Last autumn, a committee was appointed to consider whether the state of mining in Egypt necessitated the continuation of a special department for the supervision and oversight of mines. Its decision was unanimous to maintain that department. It was indicated that the supervision of mines would be entrusted to some officials in the Survey Department, as it had a branch in geology. The committee, in its report, praised the services of the Director-General of Mines and Inspector. Based on its decision, the government dispensed with his services.

The special appropriations for extraordinary expenses in the year 1904 were estimated at £508, which was carried over to the year 1905. The appropriations granted for building construction in 1904 were considered to be more than could be accomplished in one year. Therefore, the allocated amount was reduced in the budget for 1905. In general, the funds allocated in the budget for 1904 were for continuing what had been started or for undertaking new projects.

Regarding the adjustment of employee grades and the pension law: An amount of £1504 was allocated in the budget for 1904 for adjusting employee grades. In the budget for 1905, an agreement was reached after a long discussion on how to use this amount. The grades were rearranged for all employees, which led to an improvement in their conditions. The funds remaining after adjusting employee salaries according to their new grades were allocated for the promotion of employees who deserved it.

Considering the general improvement in salary grades, it was decided to increase working hours, especially in departments that were not working the full number of hours.

Regarding the salaries of junior employees, it is said that their wages do not deserve more than what they are currently receiving in many cases. This is a situation that must be avoided, as salaries should not be increased unless the workload increases and the number of employees decreases proportionally. The Ministry intends to place at the disposal of department heads all savings that can be achieved in this way over the next three years to improve their conditions.

The proposals concerning the amendment of pension regulations, which were referred to in last year's report, have been prepared by the Ministry of Finance as a draft law and will be presented to the government soon.