in a manufacturing district in the center of the German Empire, Saxony being taken as a fair type of North Germany. Mr. Felkin is a native of Nottingham, England, and has, since 1861, carried on at Chemnitz the manufacture of hosiery, which is also the staple trade of his native place. Besides hosiery, woven fabrics of various kinds are produced; and where water-power was formerly largely employed, steam-engines are now generally in use. Handlooms and frames are also almost entirely superseded by the latest improvements in mechanical contrivances. Chemnitz is readily accessible by railroad from all parts of the empire, and has large and flourishing factories for locomotives, steam-engines, engineering tools, etc. The workshops of the Saxon Government railroads are placed there, and give employment to five thousand hands. Mr. Felkin points out the significant fact that, in the manufacture of gloves, the Chemnitz workmen have literally destroyed the trade of Nottingham, and, further, that they not only sell their wares in the United States and South America, but have established an agency in Australia. The population of Chemnitz has increased from 40,000, twenty years ago, to 90,000 in 1879; and the surrounding villages have a population of about the same number.

Elementary education here, as everywhere in Germany, is compulsory; and the children of the very poorest class attend the public elementary schools until at least the age of fourteen. After they have left these schools and gone to work, they are still obliged to attend the evening (Fortbildung) school two evenings in each week for two more years. They then become eligible for voluntary attendance in the schools for foremen, for the building trades, and for instruction in elementary drawing. These elementary schools do not receive assistance from the state, and the school-fees vary from $1.75 per annum in the lowest division, to $6.35 in the highest class of the highest division. These fees cover about one fourth the cost of maintaining the schools; the other three quarters are borne by the municipality. There are also schools of the same grade, attended by children of wealthier parents, with fees varying from $11.52 to nearly $15.00. Children passing through these schools may, if qualified by examination, enter the classical school (Gymnasium), or the modern school (Real Schule), at the age of ten; or they may, after completing the elementary course, continue their education in one of the technical schools.

The regular course of instruction in the elementary schools includes moral and doctrinal religion, arithmetic, geometry, grammar, composition, history, natural history, geography, and gymnastics. The school board has in it always a clergyman and three of the head masters of the schools. Chemnitz school district, including a suburban area, contains 152,000 inhabitants, of which one sixth (about 25,000)

attends the elementary schools. Private schools and teaching are almost unknown in Germany. The Gymnasium of Chemnitz, a fine structure, erected at a cost of about $63,000, is attended by 350 scholars, who receive instruction from a rector, a sub-rector, and 20 masters. Besides classical instruction, its curriculum includes modern languages and physical science; and students pass from this to the university. The modern school (Real Schule) cost about $87,000. It receives a subsidy from the state of nearly $3,000 per annum. It has a director and 26 masters, and is attended by 430 scholars. In place of classics are taught natural history, chemistry, physics, mathematics, mechanical and free-hand drawing, so as to prepare the pupils for the polytechnic and mining schools. The fees in each of these schools are nearly $30 per annum. Chemnitz has also a public commercial school, with appropriate studies and 170 scholars. In addition there is an evening (Fortbildung) school, established by a workmen's union, at which about 1,900 scholars attend.

All the preceding schools are under the direction of the Minister of Education and Public Worship. The three technical schools, viz., the Technical Institute, the Higher Weaving School, and the Agricultural School, are under the Minister of the Interior. Of these, the Technical Institute is carried on in a building erected by the state at a cost of about $400,000. It is partly supported by fees, the balance of the income needed being made up by the state. The Higher Weaving School was erected by the municipality, and is maintained by fees and subsidies of $726 each from the state and the town. The Agricultural School is a recent foundation, and has a small grant from the state. Mr. Felkin has fully described, and illustrated by plans, the laboratories, lecture-room, libraries, and museums of the Technical Institute, which may fairly compare with the more celebrated schools of Germany and Switzerland. It has four departments-the Higher Technical, the School for Foremen, that for the building trades, and the Art School. The Higher Technical School has three branches, one for mechanical engineering, a second for chemical technology, and a third for architecture. Its courses extend over seven semesters (a semester six months). The first three are general, after which special subjects are studied. These courses qualify for industrial employment and for the profession of an architect; students, however, who seek for employment in architecture by the state must complete their education in the BauAcademie of Dresden, or in some institution of equal rank. The fees are $14.50 per semester, and there are 150 students. The School for Foremen has two winter courses of six months each, and two branches of study, viz., one for mechanical and the other for chemical industry. Students are admitted at the age of sixteen, and must have worked for two years at

