepreneurs. business opportunities.
Co. is a case in point. To begin with he was anxious merely to obtaining a number of very profitable
even if the eventual liquidation of the gotten Mills Co.
ensure that local cotton factories received no protection from Again,
of its having to pay the 8
was not in fact the direct outcome
members
' See Rapport la la per cent excise duty, it may well have appeared so to
these men to
auci-u
that some of the importer: of foreign goods sought to prejudice their clients of the local business community. And how were
to impose
against locally produced cotton cloth.
on the Policy Adopted in Restraint and Liquidation
know that the Government would not use its powers
OER“ a similar duty on other locally produced products,3 particu-
‘ larly after such a tax had also been placed on the sugar
E99282 " :5“ '383“9_°7 )
1 Cromcr, i2 June igoi: F.0. 78/5162.
93‘: 1954-)» P- 137; ind Isawi, C., Egypt at Mid-antiuj (London, 1901, Financial
. .
'95‘) , p°'3““l7 f Egyptian Cotton Mills Co., Ordinary General Meeting, 24.July
.. . Tm“: 25 July igoi.
‘AnnuaIR¢urtfo11_9a5' pp-- 1906, vol. cxxxvn
. . . . _ . _-p. 54,7. Cromer’s attitude to 3 This argument appears in an editorial in La Bwrse égyfitieniie, 21 Feb. 1902.
Perv!-an mduunaluauon mu be discussed in gm-site: detail in Chapter XI.

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304 The Growth of the Economy,

1880-1914 1' Industry, Services, and Commerce 305
consumPt1°“ b)’ the Société
manufactured for local Génér a it: car’; purchase of from abroad, but the absolute level of
des Sucreries?‘ _ decided, to an ever-increasing
were more than sufficient to imports also seems gookds
Difl iculties of this nature acco ue o {been
by the totaItoya lave The close correspondence
E_gYPt1a“ fa°t°”_°s W_€re not built belimt extent, exports.
for the fact that more the two series has been illustrated in Fig. 4, in which
circumstances, between
1914. Indeed, in the imports have been lagged
by one year.
is not why so ittlc, but why so mu
proper question to ask
at this time. _ThC deslre to build n h ’
industry was created surprising if one looks at the £13,000 Exports ------- -- ‘
Plants becomes the more
'\
been noted that no mung-W
fewer ," \‘
It has already Imports
of industrial failures. collapsed in the late ;'
than five private sugar companies
1890 ‘ 30,000 ~ I

in 1905 the largest sugar company of all, the Sod:-,1

while
almost came to grief as a result ofté
Générale des Sucreries, a
luck and bad management, a, nea1__disast
combination of bad
one contemporary observer as .a bloer
which was described by
time seemed fatal’. struck at ‘the industrial life of thw
that at one
is clear that_ there remained :3‘
country’.3 Nevertheless, it not disheartened by
zo,ooo
of entrepreneurs who were such
number
barriers ‘to the establishment of a
failures or by the many
who continued to believe that it was
successful enterprise, and
the manufacture of such goods
still possible to make profits from
textiles, building materials, and food products for
as cotton l0,000
which a market was known to exist.

3. EGYPTIAN FOREIGN TRADE

The balance of trade

Figures for movements in Egypt’s imports and exports
the
between I880 and 1913 are given in Table 55. Once again
the latter has been raised by one-ninth for the years
value of
before 1912.
Egyptian exports scarcely increased in value during the period
I880 to 1899; but they more than doubled in the next thirteen
years. This movement is easily explained by the fact that
earn-
ings depended almost entirely on the value of the cotton
crop.
Imports followed an almost identical path. Not only were
the
annual movements in exports reflected directly in the following
' Cheetham, 27 May ignz F.O. 368/526.
* Manuel, Le Sucre an Egypte, pp. 42-3.
’ Mica, W. A. T., ‘The Commerce, Industry, and Engineering P7087”
3!-
Fem 1905'. in Afi ican World Animal 19:25 (London, 3 Dec. I905), p-
I L
I880 l3I90 I900 l9l0
'
Fin. 4. Egyptian foreign trade, I880-l9l3 (Imports lagged by one year)?
Souxcrs: I380:4_, Le Commerce éxtérieur dz l’Egyptc, 18844889 (Eg.), pp. xii-
xm; 1385-1913. 445- 19x4. PP- 3o0:=7-
Nornz a. Original figures not augmented by one-ninth.
For a country so dependent on the export of one crop which
was subject to marked changes in yield and price, year-to-
year fluctuations in both exports and imports were remarkably
subdued during the period under consideration. With the
exception of the early 1880s, upward or downward movements
were generally sustained over several years, if not more. Again,
_
"1 only in I 882, 1886, and again in I908, was there afall amounting
821613 X

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The Growth of the Economy, 1880.19“! 307

306
yeaps Industry, Services, and Commerce
cent of the pI'CV10us
to more than 10 per recei
articularly the case after 1893, when imports of goods
and
Prmcipal fact.“ unfierlldng
value of exports. _Th€ was this at?‘ ‘he rapidly than exports, and the un-
fluctuations the way in which a decrease was}: were rising more
by
of severe was only rarely isence te 11 (column 5) was almost exactly matched
size of the cottgn C1.-op Ofthe th1FtY'th1‘Ceaccompanied ecur,,_b1e balance
fave foreign investors (column 6). The
in price. from a y sent to Egypt by - ~ -
similar decrease years 188)’0 to the mone . . le d to no basic change in this method of
only seven which both declined financial crisis of 1907
1912, there were in togeth
A second feature of EEY Pt“m_f°r C18“ trade during the er; TABLE 57
is the fact that imports showed a
under review tenderllienod
ey to (Annual
increase at a slightly faster
rate than exports, until just a of Trade and Movement: of Capital, 1884-1914
This trend is even more mailigd f‘- Balmw, Averages) (,€E,ooo)
1907 crisis (see Table 56). If
________.___ 5
TABLE 56 ,
2
Export] 3 Net bul-
of goods Visible 4 ance after
xmpom payments 6
balance Net pay-
(Annual Average‘) and
Egyptian Foreign trade, 1880-1913
or goods menu of of Inflow of
(£E O00) ma specie of
lude interest intact capital
.p..;i¢ (adjustcd)'
Exports . 4.84 -4. 9
Imports (adjusted)I Bahnce ‘gsfg’ 2.14.4
‘£93490, ,,,.73 19,823 2.650 5.379 -2.723
‘ 3 ,3,._.3,, 28.579 -354 8.718 -9.072 8.616
_7 7.033 — 2.550 3.150
1880-4 7.384 13.673 +6,289 ‘,g,,,3,_,4 32,591 37.064 4.473
1885+.) 7.947 12.270 +4323 ___}
1 4,348 of Trade since 1884',
1890-4. 8,872 + 5.475 1-3 Crouchley, ‘The Visible Balance
sounces: Columns of Foreign Capital, pp. 195-6.
10.249 14.787 +4543 Columns 4-6: The Inwstrnent
1895-9 pP_ 494-5;
1900*‘: 15.997 90.372 +4,o75 _ ,
Norzs: bdbre 1912.
I905-9 23.805 26.810 +3,oo5 3_ xpoi-ts of goods raised by one-mnth
+5953 from the original figures because Crouchlcy’s calculation
1910-13 26,138 32,191 b. I have changed this
seems in error.

Souitcss: the inflow of

1880-4.: Le Commem axtérieur dc l'}:§gyple, 1884-1889 (Eg.), pp, xfi_xi fi_ meeting the country’s foreign debt. Although
by an automatic
1885-1913: A.S. 1914, pp. 3oo-7. foreign capital decreased, this was accompanied
as well as
N011: a. Exports increased by one-ninth until 1912. decline in interest payments to foreign shareholders,
by a return to a favourable visible balance of trade.
specie movements also included, although it should be
are The composition of trade
noted that the official figures almost certainly undervalue the
almost
fxport of gold.‘ As a result, in the years before 1907, Egypt was Movements in the value of Egyptian exports were
and cotton seed,
““_3r°35m81Y unable to pay the interest due on its public and entirely controlled by the value of cotton
P“V3‘° d¢bt5- CF0l1Ch1cy’s figures given in Table 57 show that which provided a greater and greater proportion ofthe country’s
76 per cent
the balance was met only by the inflow of foreign capital.‘ This export earnings, their contribution increasing from
in 1880-4 to 92 per cent in 1910-13 (93 per cent if exports of
I . .
I
ucm°l’;;“°m‘:-‘lble included). Cotton’s pre-
1 cf:mwhlcy: invisible imports such as receipts from tourist! cotton-seed oil and cake are also
and the Bdtkh arm in°fl’tIlnE
wt and “Ch =5 expenditure by F-zvptim dominance was further underlined by the decline of nearly
abroad which,
. 1.. «ins. P101! or lessum“
balanced each other: The Iriurbnnl Q7
Egyptian Gazette, 28 Jan. 1904.. Crouchley also excludes
the payment of
pomh I 2 E quoted in in Egypt
gm”,-.1 interest on the various types of private and institutional investment
described on p. 294.
"“"°"’ °""° ‘° £E|.8so.ooo and invisible exports to £E2,ooo,oo0=

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K‘_.
—

Economy, 1880.19”
303 The Growth of the Industry, Services, and Commerce 309
exports. The .
other a at in _
evcry one of Egypt’s
from traditionatll
fell annua
an of £E6I‘1e or I9"i°*4-
from "gig:01,12:/)ever}:cit too slliacivéecsl :i0sé:Jll2<l6e’i:Jlii)1 e xi] Va we‘
sugar sent abroad average
fihe °"P°rt ofw ’°°0 - - ".1
in 1895-9 to 0111)’ 2€E_‘ 18900;] I.995i1_%’ Egyptian imports can b four
maize
e s after
the cat, Very enerally,
beans, barley, and 1l'nllmSt.ion 0 farply
8.lSt(})l e excep gmanufactured goods; industrial 1‘2:\A:hl,Ilg.:(c:ll‘ll3.xlto
58). With cotton-seed
18905 (see able Calfgirly
‘lo etrol, and building wood; raw materials for wisirlfiiicli
TABLE 58 Egypt, such as tobacco; and food. Egyptian trade wig
in
not a simple question of exporting primary Products in
and Flour, I88o—I9zf (Annual thus manufactured goods; much of its export earnings
Egyptian Trade in Cereals Average)I I
exchange for
it needed for its
were ‘;:l:r:/tagreiz ‘:‘er§";"ts“(1)at€Tlals
popu ation.
eve o wn wlhich
Maize Rice Flour n SP5“; _ _ '
Wheat BI-T16? T ofcommodities in all four groups increased con-
oWIm arts
880-4 58.251“ ’‘5'‘’'‘‘-''
41. 8 1»
1 1s.i>oi. °9»732'- siderably during the period, reflecting the expansion of the
“-563 73'64° in
la8s—9 115.319
95__.,.o i5,o47 8,008 235.66: , , 5,000 350,45,
369.226 the increase in population, and, for some, the rise
140,836 economy,
mwfi
1995-9 53.396 36,835}
59,898
l28,8lfb
57.757 so2.oou
5,5300
_.,.,,_,m
6-.is.sa, at the ‘turn of the century. Inside this general move-
,,_.;._,.i» .,,_o,,_,,,,,, 999.5,; pmspenty development lay in the rise in the
,9”, s85.ooo
,,,,,_._, l.66o,ooo ment the most significant
20.907 ‘S5495 '°9”4a 38°'°°° 9303,55,
and raw materials for working locally. Egypt
igio-is
—— T value of food of cereals about the year 1900.‘ This was
became a net importer
T of a decline in domestic cereal-production but
not the result
morn (.512) factors, the growth in population and rising
Maize Rice 3,“, rather of two other
Wheat TM which caused many families to purchase
iiuiey fiving standards,
than that produced from
1880-4 573,632 47.074 |30.799
30.994
161,514
123.000
770.168
552.359
“G83 '8 7
9,,‘ imported flour of a higher quality sugar, the
204,139 13.790 ,’,,"'f;; Again, in the case of
11135-9
1590-4 260.229 51.392 144.097 135.000 822,453
53,’,' Egyptian wheat and maize.
27.614 35.948 I 14.000 4.50.250 in imports which also began at the turn of
1395-9 54.420 15,571‘ 118,000 245,749 3“ large increase
22,961“
1900.4 14,906“
to a failure to raise output from
1905-9
160.000 45.052
51.4.66‘ the century was not related
18.372‘ 13.096‘ 3.535‘ 301.000
but stemmed rather from their inability to
1910-15 the local factories,
sufliciently and to manufacture a product
expand output
by the members of the
Soimciis:
1863-1889 (Eg.), pp. xvi_x,',,_ which was of the standard required
1880-3: Le Commerce extérieur dc l’E§grp!e Other
1884-1903: Ibid., pp. 34-51, 134-9. foreign community and by Europeauized Egyptians.
300-7; (beans) Sch,-“Z, J,’ “Pug” were butter, margarine
1904-13: (except beans) AS. 1914, pp. 284.—!_3, E.C., no. 138 (Dec. 1932), food imports to increase at this time
general surlcs principales cultures égyptiennes’, and cheeses, fruit, and coffee.
for local
The main items in the second group, raw materials
p. 712.
N01-as: cotton. It is significant
working, were tobacco and short-staple of
3. Export the early part
b. Excludes unports from Turkey and Ottoman Empire. that both had been cultivated in Egypt during
c. igoo-3 only.
provide separate
d. 1912-13 only. ' See Table 58. Unfortunately the Annuaire stutirhqua does not been unable to
and I have
rice,
e. 1910-14.. series of figures for the individual cereals except after
The persistence of wheat export:
find such statistics for the years after 1903. traditional Egyptian duty of
of the
important new product or group of products was discovered 1900 was probably due to a continuation
Annual Rrport
British Chamber of Commerce,
of any Supplying food for the pilgrimage: the Sudan: Egypt, Supplia
take their place, while the only manufactured goods f0? 1900, p. 9. There was also a small export of cereals to
to improved to Supply of Cereals’, Appendix I,
importance remained cigarettes, the export of which Commission, ‘Situation in Egypt with Regard
in Cecil, 29 Jan. 1917: F.O. 368/1719.
' ‘w 335° 581113 used are taken from A.S. 1914, pp. 300-7.

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310
”‘--I--I-I---IThe Growth of the Economy, 1880-1914
Industry, Services, and Commerce
r , Im orts of tobacco increased regularl 31:
$$%Jamwmp?mHflW
,€Er,r6o,ooo in I9I0—I3- Sh°”'5tt";1pt°.tC°
on was “Pd
f

thr E’
Tablc 59). The former provided 22 per cent of all Egyptian
imports in the years x9ro—12, while the latter may be supposed
u 1 until the 8 i
out the period by local weavers, _ not e to have accounted
for another 20 to 25 per cent.‘ On the basis
mills In wa; at 1‘ became 0
lishment of the two cotton of this admittedly very scanty evidence, it can be tentatively
consumptlon t111900; a
a Vanced ra idly’ uni?
great importance. Its
were worth over En 11 TABLE 59
by ,9” imports t f 3301.000. Thfi re was ad
a considerable 1_mP0"t °f °°”fm 1"_¢9~ or use in Egyptian Imports and Exports, 1880-1913
weavin 1
material Wl‘11Cl’l had once been The Price of Various
Indigo was a third raw
imports reached then‘ peak gm11 (Annual Averages) 1913 = 100
in Egypt. In this case by volume
declining
the turn of the century, before
Apart rrom these three 19°“, gradually until I lat Import: Exports
” T
British
from abroad for working in EgYPt1an f3~Ct0I‘lCS included wool’ Flour Rice Coffee Cod Tobacco
mInufuc-
my comm
Cotton
gggd
and lime. _ 7
grapes,
A second way of looking at the pattern of Egyptian imports
M5 102 93 or 63 B7 B8
8804
:335_9 1 :5 99 ma 83 74 77 70 77'’
is to divide them into investment and consumption ,3,_,,,_,, I00 92 I39 77 78 79 65 7:
goods ,3,“ 77 7s 89 66 B: 72. 54 52
A rough division along these l1IlCS shows that the value 0;, ,9,,,,_, as
mo
8x
89
63
63
ex
75
75
75
83
90
76 6:.
76
84
amounted to an
imports in the first category annual ,9,,_.,_.,
,g.o—u n3 89 H6 73 H3 95 n7 98
average
of ,gE2,6oo,ooo between 1885 and 1889, compared with one
of ,gE5,3oo,ooo in the latter.‘ Thereafter investment goods Sounczsz
Rice, flour, coffee, coal, tobacco, computed from figures in AS. 1914, pp. 300-3.
increased by 300 per cent in the next twenty years, to an British manufactures, Schlote, p. 177.
average
of ,€E1o,5oo,ooo from 1905 to 1909. The import of consump_ Cotton and Cotton seed, computed from figures in Table 37.
tion goods rose only halfas rapidly. By 1905-9 it had reached an N01135:
a. British exports to all countries.
average of ,{Er3,3oo,ooo. b. 1886-9 only.

The terms of trade
The problem of determining the movements in the terms of
trade for the period is more diflicult than it was for the years
1854-79. In this instance there is no small group of goods
which made up a sizeable proportion of total imports and for
which a price index can readily be constructed. The best that
can be done is to show the movements in the value of five
homogeneous commodities——flour, rice, coffee, coal, and
tobacco—and of all British exports of manufactured goods (see
1 Imports of cotton thread amounted to approximately £E26o,ooo in 1909:
Arminjon, p. 208.
3 Taking the figures for imports given in A..S'. 1914,
pp. 300-3, I have classified
the following articles as investment goods: petrol, live animals, wood for building.
0031. 5300‘ {M build-W8» Chemical fertilizers, iron and steel, machines, and tobacco
(the major part of which was used in Egypt‘: cigarette factories). With some 6-
ceptions the remainder were classed as consumption goods.
suggested that there was an adverse movement in the country’s
terms of trade in the 1890s, when the fall in cotton prices
exceeded the fall in that of British manufactured goods and
coflec and coal. In the first decade of the twentieth century,
however, cotton’s price recovery was more rapid than that of
the other goods listed, and the terms of trade must have become
more favourable.
4.. THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
Revenue and expenditure
The Egyptian Government obtained its revenue from three
main sources: direct taxes (ofwhich the land-tax was very much
the most important), indirect taxes such as the duties on
' A.S. 1914, pp. 296-7, 300-3.

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312 The Growth cy‘ the Economy, 1880-1974

.m_
Industry, Services, and Commerce 313
imported goods, and the receipts from certain 0,,
owned public services like the railways and the emihe TABLE 60
a d
telegraphs. In addition, there were certain extraostsi and Expenditure in Selected Years (,€E,ooo)
receipts in a number of years. These included a
subsgdinary Government Revenue
fro
the British Government towards the cost of the war in th Sudan Revenue
and the profits from the sale of state lands. During the —:——"""':’ Extru-
under consideration, the money obtained from direct: period ordin-

remained almost static (see Table 60), and the fafixation

-rv
Ordinnrv
Ct that
revenues doubled between 1880 and 1913 was due _
Indirect
Railways,
p°.u_
entirely to the increase in the receipts from the other twalrllost
Direct Other
mm Tel¢-
,..—————-— revenue Ten] Ton]
main Customs Tobacco Total graph‘
sources. This in turn was a function of growing eco
Land Total

the Century_ Revenue

prosperity after the turn of 2.071 1.54.1 307 8.998 1191
froonomi
both . 11 662 97

customs duties and judicial fees increased by 100 :1 723 2,823 1,689 261 142,237 1,656
:89‘, 5,463 651 10,431 290
51,3 1,983 228
1,; °'~‘nt 5,969 770 969 3.151
between 1900 and 1913, while railway receipts rose hp per I895 4,3,7
4,379
4,621 1,258 1,160 4,152 2,360
3.308
315
887
11,447
14.813
420
2.299
5.573
cent during the same period. As a result the proportiori’ of5total
[900
4,767 5.045 1.799 1.525 465
,9,,5 1.648 6.027 3.985 1.110 16.368
43.5 5,245 2.143 372
declined 1.146 15.966
revenue provided by direct taxation from an av 19°,
5,119 5.539 1.905 1.591 5.439 3.84.2
17.369 337
at ,9...
,9... 5,154: 5.518 2.134 1.720 6.1112 4.529 1.509
of 58 per cent between 1881 and 1884 to only 33 pererca __._._j
between 1910 and 1913, a situation which meant that goveint
ment finances became increasingly vulnerable to fluctuationi Expenditure
within the economy. Such was the case during thc financii: ._._j
and the 1=.xu-a.o:11inxry
crisis which began in 1907, when the fall in imports Ordinary

reduction in the level of business activity led to a

general Public debt,
Railways, mm,
G°V=mm=°t d=P'=-
decline of some £E1,ooo,ooo in revenue within the next two Civil 11.1,
Tribute
: Posts, Posts,
Tele-
years. It was not until 191 1 that the revival of trade allowed Public Tele-
pensions,
graph‘ Total I1-rig. graph Total
Military Works Educ. Total
receipts to return to their boom-time peak. 768 8,678
The pattern of taxation owed much to government policy. 5,766 674. 72 2,144
1331
852 10.335 3.594”
1885 7.023 726 81 2.450 1.662
424
Firstly, so far as direct taxes were concerned, there were a 871 81 2.54.5 893 9.590
1890 6.152 1.066 9.249 7 195 301
1895 5727 9117 103 2.636 1.160
number of reasons why they could not be increased. At the 2.696 1.226 9.895 443 253
1900 5.973 966 107 835 676 2.374
1,187 147 5,521 1,889 11,668
united 6,259
beginning of the Occupation the British ofiicials were
1905 2,515 13,231 1,688 1,205 4,646
6,268 1,262 352 4,394
1907
2.386 13.850 1.155 4.115 2.534.
'ushuriya land was too 1910 6.609 1.246 481 4.855 1.931
in thinking that the tax placed on most 1.414 515 5.681 2.642 14.884 722 580
1913 6.561
also to reduce
high. This led them to fix a maximum rate, and
the sums levied in a number of the less prosperous provinces. Sconce: A.S. 1914, pp. 406-26.
Later, at the time of Willcocks’s cadastral survey, it was decided Nonzs: 1899.
of the. a. Includes government packet-boats until
that it would only be possible to obtain the co-operation b. Alexandria indemnities.
would be
large estate-owners if they were promised that there
this means the direct tax they paid was
no increase in the total amount of land-tax.‘ By towns, for most of the period the only
in the
Government debarred itself from obtaining any share last one on buildings over a certain value. Here
the main barrier
income which began in the British reluctance to challenge
great advance in agricultural to any increase in taxation was
who lived in the rights which the local European communities had
obtained
few years of the nineteenth century. As for those
' See p. 246.

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314 The Growth of the Economy, 1880-1914 Industry, Services, and Commerce 315
It is
for themselves under the Capitulations. true that the urb the way in which any revenue over and above this
foreign residents in 138 in. d on
buildings tax was extended to place d that needed to make certain fixed annual payments
an attempt to make them pay the llt Public Debt, could be spent. These
four years later profess} sum,
interest on the
tax was abandoned in the face of
strong
consular opposignal like :2
felt that It would on 1° 11.
In this situation the Government 1y be ills:
7°‘/.1510 re barely sufficient to permit the Government to
to remove the tax from EgYP“an_5 3? Wen-‘ rfjcelpts 3:11 its obligations; but, in the years which followed,
if income from dir ect ta
Secondly, it followed that, ma it diflicult
dlschargde for the administration to allocate more
remained more or less static, “cl” forms of indirect taxat' they all fraction of its increasing surpluses to such im-
This was the m0I‘€ imP0rtantl° Education.
would have to be discovered. t ministries as those of Public Works and
determined to get rid of a large - moneY which had been saved throu 8h
ddition, 1 arge su ms_ of
the Government was numbe of P°rtan- _
In a
vexatious minor taxes which hampered trade and comment: or C5 in the rate of interest on the
Public Debt:~the so-called
burden on the poorer the French and
which placed an unnecessary sections of f:::,ger5ion economies’—remained idle because
the community. In these circumstances the major . . nments were unable to a ee how the should
in innovati
was to make a series of increases the duty on finangcrial conservaiism was
importon B”ushn?o'iife Government’s own
1890, by an absolute prohibitign Ed be to safeguard itself
tobacco, accompanied, in Stréir ‘factor in the situation. In order
tobacco-cultivation inside
Egypt itself.’ In consequence thn Zgzinst any possible danger to the revenue from an extra low
amount obtained from this source rose from under Q3306 we Nile or some other
natural disaster, a sizeable reservefund was
in 1887 to over ,€Ei,ooo,ooo ten years later. A second ,1”: accumulated. As a result, by 1904, ordinary administratiye
while
remunerative, tax was the so-called rachat militaire introduclgd in expenditure was only ,€Ei,o0o,ooo above its I885 level,
1885, by which young Egyptian men could avoid milita the reserves (including the conversion economies) stood at
service by paying a small fee. In addition, money was obtained over £EI3:50°a000'! _ _
by the sale of state lands, including the Daira Saniya Estate. By In these circumstances it is clear that efforts to promote
these and other means the Government was able to obtain 3 the development of the economy could not be
revenue. Two other methods were trie financed Olcllt.
instea
small but continuous increase in revenue during the first fifteen rdina
with money
years of the British Occupation. Thereafter, growing economic ll‘ir(s)t, a niiymber of capital works were undertaken
disposal of
prosperity obviated the need to discover new methods of derived either from loans or from the reserves at the
de la Dette Publique. Some
taxation. Rising receipts from traditional sources not only the Government and the Caisse
caused total revenue to advance by nearly 60 per cent ,gEr3,333,ooo was expended in this way between 1336 and
drain-
between 1897 and 1913, but also enabled the Government to 1904. Of this, the bulk went to works or irrigation and
remove a wide variety of smaller duties. These included the age, while smaller sums were spent on public buildings, on
salt tax, the tolls on Nile bridges, the boat tax, and finally the the railways, and on the port of Alexandria. These were all
rachat militaire, which was abandoned in 1908. projects which could be relied upon to lead to an increase in
When it came to expenditure the Government had very revenue in the short run. Second, the Government encouraged
much less freedom to manoeuvre for most of the period under the formation of several private companies to undertake useful
discussion. Under the system ofinternational control established works, like the construction of light agricultural railways, or to
by the Law of Liquidation of 1880 and modified by the Lon- establish institutions such as the Agricultural Bank, for which
don Agreement of 1885, only ,€E5,237,ooo was set aside for no public funds were available. In each case the concession
carried with it an official guarantee of profits up to a certain
ordinary administrative expenditure, while restrictions were
amount each year.
' Cromer, Annual Reportfor 1891, PJ’. 1892, vol. xcvi, p. 4lo. 1 A.S. 1914, p. 4.4.1.
1 See p. 249.

