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4	The State Railways

When Simaika graduated in 1882, Egypt was under British occupation. Gross financial mismanagement, first by the viceroy Said Pasha, and to a far greater extent by his nephew and successor, Isma‘il Pasha, had put Egypt well on its way to bankruptcy. Isma‘il’s extravagance and irresponsible spending in his quest for Egypt’s rapid modernization left the country deeply in debt to European bondholders. By 1876, 70 percent of the entire Egyptian state budget went to service the interest due on these loans, in effect handing over control of the Egyptian economy to the creditors. The British government sent a member of parliament to investigate these financial difficulties. Sir Steven Cave judged Egypt to be solvent on the basis of its resources, and stated that all the country needed to get on its feet was time and proper payment of the debts. However, European creditors would not accept this, in spite of Egypt paying the debt faithfully. The French were particularly insistent on foreign supervision, and the Caisse de la dette publique¹⁴ was established in 1876 to supervise loan repayment. After both external and internal pressure, Isma‘il was deposed as khedive in 1879, to be succeeded by his son Tewfik Pasha (1879–92).

All these measures led to widespread nationalistic resentment in the country, particularly within the army. In July 1882, Colonel Ahmad Pasha Urabi (1841–1911), one of the few high-ranking Egyptian officers at a time when Turco-Circassians still dominated the upper ranks of the army, took over the government after confronting Khedive Tewfik.

In the same month, the arrival of foreign vessels outside the port of Alexandria had incited some of its inhabitants to attack and kill foreigners and members of minority communities. Under the pretext of protecting the city’s minorities, the British Fleet bombarded Alexandria, and British troops landed on July 13, 1882. On September 13, 1882, Sir Garnet Wolsley with an army of twenty thousand troops defeated Urabi Pasha and the Egyptian army at Tell al-Kebir, occupying Cairo four days later. The British agent and consul general at the time was Sir Edward Baldwin Malet (1879–83). His telegram to the British cabinet on the situation grossly exaggerated the instability of the khedive’s rule and was pivotal in the decision to invade Egypt to protect the interests of the British bondholders and to guarantee British control over the Suez Canal route to India. With the British occupation of Egypt, foreign ‘advisers’ were appointed to all government departments. In fact, these advisers effectively ran the country.

The British occupation provided many job opportunities for a young man with language skills and a good education. On completing his studies at the Collège des frères des écoles chrétiennes, Simaika was offered a post as secretary to Emily Anne Beaufort, Viscountess Strangford, who had just opened a hospital in Cairo to treat wounded British and Egyptian officers of the Urabi campaign. Lady Strangford had come out to Egypt with a team of British medical doctors and nurses who had volunteered to help her in running the hospital. Named after Queen Victoria, this was the first European hospital to be established in Cairo. Helping her was Dr. Herbert Sieveking, who later published an article on the Victoria Hospital in Cairo in the British Medical Journal on June 16, 1883. Simaika accepted the temporary post of secretary for four months and lived with the volunteer doctors and nurses, which greatly helped him improve his knowledge of English.

While working at the hospital, Simaika read a newspaper advertisement for a vacancy as a translator in the Engineering Department of the Egyptian State Railways. He sat for the examination, passed it successfully, and was asked to join the service. When he informed Lady Strangford of this, she was angry, but Simaika explained that this was a permanent post while his present job was for only four months, and that he had applied without previous permission from her as he did not know if he would pass the examination. She then asked him to take a letter to the chairman of the Railway Board, asking him to keep the post for him until her departure. On presenting this letter to the chairman, Mr. Lemesurier, the latter said it was a wonderful recommendation in Simaika’s favor. He asked Simaika to present his compliments to Lady Strangford and tell her the post would be reserved for him for as long as was convenient for her.