their trades before admission. Generally they are selected from promising young workmen, educated in the public elementary schools. There are 230 students, who pay $7.25 for each course. The fee is frequently remitted in cases of unusual merit. These courses include arithmetic, geometry, physics, chemistry, mechanics, and other subjects of technical instruction, as well as German literature and book-keeping. In order to obtain admission to the school for the building trades, students must have worked at their trades for two years. There are four winter courses, adapted to the special wants of the pupils, and generally during the other six months they work at their trades. The students number 170, and the fees are the same as in the School for Foremen. The Art School has 110 students. The Higher Weaving School at Chemnitz, which is one of several in Saxony, appears to be the most important, and its courses are attended by young men from all parts of Europe, including the sons of large manufacturers in England. It has a fine, commodious building, four teachers (of whom two are practical weavers), and students varying in number from 30 to 50. The course occupies two half-years, and the fee is $65.50. Its instruction includes properties of materials used in weaving, construction of looms, composition of patterns, drawing, etc. The Agricultural School was begun in 1877 with 20 pupils; in two years its numbers increased to 60, with a prospect of still further increase. It is held in the winter months, and is especially serviceable to small land-owners and tenantfarmers. Besides these schools there are others for mechanical weaving, intended for hand-loom weavers, held on Sundays, an evening-school for practical tailoring, etc.

It is believed by some that the educational advantages in Germany have enabled its manufacturing population to compete successfully with English workmen. Probably this may be right, though, at the same time, the cheapness of wages in Saxony must be taken into account as an element in the problem.*

EGYPT, a tributary of Turkey, in Northeastern Africa. The ruler of Egypt, who has the title of Khedive, is Mohammed Tevfik, born in 1852, the eldest son of Ismail Pasha, who resigned June 26, 1879. The eldest son of the Khedive is Prince Abbas Bey, born July 14, 1874.

The area of the entire Egyptian territory is estimated at 2,987,000 square kilometres, with 17,400,000 inhabitants. Egypt proper has about 1,021,354 square kilometres, with a population of 5,517,627. The number of foreigners, in 1878, was 68,653, of whom 29,963 were Greeks, 14,524 Italians, 14,310 French, 3,795 English, 2,480 Austrians, 1,003 Span

*The average weekly wages of mechanics in a locomotive

and engineering factory in Chemnitz were, in 1870, as low as $3.12; a few years later they were $4.32; at present they are about $4.00. For similar work, in Eng'and, mechanics receive $5.50 per week; and in the United States wages are considerably higher.

After a long period of disorder in the financial condition of Egypt, order has at last been restored. In April, 1880, the Commission of Liquidation, composed of members delegated by the Governments of Germany, Austro-Hungary, France, Great Britain, and Italy, met at Cairo and framed a law, which was promulgated on July 17, 1880. The principal stipulations of this law are-1. Payment of the floating debt, 30 per cent in cash, and 70 per cent in bonds of the new privileged debt; 2. Conversion of the so-called short loans (of 1864, 1865-'66, and 1867) into bonds of the unified debt, with a reduction of the rate of interest to 4 per cent. The debt on January 1, 1881, was as follows:

The military forces of Egypt comprise the regular army and the irregular troops. The regular army is composed of six regiments of infantry, two regiments of cavalry of six squadrons each, one regiment of field-artillery, and three regiments of artillery for fortresses, making in all 15,000 men. The irregular troops comprise seven mounted corps, each containing 4,000 men.

The navy in 1880 comprised two yachts, one frigate, one school-ship, four dispatch-boats, two transports-in all, ten steamers.

The total value of Egyptian commerce in 1855 was estimated at 275,000,000 piasters

postal-cards 48,000; the pieces of printed matter, newspapers, and merchandise, 1,556,000; the number of money orders sent, 38,125, for 39,608,000 piasters; the number of money packages, 32,500, for 1,107,000,000 piasters. The number of foreign letters and postal-cards sent and received was 1,625,139; of newspapers, etc., 1,063,000; of money orders, 11,440, for 4,500,000 piasters.

The two Comptrollers-General, De Blignières and Colvin, made their annual report to the Khedive on the 21st of February. The former Viceroy, Ismail, had not only plunged the country into debt, but had disorganized the entire machinery of the administration. The first task of the two comptrollers was to liquidate the enormous debt. A commission was appointed, composed of representatives of the great powers, and representatives of the Egyptian Government, which in three months elaborated the decree for liquidation, presented to the Khedive on July 17, 1880, and signed by him.

The first step necessary for carrying out the settlement was to realize on the Rothschild loan of 8,500,000 pounds sterling face value; which would yield, after the deduction of the commissions, the first coupon, and the discount, 5,635,500 Egyptian pounds ($28,290,000). Interminable hindrances stood in the way of the realization. Other public creditors held mortgages upon the state demesnes which were hypothecated for this loan, and new liens were being constantly registered. The prior mortgages were finally lifted by means of money advances from Rothschild, after the later claims had been removed by a viceregal decree annulling the judgment of the Court of Appeals at Alexandria, and declaring the demesnes not subject to execution. The proceeds of the loan were thus made available. The financial transactions for the first year left a surplus. The comptrollers apply the entire surplus from the revenues set aside for the settlement of the debt, when there is a surplus, to the sinking fund. If they yield a surplus sufficient to satisfy the stipulated requirements of the sinking fund, one half of one per cent of the amount of the public debt annually, the remaining revenues are left at the disposition of the Government; but, if they do not, enough is taken from these to make up the amount required for sinking the debt. The budget for 1881 was made up in accordance with these rules. The ordinary receipts for the foregoing year were 5,034,267 Egyptian pounds as returned by the departments, and 4,370,030 pounds ($21,740,900) when comptrolled. The extraordinary receipts were expected to amount to about 300,000 pounds ($1,500,000), and were disposable by decree of the Khedive. The comptrollers recommended their application to public works, as 135,000 Egyptian pounds were needed for the railroads, and as much as 300,000 for public buildings. The revenues for 1880, the report shows, yielded under the re

formed administration a surplus over expenditures sufficient to add 153,000 Egyptian pounds to the sinking fund, and furnish at least as much for improvements on public works. For some time to come the debt settlement will consume 40 per cent of the total revenues of the state.