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?""'—fi
316 The Growth of the Economy, 1880-1914
Industry, Services, and Commerce 3‘7
The Anglo-French Agreement of i9o4 produced a
rad_ oflarge reserves. It also demanded
change in the situation. Not only did it remove an thelcal bu d ct and the accumulation
strictions on the use of reven_11€, but 1‘: also led to the releaser°~ gh’ Government did all in its power to provide conditions
certain reserve funds, including the conversion economies 'that high private enterprise could flourish. All restrictions
In to
worth over £E6,ooo,o0o. This new freedom, coming as it W Vtliade and industry should be removed; nothing ought
3 time of rising receipts, allowed a great adyance in dig t :3 done to interfere with the free exercise of private initiative.
ment expenditure. Funds allocated to the principal gove ministr'm
Indian experience, on the other hand, suggested a more

out of ordinary revenues were increased; the reserves wfi re

ries
down to pay for a variety of public works. The main
was from 1906 to 1908.. During period
heavy expenditure these
thr°e
years over ,€E4,8oo,ooo was spent on drainage and irrigati
and another £E3,8oo,ooo on the railways and tdegra
‘in,
mostly on the former.‘ Prior to 1904 expenditure on mm 3’_
stock and the repair of the permanent way had been limitedflb
international agreement, and there was much that had to
done to provide sufficient capacity to meet the Countrys
be
gm w.
ing needs. This period of heavy spending was
brought to
end by the financial crisis of 1907. The Government respond:3
to the threat to its revenues in the orthodox manne;-‘b
restricting expenditure; and, although a number of pmjec;
were too far advanced to allow them to be suspended at once
the economy measures began to take effect from 1908 onwards’
From then until the war there was a steady decline in the sum;
spent on new capital works financed out of the reserves.
Government policy also produced a check on the rapid rise in
ordinary expenditure. The sums spent by the principal minis.
tries continued to increase, but at a very much slower rate than
had been the case before 1908.
The role ofgovernment in the development of the economy
Enough has been said to give some indication of the role
played by the Government in the development of the economy
during the period under consideration. In the most general
terms, it consisted in following the British financial orthodoxy
of the time, modifi ed to some extent by the experience which
many of the leading officials had obtained during their service
in India. Financial orthodoxy demanded low taxes, a balanced
' one of the worst abuses, the manipulation of ‘founders” shares,
'45- '9'!» P 426. The figure for the money spent on the railways and 391?‘
Sfl phl also includes a small amount devoted to the improvement of Alexandm
PO11.
positive role for government. There were certain works like
dams and barrages which, if not constructed out -of public
funds, would not be constructed at_all. Again, when it came to
something like agricultural education, the Government might
have to take up a task which in Europe could safely be left in
private hands. Political considerations also played their part.
clearly be strengthened by
Britai'n’s position _ in Egypt would
led to an
_
increase
_
in the general level of
any measures which
pr05P€ritY- , . .. . .
The Government s activities in the agricultural sector have
already been described in some detail in Chapter IX, so that
the remainder of this section will be devoted to an analysis of
its policy towards developments in the rest of the economy.
Here there are two general points to be made. l"'irstly, govern-
ment response to the major events. of the period—the rapid
increase of capital in Egyptian public compames, the financial
crisis of 1907, the growth of foreign trade—was almost entirely
one of non—intervention. This policy, in turn, had its roots in
the official attitude towards the Egyptian business community.
During the period up to the latter were S11b_]CCt to only
1907'
the loosest control. In part this was the result of the Capitu-
lations, which made the passage of any regulatory legislation
affecting foreigners a matter for long and difficult negotiations
with the governments concerned. But Lord Cromer, the
British Agent and Consul-General, was also averse to laws of
such a kind on grounds of principle. Business should not be
discouraged by government interference, so he believed, for
this would be to inhibit the investment of private capital in
enterprises needed to develop the country’s resources. Hence
little was done to restrain the speculative excesses which
the of the the
marked
on y measureheight
0 any importance eing
boombin a regu ation to prevent
companyli-promotion,
by restricting their issue to those cases where they were a. return

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j-—-~
319
and Commerce
of the Economy, 188o—;9,4 Industry, Services, was
The Growth railways.‘ Further assistance
However, 35_th¢ T1116
applied 0111 f light agricultural waive'the duty paid on sugar
asset. to
it was easily circumvented by C0“
Y
to
6 the decision there was the notorious
to V1 for one year.‘ But to offset this,
C
panic d abroad.‘ Gorst at Cromer’s insistence,
mselves register?
CIOIEESI
rts duty which,
a slightly more forceful a
to adopt Ppfoacfi he countervailing factory-produced cotton
goods.
the Govern“lent on all Egyptian
which allowed 5 placed including his belief in the principles
and introduce over the operations of EgyptiaI1 gtoc variety of reasons, another political dispute similar to
Court of A W; a his fear of
exercise some Contml
But it was
left to the Mixed 1903 ppcal to
Trade,
of Free ' h had marked the introduction
of the Indian cotton
ruling in
exchanges; '5 tep’ with its working in th at
com‘
to propitiate the Lanca-
and perhaps his desire considerable lengths to
take the onl)’ eflecnve
the sole object of Egypt must be went to
W ith where they on interests, Cromer from obtaining any benefit
pani es formed flan regardless
of
ally
were act“
he two cotton
factories
large number of local concerns were this policy have
law.3 m the exterinal e c apter. of
ier cor'its}<l:qu<}:‘nces
Tihe
tari(ll’f.3ear in
der Egyptian . d been iscusse the
as not anxious to discourage P Tlvate point about the Government’s role in
it any direct assistan Ce_ general to facilitate
equally averse to giving 1go8_ worried
. a1r'§‘2l1cysecond
of the economy
concerns its efforts
system of
occurred early in b development improymg the.country’s
file by
1c of this
in land, a number of leading finany trade and commerce the financial situation became easier in
of the market in pficeilcgs Thus, once
collapse t to prevent a further fall transport. was spent on the extension
and improvement
pressed the Governmen public money at the disposal of the the 13905, money of new track were laid
of . Over 500 kilometres
lacing ,€E2,ooo,ooo Gorst refused this request, ar of the railways. also a considerable addition
e banks. and 1914.5 There was
leading mortgag _ tificationhad b een shown for governgrging
Ht between 1888
once the Anglo-French
-Agreement of 1904
that ‘no Sufl ‘lClC1'lt_]I1S on
to the rolling-stock,
the Government from all the limitations imposed
freed four
principles governing relations with the
interference’! had During the next
the international control.
The foregoing general applied. expenditure by from 488 to
business community
'
were not, of course,
. . “WW5ofrigidly
. was considered such vital im_ years the number
of locomotives was increased
8,157 to 11,251!’ Mean-
it of wagons from
On at least one
occasion
well-being of the country that official 589, and the number Alexandria were greatly expanded by
at
rtance to the economic industry which suddenly found itse]f while, t.he port facilities for ships
to an of new jetties and mooring stations
assistance was given This was in 1905-6, when the the construction
such as coal, wood, and nitrates.
in considerable difficulty. unloading bulky cargoes which was
Sucreries et de la Rafi inerie mouth,
d,
to the harbour
Société Générale des It was saved only by the Attention was also paid again in 1907.7 Without
liquidation. in 1890 and
was almost forced into which involved, among other
deepened and widened
it is unlikely that the system
of
reorganization of its finances, improvements of this kind
continuous
Government of its unprofitable transport would have been able
to cope with the
things, the purchase by the the turn of the century.
p. 63. Between the publication
of increase in trade which began at policy
’ CTOUCUCY. The Inmhncn! ofForeign Capital, companies the indirect effects of government
and Apr. 1908, no less than forty-seven As often happens,
taken deliberately to promote
“"5 "CW ‘C8111-‘$11.0!!! inof1906 in Egypt were founded abroad so as to
avoid
were as important as those steps
operating the
with the sole purpose
Ibid This was certainly true of
having to comply with Egyptian law. British Colonial Rule in Egypt, 1882-1914, the development of the economy.
‘ Tignor, R. L., Modernization and
(Princeton, 1966), p. 371_ ' Aminion. p-. 242 ' _ = Mazuel . u SucrI an E9pt: p. 172.
’ Mi"i“'Y °fJum'ee’ Reportfor the may 1910 (E8-) PP- 24-5- Government did . .
point is dealt with at greater length
on pp. 342-4, 4 see
PF; 3o3_4_
5 ma
4 Annual Repartfor 1.907. P-P-. 1903. vol. cxxv, be given
Egyptien : ans P. 94; A.S_. 1914, pp. i7o—i.
agree, however, to an earlier request that the Credit I-‘oncicr S aniya came. ouchley, Economic Development, pp.
7 mlcner) 172-3.
um‘: t° ’°PaY m°“¢'Y °Wihg from the liquidation of the Daira
Rifi c

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320 The Growth of the Economy, 1880-19,,‘

Industry, Services, and Commerce
maintenance of political security. It was also tr“ 0
3,,
decision to raise money by selling off parcels of state lei th¢ much as a seventh of the agricultural land.i Its male
of the central themes of this present chapter has been had
a high level of technical skill, and a rate of literaiiyeilvllliictzlli
of such estatcg t the
purchase, improvement, and resale formed_tho_- was many
times in excess of that of the Egyptian average
basis of a great deal of the economic activity of per cent as against 8-5 per cent in i9o7_z By Virtue ofit;
the 59-;
formed urchasing PQWCT and its European tastes it must certainly have
Numerous companies were to engage in mm Period.
of this kind; Egyptian and foreign investors were e,,$?!:tper. been responsible f’or'the
consumption of a considerable pro-
suaded that this was where there
were large profits R)
b1 portion of EgYPtS_1mP0rts. Most important of all, it was
Altogether it would not
be too much to argue that the [E e- foreigners who provided nearly all of the expertise and mana-
in erial abilit)’ "9C°555:"Y t0 market the cotton crop and to create
company-promotion might have taken quite a differemoom
had it not been for the fact that, just at the right mom course and run the country s banks and other commercial institutions.
, s In so far as the development of the economy was concerned,
large an amount of land became available for exploitatiggt, foreign residents deserve special attention. It was
two groups of
they who were responsible for the formation of the bulk of the
5. THE ROLE OF THE FOREIGN COMMUNITY commercial enterprises started locally in Egypt after 1880; they
who must certainly have made the largest fortunes. The first
Any discussion of the role of Egypt’s foreign communi _
ace?’ in which. have already been mentioned in an earlier
the development of the economy must begin with an group,
chapter, consisted of the owners and managers of the four
of its size and composition. According to the census of Ilint
largest cotton-export houses, Choremi, Benachi & Co., Carver
there were then 286,301 foreigners resident in Egypt of thee Brothers & Co., R. and O. Lindemann, and Peel & Co. These
138,543, or just under half, were Europeans‘ and America: men, the majority of whom had been born in Egypt and
69,725 citizens of the Ottoman Empire, and 65,i62 from thé expected to spend the whole of their working life there, did not
Sudan. Two other general points ought also to be made. First confine their attention to the cotton alone, but also devoted
cent’
a very large proportion of the foreign community, 79-4 per their money and their talents to other businesses as well. Percy
five towns, Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said,
lived in the largest Carver, the senior director of Carver Brothers just before the
to assume that t1-1.;
Ismailia, and Suez. Second, it seems safe First World War, is a good example of this type of man.’
had settled permanently in Egypt This Though born in Gibraltar, he came to Egypt in 1879 at the age
overwhelming majority
must have been true of many of the Ottoman subjects and of 19 to work in the family firm. In 1888 he assisted his father
of the Sudanese; we also have the authority of the Anrmaire and uncle in the foundation of the Alexandria Bonded Ware-
statistique for 1914 that it was true of most of the 62,725 Greeks, house Co. and by 1909 was himself director of three of the
The point is an country’s most important public companies as well as of the
the 34,926 Italians, and the 1,847 Germans.’
assumed that members of foreign Alexandria General Produce Association. E. A. Benachi4 and
important one. It is often
and savings to Hugo Lindemann5 were equally prominent in Egypt’s business
communities remit the bulk of their earmngs and commercial life. Like Percy Carver, they were anxious
to
becomes
their own mother country. However, such behaviour
their residence in a
very much less likely if these people see ‘ According to the oflicial statistics for I907 foreigners then owned 674,564
feddans: A.S. I914, pp. 320-1.
foreign land as permanent. _ feddans out of the total cultivated area of 5,435,789
the country.
the economic However, some of these owners may have lived outside
It is to labour the obvious to state that 1 A.S. 1914, p. 24.
of all Pm‘ _
importance of Egypt’s foreign community was out 3 For information about Percy Carver see Wright,
1:. 325.
owned as '
portion to its numbers. The community may have ‘ S W ht . 8- . _
5 S:
1 I have excluded 6,292 British subjects classed as ‘Maltese and others’- Liquidation of Enemy Trade’ (Eg.), pp. 4-10-
= A.S. 1914, p. 25. szim Y

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32. rm Growth ofW E“"“"’9” "93°"9’4

' ' Industry, Services, and Commerce 323
on to 1'nves t in a wide
.
from co tt
use the profits the)’ made Varictl’ which they were involved were public utilities like the
Wml
of other en terP rises. _
tamed members ofmany ofAlexan -
dun» ions companies
founded to provide the Delta towns with
C011 . .
Th second group families, among them those Varter 1 rural land companies,‘and at least two manufacturing
oldestebanking and merchant d h’, dS l _ ofds :.1vra;ns’,the refinery founded at Hawamdiya in 18813 and the
Ang1o_}_‘«;gyptian Spinning and Weaving Company, in which
°f Gmk wgm;as t(iiherfiiin
least as early
C of Muhammad ‘Ali and whgypi at all held
shares.‘ Meanwhile, both C. M. Salvago and C. G.
his
the nationalit)’ of a European C(c)'ilI1ot"er Zervudachi, before
the years, had obtaine d a variety of compames including mortgage
is an example of this_ latter financial interests in
The de Menasce fami ly C,_
banks, cotton-pressing concerns, and land companies like the
the founder of the firm,
was born in Alexandria
displeasure of in d’Egypte, of which Zervudachi was chairman.5
Jaconh’ ving incurred the . Union Fonciére
r8io. In 1843. ha to
Muhammad
hemanaged Information about the profits which the leading cotton
'A1i, he was forced to flee
n his return hto of banking fanulies obtained from the
Austriaiwhega
of Hungarian nationa
ity. merchants and members
obtain proof which they founded or managed or financed is, un-
in .buSlI1CSS as a banker and general mm enterprises
established himself more difficult to obtain. About all that
he died of the fortunately, V517 muc h _ , _ _
chant. Before in from the evidence provided by their wills
a
1333lh§4h::e§f:s“‘i;3d_bl‘anches Istanbul. can be learned comes
firm in Manchester, These would seem to indicate that some, at
deat ,h e
Inverpo; ,t :.lI'lS: End when they died.
Some years before his considerable fortunes. For instance, C. Bayerlé, a
re or his
vnpuable least, made
Austro-Hungarian
. GovennmentBinh
_IaC0}1b S 5011» 0 OT, 1:}?!
6 Second business associate of the Snares family who became managing
services to trade baron, was
director of the Crédit Foncier
Egyptien,° left the huge sum
the daughter ofjacob Cattaui Whcm
born in 1830. He married of £400,000! Another source of information, where British
his life in the family business_
he was 19, and spent the ‘rest of subjects were concerned, are the records of the consular court.
Bohor died soon after These reveal that Jacob Rolo, the owner of a firm of bankers,
man responsible for the firm’;
eldest son, Jacques Levi, the coal merchants, and general importers,‘ left an estate worth
decades of thelruneteenth
tremendous expansion in the last two just over ,(,‘7o,ooo.° A second question about which equally
There were few major enterprises begun in Egypt at
century.
family did not take some little is known involves the problem of how much of the money
this period in which the de Menasce made in Egypt by members of the foreign community remained
part, and in 1909 Jacques Levi was chairman of four companies in the country. The fact that so many of the principal banking
and on the board of eight more. families were long established in Alexandria must surely
Some account of the activities of the Greek and Jewish indicate that sizeable sums were spent locally on the purchase
banking houses has already been given earlier in this chapter. of land or houses or shares in Egyptian companies. But this, of
It was Raphael Suarés who succeeded in French
course, does not preclude the fact that much may also have
financiers in the creation of the Crédit inteigsting
Foncier gyptien; and
been invested abroad, either on private account or through one
he, too, who obtained the concessions for the National Bank of the overseas branches of the family firm.
and the Daira Sanieh Co! Again, it was members of the dc
Menasce, Suarés, and Cattaui families who were among the ' British Chamber of Commerce, List of Companies, pp. 4.5-7.
‘ Ibid., pp. 15, 25-5.
first to see the ossibilities of rural land reclamation in the 3 See p. 277.
4 See list of shareholders in PRO BT 31/i6i84./6:619.
early 1890s, and) who founded one of the light agricultural 5 See, for example, Wright, p. 440, and British Chamber of Commerce, List 9]’
railway companies at about the same time.3 Other enterprises Companies, pp. 21, 24-5.
5 British Chamber of Commerce, List of Companies, p. 7.
' For information about the dc Menasce family see Wright, pp. 44/9'5“ 7 ' Wright, p. 464..
ii, no. 40 (8 Jan. igog), p. 95.
‘ See pp. 277, 279. 3 See p. 281. ° :4.E.M.
The Estate ofJacob Rolo’ (died 14. Nov. 1910): F.O. 84.7/4.5/35.

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~ 325
324 The Growth qf the Economy,
188o_19,4 Industry, Services, and Commerce
the Gharbieh Land Co., and Chairman
however, that Egypes finan . and found, President 0 f
It must not be supposed, tW0Clal to Gardens Building Land Co.‘
Other Egyptians
owed everything to the Koubbeh again were
commercial development They were "011 s of the cotton ginneries and factories, others
described.
of merchants and bankers just
of a foreign business
me
comrell’ the owned
and government public-works
contractors.‘ But in
most prominent members merchants small compared with their
men at the very least Ixunity heir numbers were
which included several hundred that community wolild 8.1 I each case t
As in the days of Sa'id
and Isma'il,
of every member of competitors. for the
the activities
had it not been for the lar
have foreign largely dependent on Europeans
been severely circumscribed t remained resources.
investors were willing to gleaces'"T_1s agricultural
of money which European in exploitation of its
It is true that profits from Co“: I Wright, p. 397.
Egyptian enterprises. *1 were ‘ Ibidu pp- 389. 440. 465-
to finance undertakings of
generally more than enough s"}all
sector of the economy, but the ca
kind outside the export
of larger companies would have been impossible r?at1°’1
The role of the Govemmgzltthout
assistance from Europe.
security maintained andwu
equally important. Not only was the
system of transport improved, but the administratio n-also
in which
tried, deliberately, to create conditions Pnva“
enterprise could flourish. '
Finally, something ought to be said about the relativ
financiers. Suchcn11m-
portance of Egyptian businessmen and
'1en
existed, but in small numbers. The List of Companies com
in I 901 reveals (hilt 6%
by the British Chamber of Commerce
I?
a hundred or so directors only fourteen can confident]
ytiafi
identified by their names as men who might have been Egy
citizens.‘ This excludes the eight Copts on the board oi)‘ the
ill-fated Fayoum Light Railways, but includes a number of
people who may have been given a place on a board in return
for the sale to the company of some piece of urban or rural
of more than
Property.‘ Only two Egyptians were directors on
three companies at this time, Nubar Pasha who was
the board of nine, and Prince Husain Kamil who was on the
board of six. Information is lacking about diiectorships in the
years which followed, but the number of Egyptians holding them
entrepreneur
musthzfi rtainly have increased. One important

C a
gel 0 he had gyp
helped
Co
Emcrprise and Development ., Ltd ., which
. .
' The use of - ~ .

er: of Pam“ '°°» f°" mmple. Rama‘! mu-ulain,

vol. :08 (1900), p. 282.

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The Growth of the Economy In Contemporary Thought 327

. ment of ca P ital. and labour, there would have. been
fic1alemp10Y made in the
XI fair excuse for the sacrifices the government
zeginnjng of these attempts’. But they had been both costly
‘With few exceptions the progress made has
an d unsuccessful. added nothing to the resources of the
sma]1, they have
THE GROWTH OF THE ECONOMY n
amount of capital and labour applied
while the same
IN CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT co“ ' ’
beentn, have de P osited lar8 e returns of
to agricultural _]
ob'ects would
a number
fit ’ Proof of thislay, for him, in the fact that for
with faulty management, the
1. INTRODUC'I‘ION——WRITERS on THE EGYPTIAN pforeasons mostly connected
ECONOMY PRIOR TO 1880 had never succeeded in producing articles which were
it‘) ctories
8: cheap as their European equivalents.‘ Colin, on the other
owma RE is Egypt's status as a developing country more goods were generally
hand while recognizing that Egyptian
N clearly confirmed than 1n the large number ofdescriptiw, and that the system as it existed was
'nferibr to imported ones
and prescriptive. analyses of its economic progress pub_ l‘ar from perfect, took a diflerent view.
It was just because
lished throughout the nineteenth century. The original impctus Egypt was a predominantly agricultural country, he argued,
to these, as to so many other things, came from members of it was only by
that some industry should be established, for
the French Expedition, who were the first to introduce into factories that agriculture itself could
eventually be improved.
writings on Egypt the increasingly powerful European assump- As he put it:
tion that growth was the natural condition of a. c0untry’s and
economy. They were followed by a long succession of auth- If Mohemet Ali, who has taken up the role of educafionalist
to reform the
innovator in the East . . . , had wished suddenly
ors whose interest was aroused by the efforts of successive
methods of cultivating the soil of Egypt where it did not appear that
Egyptian rulers to grapple with practical aspects of this same there had been the slightest change for 4,000 years, he would cer-
subject. tainly have failed. . . . But in introducing Western factories into
Of the early writers on the development of the economy two Egypt, in demonstrating to his people the power of
are of particular importance, the Englishman, John Bowring, teaching them to master influences from the outside wor
ma<:1l'(1i1nfi a
, e ry},]13
whose ‘Report on Egypt and Candia’ was presented to Parlia- wisely prepared the way for the refomi of agricultural method.’-
ment in 1840, and the Frenchman, A. Colin, who wrote an As this argument suggests, Colin was a firm believer in the
influential series of articles in the Revue des Deux Mondes which interdependence of agriculture and industry. And he goes on to
appeared in 1838 and 1839.‘ Both were concerned to discuss suggest that the increased sale of locally manufactured goods,
the issue then central to Muhammad 'Ali’s policies—did however inferior, to the local population would be profitable
Egypt’s factor endowment inevitably dictate that it remain 3- for both sectors of the economy—just as the manufacture of
purely agricultural country, or was there a case for devoting cheap clothes for sale to the slaves and poorer classes had been
some resources to the encouragement of industry? Their V1eW5 advantageous to all in America, another agricultural country.
were firmly opposed. Bowring disapproved strongly of thfi at‘ In return, the Cultivators would provide raw materials like
tempt then being made to introduce a European-style factof)’ Sugar, skins, cotton, and flax for use in the local factorief»,
system. He was willing to admit, he wrote, that, ‘if there was an commodities which Egyptians had already demonstrated their
obvious and perceptible tendency towards an ultimately bene- capacity to work successfully.’ Finally, it was wrong, he argued,
‘ Reference to Bow:-ing's report and Colin’: articles will be found in Ch3P‘°" H‘ ' ‘Report on Egypt and Candia’ (GB), pp. 29-30-
Although_Bowring’s report was published in 184.0 it was based on infonnflfim‘
‘ 'Lcttres sur l’Egypte — Industrie manufacturierc’; PP- 485‘5 (“'3“’l3‘i°“)-
collected in Egypt in x837—8. 3 Ibid., pp. 4.9o—1, 490 n.

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323 The Growth of the Economy
to maintain that Egypt’s factor endowments would present
continuous obstacle to further industrial
development: iroa
mines and coal could be discovered somewhere in the reggo
while it would be possible to train skilled engineers over
3:
period of time.‘ . _
Bowring and Colin also.dealt with two other important
the improvement of agriculture the proper role issues
and development. of the’
foreign community in the countrys As far
agriculture was concerned, they both believed that the
as
state
had had to play a fundamental in its direction.
part ‘It ma
be
true’, wrote Bowring, ‘that rlothmg but d°5P0tic
authority
would have forced the cultivation of _of those many
articles such as cotton, opium, sugar,‘ indigo, etc., of
which
Egypt furnishes so large a supply. It is undoubtedly the fact
that the capital and other facilities furnished by e govem_
ment have been the primary cause of these increased produc_
tions." But they disagreed over future policy. Bowring was
critical of the inefficiency with which the various agricultural
monopolies were administered and suggested that dircct
taxation would, in fact, produce more revenue. He also believed
strongly in the virtues of free enterprise. He was convinced, he
wrote, that in spite of the poor and dispirited condition in
which he found the peasants, and the fact that they only grew
the lucrative summer crops when they were forced to, ‘the desire
to accumulate and to retain wealth is as active among the
fellah race as in any other class of human beings’.3 In opposition
to this, Colin seems to have been content to accept Muhammad
'Ali’s assertion that direct supervision of the cultivators must
continue, as they were lazy and no longer knew, unaided, to
whom to sell their crops.‘
There was more agreement about the important role which
Europeans had to play in Egypt’s economic development,
although each emphasized different points. Bowring was
almost completely uncritical:
' ‘Lettres sur l’Egypte — Industrie
manufacturiere’, pp. 4.89—9o.
‘ ‘Report on Egypt and Candia’ (GB), p. i9.
5 Ibid., pp. i4.—i5.
‘ ‘T-Hilts sur 1’Egypte — Budget et administration’,
p. 12 5, note 2. Colin did:
however, suggest to Muhammad ‘Ali that he impose an export duty which would
Val” mmdm‘ m°n¢Y ‘-0 allow him to dispense with the profits from his 355‘
cultural monopolies and to free the growth and sale of Egyptian crops. Ibid.
i
In Contemporary Thought 399
t has indeed, received
immense benefits from the presence
Egyp mils. They have not only rendered direct service by the
Europe
°f t he have communicated, but the circumstances of
knowledge bgen so much associated with all the improvements
their havmgb has diffused a great respect for their
have C en introduced
which ts, and h toleration for those opinions whose
sugeri,:-eaii:;ilc,uii.:;cii)reading widely among the people.‘
in U5
. d with the encoura ement ofEuro can
Co 1m was
n1o5r]:i]ClOn(():f?rVI:f1lCh, he said, Egyit has great Ii)eed.
capital and
Muhammad 'A1i,was wrong to place obstacles in their way. If
removed, go
such. barriers were
'
important for in no 0vtslrpuldl
it could npiapital
ichEuropearfii er ace
iookmg 1p(:l.(:fiIt-ldrvi'c}:3\§:}i*ptu‘ililike Bowring, he was far-sigphted
1“
thehviimseei what difliciilties this might create and why it was
enoui/1 fiammad ‘Ali was so wary in his dealings with Euro-
th:tns 'lIl‘he Pasha was afraid that the latter would exploit the
Eegyptians—‘the first piastre that Europeans spend when they
arrive in Egypt is for the purpose of a courbash’, Muhammad
‘Ali had once said—and his problem with European capital
was ‘knowing how to call it, but to contain it, to dominate it,
and to put it to his advantage’.3 Colin was also very critical of
those foreign merchants who, he said, came to Egypt only to
make their fortunes, which they then sent off to Europe, leaving
nothing to the benefit of the country. Their departure, he
thou ht, would be no loss.4
Afger the progressive abandonment of Muhammad 'Ali’s
factories in the 18405 the question of whether the country would
benefit from the introduction of European-style
ceased to be of any practical importance and was rarely raise
industrcyll
until the years just before the First World War. It was almost
universally assumed that Egypt’s economic future lay ex-
clusively with the development of its agricultural resources, and
discussion centred largely on specific means by which this
might be achieved. One author who wrote along these lines
was Grégoire, whose article ‘Dela culture du coton en Egypte’,
published in 1862, contained a number of practical suggestions
‘Report on Egypt and Candia’ (GB), p. 30.
‘Lettres sur l’Egypte — Industrie manufacturiere’, p. 4.93.
Ibid-, p. 4.97, 4.97 n. (translation). A courbasli was a leather whip.
Au»:- ‘Lettres sur l’Egypte — Commerce’, p. 69.

