- 83 -Wealth and money, and the Egyptians enrich their money by buying land in general. Both of these matters lead to a decrease in the number of owners from these middle classes to the category of those who own more than . feddans. And it is likely that the recent sale of agricultural land has also increased the number of large landowners because most of those who bought it were Egyptians.

Then, if we look at the total area of land owned by Europeans and Egyptians, we find that the land owned by Europeans has increased by about 10 percent since 1896, but the number of European owners has decreased slightly. I think the reason for this is the formation of European land companies. If that is the case, then it is hoped that a large portion of the land currently owned by Europeans will pass into Egyptian hands when it is reclaimed and offered for sale.

And I say, in all fairness, that the total area of land has increased from 100,000 feddans to 297,587 feddans in the last ten years. Of this increase of 77,271, 58,703 are for Europeans and 239,068 for Egyptians.

(15) Sale of State Lands The requests received by the Egyptian government for purchasing state lands or obtaining concessions for them have increased. It is good that I explicitly state the policy that the government intends to follow in this important matter.

There is no doubt that the government is determined to sell large areas of its fallow lands in the future, but the time for that is still far off. If the irrigation water in Egypt does not increase significantly, these lands, most of which are located in Lower Egypt, will have no value. The method by which the government will increase the water has not yet been determined (January 11). But once the decision is made, the necessary work to achieve that increase will take several years. Since the reclamation of most of these lands requires extensive work, it is likely that they will be sold to land companies or to individuals capable of undertaking the necessary expenses for their reclamation. As for the conditions under which the sale will take place, they have not yet been determined, and as long as they are not determined, the government will not sell any of these lands.

This statement also applies to fallow lands irrigated by floodwater, spring water, or by canals. And I cannot say when a final decision will be made on these conditions.