Page:The European Concert in the Eastern Question.djvu/139

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THE FIRMAN OF 8th JUNE, 1873.
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shall proceed to the nomination of a Regent in the following manner. These different Chiefs of the Administration shall elect the Regent from among themselves; this election will be made either unanimously, or by the vote of the majority. In the case of two persons obtaining an equal number of votes, the one occupying the most important office, beginning with the Department of the Interior, shall be elected Regent, and the other members shall form the Council of Regency. They shall take in hand the administration of affairs, and inform my Sublime Porte, who will confirm them in their office. Whether the Regent and the Council of Regency have been instituted by the Khedive during his lifetime, or whether the Regency shall have been constituted by election, in neither case can any of the members be changed. If one of the members should happen to die, the surviving members shall choose and name another Egyptian functionary to replace him. If it is the Regent who happens to die, the Members of the Council shall choose his successor from among themselves, and shall appoint another Egyptian functionary to the place which the new Regent occupied in the Council. When the Khedive who is a minor has attained the age of 18, he shall be considered of age, and shall administer the affairs of the Government.

I attach the greatest importance to the prosperity of Egypt, to the well-being, tranquillity, and security of its population, and since these are matters which depend on the civil and financial administration of the country, as well as upon the development of the material and other interests of the country, which are under the control of the Egyptian Government, we mention as follows, with modifications and explanations, all the privileges which my Imperial Firman has accorded, whether formerly or for the first time, to the Egyptian Government, in order that they may be for ever possessed by succeeding Khedives:—

Administration and internal legislation committed to Khedive. The civil and financial administration of the country, and all interests, material or otherwise, are in every respect under the control of the Egyptian Government, and are confided to it, and as the administration, the maintenance of order in any country, and the development of the riches and prosperity of the population spring from the harmony to be established between