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330 The Grow!/z of the Economy
as to the way in which the cultivation of cotton
improved. Another was J. Lattis, a Frenchman) whomlght be
the country in the 1850s to introduce a system
of i
cultivation.‘ In a paper read to the Institut ntCnsive
December 1862, he pointed out how important Egy
it waslglmn in
gains made as a result of the cotton boom
should
immediately dissipated. The peasants, temporarily
mricillot
circumstances which would not last, were at
accessible to the idea of progress and that
amelioration-
Omen‘
main aim of those interested in the development of,E nd fhc
agriculture should be to make them understand
that
energies should be devoted to increasing the yield of all tilleir.
to compensate for the lower prices they would receivetheirl and
boom broke. To this end it was necessary to 0% the
perfect
they used, and also to improve their animals.’ As a the °t
resuiitioh
Lattis’s initiative, a committee of the Institute
was set u
examine his proposals in detail and to suggest practical
meat:
which could then be recommended to the Govemments
A was a developing country much like any other, and that the
months later, however, Isma‘il’s accession was thought f-cw
its deliberations superfluous, and the whole idea was
to make
dropp¢d_4
The works of a second group of agricultural experts
have
already been mentioned in an earlier chapter. They included
L. Behmer and many of the men whose experiments wen
described in the Bulletin de la Société ezgyptienne d’Agriculture.s
Like Grégoire and Lattis they all shared a concern for
the
practical improvement of traditional methods; but,
unlike
them, their recommendations tended to be based on the
assumption that Egyptian peasant agriculture was hopelessly
backward and that the only way to improve it was by technical
education and the wholesale introduction of European tools
and European practice. Their attitude to the local plough was
a case in point. Whereas Behmer condemned it out of hand.as
primitive and ineffective,‘ Gregoire was prepared to recognize
that, for all its faults, it could be replaced only with the greatest
difliculty. Most of the European ploughs introduced In 3519
1850s had soon been abandoned, he wrote. They were tot!’
1 771: Times, 2_]uly 1855.
1 ‘Le fellah ct l’individualisme au point
dc vue dc progrés 385901‘ C“ Emu’
B.I.E. in series, i, no. 8 (1862-13), 64-5.
1 Lattis, p. 65. ‘ Ibid., pp. 117-18. s Sec pp. 142-3» '5"
‘ Obrerualionrncrfagriadture (Eg.),
p. 5.
T?
In Contemporary Thought 331
-
mplicated for peasant use and could not be made to fit into
C ‘Ti 6,2,: pattern of rural life.‘ However, given the temper of the
? t. 65 it was those who advocated the employment of modern
. Cc-
"T315 iwho exercised an increasing influence. Government and
at the toivatc agricultural societies alike advocated the import of
harvesters, and, later, tractors. Thus it was
E frrcign ploughs,
ed by (:11 in the first decade of the twentieth century that any serious
of-{Cit was made to suggest that the way ahead lay not in the
Elavjsh imitation of European methods but, rather, in an
adaptation of traditional practice by means of a wide variety of
mall—scale improvements which the peasants could understand
Znd with implements which they could afford to purchase and
to air.‘
_
£113: easy optimism of Behmer and those who thought hke
of him can also be seen on a wider scale in the writings of numer-
ous financial journalists, businessmen, and others who, for most
of Isma'il’s reign, seem to have taken it for granted that Egypt
introduction of European skillls and the. use of European
capital to build railways and ports and to improve the system
of irrigation would automatically produce the same growth in
prosperity which had marked the recent history of the United
States, the Argentine, and Canada. Such an attitude is well
illustrated in an anonymous article in the Bankers’ Magazine in
1870 entitlzed ‘The Progress of Egypt’:
Glancing back at the last seven years or more, it maybe
questioned
whether any country in Europe has made as great advances
as this
African satrapy has done. The predecessor of Ismail
Pasha com-
menced the work of progress but the Khedive has given
it an impulse
which, seconded by favourable circumstances,
has produced results
little short of marvellous. In addition to great
reforms effected in
every department and in the finances, the present
ruler has brought
to his important task the ideal and
spirit of Western Europe.
Then, after describing the great progress
in agriculture and
commerce and the construction of so many
works of public
utility, the writer went on: ‘The
result of Western capital
I ' Gregoire,
pp. 450-3.
_‘ See, for instance, the articles and
papers of V. M. Moséri and, in particular,
5“ joint paper with C. Audebeau, ‘Le labourage en Egypte’, B.I.E., 5th
(1915). series, 3:
83-127.

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332 The Growth of the Economy In Contemporary Thought 333

flowing in is similar to that of the over-flowing of a
-
réfarmes 9
new Khedive, Taufi q,
the Nile, to ltghe
production has advanced, the wealth of the Co resented Of t_ _€ 53-1316
¢p,g_;ethde othi were concerned with
increased, and the government revenue has risen steitr1 1 38 51 Se ternberconditions t ])1’Car.
e
yasa in
natural consequence." eterioratmare in egan the Prqret, they are often
misery, gountryside.
-great
Bankruptcy soon put an end to optimism of this pa Ttlcular
_ Cultivators
to taxes, many
are losing their lands to people
sort. The financial and administrative confusion of unable pay their
nothing about agriculture, while the fella}, who
the last ho know
years of Isma'il’s reign produced an inevitable 1. 3-Ction
contre la rapacité de son puissant
5 ‘n’est _]8.m3.lS garanti
leading a number of writers to turn their attention to the
remain
qui se croit en droit
sheich, notable,_ou gros propriéte,
obstacles which lay in the path of further developmene "Ian; One
voisin;
de la force physique et des
bestiaux de son faible voisin
such man was Dr. E. Rossi, whose book La Populatiot. “and il veut bien respecter
son grenier’. His only protection
les
finances: question égyptienne was published in 1378_ Rossinbet and. cheat himself.‘ Among the remedies suggested
with an attack on the attempts being made by EM egan was to Steal of a new land-tax, the reform of the
were the establishment
financiers to get Egypt to pay its debts by increasing ,er°P6an public works, and the suppression of all taxes
rules governing
and decreasing expenses. This could only be self-defeatitlenuu
g' A3 levy was difficult or vexatious.3
whose
he put it: ‘l’économie qui empécherait de faire des dé
desquelles pourrait résulter un ensemble de mesures apitmscs
DEVELOPMENT or THE ECONOMY IN CONTEMPOR-
augmenter les recettes, et qui aboutirait a énerver les forlgegsda 2. THE
ARY THOUGHT, 1880-1914.
celui qui doit travailler pour remplir ses engagements seraie
une économie fatale et homicide.” Instead, what shoiild bi of Egypt brought a sharp change of
The British Occupation
the writing on the Egyptian economy. To
done should be to supplement the wealth of the country b emphasis in much of
from England to report on Egypt’s future or to
improving the agricultural system, in particular by extending the officials sent
it was seen not so much as a develop-
crops to previously uncultivated areas.3 But this could be done assist in its administration
ing country, the prosperity of which was being daily increased
only with an increased labour force, and thus the basis of the skill, but more as an
by injections of European capital and
Egyptian problem was population. People were the true riches had only narrowly escaped from
which
of the state and it was precisely ‘parce que la population manque ineflicient despotism,
to
que la détresse y est a son supreme degre”.4 Fertility rates were complete anarchy, and which it was their duty to restore
their
high but infant mortality was exceptional, and he ended this order. Thus they were led, naturally, to concentrate
in- on projects of reform and reconstruction rather than
section of the book by suggesting a number of remedies, attention
of early marriages and the reorganiz- on measures designed to assist the long-term development of
cluding the prohibition
for the economy. This tendency was accentuated by the fact that
ation of the vaccination servic e.5 Among other recipes the majority of senior officials looked at Egyptian conditions
stressed the need
Egyptian agricultural progress, he strongly very much in the light of British imperial experience in India.
he wrote, existe d only where men
had
for liberty. Prosperity, Once the idea of influencing Egypt from outside and of secur-
of their
assured possession of their property, the product ing its improvement by indirect means had been
made im-
precon-
labours, and their savings. In Egypt all these basic possible by the events of 1882, India was the only example of
ditions were missing.‘ an area in which an alternative approach had been tried. For
National
Others to make this last point were th e Egyptian ‘ Manifest: du Parti National Egyptian (Cairo, 4Nov. I879); Union dc la Jeunesse
187 9, and a gr0_l9P (Alexandria, Sept.
Party in a manifesto produced in November Projet dc réformes prémué d Son Alum Tewfick In
tienne which
calling itself the Union de la Jeunesse Egyp 1E88YI>;1iCnne,
79 -
2 I-’.Union de la Jcuncsse Egyptienne, pp. 1-2.
3 Ibid., p- 9-
' VoL xxx (June I370), pp. 504-5. ’
1 Rossi p. 7.
‘ IbId-»P-
_
5°‘
3 Ibid.,
p, 3_
4 Ibid., p. l0. s Ibid., pp. 28-31.

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334- The Growth of the Economy

In Contemporary Thought
this reason it is not sur risin tha . 335
Indian precedents for tlhc pEJ.ctic:.1LC(),.,r:se1)ufl'erin s Ould . material improvement.
and a Furthermore, and this was almost
followed the introduction of European pmqgencu of this sort was a vital
6 nan), Important, programme’ means
his ‘Report on the Reorganisation of Egyplifltlgxleglslation lid the local population of the benefits of British
In
of convincing
Indian examples was the more natural as nd his e.‘ . . . ,
ther use
number of obvious similarities between the CEHXFEE indee 0: ulOtheI'WiS€i Imperial consldcmilons 3P3", Cromer’s attitude
two countries. This had been recognized beforfi ltions in th to the devel0Pm§“t Of the ESYPWU °C°n°mY was shaped very
1882 b)’ the by what is best described as the ‘conventional wisdom’
employment of two Indian land-settlement largely
e
and Gibson, to assist the Egyptian Governmentxperts. Calvin of the age,
Like many of l11S fellow Victorians, he believed not
a that most of the in the world ‘gradually increase in
survey. Again, Dufl erin pointed to what On} nations
very straightforward parallel when,
must hm cadastra[
Eve seemed roduction and P0Pf1l3t1°n ,2 but also that the process would
apropos of
that Anglo-Indian engineers be recruited for be more or less rapid according. t0 fvhether certain sorts of
sex-V13 S.“ g¢8tion conditions obtained. Central to his thinking was his conviction
he observed: ‘Egypt is so similar to many of 3:6 IF‘? essentially a of the development of
districts in India that it is natural to turn to t 6 lmgated, that growth was question
through the application of capital to pro-
advice.”
hat 3 count:-y’s resources
Country for
ductive works. Such capital could be either raised domestically
But the attitude which regarded Egypt in the or imported from abroad. But, in
country much in need of European guidance is
as a by the savers society
best e: E"*‘_t=m either case, it was his belief that it would only be forthcoming in
in the writings of Lord Cromer, the man who as existed a framework in which enterprise
Brit'eI}:1phfi ed any quantity if there
and Consul-General from 1883 to wés its could flourish. This was what was meant by the word ‘security’
1907, r:1Ag’I=n
ruler‘
Cromer’s views on the Egyptian economy cannot bea 4 shorthand for things and order, an equable
stood without reference to the basic principles which and eflicient system sufch
0 justice, anas alaw
egal code which preserved
iliigldfil
should underlie what he was later to call ‘the governmenteoi‘ private property and, in general, allowed men to profit from
subject races’.3 Experience in India had convinced him that the fruits of their labours. Another prerequisite for progress was
sound financial management was the key to the regeneration the creation of a certain infrastructure without which commer-
of Oriental societies. It was, he felt, by ignoring this principle cial interests could not be expected to come forward. On some
that Egypt had gone bankrupt, and it was by the application occasions, where railways and ports could not be constructed by
of this same principle that Britain’s Indian Empire was being private initiative, this might require action by the state. But,
reclaimed and provided with the basic institutions of European these aids apart, the Government should do nothing to interfere
civilization. But whatever the country the recipe must always with the free exercise of enterprise. All restrictions in industry
and trade should be removed, while the administration confine
be the same. Attention to the laws of sound finance—and by
itself only to those few things which it could do best. Any other
these he meant low taxation, efficient fiscal administration,
course would lead to the stultification of that individual ini-
careful expenditure on remunerative public works, and the
tiative upon which further progress so largely depended.
removal of barriers to trade—was the only sure way to moral One other instance of Victorian ‘conventional wisdom’ must
‘ ‘Report on the Reorganisation of Egypt’ (GB), p. 106.
1 Ibid., p. ioo.
also be mentioned: the assumption that the development of a
_ country’s economy followed much the same pattern Wherever
3 This is the title of an article to be found in his Political and Literagr £510)’-*3 1
(London, 1913), 3-53. For further information about Cromer’s economic ‘ An exposition of Cromer’s view of the principles which he felt should inforrn
see my ‘The Influence of Lord Cromer’s Indian Experience on British Policy In the Government of non-European peoples can be found in the following sources:
Egypt. 1883-1907’. St. Antony’: Palm, no. 17 (Oxford. 1965). PP- 109-39. and Th‘ Modem Egypt, ii (London, 1908) ; Spmlie: and Milmllaneous Writings, i (Edinburgh,
Attitudes of British Officials to the Development of the Egyptian Econom)’. 1389' 1912); and Political and Literary Essays, i.
’ Mill,_I. S., Political Economy, ii (London, 1848), 244.
i922’ (unpublished paper presented to Conference on the Economic History’ °“h°
Middle East, School of Oriental and African Studies, July 1957).

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V
336 The Growth of the Economy In Contemporary Thought 337
0f our work would not be
it occurred. In Cromeris case this is well illustrat
d in the event
' To t0}:1f Wléhgfa-Wal, gave the British officials
policies he pursued during his three years in India : _Y the undone. romer
Y 1.’u kijlenw orks his full support, No other
Member in the Viceroy’s Council, I880 to I883_ InSd_F1,na,,ce yv Ministry of ic
la 3 the administration, with
economic requirement was that its resources should be d
in
of theexception
of the Army,
without delay, he asserted in March 1881 when intpgfieveloped as large a budget. Again, it was the only ministry
mowed financial for long-term develop.
first budget; and on this and subsequent occasions h ucing his could count on support
hich the recipient of a number of foreign
to outline some of the ways by which such a requireme went on It was also
might nt Projects! £E1,ooo,ooo borrowed abroad to pay for
be met.‘ For one thing greater encouragement Sim
ould mans‘ - In 1885
' was
given to private individuals anxious to invest in the b 1°a. of reforms which included the repair of the
tion of new railways. Not only was it unlikely that thecanslfuc. Then, when this was exhausted, a further ,€E8oo,ooo
overn. ;‘;”age_
merit could perform this vital task entirely on its OW turned over to the department, while an even larger sum
was
also hoped that an initiative of this kind might lea? but.he obtained to enable the construction of the Aswan Dam,
was Success achieved in agricultural production, in
capitalists to come forward and take up some of the ‘Indian urden The Fx-
raisiilig
perennial y irrigated land, and in averting
themselves. A second group of policies was designed to tending the area of
trade by freeing it from almost all the duties with wh;,§1r(?’hote danger from insuflicient Nile floods,was regarded
was much of the of Britain s presencc m
Justification
still encumbered, while a third went as far in the directit °f by Cromer as a major
assisting Indian industry as Cromer felt able,
by introdron. . .
pt-’ the first decade of the Occupation,_ ex P enditure on
the principle that the Government purchase goods fromulcm Dufin8
series of reforms to
factories wherever they were as cheap and as well madocal irrigation took precedence over a second
much importance, the reduction of the
imports from Europe. This last innovation was supported: :5 which Cromer attached
as there was money to spare, in the early
arguments which suggested that he did not expect India ty land-tax. But as soon
remain a purely agricultural country, and that he lookeg 1390s, he introduced a number of measures of fiscal relief aimed
forward to a measure of industrialization including, among at relieving some of the burdens imposed on the rural popu-
and
other things, the establishment of a plant to manufacture iron lation. Once again his motives were both economic
political. On the one hand, he was a firm believer that one of
and steel.
the main purposes of financial policy should be to leave as much
In the early years of the Occupation, Lord Cromer’s atten.
tion was devoted mainly to the problem of balancing the money as possible to ‘fructify’ in the pockets of the producing
classes, so that they might increase their material prosperity
budget. Nevertheless he was still willing to assign any extra
by the careful investment of the rewards of their labours.‘ On
money that was available to another project to which he attached
the other, he viewed a low rate of taxation as an instrument for
the greatest significance, the improvement of the system of creating a contented, conservative rural class which could be
irrigation. It was only by developing Egypt’s agricultural relied on to give at least passive assent to foreign occupation.5
resources, he felt, that revenues would rise fast enough to avoid Cromer was quite content that such policies should lead to an
a second bankruptcy.‘ But irrigation also had other virtues. As improvement in agricultural incomes without the Government
he wrote to the Foreign Secretary in 1886, it was a subject to having to intervene in the actual process of production itself,
which ‘the good results of European administration can readily ' Quoted in Marquess of Zetland Lord Cromer (London, i932), p. 171.
be brought home to the natives. Hence there is some chance ‘ Tiznor, R. L., ‘British Agriculiural and Hydraulic Policy in Egypt, 1332-
1392’. Agricultural History, vol. 37, no. 2, p. 65.
' See, for example, ‘Financial Statement of the Government of India for 1881‘ ' {WWM Egypt, ii, pp- 456-65. .4 Annual Relmtfor I902. pix 960-I;
of thc
1882', I’.P., 1881, vol. lxviii (especially pp. 303-9) and ‘Financial Statement ‘_ _The Government of Subject Races’, pp. 4.5-6, and ‘The French in Algeria’,
Government of India for 1882-:i883’, P.P., 1882, vol. xlviii (especially PP- 3°8"’49)' P°""‘“‘ “"4 Literary Emyx. i. PP- 253-4-
‘ Annual Reportfur I902, P.P., i903, vol. lxxxvii, pp. 960-1. szioia Z

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333 The Growth of the Economy T 339

a policy of which he strongly disapproved. Never In Contemporary T/l0"é’h‘
other
a ainst worm attacks and
thfilesg,
to modify this principle to some extent d . ewas . on cm
forced yield. But,
safeguarding 1-tlhfhfgiiened ts pgoduce a decline 111'
agricultural depression of 1894-5, when the price ‘Sprig the
all th While omcr was well content to leave activity of this
rnajor crops fell so low that there was considerable h ardshi for an
in a number of districts and it became here
' agliiia’ Klricdivial Agricultural Social)’: in exchange
'
one instalment necessary to to - bud ct. ,
of the land—tax. In an effort to alleviate d_3t
Cromer took action in two directions. Firstly, as lstr iiilflual 5ut.Wen'n1(')1?eubftsgovergiment interference in the ‘agri-
alread 2 s dis
Cromer of much criticism
in Chapter VIII, the Government supplied a. limited Y “med
a 0 ,3 the econ0mY W35 the subject can be
cotton seed to fellah cultivators at a low price which of sec“: ml'nistration. Local feeling on the subject
cultural the
paid only after the harvest. This had the additional hlngunt
to be outside a- 0 f 1-ticles published in the magazine L’E.§71”‘
ada scen n 21 scnes ‘a in which a number 0fW1‘it€l'5
of meeting some of the concern then being expressedvanta e during the of i8g4.—5
supposed deterioration in the yield and quality of th at dcpresisiczlrlie
some wider qlacstions of agricultural policy
Secondly, the Government began to cro“"5.
lend small sums discussed ii ' rices and the increase in rural distress-
to peasants in a few areas of the Delta. However, inofe:1911° raised l:yC,t,::5fathemaEthors’
’ starting-point was
’
case was the operation to be a permanent one. As Cromermh" In mos ll-bein thekdcgncgn
ose C
it clear in his annual report for 1895, he regarded the 3b°“t tile .thrcat {E0 1:i1:0i:t(:)1lllnt'Ir?l'lsC‘ tziie of thi discussioh was
bulslladc decline in income ,
of agricultural lending as something best left to an row artich; Agriculture et dégrévemenp,
the set W anznymointin to ,the dangers inherent in such a
banks. The Government did not have the resources to fillies:
epmi:at° WhiCh_ beg?“ ydpgl gag-t dam pays oi‘i l’agricu1ture s’est
on such an activity. Nor was it wise that it should become Ek situauon’
creditor of a large section of the rural population, This quatn n a ée gdlans la vie toujours dangereuse dc 18-
was ac impmdemmfnwtliaigt mg/as needed was acampaign to demonstrate
occasion on which the Government might legitimately act as:
but he hoped that if the experiment was successful it monoculmrthods of cultivation by means of model farms and
pioneer,
might be possible come to some arrangement with a privatc 33:;-‘E-n:iie’tal plots. The best farmers should be singled out at
‘to
concern with a view to more extended operations} This meetings and rewarded. There should also be an €_ffiC1Cnt
was
in fact what happened three years later, in 1898, when th¢
newly created National Bank of Egypt agreed to take over thc 10 ‘wall , e uty o t e overnmen an i
business of making small-scale loans in exchange for govern. that in 3-an agricultural country like Egypt there was I10 d€P31't'
ment assistance in collecting the instalments when they fell ment to take charge of a of this
due.‘ Again, in the matter of supplying cheap seed, Cromer A art from its criticismprofgiaméné
0 or owever, such an
romer, l1<1ind.'
was only too happy to see this activity transferred to another artidle was typical of the main body of Egyptian writing on the
private institution also founded in 1898, the Khedivial Agri- economy during the first twenty-five years of the British Occu-
cultural Society. His anxiety to avoid further state interven- pation, in that it shared the all-prevailing assumption that
tion in the rural economy can also be seen in his attitude to Egypt was an agricultural country and that its future prosperity
the establishment of a government department of agriculture. depended solely on the introduction of improved methods of
During the depression of 1894-5 there was considerable cultivation. This, for instance, was very much the line taken
by the two agricultural societies which succeeded the Société
pressure from a number of quarters for the creation of such
Egyptienne d’Agricu1ture, the Comité Agricole, which enjoyed
an office, which would take the lead in finding methods of
a short life round about the year 1884, and the Khedivial
‘ P.P., 1896, vol. xcvii, pp. 997-9. Agricultural Society. The latter was mainly the work of Prince
1 The National Bank of Egypt carried out the business of lending mon¢Y Husain Kamal, himself a large landowner, who felt that there
t° H1‘
smaller cultivators until 1902, when it was transferred to the Agricultural Bank 1 No. viii (i5 Jan. 1895), pp. 238-42.

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340 The Growth of the Economy

?
In Contemporary Thought 341
should be some Egyptian institution capable of " the nature of thin 5, there is
scientific study of agricultural problems.‘ After its C 3 R13 And in our grandchild§‘en’s time
1898, it established an experimental farm at Giza. it reation ii: '5k5', ilc C(t)¢l;1Cllrl<(ai\‘/lelnlhliifi giyilaltl
reall)’ rlothmg of Ehe most prosperous countries in the world’.‘
trials with plouglis and other implements to dl5COV,Qr V$f1Pduct,d bein
from happy state of affairs is given in his Modem
the most suitable for Egyptian conclitions;2 in [908 1° were ‘flrlcthis
or
it The reason t he wrote ‘no semi-insoluble problem lurked
direction of the Ministry of Interior’s ‘Section d,é1e assumed
E37” In Egilives of the budget. The Finance Minister had
main aim of which was to investigate better methoga .’ the
ing cattle.3 Information about the results of‘
8 °
rah, betweer-1Inmed‘:
In to deal with a congested population, of whom
experi not, as nltalge were, in normal times, living on the verge of
disseminated to cultivators at agricultural Shows or mefi lts W a1aI“6‘:.p SINEIC never had to refer to the pages of Malthus or
the Society and by means of a journal and other puiitnized y 10 . _
The great difference between Indian poverty sta'rVaRicard0 or Bastia." .
and E:ations,4
plenty, and in particular the ease with which it gYpti-an CT
- -
7
Egyptian prosperity might appea after . assertion was actually written some eight or nine
India, that be Obtaine (1 Sred, 0 just
a long while, to have blinded the eyes of Cromer , for umlsnfc re the book’s publication, and that in the period
aridee 1eft'EgYpt he ‘was beginning to realiae that an
the other British officials to some of the less happy 3:1any 01" bigiebgfdmcr
in prosperity was not the
the economic situation: the great increase in populafpects of effortless increase Egyptian norpi.
the His last four annual reports all contain _e
danger of over-dependence on one crop, the S0m(131.I':lclieI‘lfCtl3ttO
ic e E;
in the Egyptian economic
the rapid conversion of the whole country toconsequéon,
pcrenni:1Q°_3of ments
In 1904 situationhw
it was t e
‘e
0 fmlg
cause for Question
gation. Northbrook reported in 1884 that it was his impresslrli. give concern.
land, _f'orc1ng up
lease co‘?-s
‘confirmed by oflicers well acquainted with the Presidenclmla etition among cultivators to ‘rents.
the pressure of the population on the soil increases , he then
Bombay and the North-West provinces in India, that yflff
e Wrote, ‘the question of legislating in order to regulate the
people of Egypt were on the whole better off than th
C PCOple relations between landlords and tenants will not improbably
of India’.5 And in the same year, Scott Moncrieff, the An
10- be brought to the front.’3 Then, in 1906, he turned l11S attention
Indian engineer who was the Permanent Under-Secretary? 3;
to the evidence that cotton yields were beginning to decline.
the Ministry of Public Works, wrote that, in spite of the cour-
After a description of the economic advance which had taken
bash and conscription, cruelly heavy taxation, and a total place during the British Occupation, he added: ‘Probably the
absence ofjustice, the Egyptian fellah ‘is a fatter, jollier, better. greatest danger which threatens Egypt lies in the fact . . . that
to-do individual than the average Indian ryot’. He put this the country depends too exclusively on one crop, namely,
down to ‘the marvellous fertility and happy condition of cotton.’ The plants might be damaged by some blight, the
Egypt’.° Cromer went still further in stressing the difference. quality deteriorate, or the price fall heavily! However, the
As he
wrote to Goschen in December 1891: ‘So far as I know remedies he suggested hardly seem to match the gravity of
Egypt is the only agricultural country in the world whose the situation he was attempting to describe: people should be
wealth can, by human skill, be insured against all or nearly all encouraged to grow crops like sugar and cereals to lessen the
count1y’s dependence on cotton, while the decline in yields
sultanienne d'Agriculture, Mémento agricole lgyptien, 3rd edn. (Cairo,
, p. 1. might be arrested by warnings against the dangers of over-
I9;0§ociété
“NoteontheRoylA'l lS' "in EgYDt, Minis"? o
, ‘ 28 Dec. 1891, G.C.: F.O. 1 ii, p. 453.
Finance: Almmfi
3 Société r 19:0 (é[§';x(.3:’tIl1S;‘;0)’(;(;:-Ct2}’52°-f4'.EgyDt
sultaniennc d’Agriculturc
633/5.
3 Annual Report for 1903, P.P., 1904., vol. xci, pp. 220-1. He also suggatcd that
p 3
4 Ministry of Finance Almanac for ‘at some future time, though it may be remote, the Soudan will draw of? some
. portion of the surplus population of Egypt’. Ibid.
: RCPO" _0n the Condition of Egypt’, P.P., 1,884-5, vol. lxxxviii, p. 229.
Quoted in Hollings, p, ‘ Annual Report for 1905, P.P., 1906,
179, vol. cxxxvii, p. 503.

