The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1882.

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4339, 27 November 1882, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1882.

The population of Egypt is of a very mixed character, and in reality there is no purely national party in that country; hence the difficulty of establishing satisfactory government. The form of govern* ment must be either autocratic or aristocratic— it cannot be democratic. The leading factors, according to Mr Edward Dicey, are the Fellaheen; the Turkish party, which includes the Pachas and large-landed proprietors; the Levantine population, comprising Syrians, Armenians, and other non-Mussulman nationalities domiciled in Egypt; th« army; the European Colony; the Control; and the Khedive. The Fellaheen, who form at least four*fifthß of the whole population, are the occupiers and tillers of the land. A more hardworking, docile, and easily governed race does not exist on the face of the globe. From time immemorial they have been subject to one set of task masters after another, aid accustomed by tempera* ment, by tradition and by creed, to accept their lot. hard though it be. At the pre sent moment tbe fellahs are going on with their daily toil in the fields, sublimely indifferent to the fate which may be in store for Eggpt. Who rules is not a matterjthat agitates their minds. Their labor will be taxed, they are assured of that; by whom the tax will be levied is beyond their control. If you ask them they will tell you that they have never been so well off as during the past two years. The taxes have been unusually light, and have been levied regularly and not in advance; they have bwu ible to psy their dues and hoard

money, and their only fear is that such a state of things is too good to last. But, adds our authority, you would find them incapable of explaining what has brought this good time about, or what it was that threatened its continuance. Of all the facts in Egypt, the utter absence of anything like public life or political sentiment amongst the Fellaheen is the most important Their condition, degraded as it is, is not owing to slavery. There are three things which can gradually elevate the condition,of the Fellaheen: exemption from arbitrary taxation, power to reap the fruits of their own labor; and the establishmerit of independent courts under which they can obtain justice for themselves. These three thing's were being brought about by the European control. The next factor, the Turks, are as completely foreigners in Egypt as the. English or the French, and in as far as the Fellaheen have any distinct idea of foreign policy, ♦he idea is probably a hatred to Mehemet Ali is credited with saying that if the fellah had ever the coarage to spit out anything he would spit out the Turk. As a rule the large landed proprietors are Turks. Owing probably to com> munity of religion there is no hard and fast line between the Turks and the native Egyptians. The Court i 3 the fountain of honor and wealth, and the dominant class, though mainly Turkish by origin, and almost exclusively Turkish by sympathy, includes many native Egyptians, who have risen, above their fellows by superior energy or by the accident of Court favor, and also a small number of Syrians and Armenians. In every district there are personages, either conn' ctions of the viceregal family, Court favorites, wealthy Turks or natives, who by creditable or discreditable means, but as a rule by the latter, have acquired wealth. This is the class represented in the Chamber of Notables. Under the reign of Ismail Pasha and his predecessors these persons enjoyed exceptional, privileges. They were liable to occasional exactions and oppression on the part of the Viceroy, but they were always able to oppress and defraud their poorer neighbors. They themselves paid little or no taxes ; they were in a position to compel the Fellahs to work without pay and extort money from them. Under the Anglo-French control this class of persons were deprived of their exclusive privileges, and of many opportunities of money making which they enjoyed ; they ceased to be the lords of the district in which they resided. The Pashas resented tbe loss of this ascendancy, and were ready to support any movement which offered them a chance of recovering their lost supremacy. This disaffection towards the Control was shared, to some extent by the Levantine population. The native Egyptian having I no aptitude for trade the whole of the retail business of the country was in the I bauds of Copts, Armenians and Syrians, and the lower class of Greeks ; while,the 1 public service was filled by them to their I own advantage. Their superior intelli gence and energy enabled them to get the best of Turk and Egyptian. The Control was distasteful to them because their Btaple trade of usury was driven out ot the field by the European banks and mortgage companies, while the presence of Europeans in all the public offices deprived the (-'optic and Syrian element of the opportunities they had hitherto en joyed for jobbery and peculation. We intend in a future issue to treat of the army and other factors.