16 39‘3 per cent. Cigarette.s show a total export of 457,200 kilog., equal to that of tlie Ereceding year, in spite of a continuous falling off in the quantity sent to Germany.

>uring the year the export duty levied in Turkey on tobacco sent to Egypt was reduced from 3 to Turkish piastres. At the beginning of the present year a very serious fire took place, at the Alexandria Custom House, destroying the’ south'win oF the tobacco stores and causing much loss to a large number of merchants', principally cigarette manufacturers, who stock the higher qualities of tobacco. The quantity destroyed was about 56,000 bales, valued at £E. 300,000.

The new commercial convention with Italy was -ratified in February 1909. A’ commercial treaty with Rusa was concluded during the year, and -negotiations for an arrangement with Denmark are now proceeding. When these are completed; Egypt will have obtained the complete liberty of action in commercial affairs which was granted by the firman of 1873, but which could not come into practical operation till' all the pre-existing treaties with Turkey had lapsed.

I append to this report (Annex I, p. 51) a note by Mr. Clive, the Commercial Secretary tg the Agency, dealing in detail with the trade between Great Britain and Egypt. - .

10. Post Office.

The number of offices open on the 31st December was 1,485, an increase of 28 over the previous year.

The receipts from this service amount to £E. 313,000, showing an increase of £E. 16,000 over 1908 ; while the expenditure has dropped from £E. 266,000 to £E. 263,000, a decrease of £E. 3,000. The net surplus for 1909 is therefore £E. 50,000 as conipared with £E. 30,000 m 1908 and £E. 62,000 in 1907.

The total number of articles dealt with in 1909 was 72,310,000 as compared with 69,530,000 in 1908, being an increase of 4 per cent, over 1908 and 10 per cent, over 1907.

It may be of interest to note that a sudden drop of some E. 3,500 in the stamp receipts of the Alexandi’ia office, which occurred during the months of February and September, was accounted for by the fact that the usual consignment of lottery advertisements sent by an Austrian firm to England via Egypt had been discontinued. ‘ This consignment had been sent annually since the introduction of penny postage between England and Egypt and had incidentally provoked a certain amount of unfavourable comment in the British press.

The amount of money forwarded through the Post Office was £E. 20,863,000 as compared with £E. 22,449,000 in 1908. Inland money orders increased in number, but decreased in value by approximately £E. 163,000, thus giving more work and less profit. Specie packets, which are principally used for the payment of workmen and purchases of produce, diminished in number by 3,076 and in value by £E. 1,196,000. On the other hand, the number of British postal orders sent from Egypt increased in 1909 even more rapidly than during 1908, and 58,000, of a total value of £E. 35,000, were despatched as against 47,000, with a value of £E. 29,000, in 1908.

The increasing number of articles entering the country from abroad is sho\vn by the figures of the parcels service, 955,000 parcels being dealt with, as compared with 870.000 in 1908. The cash-on-delivery service, established in 1908 with Great Britain increases slowly but steadily, as may be seen from a comparison of the figures from the 1st June to the 31st December in the two years :— 1908. 1909.

Number of pArcels .. .. .. .. .. 1,71G ?,773 Value .. .. .. .. .. .. XE. 2,276 XE. 4,355 Seven new offices of the Savings Bank were opened in 1909. The number of depositors rose from 87,000 to 93,000. Of these, 70,000 were Egyptians and 23.000 Europeans, including 3,139 British subjects as against 2,874 last year. The Bank is still too much used for current accounts and but rarely as a real savings bank, and the fellah shows little inclination to deposit his savings with the Post Office.

11. Railways and Telegraphs.

The estimates for railway expenditure in 1910 show a decrease of £E. 44,000 as compared with the corresponding figure for 1909, in spite of the fact that there has House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.