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343
342 The Growth qf the Economy [,1 Contemporary Thought
cropping, and the increased distribution
of good measures, the
seed b two sorts of cc,-min importe reguction
raw ma l\I_o\1/eI:b:lI1'
(int erias u
Khedivial Agricultural SOCICI)’:
As for rural _ e he
the tan.fl. 0n t and
men withovgbpopul
tea“ to 4 per cell »
this could be alleviated by providing the skills atl';"1,
19 05) d from 8 per cent
outside agrjcu1tu1_:'hH. coal and skills of the urban labour force by
would allow them to find employment ' 0 Vr:’3‘::’e the education. There were,
quoting at length_
views on the subject are worth Hip system of technical
18 efl'ol't5
d n t F 1 cases. On at least one occasion he was willing
Egypt being essentially an agricultural country, agriculmre In industry which found itself
in
education, technical 0,. however, Spttilcfassystance of an
of necessity be its first care. Any to in 1906 when, among other things, he
which tended to leave the
fields iintilled, or to lessen the fitencral, to come It This was agricultural railways
disposition of the people for agricultural
employment woulgess reatdlfficu Yéhase the network of light et de la
national evil. Nevertheless
there IS a rapidly
growing he
be
reed. t0 Pur the société Générale des Sucreries
skilled labour of various kinds, and
scope for the deVCl0pIneeitf0lf‘. I But to offset this there was the notorious
dt?Egyptc . "
belonging
many useful industries. The population of the country is ra ‘ 0 “we du which at Cromer’s insistence
ty
the Coumervallmg factory- Piroduced cotton goods.§
increasing, and though the area
under cultivation is being stelildl
adil affair of E t‘
extended, it is probable that a growing proportion of the pl3.C by a number of arguments, but
dedfezfiezllhisgztlgtibarils.
was
P6091‘: 8
must find employment in other occupations.’ Cromer to discover which, if any, he
distance 1't is difficult
at this powe rful. Certainly
he had all the free-
However, the only hint that the Government should play Y as the more
role in this process came with his decision to establish a 1?:
re arded
9 conventional distaste for protecting industry and thus,
trader 5 factories and forcing
department to supervise the expansion of facilities for technicrl it ’ encouraging ineflicient they need. In
as he a more for their purchases than
and commercial education.‘ saw:
views of this kind were in
The reasons for this rather negative approach are not dim cortisuzlselriis
ar ajffiaciiil life was concerned,
50 Finance Member in
cult to understand, for they follow directly from those basic - l t as arly as 1882, when as
principles which he felt should underlie oflicial policy toward, an Indian budget which abolished
glgiixcliclehaeshiaclsintrciiduced He supported this
the whole question of development. His attitude to the qua. goods.
all) the remaining duties on imported
tion of government assistance to agriculture is a case in point_ to certain practical consider-
move not only by reference
Public works apart, there were few operations which the ad. to the success which had attended
ations but also by an appeal
‘As an incident in her
ministration might be forced to undertake in an emergency_ the introduction of Free Trade in Britain:
among them the Delta-wide campaigns against locusts in i904, a right to profit from
connection with England, India has That
history.
and the cotton-worm in I9o5—but, as a rule, activities such as English experience and from English economic
that by the
those designed to improve methods ofcultivation or to introduce experience and that economic history show
ut
all the world,ad§p-
new crops were best left to private initiative. It was not just a tion of Free Trade a country benefits, indeed,
was
case of lack of funds, there was also his profound belief that local more specifically benefits itself.’3 Equally clearly, Cromer
enterprise could so easily be stultified by central direction. anxious, at all costs, to avoid protests from Lancashire mill-
But if Lord Cromer was unwilling to allow the Government owners similar to those which, during the early 1890s, had
more than a minimal role in the primary sector of the economy, forced the Government of India to impose an excise duty on
he was even more sure that it would be quite wrong to do any- domestic cotton goods equal to that which they had begun to
thing to reduce Egypt’s dependence on agriculture by giving levy on imports! As he saw it, one of the major responsibilities
direct encouragement to industrial development. As a gene! ‘ See p. 296.
' ‘See pp. 302-4..
rule, so he believed, the limits of state activity had been 5 Financial Statement of the Government of India for 1882-1883’, p. 340.
' AWN Rtfi o flfir1905, p. 571. ‘ Cromer to Bei-gne, i 5 Apr. 1895, C.C.: F.O. 633/5, and 2 May igoi, C.C.:F.O.
1 Annual Reportfi zr 1906, P.P., I907, vol. c, p. 718. 533/8.

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i
344 The Growth of the Economy In Contemporary Thought 345

. and the alarming fall in cotton yields in 1909

tin 190 8 ’
of a British oflicial overseas was to avoid any _
action the country. It has
might lead to the embarrassment of the government of th
e 11
outpaced effects Which were felt throughout
Furthermore, it may have been the case that he was anxiou
d ' ,0 u described how business confidence was rudely
n
remove a potential source of friction between En ah-eady bee the of land dropped sharply, and how many
price
Egypt by establishing, from the very beginning, that mills _ '3 shaken, hm?! themselves unable to meet the instalments due on
latter would not be allowed to receive any mfi asure will
1e foun overdrafts. Another important result of
a, nd bank . .
tection. However, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion Pro. mortgaglesn ed depression was the stimulus. it gave to a re-
also came to regard the issue as something affecting
th he this P_r° O t§Egypt’s economic pOS1tl0l'l. It raised, among other
prestige, quite independent of principle. From the time
hisat praisal 0 question of the country’s dependence on
of) his' Whole
first exchange of correspondence with the directors of the things, wisdom of relying so exclusively on one crop
got thed of the
Mills in 1898 he had asserted categorically that a c0umt°n EuroPe,
anccrmin returns. In oflicial circles reflections of this
vailing duty would have to be imposed.‘ In these circumstan
er- of such took second place to a discussion of the measures
urrtany
the company’s attempts to have the duty declared illegal “fess kind natu with the immediate effects of the crisis. But
to cope led the re-
have been seen as a challenge to his authority, and the necessailfzré the requirements of the situation to
Courts’ first decision in the company’s favour as a even of many of the principal tenets were
personal itnatign ’ thinking about the process Wfl1lEC‘l1
0 gyptian
defeat. Hence he may have felt that he had little option but exam S
appeal against the decision, even though, as he admitted in"
to central (0 Ctimmer
a
private letter, he and Gorst, the Financial Adviser, were the d°f§,1,‘;p,I,:1:tIiér which was soon raised was the problem of rural
only two people in the country who believed that the Govern.
debt.inMW P"?P“°‘°”
'
who d b ht land on credit were
ment had a case.‘ now difficulties, others werehafi‘ Weib th fall in the value
a ecte
Cromer’s imposition of the 8 per cent excise duty was of their crops in.Igo8 and 1909. In these
heavily criticized by almost all sections of Egyptian opinion as in payments owing to the Agricultural Bankcircumstafnces,
rose 3arrears
I
mm pet!‘
to 17-7 cent in
placing an unnecessary barrier in the way of industrial growth, cent of the capital out on loan in 1.907 per_
igitlag.as
La Bourse égyptienne described the Mixed Courts’ decision that This led, in turn, to 1‘?StI‘1CCl0l'1S. in further lending,
the duty was illegal as ‘un véritable triomphe non seulement to a more thorough investigation of requests for asiwe
a
pour la société des Cotton Mills, mais aussi pour l’industrie There was also some consideration _of a suggestion put forwar vancesi
égyptienne en général’;3 while the reversal of this decision, on by Sir Paul Harvey, the Financial Adviser, that one way
appeal, was attacked as detrimental to the country’s interests round the vexatious question of lack of security for small loans
even by the Egyptian Gazette, normally the most staunch might be to encourage the creation of agricultural co-opera-
supporter of the Occupation.4 Criticism of the British attitude tives.1 But in the event, no new initiative was thought neces-
to the development of local industry continued unabated for sary; and it was left to Kitchener to try a different approach to
the remainder of the period up to 1914. the problem with his Five-Feddan.Law, designed to ensure that
Lord Cromer’s departure from Egypt in May 1907 W35 a peasant could not be deprived of his land for non-payment of
followed by a period of considerable economic difficulty. The debt. His thinking on this subject was diametrically opposed
financial crisis, which brought the boom in company-pr0m0t10n to that of his predecessors. For Cromer and Gorst, the main
to an end, the sudden reduction in the value of agricultural question was one of providing the small cultivator with suffi-
cient credit to keep him out of the hands of the village usurer.
' Cromer to Salisbury, 29 Oct. 1898: E0. 14.1/335, and enclosures. Kitchener, on the other hand, was quite ready to make such
4 Cromer to Bergne, 12 June igoi: F.O. 78/5162. advances very much more diflicult to obtain, by depriving the
1 Undared extract enclosed in Cromer, 12 June 1901: F.O. 78/5152- ' Harvey, ‘Memorandum
4 21 Feb. 1902. regarding the Agricultural Bank of Egypt’ (GB).

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In Contemporary Thought 347

345 The Growth of the Economy
[Nevertheless] 'the government is
lender of any possible security. It. was his belief -"es° th cp opulation.d‘
to the expe iency ofdvl
e e
oping
the
reso
urcesof
peasants needed very much less working capital than hast the acuvitl I alive agricultural, mineral, or
other directions, whether
tho,-on in
been supposed, and that it would be a good thing if often Agriculture, of Survey, and‘ of
“Sum, thc co. a.l“The departments of
would stop tempting them into debt.‘ I-“dust. in their several spheres, are accomplishing
harvest of 1909 also produced Education,
The disastrous cotton a k towards this
end.’
in Cromerian policy. As a result of the recommendationschange ood Wot. - - mentioned in _the last sen-
of the d epar t me nts
of the
government cotton coinmlSS10_n, 3 Dfipaftment of
Agric 6:5 follows: the Department of _Agriculture was
was created in igio with special responsibility
for measuult“ cc . were with other crops which might become as
res ting
prevent any further decline in yield. Two years lat experimleflys cotton, the Survey Department was anxious to
to the status of Ministry er the
Department was upgraded rofitabtlta t,s mineral resources, oil in particular, with
the
But if Gorst and Kitchener were willing to go to some, develop of capital, while the Department of Technical
to modify a number of Lord Cromer’s more importanten ' private
855i5tan.ccn was doing its best to provide a well-trained labour
ciples, they were in complete agreement with him as Educatio This was a programme
tgmn. the count,-y’s new factories.
general lines along which Egyptian development sh force {itch Cromer was certainly in whole-hearted agreement.
proceed. Like him, they placed most of their trust in ];.uid debate future
scale public works and a policy of non-intervention in wig‘ go; wide_ranging abcliut
circ es. nce econ<})1inic
again
IC3)gypt’s t e starting-
and financial life. By E2.e ]; lace outsi‘dc government .
country’s commercial such means th mqntpwas generally the economic dangers exposed by the
hoped to increase agricultural production and to provided: saints of 1907 to 1909. these
sort of framework inside which private enterprise Could flourishe Some Reactions
writers focuse 3: eir evtents toolk thrpe
As Sir Paul Harvey put it in a statement which Gorst repcated main forms. . atten ion
CXCHUSIVC
its qua ty Cy!’
cotton and on practical ways of improving an.
in his annual report for 1908: ‘National prosperity can only be on
yic1d, Here there was little inclination to speculate. whether it
secured, in so far as it lies with the government to secure it, by the question was put
was safe to rely on one commodity. Rather
the steady development of the country’s natural resources and the other way round: Since Egypt was, in fact, so dependent on
the prudent and economical expenditure of the revenue}:
cotton what steps could be taken to ensure the well-being of the
Again, like Cromer, Gorst and Kitchener were both willing crop? This is very much the tenor of a series of articles by J._A.
to discuss the problems posed by monoculture and a rapidly Todd in which he was concerned to point out the harm _which
rising population, without appearing to suggest that they would be done to the special position of ‘Egyptian’ in the
represented any very formidable difficulties. A good example Lancashire market by a further decline in quality, and to
of this occurs in the latter’s report for 1912. Egypt was an suggest how this might be remedied.‘ Discussion took place
agricultural country, he then wrote, and almost entirely largely on a technical level, a trend which was further encour-
dependent on cotton to pay for its imports and to service its aged by the two commissions set up to inquire into the causes of
debts. In the past this dependence had exposed the economy to the decline in yield, both of which had commented on the lack
serious fluctuations, and it would undoubtedly do so again- of reliable information and recommended that detailed re-
However, search into the problem be at once undertakenfi
so long as the cultivation of cotton remains as profitable as it is at A second reaction was to look at cotton in its wider agri-
present, that commodity will probably retain its place as the cultural context. This was the approach of W. E. Medewar in
principal factor in Egypt's international exchanges, and its P'°' ' P-P-. 1913, vol. lxxxi,
p. 213.
' Ste ‘The Demand
duction will continue to absorb the preponderant share Of 3” for Egyptian Cotton’, ‘The Market for Egyptian Cotton in
‘9:’9"9l°_', and ‘Further Notes on the Egyptian Cotton Market’.
' Annual R:/mtfor I912, P.P., igig, vol. lxxxi, p. 214. Collection qfStati.m'::: of the Arm: Planted in Cotton in 1909
3 P.P., I909, vol. cv, p. 3449.

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?
343 The Growth of the Economy
In Contemporary Thought 34-9
a pamphlet written in December 1909. He began
b from abroad.‘ Industrializa-
that the dangers of monoculture had been overstressedafiserting _ , of industrial products
acquisition According to Gabriel Khaleel,
who argued that the demand for ‘Egyptian’ was d other advantages.
diminish as competitors emerged and substitutes b
We don also haortant not only as a means of creating national
wound to it was as a method of providing for an employment
covered. He himself believed that its market would wealth bu t also
conife
1 However, there were considerable
increase with rising world PYOSPETIW, and that sing population.
new ct/er—inc_f:”'t0 thing, Egyptians
be overcome. For one always
cotton would always be found} Nevertheless, depend: foi- difliciiltig foreign articles rather than
this one crop did pose certain problems, notably Ilce
on . a preference for buying
the This was reinforced by the fact that
instability of incomes produced by fluctuations in [i d u cad at home.
yield! Among the remedies he suggested were efforts anufacturers were able to provide cheaper goods
Europsiagflréhe advantages of -large-scale production. Never-
diversification of agricultural production through thea
becau should be made in creating factories to work up
extended cultivation of fruit and vegetables, and the In? Start
Cr theless, metal, wood, leather, wool,
of rural banks to overcome the difficulty of variable Fecfiation aterials as cotton thread,
such like corn and oil.’ Other speakers urged
Finally, there was the increasing attention paid to th?Pm'3 maa roducts
that Egypt’s future prosperity would only b6 ensured idea “ml f;)(1)1o“i)Egyptians to take an interest in promoting national
b their to study objects like
creation of a modern industrial sector of the economy Y the - r - Students should be encouraged
teies . .
policy was particularly popular among nationalism, for ‘who ltégiimics and commerce ;3 the rich ought to place their money
to give financial support to local enterpr1se;4
it seemed to offer the additional advantage of assistingthm 1‘en banks prepared '
country to achieve some measure of economic independencee cvflfyone had a duty to purchase Egyptian - ma d e goo ds where-
Such feelings were much in evidence at the meeting of thé ossible.5 _ _ _
Egyptian National Congress at Heliopolis in April and May cvzgong others to advocate the introduction of new industries
1911. As the Organizing Committee put it in its introduction was S. Sornaga, the owner of a factory making building materi-
to the debate on ‘the economic situation’: 315, whose remarkable book, L’Industrie en Egypte, was published
in Cairo in 1916. Like the nationalists just cited he believed that
We have no collective economic existence; we play not an active
but a passive role; we suffer in Egypt the fluctuations of economic the creation of factories would help avert some of the dangers of
movements without being able, in turn, to exert any influence upon monoculture and provide a measure of economic independence
them. . . . The goods which pass out of the hands of the agricultural- without which olitical inde endence would have onl a
n p u p

ists pass, in nearly all cases, into those of foreigners. . . . We take relative value.6 To this end he offered a comprehensive series of 0 n y

little or no part in industry, because we have not the capital to enter suggestions as to how barriers to industrialization might be
usefully into financial transactions. The least crisis that occurs, in surmounted.7 These included eflbrts to reduce the cost of fuel
whatever country, affects our financial market! by developing the use of oil and hydro-electricity,“ to encourage
Speakers turned with enthusiasm to the advocacy of industrial- the production of the necessary raw materials such as sugar,
ization as a means of decreasing Egypt’s dependence on Western f Charnsy, A., ‘Practical Education in Industry,
Commerce and Agriculture’,
Europe. How, it was argued, could the country prosper so M;’"““ 9f the Proceedings of the First Egptian Congress, p. 165.
long as the riches yielded by the soil were spent on the Protection and Encouragement of National Products’,
OP. :i(t1.1’31P::.1,I;3;:6:The
3 hams)’, °P- Cit p. 165 - According
'_ S. A. Agricole et Industricllc d’Egypte, Etude: sur la question cotanniérc rt l’a1!”‘.' . 3 to Chamsy: of the 700 E EYP tian students
th E _ _
Jatum agricole en Egypte, by W. E. Mcdewar (Cairo, igio), p. 76.
= Ibid., p. 77. 1 15;.-1_, pp. 82, B4-
5"iCi‘aai“§§f if'1‘! hifi f.°..",T.Z".°§.ZZ§.“.d..l‘¥§§§3';Z’§“i?.5’.f.f§’y"’.L“£$,;e op cit
: - -2 , . .,
4 ‘Report of the Organizing Committee of the rim Egyptian Consrcfi rm
P‘,'¥'}'Ic
su b ti_d e of
Ibid.,
5, s work p.
194.
I
5
Sornaga, p. 3.
III—’I'hc Economic Situation’, Minute: ml» Proceeding: qftlu Fin! Egyptian Gm” vex é . is: ‘Quelqucs idées ct propositions dictéu par
pour Sornaga 5: établir un programme
(Alexandria, igii), pp. 3o—i, la dgvléllince complct ct organiquc pour
Pliement contribuer
de l industrie en Egyptc.' ' s°"“83s
P- "-

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In Contemporary Thought 351

350 The Growth of the Economy 1836—:a recognition of the
_ uggested by Colin in
S ilk, to b , 'ndi o, and
fruits,‘ and to im .
the lines ndcnce of agriculture and industry, the establish-
aczcootlherginnovations should be theprlfovgifilndu
education.
them to lend money to cm°ll of
mm interdege CW factories to process local raw materials,
O 'n 0 f a central
and the
role in the direction of the
banks’ charters to allow 1113'“ by the state
contracts for the purchase of ind ustp”_
ssumptlo n
long-term gove rnment _ _ _ E
made goods; and the creation of industrial gyndica§:sl’t1an_ econOmy'
of mutual assistance
way of encouraging the habit a.
their interests :3‘ (ins
factory-owners and of defending.llSt of the against
WHO lgn
somaga also gave a industries
pressums be introduced. As with other writlch, e
felt, could profitably
plants to work
bulk of his suggestions concerned up 1061?;raw
Jute, sugar,
materials such as cotton, Vegetable 05:] I

leather.‘ _ examplc of an
Lrlndustrie on Egypt: is a good intem
approach to the development of the E Sent,
thoughtful
to find expression in thgeyphln
economy which was beginning
just before and after 1914. It combined a sweeping anal ,
the problems to be faced—the threat of over-population ch.
according to Sornaga, would soon assume menacing pro
the foreign dominatioilm
tions),7 the lack of local enterprise,
Egyptian economic activity—with detailed, practical sug erg!‘
tions about how improvements might be effected. No extragva:
himself pointed out
gant claims were put forward. Sornaga
that his programme, even if implemented in its entirety, would
not lead to Egypt’s being able to compete with the import; of
manufactured goods from the chief industrial countries for a
long time to come.‘ Nevertheless, action had to begin at once_
On the one hand, political independence, when it came, would
have to be supplemented by the development of the country’:
economic potential. On the other, certain basic problems
would only get worse if a start was not made at once in their
solution. There is an underlying sense of urgency about such
writing, coupled with a recognition that the difficulties ahead
were too large to be overcome by individual enterprise and
would have to be surmounted, if at all, by government planning
on an extensive scale. With this the wheel of the arguments
an
described in this chapter comes full circle. For Somaga
along
those who agreed with him, Egypt’s future lay very much
' Somaga, p. 13. 1 Ibid., pp. 19-20. ’ Ibidu P- “-
‘’ Ibidu P- 7-
* Ibid., p. 25. 5 Ibid., p. 27.
7 Ibid., p. 20. ' Ibid., P- 3'

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Conclusion 353

was responsible for the major part of the increasein

CONCLUSION wry’
“C ultural
Cen- output. Secondly, during the period of the British
to raise the yields of all the
21 ation it proved possible
. 09°13) al crops by discovering new and more prolific strains
URING the ninetee 11 th century the rapid
grow using extra water in their cultivation as it became
E t_ is the question of the growth of
an increase in the volume and Value egfcllisivel 0° _ Finally, there
n and its relation to the increase in production. This
production. Whereas in 1820 no long-staple cot? agricultural 0 ulatio. which it is dificult to be specific. Even in
somethl ng
about
at all, just under a hundred years later 1.03 wa_5 town is a country like and economic
reached an annual average of 7,000,000 cantaliso uction ha the 685° °f ontinue to argue
England;
w etdfimographers
er it was the increase in
£E28,ooo,oo0. Unfortunately, no reliable figure; w°_Fth nearl historians C agricultural output or
which stimulated greater
trate the concomitantincrease in the output of sugare:1: t° illug_ numbers
it was larger harvests which raised nutritional stan-
but something of the expansion which must have tn cereals; whether alive longer. in Egypt, where of course
dards and kept people less good, either hypothesis might be
where the latter were concerned can be seen from tlfken Place the figures are infinitely
fact that
the country was able to continue to feed a populat? is no way of telling. Nevertheless, the question of
correct; there
rose from around 3,000,000 in I 7982 to over 11,000 0:31. which one can safely posit that without the rise in
I907 causation aside, place during the nme.teenth.century
without recourse to more than a small volume 0%im1n population which took
the end of the period.3 In addition, sufficient birsim wagons at Egypt would have been unable to expand its agricultural
grown true. of cotton,
to provide fodder for an increasing animal population output at a steady rate. This was especially
This advance in output took place as a result of three th where cultivation '
particulgrly
wasfi rst it c e upon erto
intro uce dlabo1;i£iiétensive.h1VdYhen
developments. Firstly, it required a series of l.l'I1pI'0VCmc1':’ts m
in lon -sta le cotton was
. . . _ resources, men who had previously remained
the system of irrigation to allow the extension of the cultivated under-uIt)ilized
women and
area by something like a million feddans between 1798 and unem loyed during most of the summer months,
childrgn who had rarely worked in the fields before. But later,
1914.. It also required measures to permit the more intensive during the American Civil War,
the increase in the cotton area
use of existing land, particularly during the summer months.
and again in the 1870s and 18905, was possible only because of
Some cotton continued to be grown by the balli method
a. rise in the amount of available manpower. This, in turn, was
throughout almost all the period, on fields where no water was largely the result of the general growth of population, although
available between March and July. But as a general rule, its mention should also be made ofthe introduction ofvarious labour-
cultivation, as well as that of sugar, involved the construction saving measures such as the construction of steam gins, the
and maintenance of many hundreds of miles of summer canals. improvements in the system of transport, and the use of public-
the
It was the extension of the crop area which, throughout works contractors rather than the corvée to clean the canals.
at 1635”-‘
'
Figures for the production of most of the principal crops exist from It would seem likely that the increase in the volume of
and there are nonfl
early as 1821. However, it is impossible to assess their accuracy, Egyptian agricultural production was accompanied by a more
inspire any great confidence before the 1880s. Again, such figures exist only
than proportionate rise in value. Once again no reliable figures
which average 01'
for isolated years, and there is no way of telling whether they refer to an
‘The Long—T¢1"-'0 exist for crops other than cotton. However, we may assume that
an abnormal harvest. For a list of such sources see O’Brien,
Growth of Agricultural Production in Egypt’, pp. 5-7. Barnett’s estimate of ,€E7,5oo,ooo for Egypt’s gross income
3 See p. 3 n. for the source of this figure. f cm], from agriculture in 1844 represents an upper limit which was
for the CXP°"f ° can u,
1 It might be argued that no allowance has been made 5 P
it is true that Egypt did rarely, if ever, attained.‘ This should be compared with the
during the early part of the period. But, although °f will pm-
P|'°P°“l°“
of its harvest abroad in 1798, this was only a very small 1 12 Dec. 1844: F.O. 78/583.
ductwn. mm Aa

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354 Conclusion
7
Conclusion 355
estimates of E60 000
just before the;€First,Woi(l)d)(l/V?a'.Ir1.dW€:E1‘§>l;oo0,0oo for h of other crops as well.
the more eflicient production
by 3°“ of -C: Years allow ields, for example, were increased directly by the use of
which these two sets of figures mi (iltiny
6 brou ht 1 . Of Water: indirectly by the emphasis placed on
but in view of the fact that the bartil. in lnflex
t Gama qyuantltlts
certainly moved in favour of cotton and em.“ Of trade a ‘He; larger more prolific varieties. Third, the fact that
against ‘host h iflto cash income made it possible for
goods as the century progressed it manufa provided an assured
would seem correct
that the real advance in income wa 3 to to extend their activities throughout
CVCII greater than “me m0I1€Y‘ lenders , ,
estimates indicate.
'
forflgn
t from the 1850s onwards. It also made it possible
- rural 13 rather than in kind,
The effects of the in landlords to ask for their rents in cash
felt throughout the ecoiizclifdy ITe:gcIo1i(ii:l1tura1 Production f0 r benefits from the rise in agricultural
so to obtain extra
ments to spend money on the construifiid successive an d of the century. Fourth, cotton allowed some
of the ‘ ~ mes at the turn
_ ,
who processed or
necessary to carry export crops like sugar :1 311 r cultivated it, and many of those
to the coast and to open up new areas QfI:hec(::tt0I1 and cereals iI;°;,ose who quite considerable profits. A part of these
Exported it, to make
vation. It acted as a great incentive for forgi oiin to Cult.1' the purchase of imports, another part was
3“ lnvestors rofits was used for that a sizeable
were easily convinced by Ismafi] but it has also been argued
’ -and then again if
British officials during the occu P3-U011,
h remitted abroad,
Egypt, where it was often used to buy
that E ~ y the roportion remained in
gyptlan a
an even more prosperous land or houses, to develop new facilities inside the cotton
future.8?It
L
other sorts of econonuc enter-
lcetgtititjeawgse
. _ in
ag‘t01i1;11%rte(;Sl;a.\/C the country’s
foreign trade. It to. sector, or, latterly, to promote
vided a sizeable proportion of government such as public utilities or factories.
rev prise
of the land-tax and the duties on imports and enues b)’ means But if the increase in cotton-production in particular, and
as placing great wealth in the hands of those xfffportsi as well agricultural production in general, led to the further monetiz-
or ‘fortunate enough to obtain large estates tiwere skilful ation of the rural sector, to growing foreign trade, to rising
various legal changes designed to free trade incomes, to the creation of an infra-structure, as well as to many
ailqttoPromoted
establish
a of private property in land. other manifestations of economic progress, it did not lead to
slystelrln
t t e centre of this ro ' the transition from an export-orientated economy to a more
Its influence was of qulite (ia(::e(pftfi:::lol:‘::h stEood cotton, complex one based upon a wide variety of activities including
the factory industry. In other words, there was growth but not
years before the American Civil War when it was ver1l'mC“
over only a ninth or a tenth of the Delta in an on tlvauid CXPONS of agricultural commodities increased
d§;’£1°Pm°ntS
W1 out any of the structural changes which are believed to
pave the. way for the creation ofa modern sector ofthe economy.
actmg as a magnet for foreign merchants whopwere at:-:C tag
C At the time of the outbreak of the First World War, almost a
to Alexandria from all over Europe and the Levant B t '
after the introduction of long-staple cotton, there were
during the 1860s that it really began to affect the \1:Ih(1ytlew::' st
5 n . Ctfilfew
lturyfactories of a European type, the Government continued
E8'Ypt 5 economic life. Four areas of influence are of particular exclusively revenue derived either directly
significance. First, the extension of cotton throughout the Delta (ts 1i‘C13’.3.lII‘£0St on
the agricultural
sector, and not more than
:::l;h‘;‘:1:t;dU5§°r EgYpt meant that ascarce resource, land, I5 p‘;r“:;ttY0 tfrglme population lived in towns of any sizc_
_ The fai_1ure to develop a modern sector of the economy posed
possiblebefore. This led to a great increase in agricultural _ .
particular problems. For one thing the population
production. It also led, in the short run, to considerable ~ ’
. was 111-
creasin at h a rapid rate that it threatened soon to ouu-un
exhaustion of the soil. Second, the wider cultivation of cotton the mpg liefiucf land. For another, further progress
caused changes in agricultural technique which were later to in the sgr. .
icu(: t “Ta
avpilable
Sphere could be secured only wlth great

