102 These expei’iments having proved conclusively that Egyptian cotton of the best quality could be grown commercially in that district, the execution of the Gezira irrigation scheme was sanctioned by Lord Kitchener and approved by Sir William Garstin, Sir Arthur Webb and Mr. McClure, who were appointed to advise on the proposals.

Work was accordingly commenced early in 1914 with funds advanced for the purpose by the National' Debt Commissioners with the sanction of_ the Britisli Treasury. This temporary accommodation of £500,000 was arranged in .order that there might be no delay in proceeding with the work pending the flotation of a Guaranteed Loan.

In 1913 the British Parliament passed “ The Government of the Soudan Loan Act, 1913,” by which the British Treasury guaranteed interest at a rate not exceeding 3-- per cent, on any loan raised by the Government of the Soudan for the purposes set out in the schedule to the Act, not exceeding in the aggregate an amount sufficient to raise £3,000,000.

The schedule to the Act, as subsequently amended in 1914, was as follows :— £ 1. Works for the purpose of irrigating the Gezira Plain 2,000,000 2. Extension of the Soudan Eailway system ... 800,000 3. Other irrigation works and contingencies ... 200,000 Total ... ... ... ... 3,000,000 * The outbi’eak of the war, however, put an end for a time to the prospects of floating a loan and obtaining the further funds necessary for the prosecution of the work, and it was decided to proceed slowly with the excavation of the main canal, the levelling survey, and the erection of the various buildings necessary for the undertaking.

On the representations made by the Soudan Government delegates to London in 1917, further assistance by the National Debt Commissioners was sanctioned, in certain contingencies, to enable the work to be carried on during the war, as the Treasury could not permit the raising of a Soudan Loan until after the cessation of hostilities.

Soon after the armistice was declared, the Soudan Government Commission was appointed and proceeded to London in April 1919 to discuss and settle with His Britannic Majesty’s Treasury the amendment to be made in the provision of the Government of the Soudan Loan Acts, 1913-14, and in the items of the schedule to the latter Act.

In August 1919 the British Parliament passed “ The Government of the Soudan Loan Act, 1919,” by which the British Treasury guaranteed the payment of the interest on a loan not exceeding in the aggregate an amount sufficient to raise £6,000,000 for, or in connection with, the purposes set out in the schedule to this Act whiGi is as follows :— £ 1. Works for the purpose of irrigating the Gezira Plain, including the repayment of any temporary loan raised for those works under the Government of the Soudan Loan Acts, 1913 and 1914 ... ... ... ... 4,900,000 2. Extension of the Soudan Eailway system ... 700,000 3. Tokar irrigation and railway extension ... 400,000 Total 6,000,000 Item 1.—The sum of £600,000, advanced by the National Debt Commissioners and referred to above, had been reduced by £13,000, refunded in January 1919.

In August, 1919, however, a further sum of £250,000 was advanced by the National Debt Commissioners to enable the work to be continued, pending the flotation of a loan.

Further study of the scheme in view of the altered conditions attributable to the war showed that the area to be irrigated had to be increased' to make the scheme a financially safe enterprise for Government, and at the same time not to be too large for the population and resources available. These considerations fixed the area to be irrigated at 300,000 fed dans instead of the 100,000 feddans originally contem-House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.