I was overjoyed for she wanted me to spend most of the time visiting the mosques, the churches and other monuments of Cairo and its environs, and of course I studied all I could about them so as to give her the necessary explanations. Thus I spent some of the most pleasant months of my life in the company of that highly accomplished lady who finally left Egypt in December 1882.¹⁵

The Egyptian State Railways was the first railway system in the Ottoman Empire, Africa, and the Middle East. In 1833, Muhammad Ali Pasha had considered a railway between Suez and Cairo after consultation with Gallway, his Scottish chief engineer, to improve transit between Europe and India. He proceeded to buy the rail, but the project was abandoned due to pressure from the French, who had an interest in building a canal instead. The pasha’s successor and grandson, Abbas Hilmi I, contracted Robert Stephenson to build Egypt’s first standard gauge railway. Stephenson, the only son of George Stephenson, the famed locomotive builder and railway engineer, accepted the post of engineer in chief to the planned Egyptian railway between Alexandria and Cairo.

The first section built extended from Alexandria to Kafr al-Zayyat on the Rosetta line and was inaugurated in 1854, followed by the Kafr al-Zayyat-to-Cairo section in 1856. An extension from Cairo to Suez was built in 1858, thus completing the first modern transport link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, the Suez Canal not being completed until 1869. It was Isma‘il Pasha who vastly expanded the railroad building project that saw Egypt and Sudan gain the distinction of having the most railways per habitable kilometer of any nation in the world. The euphoria surrounding the inauguration of the Egyptian railways was marred only by a tragic event on May 15, 1858, when a special train conveying Said Pasha’s son and heir presumptive, Ahmad Pasha Rifaat, fell off a car float into the Nile and the prince drowned.

In February 1883, two months after joining the Egyptian State Railways at the age of nineteen, Simaika sat for another public examination for a higher post in the Accounts Department. When the result was announced, his name appeared at the head of the successful candidates. From accounts he was soon transferred to the Purchasing and Contracts Office, which was not en odeur de sainteté,¹⁶ as Simaika recounts in his memoirs. The chief of that department was a Mr. Baines, who was not trusted by his colleagues but who had the full confidence of the chairman. Mr. Lemesurier at that time was confined to bed with gout and was soon to be replaced by Halton Pasha, the postmaster general, a man of great energy. In the Purchasing and Contracts Office, Simaika had with him a Copt, Girgis Asfour, who was a drunkard, an Indian who was consumptive, and two junior clerks, an Egyptian and an Austrian. As Girgis Asfour was often the worse for drink, the work was neglected for lack of supervision. Being young and active and anxious to learn, Simaika shouldered all the work the others neglected, and often remained at his desk for two hours after the other clerks had left, studying every file carefully. As a result, in a short space of time he had mastered the work at the office thoroughly.

Soon after his appointment, Halton Pasha took over the personal supervision of the Purchasing and Contracts Office, Baines was pensioned off, and M. Imblon, a Frenchman who knew nothing of the work, was appointed to replace him. With a second in command who was new to the job, a drunkard, and a consumptive in the office, Halton Pasha was delighted with Simaika, upon whom he could rely and who knew all the details of the work. From then on, Simaika worked directly with Halton, and in 1888, was made chief of the Purchasing and Contracts Office. At that time Halton’s private secretary, Mr. G.D. Wallich, applied for leave of absence and Halton entrusted Simaika with Wallich’s duties in addition to his own. This meant an enormous amount of extra work, for at that time a commission composed of two railway experts, Lord Farrar and Major Marinden, had been invited by the Egyptian government to investigate the condition of the Egyptian railways. Their goal was to provide recommendations to repair both the railway line and the rolling stock, which had been much neglected in the past. This commission asked for information on all branches of the railways administration, and it fell to Simaika to obtain most of the data and collect all the necessary statistics. To do this he worked closely with Halton Pasha every day until late into the night.

