CONGO FREE STATE.

THE Congo Free State was constituted and defined by the General Act of the International Congo Conference, signed at Berlin February 26, 1885, by which it was declared neutral and free to the trade of all nations, in conjunction with the rest of the basin of the River Congo. The Powers reserve to themselves, until the end of a period of twenty years, the right of deciding if freedom of entry shall be maintained or not. The navigation of the Congo is placed under the care of an International Commission representing all the Powers signing the Act. By vote of the Belgian legislature, April 28 and 30, the Congo Free State was placed under the sovereignty of King Leopold II., individually, the Belgian government and Belgium as a State having no power or responsibility in relation to the Congo State.

Governor-General.-M. Ledeganck.

The Central Government at Brussels consists of the King of the Belgians, and three heads of departments, Foreign Affairs and Justice, Finance, and the Interior.

The precise boundaries of the Free State were defined by Convention between the International Association of the Congo and Germany, November 8, 1884; Great Britain, December 16, 1884; the Netherlands, December 27, 1884; France, February 5, 1885, and Portugal, February 14, 1885. The State includes a small section on the north bank of the river from its mouth to Manyanga; French territory intervening between this last station and the mouth of the Likona, whence the State extends northwards to 4° N. lat., eastwards to 30° E. long., southwards to Lake Bangweolo (12° S.), westwards to 24° E., northwards to 6° S., then westwards to the S. bank at Nokki. By Mr. H. M. Stanley the area of the Free State is estimated at 1,056,200 square miles, with a population of 27,000,000.

The Congo is navigable for 450 miles from its mouth, to Vivi. Above this, for over 200 miles, are numerous rapids, which render the river unnavigable as far as Stanley Pool (Leopoldville). Above this there are about 1,000 miles of navigable water, as far as Stanley Falls, while several of the great tributaries are navigable over a considerable extent of their course. In 1888 a survey, with a view to the construction of a railway 250 miles long, was completed between Vivi and Leopoldville at an average distance of 30 miles S. of the river.

The budget of expenditure of the Free State is estimated at 70,0007.; the revenue is derived from a subsidy granted by the King of the Belgians.

The principal articles for export are stated to be palm-oil, rubber, ivory, orchilla weed, gum copal, ground nuts, cam-wood. The chief imports are textiles, guns, powder, spirits, tobacco. According to official reports the exportation and importation (including all that passes through the State) is valued at about 15 million francs. In 1887 the total general exports were valued at 7,667,970 francs. The chief articles exported in 1887 were: coffee, 1,809,678 francs ; ivory, 1,841,120 francs; nuts, 972,280 francs; palm-oil, 801,393 francs; rubber, 1,748,187 francs; copal, 163,542 francs; wax, 125,490 francs.

In 1887 480 vessels entered the ports of the State.

Under the governor are a large number of white subordinates, chiefs of provinces which extend as far as Bangala, and other officials. There are eleven administrative divisions or provincesBanana, Boma, Matadi, the Falls, Stanley Pool, Kassai, Equator, Ubanji, Stanley Falls, Aruwimi and Wellé, and Lualaba. The following are the principal stations occupied :-Banana, Boma, Matadi, Lukunga, Leopoldville, Equator, Bangala, Stanley Falls, and Luluabourg.

There is an armed force of 3,000 native Africans.

Books of Reference concerning the Congo State.

1. OFFICIAL.

Convention between Her Majesty and the King of the Belgians in the name of the International Association of the Congo. London, 1885.

Correspondence with Her Majesty's Ambassador at Berlin respecting West African Conference. London, 1885.

Protocols and General Act of the West African Conference. London, 1885.

2. UNOFFICIAL.

Bentley (Rev. W. H.), Life on the Congo. London, 1887.
Coquilhat (C.), Sur le Haut-Congo. Paris, 1888.
Le Mouvement Géographique. Brussels, 1888.
Pechuel-Loesche (Dr.), Kongoland. Jena, 1887.

Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 1885-87.

Report on the Congo Country, by Mr. W. P. Tisdel, in Reports of Consuls of the United States.' Nos. 54 and 55. Washington, 1885.

Stanley (H. M.), The Congo and the Founding of its Free State. 2 vols. London, 1885.

Stanley (H. M.). Through the Dark Continent. 2 vols. London, 1878. Thys (Capt.), Au Congo et au Kassai. Brussels, 1888.

Wauters (A. J.), Le Congo. Brussels, 1885.

Wissmann (H.), Im innern Afrikas. Berlin, 1888.

EGYPT.

(KEMI.-MISR.)

Reigning Khedive.

Mohamed Tewfik, born Nov. 19, 1852; the son of Ismail I.; succeeded to the throne, on the abdication of his father, June 26, 1879. Married, Jan. 18, 1873, to Princess Emineh, daughter of El Hamy Pasha. Offspring of the union are two sons, Abbas, born July 14, 1874, and Mehemet Ali, born in 1876, and two daughters, KhadigehHanem, born in 1879, and Naemet-Hanem, born in 1881.

