THE QUARTERLY REVIEW. No. 442, Part I.-DECEMBER, 1914. Art. 1.-ADMINISTRATION OF THE ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN. 1. The Journals of Major-General Gordon at Khartoum. London: Kegan Paul, 1885. 2. England and the Sudan. By Yacoub Pasha Artin. London: Macmillan, 1911. 3. Modern Egypt. By the Earl of Cromer. London: Macmillan, 1908. 4. Letters from the Sudan. By E. F. Knight. London: Macmillan, 1897. 5. The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. By Count Gleichen. London: Harrison, 1905. 6. The Expansion of Egypt. By A. Silva White. London: Methuen, 1899. 7. Reports on the Finance, Administration, and Condition of the Sudan. London: Waterlow, 1913. 8. Reports by H.M.'s Agent and Consul General on the Finances, Administration and Condition of Egypt and the Sudan. London: Harrison, 1913. [Cd. 7358.] THE Convention made between the British Government and the Government of the Khedive on January 19, 1899, lays down that the administration of the Sudan is to be vested in a Governor-General, who is appointed by Khedivial decree on British recommendation, and who cannot be removed save by Khedivial edict issued with British consent. Moreover, to render the Sudan absolutely free from Egyptian interference, no Egyptian law, ordinance or ministerial arrête applies in the Sudan unless by the Governor-General's proclamation. Turkish or Egyptian Governors-General held power in the Sudan from the year 1825, but for the most part the holders of that office ruled for a very brief period. The first British Governor-General of the Sudan was General Gordon, who acted for barely fifteen months, and died at his post; after an interval of thirteen years, during which period the country was ruled by the Mahdists, there came a second British Governor-General, Lord Kitchener, who was also Sirdar of the Egyptian Army. It is interesting to recall Gordon's remarks in his 'Journals' (Nov. 1884) in connexion with the appointment of Lord Kitchener as Governor-General. Writing fifteen years before the event, Gordon said:'If Kitchener would take the place, he would be the best man to put in as Governor-General.' Since Lord Kitchener became British Agent in Egypt, he has followed the policy of his predecessor in office, Lord Cromer, in leaving the Governor-General of the Sudan very largely to his own discretion, a discretion which has never yet failed to prove sound and statesmanlike. While possessing the power of supervision, the British Agent at Cairo has wisely refrained from exercising it, except in the form of suggestions, the aim of both Lord Kitchener and Sir F. Reginald Wingate having been from the commencement to decentralise as far as possible, and to leave to the responsible men upon the spot the control and the details of administration. The Central Administration consists of the GovernorGeneral, his Council and the Provincial Governors. The two former for all official purposes reside in Khartoum, and have the control of the entire Sudan under their supervision. The pay of no official exceeds 15007. per annum, this being the salary of the Governor-General, who, however, as Sirdar of the Egyptian Army, receives a substantial addition to this sum. The total expenses of the offices of the Governor-General and his Council are well under 10,000l. per annum. The Governor-General is assisted by the Inspector-General, the Civil Secretary, the Financial Secretary, the Director of Intelligence, the Legal Secretary, the Medical Director-General, the Directors of Railways and Steamers, the Director of Agriculture, the Director of Posts and Telegraphs, the Director of Public Works, the Director of Customs and the Director of Education. There are sub-departments dealing with such matters as Game Preservation, Agricultural Schools and Experimental Stations, Geological Survey, Research Laboratories, Veterinary Science, and the Sleeping Sickness Commission. The division of the Sudan into provinces was carried out by the Khedive Ismail in 1871. This reform placed at the head of each province a responsible and practically independent official, instead of a mere agent subordinate to a Governor-General at Khartoum, to reach which place from the majority of the seats of local government occupied many days, and sometimes weeks. For administrative purposes the Sudan is divided into fourteen provinces, namely, Dongola, Berber, Khartoum, Kassala, Sennar, Kordofan, the Bahr-el-Gazal, and the Upper Nile in the first class; and Halfa, the Red Sea, the Blue Nile, Mongalla, the White Nile and the Nuba Mountains in the second. Although Darfur is within the AngloEgyptian Sudan, it is governed by its own independent Sultan, who maintains friendly relations with the Government at Khartoum. Not only are the duties of the Governor-General continuous but the responsibilities are enormous, and, at the time when the new Government took over the country, may well have seemed overwhelming. After fifteen years of effort the problems to be solved have become less and less formidable; and, while the burden of responsibility remains heavy, the decentralisation of much of the government formerly conducted in the capital has considerably relieved the situation. Moreover, the Governor-General has for