Soon after, Halton appointed Simaika his secretary and asked him to propose someone to replace him as chief of the Purchasing and Contracts Office. Simaika suggested Habashi Muftah, an honest man of inflexible rectitude, and promised to help him out. This proposal was accepted, and in 1890 Simaika became secretary to the chairman of the board. In 1893, Simaika was promoted to the post of secretary of the Traffic Department under Scandar Pasha Fahmi, in addition to his position as secretary to the chairman.

Simaika’s career at the Egyptian State Railways was marked with considerable success, but his young age, diligence, and personal integrity often made him resented by those less qualified and less straightforward. In his memoirs, Simaika recounts several incidents in which he fell prey to machinations by colleagues and superiors who begrudged his accomplishments.

In 1895, Simaika was promoted to inspector general of accounts, a post previously always held by a European, and never by an Egyptian. In this position, he was provided with a service coach that could be attached to trains, enabling him to arrive unexpectedly at any destination, thus ensuring efficient inspection and supervision. During these unannounced visits, he uncovered large-scale abuse and theft, with various railway stations being supplied with large quantities of stores far exceeding their requirements. Due to lack of proper inspection and a two-year delay of the annual audit, corruption was rampant. The amount collected for a consignment of goods would be entered in full on the foil given as a receipt to the sender, and then reduced on the one sent to the Audit Department to two-thirds or half the amount, depending on the greed of the clerk.

To put an end to these abuses, Simaika introduced the use of carbon paper in the face of great opposition, especially from the traffic manager and the chief of audit. But with the full support of the members of the board, his suggestions were approved and put into practice. These measures resulted in diminution of fraud and a notable increase in revenue. As a result, the board appointed him deputy chief of audit in addition to his functions as inspector general of accounts. On assuming this office, the first order he gave was that all clerks at the Audit Department would devote the morning hours to current work and return in the afternoons to deal with the arrears. This proved very unpopular with the clerks, but Simaika made sure to set an example by arriving at work half an hour early in the morning and remaining at his desk until ten o’clock in the evening.

To mark the appreciation of the board, its Egyptian member, Boghos Pasha Nubar, son of Nubar Pasha, sent for Simaika and told him that the board had decided to promote him to the post of chief of audit in addition to that of inspector general of accounts. Simaika immediately replied,

Allow me, in thanking you for this new mark of confidence, to say that the present chief, Antoun Bey el Saheb, has to his credit thirty-nine years of service and only wants one more year to be entitled to a full pension. If dismissed now, he will only get two-thirds of his pay. I am young and not impatient for promotion, and in order not to cause prejudice to a colleague I can well afford to wait another year or two.¹⁷

Thereupon, Boghos Pasha rose from his chair and shook Simaika’s hand, saying, “These feelings do you great honour and raise you higher in our esteem.”¹⁸

Unfortunately for Simaika, just three months later the whole board was replaced. The chairman, Mr. Robertson, was replaced by Major Girouard, a young royal engineer recommended by Lord Kitchener to this high position as a reward for the zeal he had displayed in constructing the Luxor-to-Aswan railway line in the Sudan campaign. Major Girouard was a Canadian railway builder who was to become Sir Edouard Percy Cranwill Girouard, governor of Northern Nigeria and later governor of the British East Africa Protectorate (Kenya). M. Prompt, the French director, was replaced by M. Barrois, the secretary general of the Ministry of Public Works, and Scandar Pasha Fahmi replaced Boghos Pasha as the Egyptian member. When Simaika, together with his colleagues Missara Bey, director of the secretariat, Rushdi Bey, director of accounts, and Antoun Bey al-Saheb, director of audit, went to congratulate Scandar Pasha on his new post, he was shocked when, looking fixedly at him, Scandar said, “There is some one amongst you here who is intriguing to take the place of another, but he shall not have it as long as I am here.”¹⁹

Simaika was so stunned by this unjustifiable accusation that he was struck dumb, and did not repeat the conversation he had had with Boghos Pasha just three months previously. He retired to his office, and just a few moments later was sent for by Scandar Pasha, who ordered him to go immediately to Aswan and remain there until further notice to investigate alleged large-scale fraud on the Aswan line. This was in July, when Aswan was excessively hot. When Simaika asked for a few days to make his travel arrangements, Scandar Pasha refused and ordered him to leave the next day. Simaika was shocked.

