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MEMORIAL ADDRESSED TO HIS HIGHNESS MOHAMMED SAID, VICEROY OF EGYPT.

The Camp, Marea, In the Lybian Desert, 15th November, 1854.

A canal, communicating with the Nile, was in existence in ancient times; first, for a period of 100 years, down to about the middle of the ninth century before the Hegira; secondly, for a period of 445 years, from the reign of the first successors of Alexander the Great, down to about the fourth century before the Hegira; thirdly and lastly, for a period of 130 years after the Arabian conquest.

Napoleon, upon his arrival in Egypt, immediately organized a commission of engineers to ascertain whether it would be possible to re-establish that ancient channel of navigation: the question was resolved in the affirmative, and when the learned M. Lep?re delivered to him the report of the commission, on the eve of his return to France, he said: "It is an important affair, it is not now in my power to accomplish it, but the Turkish Government will perhaps one day owe its preservation and its glory to the execution of this project."

The moment has now arrived to realize Napoleon's prediction. The work of cutting through the Isthmus of Suez is certainly destined, more than any other, to contribute to the preservation of the Ottoman Empire, and to demonstrate to those who have been wont to proclaim its decay and ruin, that it still has a productive existence, and that it is capable of adding a brilliant page to the history of the world's civilization.

Why have the governments and the peoples of the West combined to uphold the Sultan in the possession of Constantinople, and why has he who has thought fit to menace that position met with the armed opposition of Europe? Because the passage from the Mediterranean into the Black Sea is of so much importance, that whatever European Power might become master of it would domineer over all the rest, and destroy that balance which the whole world is interested in preserving.

Do but establish at another point of the Ottoman Empire a similar, and a yet more important position; do but make Egypt the highway of the commercial world by cutting through the Isthmus of Suez; and thereby you will create in the East another immoveable seat of power; for, as far as the new passage is concerned, the great powers of Europe, from fear of seeing it one day seized upon by one amongst them, will regard the necessity of guaranteeing its neutrality, as a question of vital importance.

M. Lep?re fifty years ago required 10,000 workmen, four years' labour, and from 30 to 40,000,000 francs for the construction of the Suez Canal, but upon a plan which would now be insufficient for the demands of commerce and navigation; and his idea was the possibility of a direct cutting through the Isthmus towards the Mediterranean.

Prior to the year 1840, some skilful English Engineers, who were employed in levelling operations in the Isthmus, had the honour of first ascertaining that no difference existed between the levels of low water in the Mediterranean and in the Gulf of Arabia.

M. Paulin Talabot, one of the three distinguished Engineers chosen in 1847 by a society for the investigation of the Isthmus of Suez, had adopted the indirect route from Alexandria to Suez: availing himself of the barrage for the passage of the Nile, he estimated the entire cost at 130,000,000 francs for the Canal, and 20,000,000 for the port and roadstead of Suez.

A thorough examination will decide which of the lines is most suitable; and, as the undertaking has been acknowledged to be practicable, it only remains to make a choice. Whatever the operations that may be necessary, and however difficult, they will not intimidate modern art; their success can be no matter of doubt at the present time: it is a question of money, which the spirit of enterprise and association will not fail to resolve, provided the benefits resulting from it are in proportion to the outlay.

It is easy to demonstrate that the cost of the Canal of Suez, admitting the highest estimate, is not out of proportion with the utility and the profits of this important work, which would curtail by more than one-half the distance of India from the principal countries of Europe and America. This result is made obvious in the following Table, drawn up by M. Cordier, professor of Geology:--

LIST OF EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN PORTS.

With such figures before us, comment is useless; they show that all the nations of Europe, and even the United States of America, are alike interested in the opening of the canal of Suez, as well as in the rigorous and inviolable neutrality of that thoroughfare.

Mohammed Sa?d clearly comprehends that there is no undertaking within his power, which, from its immensity and the utility of its results, could bear comparison with that which I propose to him. What a splendid title to fame for him! What an everlasting source of wealth for Egypt!