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356 Conclusion Conclusion 357

expericnccs Of
difliculty. In part this was a question of
mone _ th e differences between the
public investments in a new system of draina Y. e cxtel-,8. sccto r means that are particularly '
‘W 0 Countries
.
the instructive.hSecond,f
economic t tthege
ra e
ones in fertilizers were necessary to repair the the °f general 0.
llamas
dama private
soil fertility by the more intensive use of land which fie do 3 brief analY51-5
t in an effort to see how
they rrught a5S1St OUT
ad an attempt will be made to
in the 1890s. Other difficulties were more
intract able. egun I, develzpmcori the subject. Finally,
spread of perennial irrigation had led to a situatio “nderstan nature of Egypt’s own particular history
in e e 13:56 special before.
perhaps half the population of Lower iscussion which has gone _
Egypt wag su which n_ At the time of the Meljl Restoration
from bilharzia. Again, efforts to decrease the count a
s Fln3
on cotton and to diversify agricultural productionriiv relian cultivators. At least 75
as a land of peasant
pered by the fact that no other crop was so lucratiyfi or
ere Wm of the labour force was employed in agri-
harm r as late as 1893 only 16 per cent of the
such good security for the credit which all farmersprovided
Finally, there was the immense problem created b
re uire. -
tved 1n towns 0 f I0 000 inhabitants or more.‘poIp11l1-e
2 . .
Y the 1111‘ ked by _peasants in units w hi c h
equal distribution of landed property_ By
19 I ‘ f the land was wor .
. .
pressure was already raising rents to a level wll-1'p0pulat10n. smaller than those in
. ich _fP:I:,t°hing, consi ere a 00ts
I . 225 acres, wasEgyptéaccgrding
difficult for peasants to make more than a min ' Allen half a tho,
madefl
*0 t.li G- C and which were equally fragment<=d- I’ Tgh,6“
average fa,m);. for the area of land held in estates of -various
Meanwhile, the fragmentation of most of the smfllfiakllolfdin
stood in the way of any real increase in agriculturalefiiciencfif 0 figures . -
are n been estimated that in 1873 almost a third of it
Some of these problems, but by no means all, war C sizes, but ,t has tenanws Again, as in Egypt, agriculture was
to be discussed publicly in the years before the First World
bcginning
W was :1 out to two-
There were already those who were advocating rapid industriiijri icngd by a single crop, rice, which supplied nearly
ization as the only means of ensuring a prosperous future. Not d°.H:1m2:,f thc value of total output!’ The fact that this crop
thif quantities- of water, and thus an extensive system
surprisingly, thinking in government circles was less radical reqmFred great - h mbers
but even there the widespread recognition that the adminjsi
2
tration bore a direct responsibility for the situation inside of each village community,‘ I e
gyip
mutua
had maintained a long tradition ofeir ration 7
the agricultural sector represented a distinct advance over co-ope ..
d
previous positions. However, as yet, there was little sense of But the parallel does not end here. Both countries experience
urgency. Few realized just how great were the difficulties which two similar sorts of development duringthe thirty years
before?
lay ahead. The old notion that Egypt was a country of vast 1914. Firstly, each underwent something of an_ agflcllltllfa
the
economic potential died hard. revolution. It has already been suggested that in Egypt
size of the cotton harvest more than doubled between 1885-9
It remains to attempt the task of looking at the performance
of the Egyptian economy during the nineteenth century in and 1910-13, while cereal output may have risen by as much
wider perspective, and in particular to ask why it was that as a third during the same period. Japanese agriculture Sh0W€d
growth should not have been accompanied by development. 1 Ohkawa, K. and Rosovsky, H., ‘A Century of Japanese ‘Economic Growth’,
Three different approaches will be tried. First, a comparison in Lockwood, w. w. (cd.), 27» sum and Economic Enmpriu in Japan (Pnncetom
1965), - 4-
will be made between the economic history of Egypt and that ‘ Ishlii,El{., Population Pressure and Economic Life in japan (London; 1937): P- 7‘-
ofJapan during the same period. Conditions in both countries : A Short Economic History afModem Japan, 1867-1937 (London. 1962). p- 63- _
* Johnston, B. K., ‘Agricultural Productivity and Economic Development in
were sufliciently similar to make such an exercise feasible; Japan’. Jaurnal of Political Economy, vol. lix, no. 6 (Dec. 1951), p. 500.
while the fact that the Japanese, unlike the Egyptians, WC" 5 Norman, E. H., japan’: Emergent: as a Modern State (New York, 1940), p. 148.
5 Olilcawa and Rosovsky, p. 56.
able to use a rapid increase in agricultural output between 13?‘) 7 Smith, T. 0., The Agrarian Origin: qfMadem Japan (Stanford, 1959), pp. 208-9-
and 1920 as the basis for the creation of a modern industrial

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359
Conclusion
358 Conclusion '
- ‘ of a m0 dern
the saw the creation
a roughly similar advance, although the exact rate h ence. T0 beg-1n,:::}l19,asedyin the first instance on a four-
the subject of considerable c0ntroversy—Ohkawa and gen onsc q sector. This and export of raw silk in the
ifll duction
ill dus, e 1'1 the pm of
sky’s calculation that production rose by 100 per cent b °8ov. creas Restoration. T he manufacture_
1878-82 and 1908-12 having been challenged as over‘ etween fold in a er the
activity _
to undergo a technical
th was
anoI:/iiiji
tic by J. I. Nakamura.‘ In Japan, as in Egypt, the °Pti‘_Tlis. thirw
Cotton _cl0 this
_
period. Heavy industry developed more
18905:
cause of the increase in agricultural Output was not tfilclpal rcvolu
dark, of iron were produced in the
area, but the more
tension of the cultivated
e intensive
use of land onl sma11-1amounts
he Government had founded
an iron-and-
and a considerable improvement in yields.‘ Again, th '
W35 “S”: ling, tthat it made any serious contribution
to
process received considerable encouragement from :3 "_Vhole a wof k5
In I9 accompanied by progress in ship-
government measures taken almost immediately afpries
of rowthi It was production of cement, glass, paper,
the '
Meiji Restoration, aimed at reforming the land-ta_x insttr . - ' ar‘ Even so:
. fCI‘tilizers 5 and the refining o f sug .
C°31'mining’
building;ficlal
a system of private property in land, and sweeping altu arti - textiles continued, supported _bY the
,, rid
variety of feudal regulations which, among other $1)’ a. the Prcdonii-n::xc;e;1a(:]f<ets on the Asian mainland, and
in 1913
prevented a peasant from leaving his fields for work elsfiwhlfl . 0 60 per cent Of 311
, consisted of 600,000 workers or
Secondly, both countries experienced a similar sort of dev °lre.i Industry 1 ed in establishments of five persons and over.‘
ment as they were opened up to foreign trade. In Japatfo the
the labour emp of? 11 wed The proportion of the population
arrival of European and American merchants to settle in the
other -changes ofomore than 10,000 people rose from 15
major ports acted as a major instrument of social tfansformafithe living cent twenty years
later;
They served as a channel for European technology. Jim‘ er int tciirvlvnsl 833 to 28 per
CCn
introduced Japanese consumers to new products; they eiiposed
Japanese producers to the stimulating effects of foreign c0m_ °btaim.£d €§1)1ItIile:ha‘,:nliuii:}:{::x0la'ilnlnCOtl'§1:ntllc griiat part of which
petition. These merchants conducted the greater part of sector.‘
Japanese overseas trade until the end of the century. Thcir atrfixgfiied by people in the advanced industrial
and. I91-3. fofitilgn
position was made easier by a number of international agree. trade increased eight times between 1880 ese
all characteristic of an economy which is
merits which did not allow Japan to fix its own customs duties changes are ‘entering
called Modern
before 1899.4 a period of what Ohkawaand Rosovsky have
there a sustained
The differences between the process of economic growth in Economic Gr0wth’—that is, one in which is
sustained by high
each country are, however, as important as the similarities. In and rapid rise in real product per person
modern scientific
what follows, an attempt will be made to isolate those which rates of population growth, the application of
science,
seem to be the most significant. But before this is done it is thought and technology to industry, transport, and
necessary to give a brief general description of the development and high rates of transformation of the industrial sector.‘
of the Japanese economy between 1868 and 1920. These were How did this happen? It is now generally accepted that the
years of rapid growth marked by structural changes of great development of the Japanese economy during the period is to
be explained largely in terms of the increase in agricultural
' Ohkawa, K., and Rosovsky, H., ‘The Role of Agriculture in Modern Japanese ‘ Ibid., pp. 877-9. 1 Ibid., p. 879. 3 Ishii, P- 7'-
Economic Development’, Economic Development and Cultural Change, vol. ix, no. 1.
_‘ Ranis, G., ‘The Financing of Japanese Economic Development’, Economic
pt. 2 (Oct. I960), p. 4.5, and Nakamura, J. 1., ‘Growth of Japanese Agriculturci
HI-WU Review, 2nd Series, vol. xi, no. 3 (Apr. i959), pp. 445-7.
1875-1920’, in Lockwood, State and Economic Entnymlse, pp. 249-57. ‘ Lockwood, w. w., The Economic Dmlapmmt qf Japan: Growth and Structural
‘ Oldiawa and Rosovsky, ‘The Role of Agriculture’, p. 44..
' Nakamura, ‘Meiji Land Reform’, p. 4.29. , C":"§‘= '353—1.933 (London, 1955), Table 26, p. 313.
A Cfntury ofjapanesc Economic Growth’, p. 53. The authors have borrowed
‘ Allen, G. C., ‘The Industrialization of the Far East’, in 77!: Cdmlm'd£' E‘°”"""‘ “I9 ‘CT!!! Modern Economic Growth’ from S. Kuznets.
Hirlog qffiurope, iv, pt. 2 (Cambridge, 1965), 876-8.

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35° Conclusion Conclusion 35‘

production
which took place after 1868, accom
C1 for technical and commercial instruction. In
decline in the rural labour force.‘ According toan. b_Ya abroa . »
for. a number of
Johnston, the number of farm workers was a anese it provided subsidies
areas 0 e
businesses in important entreprepeiilrs
scan estimat
1
addition:
establish
between igii and 1920, or roughly 86 o has been a tendency among
it had been between 1881 and 1890.1 Theper Ce ° anxiou 'tloln recent years there
sharent. . w at econo to suggest that the'role of government in
productivity of both land and labour is said top Se C econo mists ment was much less important than has often
lo
number of important consequences. Firstly, ' moting dc;/C; gut, even should this be proved to everyone’s
proportion of the capital used to build up a
mod 3. can suI_JPOseth.e {got remains that, if nothing else, the M61]!
the economy. As late as the 18905 Japan had mac rn sector of 1 an invaluable contribution to growth by
made
small foreign loans, and the remainder of the fun dc Only
I h in which economic advance was
3 an atmospl an
d5
to develop local industry had to come from domest. necessa erfi d CS1'rable end : and in which prospec-
Part of this money was transferred from the agricultlc sources_ ted as could expect help rather
anléilgrinew that they
by means of the land-tax, part of it from the savings mlfttfi llsector tive entrelrjflce from the administration. This was in marked
landowners, who were the chief beneficiaries of eflcher 1; f affairs in Egypt. . _ _
th to
output. Secondly, it was exports of tea, raw silk in thjaggne had a longer industrial tradition. Rice-
agricultural products which paid for the impoit a:1dI‘lSC
of
0th he major agricultural occupation, was only
seasonal,
needed raw materials. Thirdly, agriculture provided rowinga t . . of the nineteenth century there
aliluch at the beginning
part of the labour force required by the COuntry’s expan3.rg° and
. -
. n which people d1‘d _not engage in some sort 0viéelrleanfay!
i-
_ _
industry was
industry. It also managed to produce all the food reqnii-ed bm vluggesvil/hile a more specialized manufacturing
cra castle towns supported by the richer local
rapidly growing population. Fourthly, the rural districts actye:-11 ts,d on in the
as a market for many of the simple articles manufactured in the the articles produced were silk and cotton
“O a ' Among
cartrikefles _ d but there
firstjapanese factories. Taken together, these four consequences tcxtincs, pottery, and metal work. _use
Activities 01,. th_is kind
No.po3wer
of craftsmanship.
of the increase in agricultural productivity are used to Support was a high standard
' for employment in
the argument that Japan is a perfect example of an proved a particu1 ar1y su itable p rep
aration
_
economy factories began to b e n-
which reached the stage of self-sustained growth with agri- industry, and once the modern
draw upon a large number of col
easi y
culture playing the role of the leading sector. structed they were able to
who
This brief survey of Japanese development allows a more trained workers. It was also the case that many of the men
had organized the handicrafts in the castle towns used
detailed analysis of the principal differences between Egypt’s
thteui
experience and that of japan. Five seem of particular impor- experience to become some of the countrys first SUCCCSSU
tance. First, there was the attitude of the Japanese Govern- industrialists/'
ment, which in the years after 1868 made economic development Thirdly, Japan possessed a remarkably large number Of
a primary national objective! To this end, it began a far- educated people. According to E. S. Crawcour, the rate of
literacy was probably approaching 30 per cent in the
reaching programme of modernization which involved taking
over and managing the country’s mines and shipyards, building 1860s, ‘if we define literacy as ability to read and WNW at 3-
and operating certain factories like silk filatures, cotton inlllsi ‘ See, for example, Allen, ‘The Industrialization of the Far East’, 1:. 876,
breweries, engineering workshops, and chemical plants equipped Horie, Y., ‘Entrepreneurship in Meiji Japan’, in Lockwood, State and Economic
Enterprise, pp. 2oii—4..
with the latest European machinery, and sending Young ‘ See. for example, Oshima, H. 'r., ‘Meiji Fiscal Policy and Asnculmnl _

' See, for example, Okhawa and Rosovsky, ‘The Role of Agriculture’. PP- 43' P’°gT8S5', in Lockwood, State and Economic Enterpriu, pp. 353-31-
’ Alien, ‘The Industrialization of the Far East’, p. 875.
67, and johrismn, pp. 498-504.. ‘_.l°l"“‘°’!"gP' 49;’' t See, for example, Horie, pp. i84.—5.
; P- 5
3 Olikawa and Rosovsky, ‘A Century ofjapanese Economic Growt

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352 Conclusion
Conclusion 363
fairly elementary level’.‘ While R. P. Dore .
the time of the Restoration, 40 to 50 per system ofjapanese agriculture.‘
cen‘t5S(t)1tiIt1ateg that’ at .3 in the traditional with innovations which could
perhaps I 5 per cent of the girls were receivin Porated to experiments
oys winiled
schooling outside their homes.‘ What is 5 forgfd the smallest farms, and also to the organization of
1l’1'u('l1t0
education given was related closely to the needs
more 3
t fine
e Q1 P1,“: 5 the creation of extension services, and the organiz-
typ E of associations as a means of disseminat-
Mathematics, for example, was presented in thofthe ec exhibition ’a1 agricultural
form on of even an approach of this type
tical problems of measurement and accountin E .
10:“,
n knowledge. But
gag 5 had much chance of ‘leavening the conser-
of literate Japanese continued to increase as ti, V6
e ce ld not h five million farming households’ if it had not
gressed, for the Meiji Government introduc 1,}, O S0:16
D va S!“ response on the part of
universal education, to which it and the var?d com u 00. d by the enthusiastic
administrations devoted 7-5 per cent of theibt
lous pro - C5’ e of whom continued to live on their land, and on
in 1880 and io-9 per cent in 1910.4
om expend-tum landlorrréatcgigst
5’f ccrtain so-called ‘old farmers’ who were able to use
re in the village community to en-
Fourthly, japan benefited not only from
th _ the-part (')tion of leadership example.‘ As a result, it was
thelr their own
agricultural productivity in the second half of posdthers to follow
H1: increase
n in
Coulfi e to effect a very much more extensive change in tradi-
century but also from the way it was increasede
' In cent}, managed in Egypt. It was also possible
terms the methods used did not vary much from th general -05811 Peractice than was
“om in such a way that
in Egypt just before the First World War_im
056 ' rove the productivity . of labour . .
employ to lggitural continue to increase at the same time
output could
the system of irrigation, the more intensive u,f’:f"§meii_ts in of workers for
better seed-selection, and so on—but there was a
en
_ , :5 tlhe rural sector was providing large numbers
differ. in the cities.
ence in the extra eflbrts taken in japan to encogl:-fat
participation, and also in the attempts to use innovatioage l°f33.l em1:I')ii‘ct)})1,1r;r1eI1ttliere are a whole group of differences between
Egypt which are best_discuss_ed under the general
had some connection with traditional practices. Gov? which Japan arid social attitudes. ln particular, it would that the
assistance to agriculture began soon after the Meiji mm‘ heading of seem
Japanese attitude to both industry and. land varied consider-
ation with the creation of a section inside the Minisny of $-
ably from the Egyptian. One of the vital factors underlying
Interior which was given the specific task of promoting mm: Meiji development was the appearance of a number of entre-
progress. During its short lifetime this section was responsible preneurs who were able and willing to perform the key func-
for the establishment of a number of experimental stations tions of innovation, risk-taking, and management. Opinion is
which were largely devoted to testing seeds obtained from th; bound to vary as to why this should have happened, but in
West, for sending Japanese abroad to study European methods, general economic historians seem to agree that it was closely
and for the employment in japan of a number of foreign connected with the socio-political changes which took place
experts. However, as Dore points out, the initial enthusiasm for at the time of the Restoration. As
Western practice did not last long—in I881 Shingawa, the ‘Only men decisively uprooted from past traditions and occu-
head of the Agricultural Promotion Bureau, was talking of the pations, and driven by a good deal of nationalistic emotion,
danger ‘in leaping ahead to the new, of neglecting what is could fulfil the preconditions for successful entrepreneurship
good in the old’—and from the 1880s onwards there was very in the new era.’3 Others have pointed to stimulus provided by
much more emphasis on improvements which could be incor- the commercial and industrial activities before I368,4 others
‘ ‘Agricultural Improvement in japan, 1870-1900’, Economic Deuelopmau and
- ‘The Tokugawa Heritage’, in Lockwood, 77» sum and Economic MW»
Cultural Change, vol. ix, no. 1, pt. 2 (Oct. i960), p. 72.
13- 34- , ‘ lbid., pp. 77-31.
’
Eiichi: Industrial Pioneer’, in Lockwood, Stan and Economic
1 Ibid., p. 35. E’;”'Shihusawa
9"“: P- 345- 4 See, for example, Horic, p. 206.
‘ Oshimn, Table 2, p. 370.

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364 Conclusion 365

'
Conclusion
again to the fact that cl
before, the Samurai and utlilcralgottlilé Elzkugawa
'
kinds. 011 th e one hand, there arc'th0S€ Whlch
direct and indirect, to
0 u two -
most of the early entrepreneiiiisfshof no tables, ‘Pol
1f
these 3'e 0 f on the gains, both b:
“ate there is a second group.0
Fri;/ided
In with the land. For instance 2 Rosovs
a (:1 lost theirwlllch
d
t ade. On the other, that in many c0uI1tF1€5
as Writte nl C10se how it was
fr? h S erek to explain
I t seems to me that, compared to Euro Whlc - in such a way as t0
cOI‘l€5_ ther limited or distorted
status.
In the post-restoration period, forlifgfand °"_"Tied rat},
er less g3‘“s Ycrfnfi ht. Let us take them in order.
evidence of successful businessmen who attemmPlc, it is hard lhese
' I op the nineteenth
to find i deyc the former theories, during
way of life in favour of land-ownership_ less devel-
III>lted abandon
upper-social status was not directly related to §al)X‘§—m0deri-1 According to‘ x ansion was transmitted to the
by a steep and steady increase in Brit-
1‘ -owners . Jap an econfotrfiécio fid
h1p_i as which those areas
But if the richer members of soc’iet
. . w
' -
P 0d for the primary commodities of capital
links with the past, so too were marly oiffhzvllllng to break 3, . ain’s dema“_ roduce.‘ Trade drew increments
ell Smted to P _ . had a comparative
can account for the considerable mi 1- t- peasant5- Omlytfi ér
a into the lines in which they
areas which took place during the 153:‘ of the erelwboflr
a and incomes increased,
- es of the .
Sifgagut
and Then, as exports rose
teentli century. Evidence from a later nine. were able to obtain larger supplies
Period would add/antageloducing countries
capital from
that the bulk of the migrants were the on suggest rllnary-P d goods. Meanwhile, they received
and to build
families who went off to the cities to ledli§:r,;"“S °fP€asaiit ad with which to exploit their resources
followed.
mouths
to
feed at home.z Given the
system of iihniimbers
of and harbour facilities. Other advantages
primogeniture, such young men could not hope b alfifivays
less-developed countries with access to the
to Frhltance ‘
'?rlade provided the
land. Once in the city, it was rare that theylilettrlt their
.
raw materials, semi-manufactured
5 u _ _

“med to
means of deveIopment—the It also
tflalthers
eir native village.3 and manufacture cl goods—needed for further growth.
The differences in the attitude of governm brought such countries into contact with European ideas as
_ skill. Again,
of education, and so on which have just bCCn(:)Il.ltlIlltl’1l1edstandard well as with technical knowledge and managerial
of course, suflicient by themselves to account for th: ff: 11°‘, as A. O. Hirschman points out, imports from the developed
Japan was able to use an increase in agricultural C. that countries played an important role in indicatin that a domes-
prod uchonas
a basis for the creation of the modern sector of the tic market existed for a wide variety of products.‘ Indirect
while Egy t was not: - economy benefits of this kind were likely to be much greater in the less
between the
history of the two countrzizsy_W0u
pmlicaierl cofiiparlson
a so ave to draw attention advanced economies than they were in the advanced, and
_
to a wh I other important features such as Egypt’, might well exceed the gains flowing from specialization as such.3
e variety ' ‘ ' ' -
dose pr:ximi to Eof Much of this applies to Egypt’s own particular
urope d
dlspamy m. Its sale °fp°P"' theory.
lation and nattiliral r esources.
anNthe
evertheless, a discussion of these British demand for primary commodities
P arficul d_fl‘ fi; Ilteyvals 3116
silfizgegg economy from a
. 211” 1 erences does serve to underline a number of the
special problems which Egypt had to face_ subsistence 1:0 z: moncetiiransfomllgatlon 9f'the a first for
A Sccfmd tYP€ Of approach to the questions posed by Egypt’s Egyptian cereals then fdi, 0]: ylprovldmg arket,by the
was Increased
performance during the nineteenth century is to see extension of the’area dev Cto dotnl licon'1e crops.
w
Ccltlmomlc
at be learned from a study of the orthodox theories Rising exports paid for th: eim Cgrtt (efliiirgiiier-vtailue
an maccplsh
mery for
can _P _
°°“°°mmg trade and development. To speak very generally, ,.ailway_conStruCti on and agricultural improvement. Trade
I
, "".70PM 1358-1940 (Glencoc , ig6i ). .83 -
. .F”'""”i°”
CW”!
N?-. The Farm Eopulation in the National ECl?!10!fl ynBCf0l'C and NM‘
W, ...i..~:. *: : .-:".‘;':.:’,f.;,*;.: .‘. 2'33?“
' For an

T"’d' ‘""’
' ' .
and Nmhe’ R" P"”""~* 4f
W‘orEwh,
3' H ' E“”‘°’”“ D‘Wl0P7I|¢n1 and Cultural Change, vol. ix, no. i, pt- 1 lo“ ‘ The S;D‘Wl0PmmI (Oxford
. 1961')’, $1591) plpsl Igxsl
) , . “ -

= narn§i3f’;fi‘;fj';'_w Dmlapmm (New Haven, 1953), Pp. 120-1.

7

'9“): P- 99- s Ibid., pp. 34-5

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366 Conclusion . 367

Conclusion _
led to changes in traditional
institu tions, such . - h'ch the great m?J°_my
land tenure, which stood in th e w a country llkc Eg:Ii5tcl1i1n“prhducing the principal
3-3’ of a more the s 1' d to
gforeigners who were largciy
exploitation of the soil; it introduced Com rY8ten-l it is 3?? cultivatofs were emf;
new id and ehe - of in which t
it encouraged foreign financiers to
expe 'e:i"Ve fordmaiy and eowth of cotton, P"°°°Ssing it’
provided the impetus place :5
for the influx of Euro one)’ in Egypfi ef; eXP°rt 'Cble for financing ‘he grmuch more closely int€gTat‘_=d
the skills necessary for a deve Peans with ’ Europe its
. 1°Ping count “Ia ll ’°SP0nS1ling it in we!-here Neither group devoted
imports of alcohol and cotton fabrics anlgilf tile same Signor ml economy rfhc eultivators grew many
convinced Egyptian entrepreneurs into 5316 fhap° e(l:S:tVtVOn '
. exclusive)! W ere often engaged in
ulldmg ma -6’
that
demand for such products to justify local ttennon as well; the , merchants .
no th'n g to d0
131539 other- Crops' s enterP“5°5 whlch }.1ac.1 -I
Nevertheless, the fact remains that the C5 . - i qu ali-
im &cl:Ctl0n. c,—eating_ d fs ecialization. This is an
important
_ .
ever-increasing trade was very much less
than the glfa century of main fiel O P t to much of the discussion Wh-10h
their hich is relevan
appear to suggest. It did not result in the efiri ficati‘-ln W
zation of agricultural method. It did not autom 1 osed by thc
guaraatm which gtzfugziliiiidiiiithree heads.
widening domestic market which it created that follprvgiments 3:
e COnC(‘::Ll:I'C3;xe1
to stimulate the expansion of local industry. was ntiee“self; able character oftheaiipslibiicwhich direct attention towards
It diidcit to {E16
traditional attitudes to the land as the major alter First1Y,_the:1herent in producing primary commodities 01'
oftlttle
'3‘‘_ the onl
source of prestige and wealth. Above all,
y :9‘ 1:3 Spread., difliculties e on the basis of twentieth-century evidence,
over effects had not been such as to lead to the deg’; export. Some ar of
tendency to move in_favour
giutgadc have a
those parts of the economy outside the cotton ‘hat the against raw materials.‘ This was not
sector. Itpiinent (if manufacture tam: ,3oods and
stage that a consideration of the second however. There, the
group of theoriesafihthm the case in
t enth_ccntury Egypt,
concerned to qualify or amend the view that trade
w-‘is ‘SECC 1'1l.(1iI'lC :m to Point to the fact that the terms of trade
engine of growth’,1 becomes relevant.
bieittiiferziit Vclgiltonseand
the C01111t1'Y’5 major impons became
Theories of this type all begin with the concept of the ‘dual, 1854 and 1914- An°t}_’°r
sli htly more favourable between
that is of in created for a
economy, an economy which an export or advanced argument concerns the problems- '
sector exists side by side with a backward or traditional sector, ddeVCl.0§)1n1g1
t.‘ uc
country by dependence on a single primary
Thereafter, there are some which concentrate on the obstacles commodities are said to be subject to particularplro
to development posed by the character of the export sector ations in value. This in turn raises peculiar difficulties,
itself, others which point to the absence of links between the two receipts from their sale ‘form so large a-share of the oii
sectors which would permit progress in one to be transmitted income that a sharp rise or fall in price will have natiolpaél
mar C
to the other, others again which are concerned with the back- repercussions throughout the economy. Planning becomes
ward, unresponsive nature of the traditional sector. Each set of diflicult in these circumstances; government are
revenues
arguments must now be analysed in turn. But before this is unstable; potential entrepreneurs prefer speculative
gains
to
done one proviso is necessary. The concept of the dual economy the P roductive emP10Yment of their caP ital. This pessimistic
.
presents little difficulty when it is employed in connection with view has recently been challenged by A. I. MacBean, who
areas where production for export is carried on in certain maintains that specialization in primary production does not,
enclaves which are physically isolated from the rest of ‘he of itself, lead to large year-to-year changes in returns. He also
economy—such as the rubber plantations of Malaya or the ‘
.565. for example, Singer, H. W., ‘The Distribution of Gains Between In-
copper mines in Rhodesia—and by workersand "°“"1E and Borrowing Countries’, Anierican Economic Rwiew, Proceedings, xi, 1950.
specialize in‘ this one activity. Problems arise, however, W ‘in
man8ge1‘5"£h° for example, Caimcrou, A. K., Factor: in Ecimnmic Development (London,
' The phrase belongs to Sir Dennis Robertson. It is quoted in Nurkac, P- "1' ‘gage:1 . 213.

