51 403 in this task must possess their souls in jjatience, in the liope that time will clear aWa} misunderstandings, and that., in the end, all classes of the commiinit}% European and Egyptian, will recognize that British policy in Egypt in no way differs from that followed by Great Britain all over the world towards countries under her influence, namely, to place before all else the welfare of their populations.

I have, &c.

ELDON GORST ANNEX I.

British Trade tcilh Bgypt in 1909.

THE import trade during 1909 has been bad, and the value of imports into Egypt from all sources has decreased by no less thorn £E. 2,869,500, or 11'4 per cent. The figures for the last two years are :— £E. 1908 .. 1909 .. 25.100.000 22.230.000 and the share of the principal countries is shown in the following table :— 1909. , j I Proportion (f Total Imports.

i ‘ 1908.

( Proportion of Total Imports.

{United Kingdom ..

British possessions in the Mediterranean British possessions in the Far East .. 2. France .. 3. Turkey .. 4. Austria-Hungary .. 5. Germany 6. Italy 7. Belgium..

£E. 6.744.000 174.000 975.000 2.899.000 2.642.000 1.433.000 1.129.000 997.000 678.000 Per cent.

30*3 0-8 4*4 13-0 11-8 6-4 5-7 4*4 3-0 £E. 8.265.000 279.000 993.000 2.980.000 3.193.000 1.632.000 1.119.000 1.188.000 726.000 Per cent, 32-9 1-1 4-0 11*6 12-7 6‘5 4*4 4-7 2-8 It will be seen from the above table that imports from Great Oritain have decreased by no less than £E. 1,521,000, although her proportion of the total has only fallen from 32‘9 per cent, to 30’3 per cent. British possessions, while showing a decrease in value, maintain their place with 5*2 per cent, of the total.

The period of depression in the import trade has not yet disappeared, and it would be as well not to count upon any great improvement in the present year. The heaviest fall in 1909 was in metals, where the large decrease of .£E. 993,000 was largely at the expense of Great Britain. Coal decreased by £E. 669,000, while te-xtiles were £E. 590,000 less than in 1908. In both these categories Great Britain was again the chief sufferer. The following observation in the section of Sir Eldon Gorst’s report dealing with the general trade of Egypt should, however, not be overlooked:— “This large decrease in the value of imports is, however, to a considerable extent only apparent. Owing to a fall in price during 1908 subsequent to the formation of several of the yearly tariffs, the figures for that year bear an inflated value estimated at about £E. 1,000,000. During 1909 the exact reverse has happened, and a rise in price after the tariff had been drawn up caused the real value of the imports to be about £E. 1,000,000 more than the amount shown in the annual returns, which is that on which duty has been paid. The difference in the real value of the i)uports for the twm years should thus be reduced by about £E. 2,000,000.”

The figures for the fourteen categories into which goods are divided by the Customs are as follows :— House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.