No. 653.
Mr. Beardsley to Mr. Fish.
Cairo, May 5,1875. (Received May 27.)
Sir: The Italian Parliament has at last taken final action in regard to the project of judicial reform in Egypt. On the 30th ultimo a vote was reached, and the project approved by the great majority of 217 to 13.
No reasonable doubt has existed as to the final and favorable action of the Italian Parliament.’ But little opposition to the project has been manifested in that body, and the government has long been pledged to it. It is, nevertheless, very gratifying to the Egyptian government to have the project so emphatically indorsed by Italy at this moment, when France still hesitates to sanction it by a favorable vote in her Assembly.
The French government has been pledged to the reform in principle since 1867, when the Khedive first proposed to the foreign powers a new judicial system for foreigners in Egypt. Since 1870 it has taken an active part in all the deliberations and discussions on the subject, and its representative was one of the principal parties to the réglement adopted by the mixed commission which met at Constantinople in 1872–’73. That commission terminated its labors on the 23d of February, 1873, and on the 2d of March the réglement was communicated to the foreign powers. The French government objected to certain features of the réglement, and fresh negotiations were commenced between the French and Egyptian governments. These negotiations continued during the years 1873 and 1874. Finally, in the month of September of the latter year, a convention was signed between the [Page 1342] representatives of France and Egypt, in which Egypt yielded to all the demands of France. A copy of the convention with a correspondence on the subject was transmitted to the Department with my dispatch No. 248, of December 15, 1874. It would seem that nothing more could be asked for or expected by France, and that she ought now to be amply satisfied. All her demands have been granted, and the new convention has been signed and approved by the cabinet at Versailles. The Assembly, nevertheless, hesitates, discusses, suggests, and fails to take final action, regardless of the fact that the project has been accepted by all the other powers, and that vast interests are being prejudiced, and a great reform withheld from a friendly people, through its delay and indifference.
It is hoped that the emphatic vote of the Italian Parliament may hasten the action of the French Assembly when it again meets.
I inclose herewith a list of the foreign judges and substitutes who have arrived in Egypt and are ready for duty.
It is believed that the new courts will be finally organized next month.
I am, &c.,