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369
368 Conclusion Conclusion
’ the
Suggests that short-term ex « . ts from abroad. Unlike
damaging to the econom}?Z? afluggialt101.13 3’ t ,1 t .r ciitiret)’ 9k:‘cC;rIt1)1;°11;/Iyint the majority of Greek
inmerchants 7 -

previously been supposed.‘ Evidence ffiofirllngg °°Untrye::lV so seem to have made Egypt their
' t’ - tlierrgfl n dlesplgers
6 ' bl ortion of
centu ry experience would seem to support mnetee
M 3.cBeqnss
fore]
5
money’
can as sume that a considera e prop
th e argument, at least as fair as the . , th. and
a d we
local oods and services. _
'
concerned. A5 a rule, income from cotto permd 188 0 to 81d was of argigiments which call attention
. I horifiiurchases SPCTLS;
from year to year. Nor is it possible tolzfdld not va 9_“1ii the . dly, .tll€I‘(';li3.CI'1: of a, prosperous export sector
:1: presence
favourable effects on the as a whole.‘ A
economy on th itscern any ve to thc ‘"37 Hi wrting effect upon the economy attract what
there was a large rise or fall in the valuee ‘SEW Occasions "11. maintained, will
excl‘ dlsgfit trade, so it is exist,
general, the country suffered a great (1%
10
cotton
exports .111 ble 6?‘? S and what little entrepreneurial talent
links with Europe, which mearait Itrilgrte {mm it; profit tic economy. Banks will b6
gpancial
international trade cycle were automaticall inovemeiitg
dom. Szilllrilgfor other sectors of the serve as instruments of
e exports, not to
C airo and Alexandria by means of an in O C 5) finance
noltli to the expansion Of
ydit Wealth will be devoted and
tion of credit. expa‘n51°n Or
industrial Cre merchants
contra‘: '1-ovide living space for wealthy
A second argument concerns l ‘ cities merely
to
the large returns to be obtained
betwee I1 11: a situation
and merchants. According to Mryei:ttl°t‘lllS s. In 5"‘
and commerce will act as a magnet
for investment
East Asia and a number of African 3 peas?‘
nts cultivate
in sou“: tradcgnaflce money will be directed
tf.$:i1S coming from abroad , so that
primary products face two monopolies: the)0"::1ltI‘1 CS who
- grow those
speculative ventures, and not to
to purchase their crop; they also rely on 0the:’0“_111iddlemcn ds trade or towards
in the development sense. Some writers
provide them with the imported goods which th Imdfllemen to toijlgh are productive development. Baran
barriers to successful
for both reasons, they are prevented from 0bEy.d.°51re. Thus, a“lsd stress the social .
is government
.
investment
.
there
rewards of their labours, while the remainder tlfllging the full asserts that when social groups,
accrue to _ those
to foreigners who tend to spend them outside th: cbue profits 0 sector, most 0f the benefits major
_ _
interest will be to
and landlords, whose
argument has some relevance to Egyptian conditionnlfkz This the merchants
development along
ut reserve the status quo and to discourage
great deal. It is true that the poorer cultivators relied’ n°.t 3 oints to the fact that, in such an
new lines! And Hirschman
merchants to purchase their cotton but there is non f°'°‘E11 0

economy, the import trade often leads to the creation of

I P

ot enough
evidence to make out a general case that the were
Y powerful commercial interests bent on perpetuating their own
sistently underpaid. Again ’ at least a th’11"d 0f c(.m'
the Egyptian highly profitable business}
Many of these arguments are directly applicable to Egyptian
t at t Cy obtained a
'
:32?!
serioiis
0 S
difli 661
Cu ty
g°°d pm‘ A m“°h ’“°’°
arose from the fact that cultivators of all kinds
'
experience, although always with some qualification. It would
. seem reasonable to for instance, that the profits which
-
req uir_Cd a continual supply of credit before they could plant suppose,
could be obtained so easily from operations in cotton and,
their Where this had to be obtained from a must have done something to discourage the
silfida 1216;:one - lcopdton. ' -
en the rate of was generally high. lmcrtllll’, lpland even if this not the most important
Howivcr2 it dy not interest ggtgr Ip industry, was
er,f that even if the latter was a foreig- a so true that the power of both merchants
oes ollow economic
net h e wou1d either remit his profits out of the country or spend and la.nd015wners was constantly being augmented by government
' See, l‘ ' . .
“"4 E‘°":"'"" Dwdafl mml (London. 1966). pp- 339-:=4°- Singer and Baran, P., The Political Economy of Growth (Lon.
i E7;f"£;”“l"‘”
M75143‘ 2/: Developing Coimhic: (London, 1964.), p. 4.1, and ‘An Inter-
don’ I957)‘:'(‘;‘:'f';‘.Pl€;
I
. 33'3": 1713- 194-8.
pretation of Econonuc Backwardness’, Oxford Economic Popm, vol. vi, no. 2 (June, 1
Hirschman, p_ 125_
I954). PP- 155-9- aims
Bb

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Conclusion 37'
37° Conclusion
' this reason,
investments in the cotton . d of the economy.‘ For
i the skills
used to ensure that it w::ci1ci:’:iell:il)er,,l,vh‘°h= as a rule ’ ued "1 remamweill
ex ort have little educative effects;
.
of the contribution to the
agricultural resources which took pregedent co they roductl tfgnsmitted; there will be little
else. Again, importers tended to look uepce over an Wu P. .
will ideas to Egypt in his
efforts of manufacturers inside Egypt to nbavfnlrably on I11? local °"f,:ctl:,r:;:i;ssome of these
iuligsawi has Sollngce 1800: A Study in Lop-sided Development’,
tam a he
their own products, while consumers becai)
me so or ‘ century the
Us
chasing goods from abroad that they soon developefida pt 21sir was that during the nineteenth
(s’tPur. articlc he to a more
prejudice against anything which did not c export-orientated economy
a forei '°’18 Whi fro gan
In these and other ways, forces inside th emy by the fact that there was no mech-
export sec?‘ like. mansition
tr ne was vindered
the .expansion generated by cotton to
tended to inhibit the emergence of a m°r° .
economic activity. diverse liipliscll
0 coin? transmitting
cfor of economic activity-
an
Let us now turn to the theories whi Zr Gas earned by
other
- n was partly due to the fact that incomes
on the reasons why progress in the :}l{1p((:)(:‘It1Q§htI‘atc attentio a
This in not reinvested in the country, partly because
transmitted to other areas of the economy_ cannot be I tiirl were of the richer classes
and other incomes
Feigplr Caplghe rise in rents of the growth in
those that add an important qualification to fly’ the“? are large Part W abroad and partly because
16 i t oas spent to rapidly increasing numbers and, until the
foreign trade by pointing to the fact that in them)’ of in tion due
economy the full effects of the foreign-trade 1:u 1d.ev?l°Pin 111355 consurnp.
1 n the level of living.‘
“Sc
often muffled by the absence of surplus productiv tlphei are i92o’S; 3 tend to distort the actual
arguments of this type
of institutions to canalize savings.‘ For this reasoii ffipamy or 0 n Ce again a . . - a large
experience. It is certainly true that
level of income and employment can expand onl be general a Small "amm
of Egypt’s
cotton did go to merchants and
the 1'ncome from _ '
multiple of any rise in export receipts. In such an lecoii m 011'Ion of does not follow from this that all of it
rs. But it
the arguments run, only a small proportion of an incfemy’ lo
m rich landowne purchase of imports.
on the
income will be used for the purchase oflocal goods and sag: was either remitted abroad or spent
of times, the great majority of
for these cannot be created fast enough (if, indeed, they C: As it has been argued a number
profits from cotton were permanently
be created at all) to meet the new demand. Nor can much of those who made large
that they built a house for
the increase be spent on employing more local labour, for here resident in Egypt; it was there
themselves, there that they purchased much of their food and a
too no surplus exists. Hence most of the extra income has to be that they invested a large part of
wide variety of services, there
spent on imports, in which case the main secondary-multiplier this it may be said that their houses were
their savings. Against
effect takes place abroad. The same result will be produced
filled with European furniture, or that their local investments
where part of the profits from exporting a primary product
were mainly in ginning factories and land—that is, inside the
accrue to resident foreigners who then remit them to their home
export sector itself. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that from
country. It is also pointed out that, even if a portion of the
at least as early as the 184.05 income from cotton provided a.
increase in income is spent locally, it may only bid up the price great incentive to the local building industry, or ‘that from
ofitems for which there is a limited supply, such as land, without the 1860s onwards merchants were willing to place their money
calling forth any addition to productive capacity. Secondly, In public utilities, in works of land-reclamation, or, later, in
many writers have called attention to various ways in which
°°{nP§nies which processed food products and manufactured
practices and techniques in the export sector are so specialized building materials. It is, of course, impossible to put any figure
that they have little relevance to the type of economic activity to the sums expended in these various directions. But the
' See, for example, Singer and Lcvin,_]. V., The Export Economic: (Cambfidlci
' Sec fo 1 M ' G. M., and
- .
Mam, i960), pp. 4-15. (New Y»mk" ‘°;‘53;"Pp€.s327eicf: Baldwin; it. 12.;
ESYP , p. 22.

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373
372 Conclusion Conclusion
the most Vig°r‘°us
res ponse to even
arguments just given should be suflici entt show
tha 1 C adds, the he concludes that, ‘bu? vi“:
been slight. And explanation of dualism .
_
ways and means in which profits frolhoco tton t t Elsewhere’
' wer:1ereWere ‘or hlas
0,»: s6 rtto a sociological 0
develop other types of economic acti Red type
read to reso draw attention to the particular argues
investment inside the export Sector tA§aint03 mu [.1
exp,
0 the adv; of the
traditio nal sector.. Hirschman
. .
are 5° Ono - d in the be
agriculture in general. Light railways a
the ge of O ther
' ' meme industrial methods
. .
vation of cash crops other than cotton .enf]°“_‘aged 1: e im rove IV ance of advanced ’bi1' of magom
competition
aPPea,r h
marginal land was a prerequisite of gen» e - eculti.
of t the by t C as 511095
. . . . agriculturzilnt of such items.
gress. Finally, it is diflicult to follow Issawil::1 handicappedll- 1 1 pocsisiiceiisiy
Y0
that . serl, cndent’ sx§aK_S(]:3::ril}l writes that the building trade
of mass consumption had the 1“d . largely
growth
t at progress was confined to the e xP0rt sector M the fact
0 '3 with
anything targument
1tu:':efi,:inS 8. scattere d, unstandardised and In
' . an economies productivity
more well-to-d industry. In most economy, and
3‘ Part of ti; iifthe
eir in‘ am-C31 not lead the rest of the
_
creasing incomi): I:)flaslal::1l;)so1Ft:rdtaIgnlydSpent
00 s such as co
tton fab. an d does . .g rises relative to other costs
butter, and oil durin the Tl foot of buildin
cent“cs’
Cost 6, square
But the growth in tl1egpuI‘Cl'fl:::(:)(;(i‘(z‘::1e(i;:f;l3:)(l]iWcntl(?tll . the dvances.’3 of Egyptian
sufficient to account for all of the rise in th 'S0fthl§tyP€isn 5 the ccongrftiigauments are relevant to a discussion so little is
It is unfortunate that
portion of it, at least, must have been used :11‘ brecelpts, and 3 Both
Sci: century history. but
It exactly by such means alatllillocal goods within the traditional sector,
‘was ninetecniibbut activities the building industry must surely be
::l1l(EuSrC;‘1VlCCS.
prosperity was transmitted throughout t h‘3 tsagri. about houses
of the economy.
remainder mVYlIll’s observation
The construction of large numbers of modern the
by firms using
and Alexandria, often
a)r1'CCt.
The same sort of reasonin can be how tech. and Ofl ices in
Cairo little
seems to have made singularly
niques and abilities developed inside thief: ttilfhow could
be latest European methods, Some local materials were em-
used elsewhere. Not only did cereal prodficf Sfificnefit or from impression on the
economy. .
have
C110: craftsmen and mechanics must
the changes in agricultural practice promotfi ployed; many hundreds of think of any other
is difficult to
cotton merchants also played an important roleyj Cotton? in“ been trained. Nevertheless
it
small.a
both the savings and the entrepreneurial skill iii:
provldmg
of comparable size which would have made so
t° industry On the other hand, Ells-
start a wide variety of financial and industrial tfriisary. contribution to economi
c progress.
erpnses for a sociological explanation,
between 1880 and 1914. worth is right to suggest the need
a c omplete answer. The few writers
A last group of theories is concerned with the unresponsive even if this cannot provide
have tended to be
of the less advanced sector. As P. T. Ellsworth has put who have approached the su bject so far
tive discussion of whether
iiiature diverted into a relatively unproduc
as a religion was inimical to capitalism, and we
or not Islam
export
industry in itselfhad still await a thorough examination of the whole question of
or a senceoffan
lmihfoeggsfifiile 01(')‘f‘l](t)l'Yl1-CXlS}l:C’CnCC 0 growth in the domestic sector. society’s response to industry in Egypt. Until a work of this kind
The failure of that; tor to expand ‘and develop must ‘be attributed appears, it is necessary to make do with a number of straight-
sec low
t0 I_ts own characteristics. An export industry could provide a stimulus matters as the
such very
a
to growth where the domestic sector was responsive to such f::‘2;ac1;i¢_ilfiggzvatioéisdpogcerning Egyptians to
stimulus. This occurred, for example, in such countries as Australia,
I ‘The Dual ECZIEEY. a :1”:s,»1\::r:::1’:1€::':g;:ie::::uCatCd.
’ 1 ad
New Zealand, Argentina and (Southern) Brazil, where the domestic vol. x, no. 4. (July 1962), p_ 437_
sector was formed in considerable part by European immigrants, Cufi luflailrs, p. 129.
- 31 .
customs 3 ‘rm
who brought with them laws, institutions, skills and Economic Histafl
, .
. gcgo)EC::;1Ol;151(3:_E!'0\vth‘,
MW, ggagigiiid’ "f:lat::fi,a:(i';l. ;hi(:A1::iteI
favourable to commercial and industrial activity.

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374 Conclusion
T -
Conclusion
.
. --
vented the 1mP°5m°n
0 fa, tariff
375

enter government service rather th an tion which PNE t their.

Some tian industry. And Ye
industrial establishment. Co mmerci
al 0 r otect infant gyp ' d . In the years imm€d1'
On the basis of the foregoing discussion it is .¢mphasize . 1
suggest which of the general theori now
esconcernin It): lbleio
development are relevant to the s pecial Ceding well as a num _ er
nature e
of E and ' lin Egyp , as both local and forclgni and a pool of
experience. To begin with, even if trade was fcaplta. s _ W1.th a Wide
development, it was certainly the ‘engine’
not _pl1an
the sen
Elrie’
trcpreneur, 1 Italian and Greek,
been for the export of long-staple cottonofgrowth‘ H of lirising aw rcsidcnis, 1ml:illsi,Therc
S was 8150 3 market 1-01;‘;
Sufi
3' :
what other form of economic activity would
it is dim not Europe f mechamca
as 'ld'n materials. f°°d and dun ’
have rais°‘:i1t_ to vflrie otured goods bul lkiig and here we have the word
by so large an amount, attracted the foreign
to establish the banks and other financial capimle incom rnanufa,C
cheap
'leS- was cheap fuel, {aw mater-
,
required, or done so much to transform agencies thglec C ‘I1 bflsinessmen tlcioeififgifié such things as high-quality
the social instcfiunt
which stood in the way of further progress. However C kind necessafifrogl foreign competition. Qne of the
-1tlm°ns rotection ,
true that some of the more optimistic implications is so k to explain why something did not
of {hit
do not apply in an Egyptian context. Agricultural cemfldiliicult
mos histoflicaltas
is w ere sstlllsdy of. the actual Pmblems {acid
were improved but not nearly in such a erthtlo 15 a_ 1 1. im ortance. It avoi s
radical W: actices haPDen. /6,5 first factories
Japan. The attitude to land remained almost to argue back-
unchanggd its bY lSir(:‘f;oPi::1(:11C1i.1nahaVif1g
of the uncertainty faHum to develop a modern sector
most important of all, in the years before 1914, S
not able to use the fund of capital and enterprise
the count
wards from the C0“n"Y
accumiliiiffi th tical reasons. _
in the export sector to develop other parts of the to ‘:,fcll1i’tF1)t:.)'' the major theme of work
_'.I1‘ose¢C0 ' ‘
here that a number of arguments concerning theeconomy. If _ . b the cultivation thisi
an expor 0 _
character (lff _
dual economies are useful. The mere presence of C°“mbuu0n 0IP31: E:-yptian economy dllflng the _mn°t,°em'h
a vigorous
export sector set up forces aimed at perpetuating the the growth It was
statu; century: It ised income, it attracted foreign Capltal’
Again, for sociological and other reasons, the traditional qua in trade. It did not, however,
sector Eat 3 eat expansion
remained unresponsive to outside economic stimuli. modern sector in the econ0fl.W'
building industry, a major recipient of profits from cotton,
The lead to flliec develirpment of a
msponsfl
was h, k. d was inhibited in part by the unresponsive
not fitted by its nature to act as a focus for development. Uniike
Progres(s)foti'hte mliriltionalSector, in’part by certain physical and
Japan, Egypt possessed no system of compulsory education; inhibited, t0 Some small extent’
people had never been exposed to an assault on long-established
its P°“° obstacles ' It was also
naliii-cal '
1f.B t inthe
the of a prosperous export
social attitudes by something so disruptive as the Meiji Restora- by presence
tion; what industrial tradition it had had was almost com-
final analysis, the advantages EgYPt SCt‘,tO1(‘iltf:l:nn clclniton far
outweighed the disadvantages..Only 3$311”H3? did the latter
pletely broken, first by Muhammad 'Ali’s monopolies, then _
begin to be of overwhelming significance. £914 ut th at is a Smry
by foreign competition.
which would require another book.
But theories of this type produce only a partial explanation
at best. For one thing, Egypt’s export sector was very much more
closely integrated into the rest of the economy than most argu-
ments about dual economies allow. For another, no theory
can be expected to encompass all the special obstacles
to
development posed by the absence of certain vital raw materi-
als like iron and coal, the financial crisis of 1907. and fl“

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COTTON AND THE

EGYPTIAN ECONOMY
1820-1914
A STUDY IN

TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

BY

E. R. J. OWEN

OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
I959

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CONTENTS
xjjj
List of Figures
xv
List of Tables
xix
List of Abbreviations
and Sources xxi
A Note on Transliteration
Introduction
PART I
or THE ECONOMY
COTTON AND THE GROWTH
1805-1879
the Egyptian Economy, 1805-
1. Muhammad ‘Ali and - 3
1819
Introduction of Long-staple Cotton, 1820-
11. The 28
1837
a Free Market in Agricultural
III. The Return to 58
Produce, 1838-1860
89
Iv. The Cotton Boom, 1861-1866
Establishment of Cotton’s Dominant Posi-
V. The 1867-1879 122
tion in the Rural Economy,
Foreign Trade,
v1. Cotton Exports and Egyptian 160
1820-1879

PART 11
THE ECONOMY
COTTON AND THE GROWTH on
1880-1914
I 33
VII. The Production and Export of Cotton
212
V" 1- Development in the Cotton Sector of the Economy

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Contents
xii
Ix. The Growth of the Economy, I88o—r9I4—Agri.
culture 236

x. The Growthof the Economy, I330-19I4—Industry, LIST OF FIGURES

Services, and Commerce 276
I. Liverpool prices of American and Egyptian cotton at the end of
x1. The Growth of the Economy in Contemporary each month, 1855-6 154
Thought 326
II. Fluctuations in the avenge income obtained from a feddan of
Conclusion cotton in Egypt, 1895-1912 233

from a feddan of what, beans, barley, and

III. Income obtained
Appendix I. The Method of Valuing Egyptian cotton on the State Domains, 1880-1913
235

Imports and Exports, 1873-1911 375 305

IV, Egyptian foreign trade, 1880-1913

Appendix 2. Note on Alternative Statistical Sources,

1820-1879 378
Appendix 3. Egyptian Weights, Measures, and
Coins 381

Appendix 4. List of Alexandria Cotton Exporters,

I91 1-191 2 386

Glomuy 387
Bibliography 390

Index 403

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List of Table: List of Tables

xvi Land, 1863-30
of.U_,;,,,n'ya and Kharaj1_'ra [48
,0. Esfi mlm onhe Ana population and Cultivated Land, 1882-1917 237
Cotton Exports» 1822-579 43_
21. Volume and Direction or Egyptian A,-ca Devoted to Each Major Egyptian Crop’
1886-7 and I894_5
Averages)
(Annual
,5, 44 _ to 1912-13 (Annual Averages) 247
American Cotton, 1820-79
of Egyptian and 163 Average Yield of
Wheat, Beans and Barley on the State Domains,
22. Liverpool Price 4_5_ Averages) 250
1835-79 (Armual Averagcg) I66 1 880-1 9 1 3 (Annual
Cotton Exports,
23. Value of Egyptian Between Figures from the State Domains and Official
of Cotton-Seed Exports, 1351-79 4.6. Comparison the Average Yields of Various Egyptian Cc;-cal
Value, and Price Sources for
24, Volume, 167 251
(Annual Averages) Crops, 1908-9 to 1914.
1841-79 (Annual Averages) '68 Production of Wheat, Beans, and
25. Egyptian Foreign Trade, Estimate of the Egyptian 251
47. 1895-9 to 1910-13 (Annual Averagus)
Exports from Alexandria in Various Years, Barley, 1886-7 and
26. Major Egyptian Barley
,7‘) Egyptian Yields of Cotton, What, and(Annual
1830-60 48. Comparison of Countries, 1885-9 and 1909-13
and Sugar, 1861-79 (Annual Averages) ,7, with Those 0 fOther
256
27. Expom of Cereals Averages)
at Alexandria in Various Years, 1830-60 172
Egyptian Crops for the Years 19081;
28. Major Egyptian Imports
49-
Estimated Gross Value of 261
(Annual Averages)
29. Major Egyptian Imports, 1863-79 I 73 and 1913
of What, Beans, Barley,
30. Egyptian Trade with Great Britain,
1827-52 (Annual Averages) 174 Value of Egypt's Production
50, Estimated at Export Prices, 1886-7 and
1895-1913 (Annual
and Cotton 262
31. Anglo-Egyptian Trade in 184.8 ,76
Averages)
Averages) 263
32. Anglo-Egyptian Trade, 1854-79 (Annual 177
51. Export Price of
Major Egyptian Crops
(Annual Barley on the
33. Price of Major Egyptian Imports and Exports, 1854-79 52. Grom Income per
Feddan from Wheat, Beans, and 254.
178 Averags)
Averages) State Domains, 1880-1913 (Annual
34.. Estimates of the Area under Cotton, 1882-3 to 1893-4.
134, Debentures of Cornpanim Operating in
53. Paid-up Capital and and Amount held in
Egypt Showing Amount h eld Abroad
186 278
35. Area under Cotton, 1894-5 to 1912.13 Egypt, 1883-1914.
36. Average Annual Yield of Egyptian Cotton, 1880-1913 191 of Paid ~up Capital in Egyptian
54.. Estimated Distribution ofHoldings 288
' Companies, 1907.
37. Volume, Value, and Pri ce 0f Egyptian Cotton and Cotton-Seed Property
I97 Their Holdings 0l'Rural
Crop‘, 1880-1913 55. Egyptian Land Companies and 292
. in 1906 and 1907-8
33- Export ofEgyptia Co Seed by Weight and Value 305
1880-1913 (Aniiual $2,221()3otton 1 98 (Annual Averages)
56. Egyptian Foreign Trade, 1880-1913
. _ _ Capital, 1884-1914 (Annual
39- Proportion of(Annu;
Cotto Ex
A‘l:°m Wclsht) to Vanous Countrid, 57. Balance of Trade and Movements of 307
189%‘ 9x3 0;)’ 199 Averages)
_ . Flour, 1880-1913 (Annual
4.0. Price or 13
gyp
gm and
Amman Cotton at Lxverpool, 1880 to 58. Egyptian Trade in Cereals and 3 08
1912-13 203 Averages)
1580-1913
414. Distribution of Profi ts from the 1912_,3 Ca R on Crop 229 59. Price of Various Egyptian Imports and Exports, 3’ I
4.111. Share of Total Income from Cotton ' 19 ’ 9*‘ (Annual Averages)
3 229 in Selected Years, 1881-
F
60. Government Revenue and Expe nditure EH3
42' AVCFBKO Gross Inco from comm and c°"°“ S°°d. 1913
’8a°‘19‘.':l (AJm1.i:leXf/lera;dc:)an 231

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Bibliogffl fhf
1334-)-
402 Ah.’ 2 vols. (London,
MdMohMWd
Sr. JOHN, J- A-»
M nnaw égrflme
E9“ . (Pari=» ‘9‘4)' . 21 rePoquc d° INDEX
5"‘“N’ F" LaMé0moire sur l’administration
I
dc lfigyptc
1159,91, publil: pendant le: campaggm
T_1u.1.1z1v'. L., Mgmoire: .mr
F1-an§3i 5., in .
]’ar1ivée dcs (Pans an x ag':ji1'¢(;) 61. -
,
a'u géneral Bond?”“54»
V° _
in “:3”,
;37._¢(Londo11, I875)- a ' [ya an(Estates),
61, 68, 337 Glam",
Alexandria Colt p
Alexandria Gcn::a_[r;”,:,:E,,g°'A:‘:cL.
nd Ice land M Egypn (Alexandria, 1858).
.T»‘11‘.‘1.,.‘.‘°i."‘-°"’ ‘”°°~ °°'°nm'é==
TAYLOR, B-1 E379’ , . mo ,,7,.ai,, ‘Abbas Pasha: presides at agricultural ’ 13-

glumed-Ali (Paris, 1822).

P. P., L’EgW 50"‘dMhydraulic policy in Egypt, 1882-
assembly, 52.
TEDESCO1 Av; D‘ 1“ "mam" # 1'mp_orts steam plough, 64, .11
nc),225,321,375_7'
TH£DENAT‘D”VE"1-ltish agricultural an _. pol1cy towards monopolies, 67-8,
Men ndna. Waterwoxh,
237_
TIGNOR, R- L» ‘Br’ - 1_ no. 2. _ 75_
Hum)‘, V0 ""1 (Prmceton, — policy towards 'u}u1a/1,.-, 53_
I892’: Ag"-cu_” 37,1 rule in Egypt, 1882-1914
and British oolania — grows cotton, 75,
_..._-Modemizdiilm ' F., 280.

