§ MR. WOODALL (Hanley)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government has received any information from Her Majesty's Agent and Consul General at Cairo in regard to the actual state of the agricultural prospects in Egypt, and the estimated extent of the loss which will be sustained 118 by the cultivation through the failure of the Nile to furnish a supply of water sufficient to irrigate the area of cotton and rice which had been planted; whether the loss sustained since May 1888 would probably exceed £1,000,000, and whether the mortality in Cairo had risen at any time during the same period above 70 per 1,000; whether, in view of the exceptional delay in the rise of the Nile, any apprehensions are entertained by the English officers employed in the Department of Public Works in Egypt that the rise of the Nile in October may be excessive and cause disasters similar to those of 1878 and 1887; whether apart from the remedial measures proposed by Colonel Ross, C.M.G., R.E., Inspector General of Irrigation, for the better utilization in Upper Egypt of the water of the Nile during August and September, any remedy had been proposed, and recommended to the attention of Her Majesty's Government, which had been approved by Colonel Western, C.M.G., R.E., Director General of Works, to provide against an excessive flood and an insufficient supply during low-Nile; and, whether any instructions had been given to Her Majesty's Agent and Consul General at Cairo, or information furnished him, which could be laid on the Table of the House, in reference to this matter?
§ * SIR J. FERGUSSONI beg to refer the hon. Member to the Parliamentary Papers—Egypt, Nos. 3 and 4 (1889), where he will find the information which he desires. The loss to the Revenue is estimated at about £300,000. No Reports of exceptional mortality have been received from Cairo. Her Majesty's Government are not aware that any such apprehensions are entertained. I presume the hon. Member refers to Mr. Cope Whitehouse's scheme for creating a large reservoir in the Wady Raian Basin for the storage of Nile water for irrigation purposes. This scheme has been carefully examined by the Egyptian Government, but after full consideration they have come to the conclusion that they cannot adopt Mr. Cope Whitehouse's proposals. No special instructions have been given to Her Majesty's Agent and Consul General in Cairo, for, as I informed the hon. Member in August of last year, Her Majesty Government do not feel 119 justified in interfering with the discretion of the Egyptian Government in this matter. If the hon. Member wishes it, the Papers can be collected and shown to him.
§ In reply to Mr. CHILDERS (Edinburgh),
§ * SIR J. FERGUSSONsaid: It is impossible to estimate the loss to individuals, but the direct loss to revenue can be approximately estimated. The average annual loss on account of defective irrigation has been £37,000. The only bad year for a long time was in 1877, when there was £1,100,000 deficiency, and in 1888 it is estimated at £300,000. The year 1887 was without precedent for 150 years; and for a century past there had been only four years in which the Nile had attained a lower level than last year.