some years past delegated a large portion of the detail work in the earlier stages of consideration to various permanent boards, the members of which advise the chief about all matters coming within the scope of their investigations. These Boards are as follows the Central Economic Board, which has been in existence since 1906, with its President and Secretary, and whose functions are purely consultative; the Civil Service Selection Committee, sitting in Cairo or in London, and consisting of the officials of the Egyptian and Sudan Governments who have in previous years formed part of the Annual Selection Committee in London; the Council of Secretaries, who deal with matters arising under the Pension Ordinance; the Harbours and Lights Board, which is responsible for the management and regulation of the ports named in the Ordinance, and of lighthouses, beacons, buoys, etc., etc.; the Khartoum Town Improvements and Allotments Board, which has the control of building-sites on Government land-and practically all land in Khartoum is Government property -the laying-out of new roads, and all questions affecting town improvements; the Khartoum Museum Board; the Labour Bureau; the Permanent Promotion Board; the River Board; the Central Sanitary Board; the Sleeping Sickness Commission, etc. No additional payment is received by officials for their services on the different Boards, the only extra remuneration allowed being in connexion with the Sleeping Sickness investigations. A decided change has come about in both the character and the scope of the administration of the Sudan within the past few years. Ten years ago the country had barely emerged from a state of barbarism; good government was the primary requisite; the introduction of western ideas of civilisation lay far ahead. Among the first duties of the Government was the abolition of slavery, and to this the closest attention was devoted, without, however, occasioning rebellion or even disorder among a people accustomed from time immemorial to carry on this terrible trade under the open encouragement and assistance of the Egyptian Government. The danger, always imminent, of religious fanaticism breaking out afresh had to be watched with unflagging care; while the extreme physical difficulties of governing a country twice the size of France and Germany combined, and mainly consisting of swamp, desert and primeval forest, hampered all the efforts of the Executive. To-day things are different. Each province is really a small imperium in imperio, ruled by a Governor and his staff of British Inspectors and Egyptian underofficials. The difficulties of distance have been overcome by the establishment of excellent and complete telegraphic and telephonic communications, and the building of fifteen hundred miles of railway. of railway. Public order is secured by efficiently-disposed garrisons composed of reliable native troops. Above all, there has been a feeling of confidence established between the Government and the governed, the moral effect of which upon the well-being of the people is enormous. As was pointed out by an observant writer, when Lord Kitchener's 'Report on the Finances, Administration and Condition of Egypt and the Sudan in 1913' was issued last May, these matter-of-fact documents, taking absolutely for granted all the marvels which British rule has wrought in Egypt and the Sudan, and rising to a note of enthusiasm only when they anticipate further reforms in the near future, might well stand as an epitomecomplete because of its very unconsciousness-of the British genius for ruling subject peoples. This salutary and satisfactory change in the situation has enabled the Government to devote more and more attention to those questions which had temporarily to be laid aside-questions of providing wider education, of improved methods of local native administration, of a more equitable system of taxation, of a closer inspection of sanitary matters, and generally of looking into, and, where found desirable, of improving the native mode of living. In a word, the early physical difficulties having been almost if not entirely overcome, the ground has been prepared for the introduction by the Government of those administrative, judicial and financial measures suitable to the requirements of the primitive peoples whose interests have been committed to their care. From the time when the Sudan Government was first established as a separate and responsible entity, the greatest care has been exercised to keep the personnel of the administration absolutely free from reproach in connexion with official incapacity, favouritism or oppression. Service under the Sudan Government has become so popular, and is regarded with so much favour by the rising generation, that the supply of officials, both military and civil, is always far in advance of the demand. The conditions of service are, however, very strict, and in some cases may even be regarded as severe, especially in regard to Oriental linguistic proficiency. In this particular it is not rare to find candidates, otherwise suitable, failing to satisfy the requirements of the Departments. Candidates are drawn from the highest educational centres of England, Scotland and Ireland, that is to |