.,.;. ’:°:;‘., ;...W“

— financial policy, 8.4, fiumml
1910). e C'vi1
1966). _ (G135§°w and Edinburgh, — and Europeans, 86-7,
J. A., Politncal economy n’, E.C., vol. i, no. 2 (Mar. 1910). Abdal-Halim Pasha, 104, 115_
r Egypnan cotto
_._ ‘The demand {O
_— ‘The market for ESYP
tian cotton
in 1909-1910’, E.C., vol. ii, no. 5 Aboukir Co., 266, 279-80, 292.3 F. .§l_,‘.‘,‘,;',“§f é,“°‘:“;;;6l45. 15111.. 158.
Table. Andntsakis
(Jan. 1911). E.C., vol. ii, no. 6 (Mar. 1911). absentee landlords, 151.
«H,6 uses 0fEgyptia.n cotton seed’, ’ Anggg‘EgYPt‘a“ Bank: "41 H7 ’ 120-1 '
Egyptian cotton market , C.S.]., vol. vi, no. 64 agents, brokers (cotton), 69-70, [30 ’ 3
__- ‘Further notes on the 208, 210, 227-30 Tables, 274.
C031: Iron and Mach.
(Jan. 1912). 2nd edn. (London, Aghion, Israel, 279, 289. inc COg3:77,
edn. (London, 1915),
j The worla".s cotton craps, 1st Agra and Masterman’s Bank, 1 14,. An8l°'E8YPtian Land Allotment Co "
1923). Agricultural Bank, 240 11,, 271.3, 3,5, 292 Table.
' _
__ 77” mar1.mg ofm non London, I934)- 1338), VOL 5: Wllh NEWMARCH, 345- Anslfi izvp fi anSpinning and Weaving
(vol. 1 (London, agricultural credit, 60, 70, 97-8, 105.5,
Tooxn, T. , A hi.rtor_y zfpriou‘, C°- (later Filature Nationale
W. (London, 135 7) - 243» 957. 270-3, 338-9, 356, q’Eg'y'p[C), 222-4, 300-2, 310’
2 Son Altem 319,
P"?!-9‘ ale reform: présenté .
31280-’:
L’Union de la jeunesse Egypticnflfi l agricultural production, 250-2 Table,
323-
Tewfitk Ier (Alexandria, Sept 1879)- AnS'l°-Ffench Agreement 1904, 232,
Uruz, A., The cotton manufacture
of Great Britain, 2 vols. (London, 1861). 254-5. 352-3- 3151 319-
'chal, duo 11: Rogue, en Hongrie, — value, 260-4 Tables, 353-4, Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Co., 31.10.
VIESSE DE M.-uu1oNT, A- F- L: ' V0108? '7" "'4" quelques parties do l’A:ie-Mineure, :11 Agriculture, Dept. (later Min.), 194, Anglo-Turkish Convention 1838, 65, 71 ,
le, dam‘
en Trarrgrlvanie . . . d Canstantmop 202, 206, 217-13, 259.50, 3381,’
vols. (Paris, 1837-8). -"-I1,h°ury.J-, 252.
Sjrie, en Palertine, et en Egypte, 5 1787). 346-7- 3-“"3315: 381'iC'-I1“-“’3L 9-10, 21, 29, 35,
VOLNEY, C. F., Tnwe L: in Egypt and Syria, trans., 2 v0 ls. (London, Ahmad Pasha, 35, 4-4-51 51-9, 72, 32-3, 99, 101-5,
-— Voyage en Syria et en Egypte, 2 vols. (Paris, 1787). alcohol, see industry, sugag-_ 110-11, 117-18, 120, 142-3, 14,5,
question (London, 1883).
WALLACE, D. M., Egypt and the Egyptian Alderson, G. R., 280. I48, 254. 257, 330. 340.
Wmxrm, L. , L’Egyple at sex chemins defer (B russels, 1932). Alarandna, 105, 111-12, 120, 132.4,, — °X¢11s 3'9» 501 99, 101, 110,142, 206.
a general view of Egypt (London, — bullocks, 12.
Wnxmsou, Sm G., Topography of Thebes and 138, 201, 208-9, 220-1, 227-8, 323,
380. — horsu and donkeys, 99, 264.
18 35)-
vol. iv, no. 42 (Mar. — camels, 264.
W1L1.cocxs, F. C., ‘The insect pests of cotton’, C.S.]., “"1 “'1? !9th century, 22.
— buffalou, 266.
—under Muharnrnad ‘Ali, 54—5_
1910). —
for Egypt Arabi, Hajj Ahmad, 133.
Wn.1.coc11s, W., Report on perennial 1'm'gat1'on and flood protection —
in 33508, 85-6.
‘-md" ISm3'i1, 113, 127-8, 141 Table, ardabb, 15 n., 25611., 381-2 Appendix,
(caim, 18911
— Egyptwn irrrgation, 2nd edn. (Lond on, 1899).
158-9. 387 Glosary.
225, 268-9, 280-2, 284, uni a1-wasiya, 4, 18, 68, 387 G1oga:y_
— and C1wc,_]. I., Egyptian inigation, 3rd edn., 2 vo Is. (London, 1913).
o.
‘B2330-1914. armed forces, 17, 2o, 26, 35, 46, 59.
WI!-LIAIIS, DI! B110: & Co., Sugar in Egpt and elsewhere (London, 1903). _' h3fb°|1l'. 110-12, 127, 141-2 Table, Arminjon, P., 296.
W"-mus. M., Sevcnyears’ history qflhe cotton mm in Europe (Liverpool, 1 B68). 315: 3‘6 nu 319. Artin, Y., 71, 14011., 267 n., 381,
and E. 8., Worldpopulatiorr andproduction (New York, 1953). Alexandria and Rnmleh Railway Co., Assembly of Representatives, 139, 146.
Vxormsnkwj. - anisnations, 32~3.4-1»
YA‘_‘r';“'& H( 279,287.
’ Alexandria Bonded Warehouse Co., Associated Cotton Ginncrs of Egypt
Z! “‘“‘Ds Q0338 0?, Lord Cromcr (London, 1932). 280, 321. Ltd., 219.

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Index
4-04- Index
Basili and Hanafouri & Co. (Messrs.), Brazil 1 cotton p 1 od uc 1'lon in, 405
Aswan Dam. 187. 191. 194-5» 2'3» "5- 1 2. De Breuvery, 1., 3., n., 37,, 9° , "5 , _..
282. 337- Briggs 81. Co., 22
_ '
Asyut barrage. 213-
basiii irrigation, 8-9, 387 Glossary. n., 37. ’21_
a1—ba_vadx' (see also Winter crops), 8, Briggs, Samuel, 22, 37, canhamc,
Atherton. 54.5, Cavafy and Sons, 128 11.
- _ Giles. 332-
: us U,Inns. “S - 387 Glossary. Bright, John, 97.
Cave, S., 140,
:utrt:3eHu‘l1§?1a;3y8YP': '5' T“"‘°’ ‘99 Bayerlé, C., 323.
Bazley, Thomas. 97-
British Occupation, British oflicialg;
irrigation policy, 212-13,
census,
145, ,57_
population, 236-7,
Table 299. — transport policy, 213-15, 253_ °°"°°l'1 $|'31n_. see also barley, beans,
_ cereal yields, 256 Table. beans: cultivation of, 7, 9, 249, 253-5,
— agricultural policy, 215-18,319, 3,4" wheat and
lmports, cereals ’ 214 ’ 265 ’
258-9.
— trade in, 15, 25, 52, 103 Table, 959.55 267.
Baer. G-. 3 n-. 35 n-. 68. I47. 263 2-» policy. 223. 296. 302-4,
2 1. 126-7 Tabla, 169-71 Tables, 176-8 —in:u=trial
31 . 81, 102-3 Table,
— currency reform, 225-7. , 15171.0-1
“I‘;d¢ X9“2';.aif,g, ,74_(;
Baglzm Bey. Ylfl ufa 35- 66' Tables, 308 Table. Table, 354.5, 355 ’ 3°‘!
9
— production of, 102, 250-2 Table, — reform of tax system, 245-7.
bale, 28 n., I05. 2“- “ P'°d“°*i°n
balli cultivation. 73-4. 76. 1°!» 129» 260-4 Tables. — financial policy, 311-16. of. 49-50. 7:. 96, 250-2
— price of, 126 Table, 178 Table, — Capitulations, 313-14. Tables. 352. 372.
135. I38. 150. 257. 352» 337 G1°"“7" — relative price of,
Balls, W. L.. 255- 262-3 Table. --development of economy, 315-20, — qualit)’. 255-6. 125_
Bally Freres, 235-
— sale by Manzalnwi, 132. 324: 333-4-
— influence of Indian experience on, Chemins dc fer économiques,
Bank ol‘EgyPt. 71. 83-4. I I9. 235- — income from, 235 Fig., 260-4
C-2(I}‘.*.dcs
bankruptcies, liquidations, 120. 284-5. Tables, 267. 1-H5-17: 33345. 3405"- De Chabrol De Volvic, 3 11.
288 2 . 296. 304- — area under, 247-9 Table, 252, 262. — and business community, 317-19,
banks: ggnkers: in Egypt. 34: 98: — yield, 250-2 Tables, 256, 262-3. chick-peas. 7. 21-
324- Clgafettfi . m industry, tobacco.
105-6, 113-15. "9. ‘45-5: '57: 9°3- — weight of an ardabb, 382. Brown, R. H., 50 n. Capitulations, 36-7, [18, 158-9,
211, 222. 227. 273-30 Table» 2831 beduin, 11, 149. Bryn, James, 75-6, 134 11. 313.
14, 317.
285-6, 288-9 Table. 294. 302: 32'» Behar Barki & Co., 386. Buhaira: province, 12, 186-7, 195, Carpi ct Vivante et Cie., 378, 38c.
338. 374- Behera Land Co., 212 n., 281, 289, 213-14, 238, 241. Cartwright, W., 244.
— in Europe, 83-4, 1 14. I57. 21 12 299. 292-3 Table. — canal, 212.
Carver Brothers and Gill (later Carver
284, 288, 294. Behmer, A., 125, I4-2‘3. '5’: 33°‘!- building industry, 85, 107, 113, 156, Brothers & Co.), 1 13, 210-11, 221-2,
Banque Grecque d’Alexa.ndrie, 157 n. Benachi, E. A., 113, 321-2. 269. 284-5. 300. 371. 373-4- 274, 280, 321-2, 386.
Banque Hypotbécaire Franco-Egyp- Berrill. K-. 373- bushel, 256 n., 381-2. Carver, Percy, 321.
tienlne, 260. Bija, Mr., 133. Cassa di Sconti e di Risparmi, 284.
Barker, John B. B., Consul-General, bilharzia, 256-7, 267, 355- De Cadalvene E., 34 n., 379. Cassel, Sir Ernest, 281, 290-1.
37-8- H. Bindernagel, 222, 386. cadastral survey, 334. N. G. Casulli, 386.
barley: cultivation of, 7-9, 249, 253-4, birsim, 387 Glossary. -2 F1-endl expedition, 381.
— cultivation of, 7-9. 76. I93. 206. 249. J. M. Cattaui et Cic., 281.
2 8. — 1813-21, 18, 381.
— laiuhalnmad ‘Ali’s monopoly of, 2 1, Cattaui family, 303-4, 322-3.
252-4, 253. — 1898-1907, 183, 238,
246. —_]acob, 322.
42 Table, 52. — area under, 24.7-3. 94-9 11- Cairo, 201.
— trade in, 52, 103 Table, 127 Table, — production of, 260-1, 352. De Cbamberet, R., 266.
— population, 3.
170-1 Tables, 176 Table, 308 Table. — income from, 260-1 Table, 266, 27!. Charles Roux, I-‘., 151-2 n., 190 n., 223,
— in 18th century economy,
—quality of, 149, 255. — on Manzalwi estates, 274. 12-14. 2 .
— income from, 235 —under Isma'il, 113, 153, 156, 159.
Fig., 260-4 Blunt, W. S., 149. — 1880-1914, 268-9, 282-4, 320.
Tabla, 267.
boam(Ni1e), 22. 36. 55. 65-6. 77. 85. Chélu. A-. 219-20. 231. 279-
— under, 247-9 Table, 252, 262. Cairo Manure Co., 254. Choremi Benacbi & Co. (formerly
area 101, 209, 229 Table. Cairo Sand Brick Co., 299.
—71e1d. 25o-2 Tabla, 255-6 Table, Bockty, Joseph, 23.
Choremi, Mellor & Co.), 211, 221-2,
260, 262-3. Caisse dc la Dette Publique, 315. 321, 386.
— Production, 250-2 Boislecomte, Baron de, 29 n., 47 n., 55,
Table, 260-4 Campbell, Colonel Patrick, Consul- clcgg, Thomas, 75.
383 n.
Tables. Gcneral, 51, 60. Clclinds W-1 236: 237 n-: 240 n‘
“ P506. 262-3 Table. boll-worm. 134-5. 192-3. 195. 206-7. canals us irrigation system, canals. Clot, A. B., 381.
'— Weight of an aidabb, 257. _
382. bonds, government, 71, 84, 157, 279. 31 n., 578, 382 Appendix. coal su alto, imports, raw materials,
3236'“: 901026 C-J-. Consul-General, Bonfort Bey, 64. cangar,
3 7 G<_:n.,
ossary. ‘55, 374‘5-
. 353- capital. Egyptian. 269. 276-90 Tabla- J. and P. Coats, 210.
333386 (Delta). 50. 57, 185, Borclli, A., 261 n.
'37. I90. La Baum éypamu,‘ capital, foreign, 83-5, 113-I7. 155“7. Cobb, B. 17., 137-8.
194, 212-13 215 .
5Mwn'.5.387 337
_ 4 242, 276-94 Tables, 324, 329. 331-4» Colin. A. 45. 326-9. 350-!-
Bowling! J‘) 3!! *6?4:9l 72!
‘S91 '7.)
326-9- 366. 374- Colquhoun, Consul-Ga1enl, 100. 109.
— British, 277, 281, 290-1, 294- 109-10, 118.

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Index
Index ' 407
406 _. t‘ 116-!” '43’ ‘"9713 Egyptian Commm-.511 3,“, T, ,.
Calvin, Sir A., 334.
Table, 197 Table, 205, 262-3, 311 '1‘"':i.e1:;s;-°Tn' C°'1 “4-"15. 118, 121.
Table. Egyptian Cotton Mills Go,’
Comité Agricole. 339- — used for sowing, 139-40, 189, 194, 222.4’
Commerce, Ministry. 155-
205-6, 208, 217-18, 222, 260, 338. vauing exports a d 302-3 310 319 3 ,
Commission monétaire (Eg.). 995- — production of, 196-7 Table, 260-4 ——-me
imports, 168-9, 196-8, 375., A;
tian Delta I:.i3dl’14t Railway; Co
Commission of Inquiry, l45‘7- 214 a .’

Compagnie Agricole du Nll. 299 Table‘

companies, Egyptian, 85, 113-21. ‘S7-
8, 219—25. 275-304--
consuls, European: and Muhammad
‘Ali, 26, 39. 54. 65-7. 71-
__ and ‘Abbas and Sa'id, 86-8.
—— and l'sma'il, I39. 143-
contractors, public-works, 212, 266-7,
280. 325. 353- _
conversion econorrucs, 31 5-16.
com, 170 Table.
corvée, labour: in 18th century, 4.
——under Muhammad ‘Ali, 21, 47-8.
— under Isma'il, 117, 144-5, 148-9.
— abolition, 212, 266-7, 280, 353.
costs, agricultural, 79431. 104-5 Table.
230-2, 264-5.
cotton, American, 89-92, 98, 200-1.
— price, 91 Table, 162-5 Table and
Fig., 200-4 Table.
cotton, Egyptian, short-staple, 8-9, 21,
29, 42 Table, 309-10.
cotton, Egyptian, varietiu, 194.
— Maho,_]'umel, 30 t'., 387 Glossary.
—Sea Island, 33, 34 Table, 35, 75.
— New Orleans, 75, 98.
— Pa-nambuco, 75.
— Ashmouni, 129, 138, 150 n., 166,
188-90, 194, 387 Glossary.
—B3hlnia-by 1291 I38: 150 n-s I8‘-3'91
387 Glossary.
— Abiad, 166, 188, 387 Glossary.
—Ga111n1, 189
— Mitlmfi .I89-90, 193-4, 201-2, 388
Glossary.
-— Sakel, 189. 222, 389 Glossary.
— Abbasi, 139
'—.l°3lm°VitCh. I39, 201, 274, 388
Glossary.
— Nubafi . 189. am, 388 Glossary.
cotton seed, 1 45, 214.
—11'-1dc 111. 78-9. 93-4 Table, 106,
H31 Table, 126 Table, 132-3, 167
170-1, 176-8 Tables, 198
;'a:::,
? .1 ’°4‘5- 271» 307-8. an Table.
— 8111111118.
731
—industrial “I0.137E:g71.
7 , 205, 224,,
— price, 126 Table, 167 Table, 178
Tables.
— income from, 93-4, 260-4 Tables.
- yield, 262-3.
- weight of an ardabb, 382.
cotton seed oil and cake: manufacture,
78-9, 106, 152, 224, 280, 295.
— trade in, 224, 307-9.
Cotton Commission, 1909-10, 192, 194,
218. 347-
Cotton Research Board, 192.
Cotton Supply Association, Man.
Chfstcfa 70. 79. 97—9-
Cotton Supply Reporter, 97.
cotton-worm, 135-6, 152, 189, 193-5,
215-16, 218, 342.
countervailing duty, 223, 3o2-4, 319,
34-3-
courbash (kurbaj), 329, 387 Glossary.
G. M. Coury & Co., 386.
Craig, J. I., 188, 194, 232 n.
Crawcour, E. S., 361.
Crédit Foncier Egyptien, 230, 239,
MP2. 273. 977. 279. 290-‘. 322-3-
Crédit Franco-Egyptien, 336.
Cressaty, Comte, 230, 260-2.
Crimean War boom, 70-1, 170.
Cromer, Lord (Baring, E.), 239, 268.
—and decline in cotton yield, 190,
341-
- and development of economy, 215,
317-19: 334-47-
— on hoarding, 271.
— and industry. 302-4. 319. 342-4-
— Indian policies, 336, 343.
Crouchley, A. E., 197-8, 280, 284,
288-9, 293 n., 306-7, 318 n., 376.
cultivated area: in 13th century, 3-4.
—under Isma‘il, 117, 125, 140.
— 1880-1914, 237-8.
currency and coinage, 29 n., 42-4, 106,
383-5 Appendix-
-r=1"°112 of 1835. -14. 226. 384
Appendix.
—ff°1m_ of 1885. 225-7. 384-5
customs Ju aka tarifli, 223.
—pr°‘°cfi Vc dufiar 241 25 n5: 45'71
34-31--
pend1x. 379-8° APPendix.
Daira Saniya, 239-40, 268, 291, 295-7,
314, 387-8 Glossary.
Daira Sanieb Co., 268-9, 290.1, 32,_
Damietta, 380.
Daqahliya Provinccz 183) l85'7, 213-
14, 241.
Dardaud, G., 29 11.
Denmark, 256 Table.
Dervieu, Edward, 106, 113-18.
Deutschc Orient Bank, 211, 286, 386.
dhura (maize), 388 Glossary.
— cultivation of, 7, 9, 11-12, 76, 104,
192-3. 205-6. 249. 252-4. 253-9.
— trade in, 52, 103 Table, 127 Table,
171 Table, 308 Table.
—— production of, 102, 260-4.
— consumption of, 107.
- area under, 247-9 Table.
— yield, 251-2 Table, 254-5.
— income from, 260-4 Tabla, 266.
- on Ma.nza1awi estates, 274.
— quality. -309-
Direction Générale dc Commerce, 36.
dollar (thaler), 3411.
Dore, R. P., 362.
Dowson, E. M., 188.
drainage system, 191-5, 212, 218, 253,
255. 315-16. 356-
Drovetti, Consul-General, 16, 20 n.,
23, 30 n., 32.
Drummond Wolfi ‘,Sir Henry, 230.
The Duckworth Co., 386.
Duff Gordon, Lady L., 149.
Dufferin, Lord, 334.
Duhamel, Consul-General, 53, 82.
East India Co., 83.
economic crises: 1866, 120-
— 1870:, 165.
— 1907-8, 223, 269, 271-9. 275. 233-7:
291-2, 312, 316-17. 344-5. 374-"5-
education, 56, 143. ‘5543: 374-
— agricultural, I43. 959. 317-
—‘ ‘Of-hnicalr 342-3‘
Education, Mini5'J'Y. 3'3 Tam‘: 35'
Egypfi a“ Emcfpfi se and Development
00-. 292 Table, 324.5,
Em’."‘“ E“’"°' 00-. 292 Table.
Guam, 344,
€57P“¢_"
gyptian National Cong,-as, _
33”?“ N“‘i°m1 Party. 332-3&9
Egyptian Public Works Co., 277,
Co., 255.
gsvptgan
gyptlan Sshoe
team Towing Co. ’ 8 5 .
E8YP'lan Syndicate, 281.
E,5YP'-l‘°h° E373nil"F3bl'ikIm, 286.
Bid. A-. 269, 272, 294,
Elgood, P. G., 244, 265-6,
Ellsworth, P. T., 372-3.
England, Great Britain: cotton imports,
30, 160-6 Table.
é trade with Egypt, 81-2, 107-9
Table, 160, 169, 17411, 193.9
Table, 204-5.
— Englishmen, 113.
— cotton industry in, 162-5, 199-202.
— cereal yields in, 256 Table.
— mfl l-ownersin. 319. 343-4-
— trade figures. 160. 376-7. 379-
experimental farms, 259.
‘exploitation’ area, 249.
‘exploitation’ rate, 249.
Fahmy, M., 45.
Fakhri, Yahya, 133.
fifiz, 5, 388 Glossary.
fallow period. 192. 249. 253. 258-
Fattuha, al-Sayyid, 133.
I-‘ayoum Light Railways Ltd., 214-15,
289. 324-
Fayyum Province, 185, 214-15.
feddan. 4 11-. 381 Appendix. 388
Glosary.
fellah (peasant), 3 f., 388 Glossary.
fenugreek. 7. 255- _
fnmage(sha1ec1°1>1>1nx) svstun. 243-5.
257. 265-7-
fertiliser, manure. MI 01” "505 “id
koln, :52. 21+. 218. 253-5. 257-8.
26-1-5. 281. 297. 356-

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408 Index Index

— 129912 8-9 409
Filature nationale d’Egypte m Anglo- Gliddon. G. R-. 92-. 341--. 38. :64, Glo:s:|';9’ 4'7’ 5°’ 76' '°'= 8"3» ‘$4-5. 224 283. 295. 300-2,
Egyptian Spinning and Weaving Co.
Fine Cotton Spinners’ and
Assoc., 210.
Doublers'
382.
gold and bullion, specie,
226-7, 271, 306-7 Table.
106-7, 175,
:;.r2.2:
111,339
imports 14-15 1 _
_
3,0, 3,9) 343% . 575 .
.u _
- f:a;:rid°.?f1"':';‘°“‘g
_ N33,. . , 1o ,
‘3= 55» I54-5.
Gorst, Sir I:‘.., 246. (including a1C°::14»;'(7)5.
Fitzgerald, G., 145-6. — and industry, 223, 344. 1 23. 141 Table, 153.5 ,7; 1”“295;..
’
295-7 300- , _4. 309. ”77'
Five Feddan Law, 272-3, 345-6. F1g..and Tables, 32;, 365:6’ 3 1:1‘ -12
flax. 7. 9. H. 42 Table. 74. 149. 175
— and stock exchanges, 318.
— and crisis of 1907, 318.
_
agnculmral m3°hi“°"Y. tee machix-1: .4111, $3, 55,‘lZ;?~ 2.19.-19.‘a3’
Table, 327. — and agricultural credit, 345-6. ¢1'Y.3BT5Cll1tural. ‘
.
flour,
flour, milling, 1:: also imports, — and development ofeconomy, 346-7.
— animals :34 animals. _ MW 55.
_- silk, 13, 300-1, 3o9—7°_ — m'b“;hv
‘SEEQ?-goo '
I07. I58. 255- Greeks. 69. 107. H3. 320. 375- cotton, 3
tobacco, , 9
Foaden, G. P., 230. —text1les, 14, 47, 83, ,07_9 Tau: ’ —- 298’ 30°.
G1-cenfi eld 81. Co., 127. cakes: 2’2:,32’925‘-is’
foreign community, 85-5, H3, 155-9. 172-9 Tables, 270, 235, 3o,_Q_ _ gage
320-5. 328-9- Grésoirc. 76-7. 79. 93 n-. 95. 329-31. / tobacco, 14, 173 Table, 3o9.m_ _ . ?'°°°“i“8» 233. 295,
Fowler, T. K., 78-9, 378-9. guilds. I3- .raw materials (lead, iron, coppe, Pmmmg mi“-trials (ce111en::,7 '
France: Frenchmen, 113. coal, wood, etc.), 14, 105’ m7_3’ “1°)’.’95» 993-9. 371. 375.
Hahnloser &. Co., 386. .— an,“/hq“° °fl. Carbonic acid ’ 29 7‘
—trade with Egypt, 161 Table, 199 Table, 11o-11, 172-3 Tables, 175.3 inheritance, 4, 14¢,
Izalaqa, 2o8, 218, 388 Glossary.
Table, 297, 299.
-— cereal yields, 256 Table. Hale, Consul-General, 136. Tabla. 214. 298-300. 309-11 Table, Fmfiml Egyptian. 335.
319. llllllrfnce C0n1panic3’ 29,”
Harvey, Sir Paul, 240 n., 345-6.
G. Frauger 81 Co., 386. - cereals. 1'.
5 102- 3 Tabl e’ 308-9
Free Trade, 302, 319, 343. Hawamdiya (sugar) refinery, 277, 297, Im”“°’= Mmi“1"l1 Section d‘Elevage,
Table. 340.
French Expedition, 13, 16, 18, 326,
323.
Haywood, G. R., 97-8.
_ WE“. 173» 997» 309- Inc. Fed. ofMaster CottonSpinnczs and
381-3. — flour. I73. 309- Manufa turers‘ Assoc.
fruit, 247-50 Table, 261 Table. Hckekvan. Y.. 46. 19. 62-4. 67. 70. —luxuries (motor cars etc.), 259.70’ Ionian Bag‘, Chic“ mpg;:91;
220.
82-3.
hemp, 21.
235. Dept, 187, 194, 249_
Garwood, A. E., 277. import substitution, 23-4, 55-6, ;55, _I"|'_iE3ttii°l1.
lfllga. engineers, 33.4.
Gastinel, W. L., 142.
henna, 7. _
301-2. ‘£1; '
General Credit and Finance Co., 114. Hess and Carcas, 386.
income, agricultural, 79-81, 104.5, _. in 18th cu1t11ry,8212—1?3g2253,
.,_,’..,,
Hirschman, A. 0., 365, 369, 373.
Germany: trade with Egypt, 199-200 227-32. 243. 255-71 Tables, 275, Muhammad ‘Ali, 29, 47.50,
Table, 205, 297, 299. Hirschmeier, _I., 363.
— cereal yields, 256. hod (hand), 246, 388 Glossary. 312. 355. 365- —6u:der
— distribution, 265-8. 5 under Isma'il, 116, 129, 141 Table,
— Germans, 320. Howartl-1, W., 2oo n.
fluctuations in, 232-5 Fist, g7;_ 150.
W. Getty & Co., 386. N. Huri 81 Co., 386. -—
indebtedness, 59, 61-2, 71, 144-9, 257,
Gbarbieh Land Co., 292-3 Table, Husain Kamil, Prince, 324, 339-40. 4 ’ 2 7 ’ 2:35.
271-3. 345-6- . 55 ’ 2 212-553.
-2l;302-31:;215.2187. 2 o'
Huseyn Efendi, 5.
324-5- India: cotton production in, 92-3, 97, 315-17.336-7.
Gharbiya province, 186-7, 195, 214, 125. Isma'ill Asam Pasha, 299.
241. Ibrahim Pasha, 63. — cotton seed, 205. Ismailia, 320.
Gianaclis, Nester, 158, 298.
—- presides at agricultural assembly, 53.
— trade with Egypt, 224. Is1na'il Pasha (Khedive), 110, 114, 127,
Gibbara, Mess1s., 28. — his estates. 64. 74-5-
— trend to break-up of monopolies — influence on British oficials, 316-17, r_a2. 272. 276-7. 325. 339-2-
Gibson, _]‘., 230, 334. — mtmduu: post office, 70.
Gill, Charles, 113. under, 67, 75. 333-6. 340-1- — plants, markets, cotton, 95-5, 119-
— builds in Alexandria, 85. — cotton duties, 319, 343.
Elllncfs. ginning factories, 353, 371. — Croxnei-’s policies in, 336. 2o, 129, 131-2, 145.
— *3’-'0-79. 73. 92-3, 106, 121, 129, Ibrahimiya canal, 154, 213. —— known as ‘model farmer’, 98.
Ilhami Pasha, 68, 75. indigo: cultivation of, 7, 9-11, 49. — and development of economy, 98-9,
13’: 13710. 150. 159. I84.
— 1830-1914. 193-4. 208-9, 217, 219- illiteracy. 256. 373-4- —t:rade in, 21, 173 Table, 310.
— Muhammad 'Ali’s monopoly of, 42 116-18, 140 f., 153 f., 173, 354.
20. 222, 227-30 Tables, 270-1, 280, iltizam, 16, 18, 60, 388 Glossary. — and cattle murram and Nile flood,
El-Imam, Dr. M., 249, 261-2. Table.
287. 295. 325- — production if, 143, 328.
99-102.
business with Manzalawi, 133, 275, Imlah, A. H., 178. 1 _ and railway: and harbours, 111-12.
—-
Km! (CW-05). 29. 31, 64, 77-8, 98, 121, implements, agricultural, 142-3, 257-8,
‘
industry, Egyptian, 12-13. 23. 55-6. —- and development compania, 114-
27o. 33°: 34°-
_« 82-9, 153-5, 158, 224, 278 Table, 18.
*2;‘8l;b219—2o, 78, 338 Glonary.
I 9: 76; —norag (nawmj), 12, 256, 388 Glos- 283, 288 Table, 294.-30+. 335-9. - private estatu (Daira), 117, 134,
”_ M°C““hY. 73. 110, 219-420. sary. 343-4, 348-51. 355. 369. 371-2. 141, 151-2, 16811., 268, 388 Glosary.
- Plvush. 12. I42. 206. 257-8. 33°-I. 874-5- - and collapse ofbooxn, 119-21.
34°- —textile, 12-13, 23-4. 35. 44-7» 55»