The pilgrimage to Mecca henceforth assured and facilitated to all Mussulmans; an immense impulse given to steam navigation and to distant voyages; the countries on the coasts of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Persia, the eastern coast of Africa, India, the kingdom of Siam, Cochin China, Japan, the vast empire of China, with its more than 300,000,000 of inhabitants, the Philippine Islands, Australia and that immense Archipelago, towards which the emigration from old Europe is directed, brought nearer by nearly 3000 leagues to the Mediterranean Sea and the north of Europe: such are the sudden and immediate effects of cutting through the Isthmus of Suez.

There is no doubt that the canal of Suez will occasion a considerable increase of tonnage; but in reckoning only upon 3,000,000 tons, there will yet be an annual produce of 30,000,000 francs by collecting dues of ten francs per ton, which might be reduced in proportion to the increase of navigation.

After having indicated the financial advantages of the undertaking, let us consider its general political advantages, which we believe to be equally incontestable.

Everything that results in contributing to the extension of the commerce, of the industry, and of the navigation of the world, is especially advantageous to England, a power which stands foremost amongst all others from the importance of its navy, from the productions of its manufactories, and from its commercial relations.

A deplorable prejudice, based upon the political antagonism which so long and so unhappily existed between France and England, has alone accredited the opinion that the opening of the canal of Suez, so useful for the interests of civilization and of the common weal, could damage those of England. The alliance of the two nations which rank highest in the scale of civilization, an alliance which has already proved the possibility of solutions hitherto reckoned impossible by vulgar tradition, will, amongst its other numerous benefits, allow us to investigate with impartiality this mighty question of the Canal of Suez, to form an exact estimate of its influence upon the prosperity of nations and to consider it heresy to believe, that an undertaking calculated to halve the distance between the Western and Eastern hemispheres of the globe, should not be suitable for Great Britain, the mistress of Gibraltar, Malta, the Ionian Islands, Aden, important stations on the east coast of Africa, India, Singapore, and Australia.

England, as well as France, and even more so, must wish to see a cutting through that strip of land of thirty leagues, which no one who pays attention to the subject of civilization and progress can behold upon the map, without feeling the most ardent wish for the disappearance of that only obstacle that Providence has left in the highway of the world's traffic.

The railway, by itself, is not sufficient; it will never acquire any substantial importance, and will only be assured of its revenues when it has become the auxiliary of the maritime Canal of Suez. The completion of the railway, so useful to travellers, and so justly desired by England, will then become a necessity, and will no longer be a heavy charge upon the Egyptian Government.

Germany will also hail all the efforts for the construction of the Canal across the Isthmus. It will be to her the complement to the free navigation of the Danube. Prince Metternich, who for more than twenty years has interested himself in the cutting of the Canal of the two Seas, and Baron de Bruck, one of the promoters of the investigations made in 1847, saw that in this question lay the aggrandizement of Trieste and of Venice, as well as the opening of important outlets for the produce of the Imperial provinces, and of the kingdom of Hungary, where the projected canal from the Danube to Kustendje, on the Black Sea, in the line of the ancient trench or rampart of Trajan, will facilitate exportation.

Russia will find in the opening of the Canal of Suez a just satisfaction of that national aspiration towards the East which led her on one occasion to extend the limits of her vast Empire to the confines of British India, and, on another, to threaten the integrity of Turkey. The mission of civilization devolving upon the Czar over the numerous tribes of whom he is arbiter, may yet suffice the noblest ambition; the new outlets which will be pacifically thrown open to their activity and to their necessity of expansion, will be more profitable to them than a policy of conquest and exclusive dominion which it is now no longer possible for any one nation to carry on triumphantly.

