No. 158.] No. 638. Mr. Ecarts to Mr. Farman. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: Your dispatch No. 371, of the 14th ultimo, transmitting a copy of a note from the minister of foreign affairs, urging upon you the necessity of obtaining the assent of the Government of the United States in favor of the full and immediate payment of arrears of tribute, peLsions, and pay of employés out of the balance of the Rothschild or domanial loan, has been received, and as you seemed to be in doubt as to the exact construction to be placed upon the telegraphic instruction of October 12, 1879, I have now to state that as both tribute and salaries seem to come within the description of floating debt, and as there would appear to be no provision in the terms of the decree of November 15, 1879, for pro rata payment, or indeed for specific payments of any sort, and as the simple non-objection on the part of this government seemed to hardly meet the requirements of this case, I have now to inform you that the Government of the United States hereby gives its assent to the proposed payment, and that this assent has already been conveyed to you, according to request, in a telegram of the 22d instant. couched in the following language: Three seventy-one received; give desired assent. No. 639. WM. M. EVARTS. Mr. Farman to Mr. Evarts. No. 381.] AGENCY AND CONSULATE-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES IN EGYPT, Cairo, April 5, 1880. (Received April 25.) SIR Referring to my dispatch No. 372, of the Sth ultimo, I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy of a decree of His Highness the Khedive, instituting a commission of liquidation. It will be noticed that by the decree this commission is to take as a basis of its action the conclusions of the commission of inquest, but that the conditions of the Rothschilds' loan are not to be in any way modified. I am, &c., [Inclosure in No. 381.-Translation.] DECREE. E. E. FARMAN. We, Khedive of Egypt: Considering the report of the superior commission of inquiry dated April 8, 1978– Whereas the decree of April 6, 1876, extending the time of the payment of the de its of the Egyptian Government, diminished the interest thereon, and declared the atcessity of coming to a financial arrangement with the design of settling the Egyptau debt: Whereas the commission of inquiry, in its report dated April 8, 1879, recognized the impossibility of meeting at once all the amounts falling due of the consolidated debt, and of paying in full and immediately the non-consolidated debt; Whereas the commission equally recognized that, in order to be able to proceed to an equitable distribution of available resources among the creditors of the government, it was necessary that the law of liquadation should be binding upon all creditors and be so recognized by the tribunals of the reform; Whereas Germany, Austria, Hungary, France, Great Britain, and Italy have declared that they accept in advance the law that shall be prepared by the commission constituted by virtue of the present decree, and have engaged to bring collectively such law to the knowledge of the other powers who have taken part in the establishment of the mixed tribunals in Egypt and invite them to adhere thereto; The favorable opinion of our council of ministers being taken; We decree: ARTICLE 1. A commuission of liquidation is instituted. After having examined, in its entirety, the financial situation, and after having heard the observations of the parties interested, this commission shall prepare, taking as a starting point the conclusions of the superior commission of inquiry, and without modifying the conditions of the domanial loan, a draft of a law regulating the relations of the government as well as those of the Daîras Sanich and Khassa with their creditors, and determining the condition and the forms under which the liquidation of the non-consolidated debt is to be brought about. ART. 2. The commission shall determine the resouces that can be placed at the disposal of the creditors of either the consolidated or non-consolidated debt, but it must first of all take into account, with the assent of the council of ministers and controllers, the necessity of reserving to the government the free disposal of the sums indispensable for ensuring the regular working of the public service. To this end communication shall be made to it (the commission) of the budget for the year during which it shall exercise its functions, and also of the budgets for the preceding years that shall be needed by it for taking into exact account the needs of the Egyptian treasury. ART. 3. The controllers-general shall furnish to the commission such documents and supplementary explanations as shall be of a character to give it information in the accomplishment of its task. It shall transmit through them, either to U ́s or to Our ministers, the observations that it shall have to make to the government. ART. 4. The commission shall have the right to superintend, together with the controllers-general, the enforcement of the provisions that shall have been fixed upon by it; and the duration of its powers, after the publication of the decree of liquidation, may be prolonged, to this end, for a space that shall not exceed three months. the