. 10,001



290 EOTPT AS IT m

spective crafts. This system of esnqfs, which also obtains
in Turkey, is said to have originated dnriag the Baghdad
Caliphate ; but a similar organisation prevailed among
the ancient Egyptians, and it is probable therefore that
these trade corporations of Alexandria and Cairo — to
which and a few other large towns the industrial popula-
tion of the country is chiefly confined — are in the main
native relics of the old time. At any rate, the system
has been in immemorial use, and is probably maintained
for the facilities it affords in the collection of personal
taxes, as well as for the guarantee it is made to offer
for the due execution of works ordered by the Govern-
ment. Each esnaf is presided over by a sheikh, who is
in practice chosen by the higher members of the craft,
but is formally appointed by the Government, to which
he pays a nomination fee of about 201. He is, in fact, the
ruler of the guild, admitting members, fixing the scale of
wages, directing the manner in which contracts shall be
carried out, and selecting the workmen by whom they
shaU be executed. He also collects the taxes payable by
the guild, and is responsible to the Government for all
matters connected with it. The members of the craft
receive on admission certificates stating their proficiency
and the rate of wages it entitles them to demand. They
are, as a rule, restricted to the particular trade of the
guild ; or if, as is rarely the case, allowed to foUow two
crafts, or even separate branches of the same one, they
are charged an increased tax, unless they can arrange
matters privately with the sheikh. They may contract to
do piece-work, but if employed by the day they can only
ask for the wages fixed in their certificate. Besides these
guild regulations, however, there is little or no legislation
specially affecting the industrial classes.