I went back to my office and sat reflecting. Is this my reward for having tried to do an old colleague a good turn, depriving myself by this act of a promotion I had not solicited?²⁰

As fate would have it, just an hour later, Major Girouard, the new chairman, summoned him, and said his predecessor, Mr. Robertson, had left him a note in which he mentioned important reforms introduced in the railway accounts on Simaika’s initiative. He asked him to help draw up a code of rules and regulations regarding station accounts and other related matters. Simaika replied that Scandar Pasha had just ordered him to go to Aswan immediately and that he was afraid to disobey. The chairman told him to forget Scandar Pasha, and gave him the room next to his as his office. Simaika notes in his memoirs that Scandar Pasha seemed to reconsider his animosity after this incident. He changed his attitude toward Simaika entirely, becoming most friendly and inviting him to his house on numerous occasions.

A few months later, while spending his holidays in Port Said, Simaika received an urgent telegram from Major Johnston, who had just succeeded Major Girouard as chairman of the board, ordering him to return to Cairo at once. Upon Simaika’s arrival, Johnston informed him that a chief examiner of accounts of the government of India had been summoned to report on reforms that might be introduced into the Egyptian system. This gentleman had arrived a week earlier, had been unable to get any assistance from Rushdi Bey or Antoun Bey, and had informed the chairman that they did not seem to know much about their own work. Simaika was introduced to the official from India, Mr. McPherson, and together they visited stations, workshops, stores, the telegraph offices, and the port of Alexandria, discussing the reforms deemed most useful.

When it was time to prepare the annual budget, Scandar Pasha proposed the promotion of Antoun Bey to a higher grade of pay. McPherson, who was by then financial adviser to the board, took this opportunity to propose raising Simaika’s grade as well, and this was unanimously approved by the board. Soon after, Major Johnston had to return to England on urgent business, and it fell to Scandar Pasha to submit the budget to the Ministry of Finance. Sir Eldon Gorst, then financial adviser to the Egyptian government and the de facto prime minister of the Cromer era, naturally asked Scandar Pasha if any of the new promotions proposed could be dispensed with for the sake of economy. Scandar Pasha, who had clearly been biding his time to exact revenge on Simaika, suggested dispensing with Simaika’s promotion, and Gorst approved. On his return from the Ministry of Finance, Scandar Pasha handed the budget to McPherson, who noticed the alteration and asked Scandar Pasha for an explanation. Scandar Pasha told him that Gorst himself had made it for reasons of economy. McPherson took the budget to M. Barrois, and asked him to see Gorst at once and explain to him that this was the most deserved promotion of all those proposed. On meeting Barrois, Gorst said that he knew nothing of the merits of the different officials concerned, but had eliminated the promotion at the request of Scandar Pasha. At the insistence of Barrois, Simaika’s promotion was reinstated. When McPherson explained the matter to Simaika, he ended by saying, “No one will be more surprised at this than Scandar Pasha and it would serve him right.”²¹

Two years later, the board proposed appointing McPherson director general of accounts and audit. When this proposal was presented to the government, the members of the Caisse de la dette publique objected, saying that if a post of such importance were to be entrusted to a Briton, one of equal importance should be entrusted to a Frenchman. Lord Cromer responded, saying, “If there is no official in Railways who can fill this position, the Finance must send one of its high officials to fill the post and Mr. McPherson must return to India.”²²

The Ministry of Finance proposed Boutros Pasha Mishaka for this new position, and it was arranged that he would work for three months with McPherson to familiarize himself with the work. At the end of this period, McPherson sent a confidential letter to the chairman of the board saying,