The present sovereign of Egypt is the sixth ruler of the dynasty of Mehemet Ali, appointed Governor of Egypt in 1806, who made himself, in 1811, absolute master of the country by force of arms. The position of his father and predecessor, Ismail I.-forced to abdicate, under pressure of the British and French Governments, in 1879-was recognised by the Imperial Hatti-Sheriff of February 13, 1841, issued under the guarantee of the five great European Powers, which established the hereditary succession to the throne of Egypt, under the same rules and regulations as those to the throne of Turkey. The title given to Mehemet Ali and his immediate successors was the Turkish one of ' Vali,' or Viceroy; but this was changed by an Imperial firman of May 21, 1866, into the Persian-Arabic of Khidêwi-Misr,' or King of Egypt, or, as more commonly called, Khedive. By the same firman of May 21, 1866, obtained on the condition of the sovereign of Egypt raising his annual tribute to the Sultan's civil list from 376,000l. to 720,000l., the succession to the throne of Egypt was made direct, from father to son, instead of descending, after the Turkish law, to the eldest heir. By a firman issued June 8, 1873, the Sultan granted to Ismail I. the hitherto withheld rights of concluding commercial treaties with foreign Powers, and of maintaining armies. The predecessors of the present ruler of Egypt were—

The present Khedive of Egypt has an annual allowance of 100,000l.; his father of 40,000l., with 175,000l. more for other indirect members of the family.

Constitution, Government, and Army.

The administration of Egypt is now (January 1889) carried on by native Ministers, subject to the ruling of the Khedive. From 1879 to 1883 two Controllers-General, appointed by France and England, had considerable powers in the direction of the affairs of the country (Khedivial Decree, November 10, 1879). In the summer of 1882, in consequence of a military rebellion, England intervened, subdued the rising, and restored the authority of the Khedive. In this intervention England was not joined by France, and as a result, on January 18, 1883, the Khedive signed a Decree abolishing the joint control of England and France. In the place of the Control the Khedive, on the recommendation of England, appointed a single European financial adviser, with a consultative voice in the Council of Ministers, and with no power to interfere in matters of internal administration.

The Egyptian Ministry is at present composed of six members, among whom the departmental work is distributed as follows:-1, President Interior and Finance; 2, Justice; 3, War and Marine; 4, Public Works; 5, Instruction; 6, Foreign Affairs.

On May 1, 1883, an Organic Law was promulgated by the Khedive creating a number of representative institutions, based on universal suffrage, with a view of carrying on the government of the country in a more constitutional manner. These institutions included Provincial Boards, a Legislative Council, and a General Assembly.

The Legislative Council is a consultative body in matters of legislation, to which all general laws are submitted for examination; but the Government is not obliged to act on its advice.

The functions of the two other institutions are also of a limited character; but no new direct personal or land tax can be imposed without the consent of the General Assembly, which has to be summoned every two years.

Egypt Proper is administratively divided into 5 governorships of principal towns, and 14 mudiriehs, or provinces.

There are also the governorships of the Red Sea littoral with Suakin, of Kosseir in the Red Sea, and El Areesh in Asia Minor.

The governors and moudirs possess very extensive powers. The mudiriehs are divided into kisms, governed by mamours.

Subsequent to 1882 a body of gendarmerie was formed for the provinces, and a corps of police for the towns of Alexandria and Cairo. On January 1, 1884, a new organisation of police came into force, placing both them and the gaols-hitherto in the hands of the moudirs-under the control of two Directors-General attached to the Ministry of the Interior. Also at the end of February 1884 new criminal codes came into operation, taking away all magisterial power from the hands of the moudirs, and placing it in the hands of delegates appointed by a Procureur-Général, working under the Minister of Justice. Within the last four years a series of reforms has been inaugurated under English supervision, and they have resulted in the abolition of the courbash, the establishment of new Native tribunals, the reform of the prison system, the partial abolition of the corvée (forced labour), the reform of the currency, and an improvement in the administration of the Finances and of the Public Works. Litigation between natives and foreigners is conducted before mixed tribunals, established under the auspices of the European Powers, and possessing very extensive jurisdiction. On January 19, 1884, the Khedive issued a decree prolonging the powers of these mixed courts for a period of five years. The total strength of the police and the gendarmerie is about 7,000 (January 1889).

On September 19, 1882, the whole of the Egyptian army was disbanded by Khedivial decree. In December of the same year the organisation of a new army was entrusted to Major-General Sir Evelyn Wood, who was given the title of Sirdar. There are about 60 English officers serving at present in the Egyptian army. The army has a total strength of 9,400.

Since the rebellion in 1882 an English army of occupation has remained in Egypt. Its strength at the end of 1888 was 3,490.

Revenue and Expenditure.

On the 5th of April 1880 the Khedive issued a decree appointing an International Commission of liquidation to examine the financial situation of Egypt, and to draft a law regulating the relations between Egypt and her creditors, and also between the Daira Sanieh and the Daira Khassa and their creditors. That Commission, in concert with the Egyptian Government, estimated the annual income of the country as follows: