international complications.

Fortunately for Egypt, the British government contrived to solve the
international difficulty by timely concessions to the powers, and
succeeded in negotiating the London Convention of March 1885, by which
the Egyptian government was relieved from some of the most onerous
stipulations of the law of liquidation, and was enabled to raise a loan
of L9,000,000 for an annual payment of L135,000. After paying out of the
capital the sums required for the indemnities due for the burning of
Alexandria and the deficits of the years 1882 and 1883, it still had a
million sterling, and boldly invested it in the improvement of
irrigation. The investment proved most remunerative, and helped very
materially to save the country from bankruptcy and internationalism. The
danger of being again subjected to the evils of an international
administration was very great, for the London Convention contained a
stipulation to the effect that if Egypt could not pay her way at the end
of two years, another international commission would be appointed.

To obviate this catastrophe the British reformers set to work most
energetically. Already something in the way of retrenchment and reform
had been accomplished. The public accounts had been put in order, and
the abuses in the collection of the land tax removed. The constant drain
of money and men for the Sudan had been stopped. A beginning had been
made for creating a new army to replace the one that had been disbanded
and to allow of a portion of the British garrison being withdrawn. In
this work Sir Evelyn Wood had shown much sound judgment as well as great
capacity for military organization, and had formed an efficient force
out of very unpromising material (see the section above on the _Egyptian
Army_). His colleague in the department of public works, Sir Colin
Scott-Moncrieff, had been not less active. By mitigating the hardships
of the _corvee_, and improving the irrigation system, on which the
prosperity of the country mainly depends, he had conferred enormous
benefits on the fellahin, and had laid the foundation of permanent
budgetary equilibrium for the future. Not less active was Sir Edgar
Vincent, the financial adviser, who kept a firm hold on the
purse-strings and ruthlessly cut down expenditure in all departments
except that of irrigation (see S Finance).

The activity of the British officials naturally produced a certain
amount of discontent and resistanc