Chapter Five Ministry of the Interior (??) The Governor-General Lord Cromer repeatedly pointed out that there were aspects of government work that were difficult to reform, such as the department responsible for administering the internal affairs of the country and maintaining public order. Whatever was said about the methods used in the old government to prevent crime, they were effective. If an incident occurred in the provinces or a terrible crime was committed, severe punishment would be meted out to one of the officials.

This was due to the fact that the punishment was imposed by the ruler and was more severe than his own punishment. This resulted in the people's reluctance to commit crimes and disturb the peace. However, establishing a judicial system like that of ancient countries was not based on this effective method. Now, criminals are dealt with only through the law, and no criminal is punished unless sufficient evidence is found against him. This is a very weak matter in the East, where witnesses are reluctant to testify and do not adhere to the truth. Therefore, the punishment of criminals has become uncertain, whereas it was once certain and swift according to the old method. The acquittal of the accused has increased, and some have begun to take revenge on those who testified against them, which has further increased the general tendency to avoid giving testimony.

The work of the Ministry of the Interior involves constant contact with the general population of the country, and therefore it is advisable for it to serve the national interests as much as possible. The role of the European is limited to general supervision of the organization of affairs, the centers of authority, and understanding what is happening in the provinces. Achieving this latter goal requires a sufficient number of European inspectors. However, if this system is not implemented with wisdom and foresight, it will lead to great harm. The Egyptian official tends to rely on the European inspector and loses his sense of initiative and authority. Therefore, the number of inspectors should be small, and their selection should be done with the utmost care. They should be knowledgeable about the country's language and people, and capable of understanding all that is happening without interfering with the functioning of local administration.

There is another difficulty, which is that the prevention of crime is divided between two separate departments, the police and the prosecution. Each operates according to its own system. The police are an authority that has no single reference point, but rather are under the supervision of the directors. The prosecution is a department with no single director.