expiration of this space of time the commission shall, in any event, be by rights dissolved. At ART. 5. The law that shall be prepared by the commission shall be clothed with Our sanction and published by Us. From the time of its publication, this law shall be binding and without appeal, notwithstanding the provisions of the "Règlement d'Organisation judiciaire" and the codes of the reform (tribunals). ART. 6 This commission shall be appointed by decree. It shall be composed of two commissioners designated by each of the Governments of France and of Great Britain, and of one commissioner designated by each of the Governments of Germany, AustriaHungary, and Italy. The Egyptain Government shall cause itself to be represented by a delegate in this commission. ART. 7. The credit necessary for the labors of this commission shall be opened by Us, in conformity with the report that shall be presented to Us for this end by the president of the commission. ART. 8. Our ministers are intrusted, each in so far as concerns him, with the execution of the present decree. Done at the palace of Abdin, the 31st March, 1830 (20 Rabi-el-Akher, 1297). By the Khedive: The President of the Council of Ministers: RIAZ. MEHEMET TEWFIK. No. 640. No. 388.] Mr. Farman to Mr. Evarts. AGENCY AND CONSULATE-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES IN EGYPT, Cairo, April 8, 1880. (Received May 3.) SIR Referring to my dispatch No. 372, of the 8th of March last, and also to that of April 5, No. 381, I have the honor to inclose herewith, in French and in an English translation, the Khedive's decree of the 5th instant, appointing the members of the commission of liquidation, and the declaration of the 31st of March last made by the consuls-general of Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Great Britian, and Italy, in relation to the said commission. I have already reported upon the composition of the commission of liquidation and upon the object aimed at by the declaration of the five consuls, in my dispatch No. 372, mentioned above, to which I beg to call your special attention. I have, &c., E. E. FARMAN. [Inclosure in No. 388.-Translation from the "Phare d'Alexandrie," April 6, 1×80.] NEWS OF THE DAY. We publish here below the decree appointing the members of the commission of liquidation instituted by the decree of March 31. DFCREE. We, Khedive of Egypt: Considering Our decree of the 31st of March, 1-0, instituting a commission of liquidation: We decree ARTICLE 1. The following are appointed members of the commission of liquidation. Sir Rivers Wilson, president, Messrs. Baravelli, Bellaigne de Bughas, Colvin, De Kremer, Liron d'Airoles, De Treskow. The government delegates Boutros Bey Ghali to represent it before the commnission. ART. 2. The deliberations of the commission of liquidation shall be taken by a tiejority of votes. Done at the palace of Abdin, this 5th day of April, 1-0 25th Rabi-el-Akter, 1297.) MEHEMET TEWFIK. By the Khedive: The President of the Council of Ministers: RIAZ. DECLARATION. Whereas by a decree dated March 30, 1878, a special commission was intrusted with opening an inquest upon the financial condition of Egypt and with gathering together the elements for a general regulation; and whereas, by a new decree, the text of which is hereto annexed, His Highness the Khedive proposes to constitute a final commissien of liquidation composed of German, Austro-Hungarian, French, English, and Itain members; the governments of Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Great Britain, an. Italy have agreed to give their assent to the said decree. The aforenamed governments consequently engage to accept as obligatory and withont appeal the decision that shall be given concerning the obligations and debts the Egyptian Government, as well as concerning those of the Daïras Khassa and Sanjek by the commission of liquidation established by virtue of the said decree. They thus consent to this that the decisions of the commission constituted by virtue of this decree be recognized by the tribunals of the Reform as an obligatory la as soon as they shall be officially published by the government of His Highness the Khedive. The Governments of Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Great Britain, and Itale engage, furthermore, to collectively bring this declaration to the knowledge of tlpowers who have taken part in the establishment of the mixed tribunals institute. in Egypt and to invite them to adhere to it. The undersigned, M. Jean Autoine, Baron de Saurma-Jeltsch, councillor of legatio, consul-general of His Majesty the Emperor of Germany; M. Ignace Chevalier de Schaeffer, minister resident, agent, and consul-general of Austria-Hungary; M. Mat.malian Napoléon Theodore, Baron de Ring, minister plenipotentiary, agent, and L sul-general of France; M. Edward Baldwin Malet, minister plenipotentiary, agent, and consul-general of Her Britannic Majesty; M. Joseph de Martino, agent and consul-general of Italy, furnished with the necessary powers, declare by these presents that their respective governments take, one toward the other, the engagements related here above. In faith whereof the undersigned have signed the present declaration, and have hereto affixed the impression of their arms. Made