I have tried hard to explain Railway accounts working to Mishaka Pasha but he knows as little about these accounts after this lapse of time as when he first joined us. Railway accounts require a lifetime to know them thoroughly. I feel it is my duty before I leave to insist that Antoun Bey El Saheb should be pensioned off at once, that this post should be given to Simaika Bey, and I feel I must add that if there is a man in Egypt who can replace me efficiently it is he who not only knows the work thoroughly but who has over me the advantage of knowing the Arabic language and all the members of the staff, and who is unaware of my proposal.²³

The chairman decided to act on McPherson’s suggestion. Simaika next received a visit from Mr. Bertrand, assistant secretary to the board, who said, “It has just been decided to put Antoun El Saheb on the retired list and to appoint you in his place. His class [i.e., pay grade] will be given to Missara Bey.”²⁴

This angered Simaika, who wrote a confidential note to the chairman of the board stating that he had heard that it had been decided in principle to give him the post of Antoun al-Saheb, but that his grade and pay were to be given to Missara Bey. He wrote that the board members were the best judges as to the merits of the high officials under their control, but he did not think it fair that he should be given the responsibility of director general of accounts and audit and that the class and pay go to another official. He said he was quite prepared to undertake the duties of that other official and let him assume the work of chief auditor. The board reconsidered their decision and appointed him director general of accounts and audit on June 27, 1901, with the class attached to that post. He became the only Egyptian at the head of a department, and a very important one at that. It is to his credit that he thoroughly reorganized the accounts system of the Egyptian State Railways and the Port of Alexandria, rooting out deep-seated, endemic corruption and inefficiency in the process.

In 1899, the French attempted to challenge the British hold over Egypt and East Africa. They sent an expedition to Fashoda on the White Nile under Major Jean-Baptiste Marchand in a bid to gain control over the Nile River tributaries and force the British out of Egypt. This incursion was thwarted by Kitchener and a powerful flotilla of British gunboats. Tensions between Britain and France continued, however, until the Entente Cordiale was signed between Britain and France in 1904. France recognized Britain’s ‘special interest’ in Egypt, while Britain professed herself uninterested in Morocco. After the Fashoda incident and the subsequent Entente Cordiale, the French left the British a free hand in Egypt, and the British immediately assumed complete control of the administration of the country, deciding that all important departments should be effectively controlled by a British ‘adviser’ even if the titular posts were occupied by Egyptians. The one exception was the Antiquities Service, which had been headed by a Frenchman since Said Pasha had approved its creation in 1858 and appointed the French scholar Auguste Mariette as its director. The British conceded that the post of director of the Antiquities Service would continue to go to a Frenchman.

Soon after the signing of the Entente Cordiale, Major Johnston, chairman of the board of the Egyptian State Railways, sent for Simaika and hinted politely that the intention was to appoint a financial secretary to work with him. Simaika said he would welcome him as his subordinate, but after all the pains he had taken through the years to reorganize the Accounts and Audit Departments, entailing intense research and hard work, day and night, with continuous inspections all over the country, he did not think it fair, at the successful completion of his work, for a stranger to reap the rewards of this Herculean effort. However, it soon became clear that he would have to resign and relinquish his post of director general of accounts and audit in favor of a Mr. Sheppard, a former superintendent of the stores. But as this gentleman knew nothing of accounts, Simaika willingly agreed to remain in the service for two more years, in order to acquaint him with the work. So as not to embarrass Sheppard in front of his subordinates, Simaika would receive Sheppard in his house every morning before work. Simaika would study Sheppard’s papers and suggest actions and decisions.

In 1906, Simaika resigned his position of chief auditor, and at the age of only forty-two retired from government service, having served for twenty-three years. He was allowed to retire on an exceptional pension with the addition of eight years to his period of service. His behavior with Sheppard seems to have made a very favorable impression at the British Agency:

As a reward I was appointed a permanent member of the Legislative Council and of the Superior Council of Education and my candidature was put forward as the Coptic member of the cabinet.²⁵