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(0) Foreign Privileges

(1) Introduction

In my report for 1904, I pointed out the necessity of changing the system known as foreign privileges. In my report for 1905, I outlined the changes that were generally necessary and asked the public to research and discuss them.

The local newspapers discussed them with increased diligence, as I had anticipated, and I received letters from three important public bodies.

The first letter was from the General Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria, which agreed to change the current privileges system, with some modifications under conditions that I will refer to in detail later. The second letter was from the legal profession in Alexandria and Cairo. This is a strong argument on this subject, as lawyers are more aware than other segments of the population of the hardship and cost resulting from the current legislative system. Their opinion is also for change, but on the condition that the institutions of foreigners in Egypt are preserved from the arbitrary government.

The third letter was from the Mixed Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, Cairo. This body rejects the reform that I proposed, but it acknowledges the hardship and cost resulting from the delay necessary to continue with the current system and hopes that the concerned countries will devise a means to prevent this delay.

Therefore, I am not generally justified in being displeased with the results that researchers and discussants have reached in their past research and discussions, as I did not anticipate unanimous agreement and the absence of any disagreement on an issue like the one we are dealing with. However, it appears that the opinion of many respected elders in Egyptian affairs is that the country has moved beyond the time when foreign privileges can be used as they are currently used, and that change is indispensable. The critics, who based their arguments on a thorough knowledge of the facts, did not defend the current system in their statements; rather, they pointed out the intellectual difficulties that one encounters in its application, and listed the flaws of that system. I do not disagree with them on this, nor do I criticize them. However, I found that much of what was said about the delay was based either on a lack of knowledge of the actual system