The effect of the settlement of the debt question by the liquidation law was to raise the price of Egyptian securities in the market from 150 to 360 francs. Before the close of the year 1880, 11,424,000 Egyptian pounds of floating debt had been paid off, and there remained 1,021,000 pounds yet to settle. The revenues assigned for the payment of the debt and interest are the land-taxes of four provinces and the customs duties.

The public debt of Egypt, amounting to $365,000,000, exclusive of the Daira and Domain debts, which come to $85,000,000 more, is an enormous burden for a land which has no mines, forestries, or manufactures, and derives its entire revenues from 4,750,000 acres of agricultural land. The revenue reaches barely $42,500,000, out of which as much as $20,000,000 go to the creditors, and $3,500,000 are paid to the Sultan. The favorable financial results of the year 1880, when, in addition to the fixed obligations, $1,500,000 surplus was applied to sinking the debt, are attributed by Mr. Money to an abundant harvest, improved trade, the readjustment of the land-tax, the abolition of tax-payments in kind, and the better legal facilities for the collection of ar'rears in taxation. The two coupons of the unified debt were paid, amounting to $11,250,000; the deficit of the privileged debt, amounting to $1,250,000, was made up; the large amount due to the sinking fund was paid; and the above surplus left over. The law of liquidation increased the privileged debt $18,750,000, making the annual charge for this part of the debt some $6,000,000.

The accomplishment of the far-reaching reforms which have been instituted in the Government of Egypt is ascribable in a great measure to the merits of Riaz Pasha. The substitution of a Government monopoly of salt, for the system by which the purchase of this commodity was made compulsory, has not resulted favorably for the revenue thus far, by reason of deficient supervision. In January, 1880, twenty-eight small but vexatious taxes were abolished, the poll-tax was done away with, and the trade-taxes were reduced to narrower limits, those which weighed down agricultural occupations being happily removed altogether. The resulting losses to the revenue were made good by an increase in the Ushuri, or tithes, resting upon lands.

The Mukabala, one of the most vicious financial measures in Ismail Pasha's whole category of impolicy, was remedied at the same time. This was an arrangement by which proprietors could, by the payment of certain assessments, purchase a partial immunity from the land

taxes for all time. The actual losses accruing to persons who had taken the benefit of this law, by its abolition, were made good to them by Treasury warrants. The land-tax laws were referred to a commission for revision. To establish a rational system of land-taxation in Egypt is a work of long study and labor. The survey and registration of the lands is first necessary, and this work was immediately begun. But, like all public business in Egypt, this simple task soon got into a tangle. General Stone, the chief of the army staff, was intrusted with the supervision of the survey. After nine months of topographical work he was replaced, April 7, 1880, by a commission, which set to work to revise the work performed, and adjudged the greater part of it unsatisfactory. The 300,000 Egyptian pounds thus far expended were consequently wasted, and the labor of surveying the country will not be completed in less than fifteen years, unless a larger force and more capable directors are employed.

The decree of February 25, 1880, fixing the time for the payment of taxes, affords a desired relief to the Fellahs by making the collections fall in harvest-time, and not when the agriculturist has paid out most of his money in preparing for the next crop. In Lower Egypt the taxes are collected, under the new regulations, in part after the cotton-picking, which commences in October, and in part after the winter crop is harvested, or in April and the succeeding months, while during the months of March, August, and September no taxes are collectable. In Upper Egypt nearly all the collections are made between April and August. The Kurbaj is still resorted to, and delinquent Fellahs are made to produce their hoards under the lash.

Payments of taxes in kind are abolished, since the improvements in the means of communication, especially in the postal system, enable the inhabitants of the remotest districts to convert their produce into money. The position of the tax-gatherer was materially bettered by allowing him a yearly salary of twelve Egyptian pounds, while the percentage which he is allowed from the collected taxes has been reduced one tenth. Through this change the prevailing system of extortion will be remedied to some extent, and the tax-payer somewhat relieved from the necessity of providing for the support of the collector on a more or less liberal scale, in addition to the payments which find their way into the Treasury.

The tariff has been submitted to thorough regulation, and the collection of customs placed in charge of a better director, with the result that they have yielded in the first year a surplus of 100,000 Egyptian pounds. The system of statute labor the new administration would like to abolish, and they have striven to restrict the demands to the lowest practicable limits. Nevertheless, the Department of Public Works were obliged in 1880