§ Mr. SWIFT MacNEILLasked what is the proportion of State expenditure in Egypt to the total expenditure; and whether, in view of the statement of the late Sir Eldon Gorst in his last Report that there are only 600,000 persons able to read and write in Egypt, out of a total population of over 11,000,000, and that the smallness of the number of literates is a bar to self-government for the Egyptian people, he will instruct Lord Kitchener to provide for a large increase in the educational provision made in the next and following Budgets?
§ Sir E. GREYI presume that the hon. and learned Member means the proportion of State expenditure on education in Egypt to the total expenditure. I am not in possession of the exact figures, but the amount assigned to the Ministry of Education in the Budget for 1910 was £E504,942, with a further sum of £E27,490 for "special expenditure"; and the total estimated expenditure for that year was £E15,150,000. The Estimates for the year 1911 show a total increase of £E19,287 in the Budget of the Ministry of Education. As regards the second part of the question I cannot add to what I said in Debate on 27th July last.
§ Mr. MacNEILLasked how many children under and over the age of twelve years are employed in cotton factories in Egypt; what are their hours of work and what are the breaks in the working day; how many months they work in the year, in summer and winter; how many cotton factories there are in Egypt; how many operatives; how many inspectors; how often each factory is inspected, and what time is given to each inspection; whether there are any reports of contraventions of rules; whether there have been any and, if so, what punishments for such contra- 1327 ventions; whether there were any cases of repeated contravention; and, if so, what was the punishment for the second or further offences?
§ Sir E. GREYI cannot promise to get these details; but a new law regulating child labour was brought into operation less than two years ago, and I will ask for a general report upon the working of it.
§ Mr. MacNEILLasked whether in Egypt any one upon giving notice is free to establish a distillery unless the authorities expressly forbid it on sanitary grounds; what number of distilleries have been established in the principal towns of Egypt in each of the last five years; whether distilleries or drink shops fraudulently sell spirituous liquors of the worst quality at low prices in bottles bearing the names of well-known British, Irish, and other brands, and that only by civil action can foreign producers thus wronged have any remedy; whether cafes in which spirituous liquors are sold have greatly multiplied in recent years; and what are the figures of the convictions and re-convictions of keepers of bars and cafés in recent years, the punishments inflicted, and the number of convictions of individuals for being drunk and disorderly?
§ Sir E. GREYI cannot promise to give all the figures asked for unless they are already available in Government statistics; but I will inquire whether there is foundation for the statement that abuses such as those indicated in the question exist.
§ Mr. MacNEILLasked whether, in view of the infantile and other mortality in Egypt, he will give instructions to the British Consul-General there to introduce a measure of systematic reform in regard to the adulteration of food and drugs?
§ Sir E. GREYI cannot give instructions without knowledge on the point referred to in the end of the question. If it is the case that reform is both needed and practicable, it will receive the attention of the Egyptian Government.