29 3B1 Councils call establish or take over schools aud can elicoUraoe by grauts-in-ald existing schools wl)ich submit to their regulations. Power is given to appoint managing committees for schools or groups of schools; and not more than four persons can be coc»pted as additional members of the Council for educational purposes. A. strong desire was expressed by the Legislative Council that some poivers should be given to the Councils in respect of moie advanced education : upon the recommendation of that body it was provided that of all sums raised for educational purposes, 70 per cent, shall be devoted to education of the type above described and 30 per cent, to more advanced education.

The financial powers of tlie Councils are of a somewhat tentative character—as was almost necessarily the case in a country where any general scheme of local taxation would be hampered by tlie Capitulations. The provisions of the law of 1883, that the Councils may vote contributions for purposes of public utility within the Moudirieh, subject to the approval of the Government, is reproduced; and it is further provided that, up to an amount equal to 5 per cent, of the local assessment of the province to land-tax, that approval shall not be withheld.

In addition to the specific powers above detailed, the Councils are given a general power to make representations as to the needs of the province—agriculture, irrigation, means of communication, public security, public health, and education being specifically mentioned.

Finally, they may be consulted generally by Ministers oi- by the Moudir, and must bo consulted as to a large number of specific matters, some of the more important of which are, changes of administrative or judicial districts, the modification of village boundaries, the creation of local commissions for towns within the province, the local application of laws to towns and villages, the creation of light railways, and the annual irrigation programmes of new works, clearances, aud rotations.

Due savings are inserted in respect of all matters finally dealt v/ith by local commissions within the province.

It may be stated that the Legislative Council was desirous that considerably greater power should bo conferred upon the Councils. In several important respects concessions were made to the wishes of that body which are recognized to be of a somewhat experimental nature, and it will be fortunate if none of these give rise to difiiculty in practical \vorking. The lack of administrative experience of the classes from which the members will be drawn and the fact that the expense of most of the matters to be dealt with by the Councils will continue to be borne by the central Government would have rendered it unwise to go mucli further. On the whole, it may fairly be said that the Councils will have sufficient definite powers, both financial and otherwise, to enable them to learn from their own mistakes—which is the most certain way of teaching representative bodies; while their general consultative powers will enable them, if they are so minded, to get into the closest touch with administration in all its aspects. The only limit which can be placed to their power of influencing local administration is that which will result from their own capacity or incapacity to render useful service.

In order to give time for making the arrangements necessary for putting the scheme into execution throughout the country, the new law did not come into operation until the 1st January last, the elections being held in the preceding month. The number of members to be elected was 83, and 247 candidates presented themselves. It is satisfactory to note that, out of a total of 2,480 electors, 2,194 recorded their votes, and in many instances the competition was very keen. The eligibility of 42 out of the 83 successful candidates was contested and referred to the law courts for decision. The principal ground for these objections was the alleged non-fulfilment of the provision requiring that a member of the new Councils should have been inscribed on the electoral list for five years. A similar condition existed in the Organic Law, but, owing to the insignificance of the functions of the old Provincial Councils, many did not think it worth while to have their names inscribed on the electoral list. It has been observed that since 1908, when it became known that the Government proposed to extend the powers of the Councils, the number of names added has been very large. The interest taken in the elections was quite exceptional for an oriental country, and justifies the hope that the large land-owners and notables in the provinces will help in making these bodies a useful and successful part of the machinery of government. If that should turn out to be the case, I venture to reiterate my opinion that this measure will, in the long run, prove a not unimportant step in the direction of preparing the Egyptians to govern themselves.

[884] t) 2 House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.