'?asm7.'-r.K-:'~2'-*x.‘?-

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Index Index
4“, 4"
Land Bank of Egypt, 289- - — und ‘Abbas ‘"8 5“--
;,',"',Z,;f’-,:‘7§;14-
Is1na"1l Pasha (Khedive) (Ml-)5 rural, 94°: 94-’: 554,
land companies: Table, 84, id, 68-70. 77.
371-3, 278 279, 281-3, _
-— raises land tax, 121, 143-9-
135. ,59_ -— Eystcm
— un §:'_,__I --
, and deterioration of cotton, .35, 233 Table, 290-3 Table. 302, income 1n, 266-8, 118,
o, 2 . Lucovitch, Antoine, 1 15-16, -— 1880-1914, 184, ’go7_’,,':’9;,3_22
140-2 .3:1'bB3I'l;3278 Tablfi 282-3: 2851 983 lupins, 7.
-?;_i§).imml policy.
indugtry, 153-4, 295 _6 .
227430 Table, 280,
237) 289 ’ 294,’
__ builds mg“ Table, 293. 329: 355-
Tabb Landes, D. s., 38. 1 15-16- Macliean, A. 1., 367-8, W180-51 24-3-5, 265-6.
:l:;.?;:l’tlg‘d,e3ZA:l—d:- ESYP9 ‘98'9 landlcss peasant-is 4-: H3: 94°- machines (agricultural), 105, no, u5_ J. ,5" 1 (gash),
-
landowncrship: in 18th century, 4-5. 151. . .'
—— Italians, 39°: 37.5- 31-Bum
_. under Muhammad ‘Ali, 18-19, 60- — of: K 93. 100-1 Table, M228‘ (A1°‘a“dfi‘)’ "“7» 209,
(El-D5? impel? 143 641g - ' .
a|—Jabarti. ‘Abel al-Rahman 25 ,27o, 33 .
1 2. H7-I
— mm’p1ou’shs. 64. 98. im, ..7, M’M.“,,“§’. 3 "'°"“,°2=,-,3;-7. 233-
buu), 16, 19. 21. 38311- _. .lrlder ‘Abba: and Sa'id, 68.
206. _
1 1 134- I5 8 , 344.
a an: rural investment, 97°- _under Isma'il, 117, 128-9, 151. 143, Court of Appeal, 284, 313,
J_pd,.,.1.,pmen: in, 1853-1914»: 356-54- -— 1880-1914, 233-41. 246-7. 268. Lsteam pumps, 7,’ mo, ”5_I7, allired
_]'ardin d'Acclimatau'on, 142- land purchases, 239-41, 268-73, 282, 151-2, 154, 231 275.
,,,,‘,’db:,'1,3Y M’
M
;'g'flik(.1), 61-4, 68, 383 C5055“?- 285. 292-3, 371- MackaY. A,. 93 n.’ 1
Joanovich Bey, 134-5- land reclamation, 140, 187, 280-2, Mahmoud el Falaki, 382. Mob: and ‘gang ‘ 1 3£369..
John Birch, Messm, 214. Mahmudiya Canal, 22, 92, 128. mm,cy_1mdc“ (‘T
999-3, 37'- _ under Sam, 6;_““)' 793» 363-9-
jomard, 11., 175. land use, 12, 49, 192, 247-50 Table, maize, .m dhura.
— under Ismazil1 7°’ 95 '
C.Joyoc & Co., 119. 252-3, 258. al-Majlub, Hajj Muhammad, .33. ‘"5 ‘°7- 13°» 147-
Joyce, Turbum & Co., 65. 133.1, value, 241-2, 280, 282. 13. Malliaon & Co., 386. 5,,
judicial fee, 312. Maltese, 23 107 320 n. _ 9go_
Lane, E. W., 44-5, 382.
judicial system, 86-7. Mam1uk(s)”,5_;8’ m0:mcul:lr‘c4. 3:71-3, 3_4é5-6.
Izmis. J-, 330- 388 Glosuy
JuI1i2n1.J-, 14- Lavison, Consul—General, 40-1. Manchuter, Chamber of Comma-cg, monopoucr
_]'umel, Louis A., 28-9, 388.
Law of Liquidation 1880, 314-15. 96'
— d
jute, 152.
lend-bi 91 ‘S: 25' Mansur Shakur Pasha, 324-5. ;_,,n_5?32, 351., 42 Tab1eM:s},.;
’
De Leon, E., 81. Mansura. (town and district), 104-5 — undeg 'Ab1,a,, 57.3’
kaumr, 142, 254, 388 Glossary. — abolished by Sa'id 58 .
Linant dc Bcllefonds, Table, 119, 131.
Khaleel, Gabriel, 349.
kllaraj tax, 145, 230, 239 n., 246, 388 R. and O. Lindemann, 210-11, 221-2, Manzalawi, Muslafa, 132-4., 255, Manson, J, H,’ 243 n:
321, 386. 273‘5- _ mortgage companies 271-3 278T bl
Glomary.
kharajija land, 69, 145, 147-8 Table, Lindemann, Hugo, 211, 286, 321-2. M3-“zalawlg Sh3Ykh ‘Ali, I32-3- 282, 286, 288 Table, 290-1, 3021,3318’,
246, 388 Glossary. linen, 12, 14, 169-70 Table. markets, fairs, 6, 16, 101-2. 323,
Khedivial Ag'n'cu.ltura.l Society, 193 n., linseed. 79- Mflflfl ncs. 160-1. Mortgage Company of Egypt, 291.
Liverpool, 30, 37, 128, 139, 160-3, 166, Matthews, R. C. 0., 175. mortgage law 1876, 128-9, 241, 271.
194, 217, 258-9, 338-42- 209. mortgages, 128-9, 241, 271-3, 283,
Khuri, Me1.srs., 133.
— canon prices in, 89-91. 163-5 Fis- M3¢‘1¢1sJ-1 311-, 50, I54, 296.
Khurshid Pasha, 64. McC0an,_I. C., 154. 290, 294.
Kirby, L. D., 130-1. and Table, 200-4 Table. Medewar, W. 13., 347-8. Mom, R. J., 113.
loans, Governmental, 84, 1 16, 144, Mose:-i, Mesa, 259.
Kitchener, Lord, 208, 218, 243, 253. Medjidiah, Egyptian Steam Navigation
— and agricultural credit, 345-6. 156-7. Co., 1 14, 1 18. Moaséri, Victor M., 259.
— and development ofeoonomy, 345-7. Lockwood, Henry, 92. De Menuce family, 303-4, 322-3. Mouni Brothers, 386.
K0111 a!-Akhdar Co., 279. locusts, 216, 342. —Jacoub, 322. mudir, 70, 215, 388 Glossan/.
Kom Ombo Co., 292 Table. London Agreement 1885, 314-15. -Bohor, 322. Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha, 78, 96, 113,
Koubbeh Gardens Building Land Co., Iondon and Westminster Bank, 83. —,]acques Levi, 322. 145, 153. 155, 322-
lower Egypt (Delta): system of land- — introduces long-staple cotton, 12,
394-5- J. L. Menasce Figlio & Co., 281.
Krebmer, Consul-General, 62 n. holdins in. 4, 18-19, 61. 249-1- ' 27-9. 33. 333-
— tax fyatem in, 5-6, 18-19, 59. Men , F., 11., 26, 28,45. — list ofvill-"285
Krupser & Co., 78. merc:-1i1zing,3199-201.
— cultwation in, 9-12, 92-3, 103-4, —eeono1nic pohcv. 17 f-. 28$. 531.
merchants, merchant houses, 354, 368-
Laiha! z1'ra'a! a1-fallah, 30, 53. 124-5, 184-96, 206, 238, 248-9, 354- 72. 71-2, 3269- _
Lake Aboukir, 280.
— monopolized in, 20-1. _ an 13.1. mm, .3, 14-16. __ agricultural pohcv. 30, 35-6, 47-53,
— fropl
1111:2202 Ivstcm in. 47-50, 212-13, 53 7-: 74-17_5-
Lambert, A., 266 11. — under Muhammad ‘Ali, 90-4» 95- ,
253, 356- — wmmem-1 PM?» '9» “-2- 25-5-
Land and Mortgage 00-, 239. 241. 277. - cattle murnin in, 99. 6. 37-40. 43-4, 52-5, 60. 64-7, 72, 36-9, 71-41, 161.
279: 290' .M_

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Index

412
Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha (W"'-)‘ 55_61
_. industrial policy. 23-4. 44-7.
82‘31 374--
__ monopuucs’ 19,
— income,
__ and Europeans, 21-11 53'‘51
61-4. 7“2'
_. and family estates, “-
__ failing health. 62. 57
— introduces 5Y5‘¢“‘ °f
69-7o. . pink boll-worm, 193.
.. establishes
mulberry treem1xed6 ‘4 -
21. 4.cour;
,,,,,,,,,,,~,,,(,), 4.3, 18,60, 388 Glossary.
muqabala tax, 144-51 333 G1°““7'
Murad Bey, 15.
murrain (cattle): 1842-3. 511 64'
— 1863. 99-103. 143-
muta‘al1Jz1'd, 60-1, 63. 66. 383 G1°=WY1
Myint, I-1., 368-9.
Nahas, J. F., 267.
Nakamura, J. 1., 358.
National Bank of Egypt, 287, 2394301
322, 338.
National Insurance Co., 289.
nazir. 5. 132-3. 274-5. 388 G10s*=arY-
Table.
New Egyptian Co., 281, 292
Nile, 8-10, 14, 22, 29, 49-50, 65, 74, 77,
85. 114-15. 249-
— annual floods, 93 n., 100-2, 111,
124-: 144. 191-9. 213. 315. 337-
— tolls on, 144, 217, 314.
Nile land and Development Co., 292
Table.
Jl/1'11‘ crops, 7-8, 1o-11, 193, 253, 258,
388 Glomary.
Ninct. J-. 77. 92. 105. 137-8. 149-
norag (nawmj), re: implements, agricul-
tural
Northbrook, Lord, 34...
Notables, 239.
Nubar Pasha, 1 14, 158.
Ohkawa, K., 358-9.
oil refinery, 300.
200.
Oldham Chamber of Commerce,
olives, 64.
onions, 261 Table.
opium, 7, 42 Table, 328.
’
Hairy, 113-15, 117.
Oriental Banking Corporation, 33-
Index
1°. and 0. Co., 84- _
Appendix.
Mm, 333-5
Pastré (1718165): 39: “'1'-
Pastré. Jules» “3- 128,
23, 4.04: 52; 58"91 221, 321, 386.
Peel 8: Co. Ltd.,
PBDSK; H19 244' _
perennial irrigatxon. 7‘9. 47-9. 243-9,
252-3, 258, 389 Glossary.
G. Petracchi & Co., 386.
39
Pezzoni, Consul-General, 11.
piastre, 29 11.. 383-5 Append»:-
G. Pilvachi & Co., 386.
35-
Pinto & Co., 386.
Piott, J. B., 266-
], & P. Planta (later J. Planta & Co.),
128, 386.
plough, re: implements, agricultural.
population. 339: 352‘3> 355-
- in 18th century, 3.
_ under Muhammad ‘Ali, 35 n.
-— under Isma'il, 148, 150-1.
_ 1880-1914, 236-8. 240. 294-5. 309.
340-2.
__ European, 113, 156-7, 282, 320, 350.
Port Said, 320. 380-
Post Ofl ice, 70, 128, 311-13 Table.
press (cotton), Pltssingx 29: 981
1:7, 209, 220-1, 229 Table, 270, 280,
287. 295. 323- 290, 292,
prica: land, 85, 241-2, 285,
318.
—— staple commodities, 109-10.
— agricultural products, 247-8, 260-4
Tables, 338.
Public Debt, 156-7, 306-7 Table, 314-
15.
public utilities, 85-6, 283, 323, 371.
public works, 48, 140-1 Table, 144-5,
238. 315-16. 345-
Public Works and Agriculture, Mtmstry
(later Public Works only), 142, 313
Table. 315. 337: 340- _ Rodocanachi & Co., 335.
111111: (kiss). 43 n-. 383 Ap1>end111-
Qalubiya province, 186-7, 214, 238,
247.
rafiich. 579-80-
Raghib Pasha, 112, 114.
nilwavl. 105. 110-12. 172. 209. 213.
215, 238, 277.
2‘;'5‘;’_‘ °‘ ‘“""P°11 by. 77. 229 Table,
_1‘:1°"‘nd""C3i1'°s 77: 92, 101, 111-
— extension of
tem
Table, 150, 3152:’ 3:9,
$1?" fmmr "6471 *4-31 311-13
— 38'i°“1t“"‘- 154. 214-15. 264, 13.,
295-6. 315. 318-19. 372.
— passengers on, 270.
— workers on, 295-6.
Ralli, A., 279.
Randome, G., 263 11.
rail, 10 n., 382 Appendix, 389 Glouary.
Reinhart 81 Co. Ltd., 386.
rents, renting, m alto, fermage, niétayr,
rhirk, 10, 188, 205, 232, 234, 242-5,
257. 265-7. 274. 293. 341. 355-
revenue (Government), 354-5.
— in 18th century, 15.
— French Expedition, 16.
— under Muhammad ‘Ali, 20, 26,
40-2 Tables.
—under Isma‘il, 116-17, 143-6, 157.
— 1880-1914, 311-16 Table.
Reynier, J. T. L., General, 11.
n'aI.r, 383-4 Glossary.
"31
rice: cultivation of, 8-10, 49, 79,
249.
— trade in, 15, 169-71 Tables, 308
Table, 310-11 Table.
— Muhammad ‘A.li’s monopoly of, 20,
42 Table.
— quality of, 149.
— area under, 247-9 Table.
— value of, 261 Table.
— price, 263 Table.
— weight of an ardabb, 382.
G. Riecken, 386.
_ _ Rifaat, M. A., 188 n.
Rivlin, H. A. B., 4 n., 49, 59, 62-
roads, ag-ricultural, 213-15, 264-
Rogers, Consul, 144 11.
R010, Jacob, 323.
Rosovsky, 11.. 358-9. 364
mil D13 E-: 1451 332‘
..
rotation of crops, 133. 359-3» 957's-
— cotton, 31, 75-5. '99» 18541 188’
192, 194, 205-6, 213. 24-32 “5”31
258, 265.
.§€.“ 1-. ~. -
Rousel, consul-General. 24-5-
11.12211-~°~= 1-
413
"' “"d°'
_ undm. Mmmmad ‘Ali. 35-6 5&9.
Inna-H, ,45_5 L
“ ‘3'3°“9‘4. 264-73. 338-9.
Russell, W, H” M3 ,1.
Russia: tradeV"‘a, E117111. 99. .98-9
Table’ 297.
— “ml yields. :56 Table.
Saab. G., 257 n.
5- et Industnelle, 281, 292
£;b-'?eg.r1oole
S. A. de la Boune,
225_
S. A. de la Bourse lthédiviale d’A1¢x.
andne, 225.
S. A. des Chemins do for de la Basie
Egypte, 214-15.
S. A. dcs Ciments d’Egypte, 299,
mbakh, 12, 389 Glossary.
3356. A. and Outrebon, L., 112-13,
169 n.
Sadilt, Isma'il, 146.
S. A. E. des Prmcs allemandet, 221-2.
S. A. E. des Presses Libres Egypiennes,
221-1.
safilowu-, 7, 9.
Sa'id Pasha, 84, 118, 155, 238, 325.
— dams Khatatba canal, 64.
— abolisht: monopolies, 68.
— reforms tax system, 68-9, 71, 245.
§ and contracts with peasants, 70.
— economic and financial policy,
84-5, 172.
-— and Europeans, 86-7.
— promotes cotton cultivation, 95-:8.
— visits England 1862, 96-7.
St. john, J. A., 45-6.
11.
Saint-Marcel, Consul-General, 19
St. Mark’: Building Assoc-. 280-
Sakellariden, John, 222.
salination, 192, 1951 953-
Salvago fam51Y: 322-3-
._ c. M. Salvago. 279. 239. 322-3-
c. M. Salvage 3. Co., 287- -
raqiya, m implements, agncul
rarraf, 5, 146. 183. 384. 589 Glasw-
raflafi’ returns. 183. 247-3-
Sasson Israel 8: Co., 385-
Saundcfl . C-0113111. 93 “-
Schanz, M., 229 11.. 232. 242-3» 953'9-
J. P. Schilizzi & Co., 113-
Schmidt, Arno. 220-

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414 Index Index 4, 5

School (College) of Agriculture, 255,
259.
Schrienering, 201.
Schultz, T. W., 11 11.
Scott, Sir _I. H., 86.
Scott Moncrieff, Sir C-, 34-17-
de
S. E. de la Bourse Commerciale
Minet-el-Bassel, 225.
Seeger Bras. 8: Co., 386.
Senior, Nassau, 70-1.
SCSBTDC. 9» 21. 49. 79- 289.
S. G. de Pressage et de Dépét, 221,
S. G. des Sucreries et de la Raffi nerie
d'Emte. 295-7. 303-4. 318-19. 343-
.1Iuuiuf, res implements, agricultural.
shares in Egyptian companies, 268-9,
272, 275-93 Tables.
—l‘ounden' shares, 284, 317-18.
Sharif Pasha, 114.
Sharqiya: province, 35, 186-7, 213-14,
241.
— canal, 212.
Shaw, S. _I., 5, 9 n., 382.
.1-haykh ul-balad, 6, 62-3, 70, 389
Glossary.
shirk system (rents), 244, 389 Glossary.
.rhitw:', m aim Winter crops, 8, 389
Glossary.
shuna (warehouse), 32, 36, 389 Glossary.
Sidi Salem Co. of Egypt, 292 Table.
silk, see aLro imports, silk: commerce in,
15.
— ir1dus11'v. 23. 55. 143-
— comumption of, 107.
E. Sinadino & Co., 114.
Sinadino,_Iules, 113.
Soc. Agricole de Kafr-el-Dawar, 292
Table.
Soc. Agricole et Industrielle, 114-16,
118, 121.
Soc. <l’Entrepn'ses et de Travaux
Pubhquu, 277, 279.
Soc. des Immeubles d'Egypte, 289,
Société Egy-ptienne d'Agriculture, 152,
339-
Soe. Egypticnnc d’I1rigation, 281.
s°°- F°“C15T¢_ d’EgY1>te. 281. 292 Table.
Soc. Immobiliere d’Alexandrie, 280,
soil exhaustion, 120, 192, 253_5_
Somaga, S., 299, 349.5o_
rpmnen, cotton: European, :36, 133’
164-5. 193. 198-202, 209-10.
— lancashire, 319, 343-4,
n., 137 n_,
Stanley, Consul, 103, 120
144, 168 n.
Stanton, Consul-General,
130.
State Domains; 939-
_ methods of cultivation, 152.
__ yields of crops grown, 190-1 Table,
192 n., 230, 250-2 Tables, 262.
— provision of seed, 217.
— cost of cotton ginning, 220.
— value of crops, 230-1 Table, 234-5
Fig., 263-4 Table, 265.
— develop new wheat strain, 252.
— sell land, 269, 281.
state land, 61, 239, 269-9, 290, 312,
314-: 39°-
Statistical Dept., 124, 155.
Suares Fréres & Co., 281, 287.
Suarés family, 303-4, 322-3.
-— Raphael, 232, 277, 279, 290, 322-3.
Sudan, 282, 312.
—- Sudanese, 320.
Suez, 320.
Suez Canal, 84, 116, 141 Table.
sugar, cane, see also imports, sugar and
industry. sugar. 354-
— cultivation of, 7-10.
— Muhammad ‘Ali’: monopoly of, 21,
42 Table.
— 8‘1’°Wn bY R°Y3l 5311151)’. 54» 74» 14-’:
152, 154.
— industrial use, 154, 295-7, 327.
— trade in, 126 Table, 150, 171 Table,
308-9.
— price of, 126 Table, 187, 296.
— area under, 247-9 Table, 296.
— value of, 261 Table, 295-6.
— production of, 328, 352.
Summer crops, 8-12, 191, 252-3, 258,
328.
Survey Dept., 230, 347.
Switzerland, 199 Table.
Syria, 29-30, 282.
— trade with Egypt, 13, 15.
— Syrians. 219. 369-
tdm‘ (thaler). 34 n-. 383-4 Appendix-
Tanta, 6, 102.
Taufi q, Kbedive, 332-3.
111*-°°11°c1°r(1).7o. 149. 159-1. 245-
111=1_=1(|a11d). 183. 217. 354-
- In 18th century, 4-7, 15-16,
— under Muhammad ‘Ali, 18-20, 27,
43 Table, 58-60.
— under Sn'id, 6859,
—- under Ia1:r1a'il, 117, 121, 143-9, 153.
__ 1880-1914, 230-2, 239, 245-7,
250'
311-14 Table, 337-8,
— on Manzalawi estates, 274—5_
taxes (other than land), 144_5_ X53’
31 1-14 Table.
— house, 143, 269, 314.
— professional, 145, 314.
Taylor & C0,, 111.
Technical Education, Dept, 342, 347,
techniques (agricultural), 7-9, 12,
51-2-3: 157: 905-7; 252-9, 330-1,
354-5. 363. 374-
- C0110“. 9. 30-‘. 73-7» 104: 129; 135.
149-50. 205-7-
— wheat, 125.
Tedesco, A., 384.
telegraph, 137, 141 Table, 165, 311-13
Table, 316.
Consul—Genera.l, 93-5, 98,
Thayer,
101 n., 102 n., 104-511., 106,
theories of trade and development,
359-60. 364-75-
Thomas, Sir Owen, 237 n.
B. Tilche and Sons (later B. Tilche and
Figli), 128, 386.
Mosie Tilche Fils, 386.
The Tmm, 65-7, 77, 85, 102, 112, 128,
137.
tobacco, see also imports, tobacco and
industry, tobacco: cultivation, 7, 249,
298.
— government revenue from, 42 Table,
313-14 Table.
— trade in, 298, 300, 308-11 Table.
Todd, J. A., 201, 226, 244, 347.
Tozzizzia (Masrs.), 66.
trade, foreign, see aka imports, 16of.,
354. 365-6. 374. 376. 380-
— in 18th century, 14-15.
— under Muhammad ‘Ali, 19, 2|.
25-6. 30. 36-40. 65-6-
— under ‘Abbas and Sa'id, 8l"3-
- under Isma'il, 107-1o Table, 124
Table.
— 1880-1914, 196-205, 269-71. 304"
1 1 Fig., Tables, 319.
trade, terms of, 354-
- 1854-79. 177-9-
— 1880-1913, 310-11 Table.
transport, system of, 22; 5“3'l5-
{H91
353-
W111-Trapp & Co., 386.
Treasury (British), 83.
Tfi am’ 45, ‘6o_L
T“'k°V (_A‘i“ M8101‘). 99-30, 282.
— Egyptian Tnbute, 42.
‘ 43. 384-5 Appendix.
_ °11"°11°y-
“me ‘”"'h E8YP'a -15: 175, 224, 379-
80
'_"Ma(r).6o-1, 68, 89 clamp,-.
M149. 215. 239 n., 389 Glossary.
Union de la jeunesse Egypticnne,
337‘?!-
Union Fonciere d‘Egypte, 282 Table,
393-
Umted Egyptian land: Ltd., 292
Table.
United. States (America): cotton pm.
in. 89-92. 97. 119. 125.
—4110111111
trade with Egypt, 198-200 Table.
— cotton seed, 205.
— ginning factoriu in, 220.
—- cereal, cotton yields, 256 Table.
UPPGI. Middle Egypt: system of land-
holdinz in. 4. 18-19. 238. 240-1-
—- tax system in, 5-6, 18-19.
— cultivation in, 9-10, 19-20, 95,
153-4. 184-90. 192-6. 206. 248. 354-
— crops monopolized in, 19-21.
— irrigation system in, 48, 213.
— migration of workers from, 266-7.
-5-
‘U1-abi rebellion, 184, 241.
urban property. 35. 155. 253-9. 272.
280
‘um: (tithe), 75, 389 Glossary.
— under Sa'id, 63-9.
-1880-1914.239 11.312-
'ushun';u land. 69. 145. 147-8 Table:
230. 246. 312. 339 G1°1==1rY-
261
vegetables, 12, 110, 247-50 Table,
Table.
Verschoyle, H-1 257-
village community, 4--
‘village debts’, 119-80-
Violer and (‘in . 37-
Volncy, C- Fu *4-
Vmgfi l lg.’-|Clllt\“'3l1a 7: 1"’)
232) 264'!
266-7.
- on Manzalawi estates. 266-7. 274-5-
.. urban, 285.

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Wallace, D. M., 96, 130, 257 n-

waqfl s), 15-16, 18, 274, 389 Glossary.
Wardan Estate Co., 292 Table.
water-table, Delta, 192, 195, 218.
wekil (walcil), 131, 389 Glossary.
wheat, 102, 308.
——cultivation of, 7, 9, 104, 125, 152,
249, 253-4. 25343-
—'tradc in: 15: 259 52: 679 74-: 80'!
Table, 103 Table, 123, 126 Table,
127 Table, 169-71 Tables, 174'.
Table, 176-8 Tables, 308 Table.
-5 quality. 29. I25, I49, 303-
—production of, 74., 93, 102, 250-2
Tables, 260-4. Tables.
— income from, 79-81, 235 Fig., 260-4.
Tables, 266-7.
-—price of, 80 Table, 109, 123, 126
Table, 178 Table, 262-3 Table.
'
— consumption of, 107.
— sale by Manzalawi, 132.
— area under, 188 n., 247-8, 262.
— yield, 2 505-2 Tables, 255-6 Table,
260, 262-3.
— new strain developed, 252,
— on Manzalawi estates, 274.5,
— weight of an ardabb, 382.
B. Whitworth, 13o-1.
Wilkinson, Sir G., 31, 53.
Willcocks, Sir William, 213, 232 n.,
246, 260, 312.
Winter crops, 7-8, 10-11, 252-3, 258.
workshops, foundries, 158, 299.
Yates, W. H., 382.
yields, agricultural, 242, 262-3, 353,
355-
— cotton, 9, 31, 105 Table, 120, 123,
130 Table, 190-6 Table, 341-2, 34.4-
— cereals, 80 n., 2 5o-2 Tables, 255.
zawat, cotton, 76, 389 Glossary.
Zervudachi family, 322-3.
— C. G. Zervudachi, 279, 289, 322-3.
Zervudachi et fils, 286.
Zogheb, A., 261 n.

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