in five original documents, at Cairo, on the 31st day of March, 1880. A. J. SAURMA. N. DE RING. EDWARD B. MALET. A true copy. Cairo, April 4, 1880. The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (of Egypt), [L. 8.] TIGRANE. No. 391.] No. 641. Mr. Farman to Mr. Evarts. AGENCY AND CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE Cairo, April 22, 1880. (Received May 17.) SIR: I have the honor to inform you that the Russian consul-general, in accordance with instructions received from St. Petersburg, presented this morning to the Egyptian Government a note in which he stated that his government made a formal reserve as to any action that might be taken by the commission of liquidation. This note has not been made public, but it has been read to me by the consul-general, M. de Lex. This is intended, in connection with what has taken place, as a polite protest to the manner in which the commission has been formed. Some time since the Russian Government sent to the five great powers of Europe a circular in which it stated, in substance, that it had not heretofore taken any prominent part in the affairs of Egypt, but that as it was now proposed to form a commission of liquidation to regulate Egyptian finances, and to give to the acts of such commission the force of law, it would be necessary, in the opinion of the imperial government, that all the powers that participated in the formation of the new tribunals should be represented. Notwithstanding this circular, the Khedive, under the advice of England and France, issued his decree of the 31st ultimo, establishing a commission to be constituted only of the representatives of the five powers, and giving to France and England a majority of the members, and, consequently, full and absolute control of the action of the commission. The opinion of the Russian consul-general is that his government will leave it entirely to each of its citizens having claims against Egypt to decide for himself whether he will accept the conditions that may be offered by the commission or resort to the tribunals. A decision just rendered by the international court of appeals at Alexandria very much diminishes the present necessity for a commission of liquidation, and if it were not already formed I doubt whether it would be. As I have heretofore had the honor to inform you, the government paid in May last only 24 per cent. instead of 3, the amount of its semiannual interest as fixed by the Khedival decree of November, 1876, issued under what is usually known as the Goshen-Joubert contract, and in November last only 2 per cent. An action was lately brought in the court of first instance at Alexandria to recover £10,033, being balance of one-half per cent. unpaid on coupons of May last on £694,200 bonds and 1 per cent. balance unpaid on coupons of November on £656,240 of bonds, and the court held that it had under the Egyptian codes no jurisdiction in such a case, and yes terday the court of appeals confirmed this decision. This leaves the government free to reduce its interest on its consolidated debt at its pleasure, without any interference on the part of the courts. The commission may, however, in this new and unexpected phase of the case, become very important to the bondholders by fixing the interest at a certain per cent., thus making a kind of international agreement of which the courts could take cognizance, according to principles they have already enunciated. I have, &.. No. 642. E. E. FARMAN. No. 399.] Mr. Farman to Mr. Evarts. CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES IN EGYPT, Cairo, May 5, 1880. (Received May 31.) SIR: I have the honor to inform you that 35 Arabs, charged with being slave-dealers, were last week apprehended at Assiout, and have just been brought to Cairo, together with 68 slaves that were found with them. These slaves are all quite young, and many of them children. There are 29 boys from five to eighteen years old, and 39 girls from eight to twenty. Assioût is on the west bank of the Nile, 230 miles above Cairo, and is the principal city of Upper Egypt. The valley is here very narrow, the Lybian range advancing to a point very near the river, and one of of its projecting mountains rises up close behind the city on the west. In this mountain are a large number of grottoes or tombs, chambers cut in the limestone rock, which once served as burial places for the inhabitants of the very ancient town of Lycopolis, "city of the wolves" Some of these grottoes are very large, consisting of a succession of chambers and passages, while others in various parts of the mountain are comparatively small, and still others only of a sufficient size for a body. Some of these tombs are said to have been occupied by the early Christians as dwelling places, either on account of their safety or their solitude. More recently they have been from time to time the refuge and homes of thieves and other outlaws, who have often been enables by means of these excavated recesses, resembling catacombs, and their hidden passages, to evade the vigilance of the officers of the govera ment. The mountain constitutes the border of the desert at this point and is wholly destitute of verdure, but it overlooks the rich green valley and the city with its lofty minarets. |