The United States of America, whose traffic with Indo-China and Australia has for many years immensely developed itself; Spain with the Philippine Islands; Holland with Java, Sumatra and Borneo; the towns formerly so flourishing on the coasts of Italy; the ports and islands of Greece; all the nations in short which have held or hold a high maritime and commercial position; will hasten to take part in a work which will augment their wealth, or create new sources of it, and to the success of which I believe I can promise His Highness Mohammed Sa?d the active and energetic co-operation of the enlightened men of all countries.

FERD. DE LESSEPS.

FIRMAN OF CONCESSION.

FIRMAN OF CONCESSION.

Our friend Mons. Ferdinand de Lesseps, having called our attention to the advantages which would result to Egypt from the junction of the Mediterranean and Red Seas, by a navigable passage for large vessels, and having given us to understand the possibility of forming a company for this purpose composed of capitalists of all nations; we have accepted the arrangements which he has submitted to us, and by these presents grant him exclusive power for the establishment and direction of a Universal Company, for cutting through the Isthmus of Suez, and the construction of a canal between the two Seas, with authority to undertake or cause to be undertaken all the necessary works and erections, on condition that the Company shall previously indemnify all private persons in case of dispossession for the public benefit. And all within the limits, upon the conditions and under the responsibilities, settled in the following Articles.

Mons. Ferdinand de Lesseps shall form a company, the direction of which we confide to him, under the name of the UNIVERSAL SUEZ MARITIME CANAL COMPANY, for cutting through the Isthmus of Suez, the construction of a passage suitable for extensive navigation, the foundation or appropriation of two sufficient entrances, one from the Mediterranean and the other from the Red Sea, and the establishment of one or two ports.

The Director of the Company shall be always appointed by the Egyptian Government, and selected, as far as practicable, from the shareholders most interested in the undertaking.

The term of the grant is ninety-nine years, commencing from the day of the opening of the Canal of the two Seas.

The works shall be executed at the sole cost of the Company, and all the necessary land not belonging to private persons shall be granted to it free of cost. The fortifications which the Government shall think proper to establish shall not be at the cost of the Company.

The Egyptian Government shall receive from the Company annually fifteen per cent. of the net profits shown by the balance sheet, without prejudice to the interest and dividends accruing from the shares which the Government reserves the right of taking upon its own account at their issue, and without any guarantee on its part either for the execution of the works or for the operations of the Company; the remainder of the net profits shall be divided as follows:--Seventy-five per cent. to the benefit of the Company, ten per cent. to the benefit of the members instrumental to its foundation.

The tariffs of dues for the passage of the Canal of Suez, to be agreed upon between the Company and the Viceroy of Egypt, and collected by the Company's agents, shall be always equal for all nations; no particular advantage can ever be stipulated for the exclusive benefit of any one country.

The Company shall enjoy the said lands for ten years free of taxes, commencing from the day of the opening of the canal; during the remaining eighty-nine years of the grant, the Company shall pay tithes to the Egyptian Government, after which period it cannot continue in possession of the lands above mentioned without paying to the said Government an impost equal to that appointed for lands of the same description.

At the expiration of the grant the Egyptian Government will take the place of the Company, and enjoy all its rights without reservation, the said Government will enter into full possession of the Canal of the two Seas, and of all the establishments connected therewith. The indemnity to be allowed the Company for the relinquishment of its plant and moveables, shall be arranged by amicable agreement or by arbitration.

The statutes of the Society shall be moreover submitted to us by the Director of the Company, and must have the sanction of our approbation. Any modifications that may be hereafter introduced must previously receive our sanction. The said statutes shall set forth the names of the founders, the list of whom we reserve to ourselves the right of approving. This list shall include those persons whose labours, studies, exertions or capital have previously contributed to the execution of the grand undertaking of the Canal of Suez.

Finally, we promise our true and hearty co-operation, and that of all the functionaries of Egypt in facilitating the execution and carrying out of the present powers.

TO MY ATTACHED FRIEND M. FERDINAND DE LESSEPS, OF HIGH BIRTH AND ELEVATED RANK.

Cairo, 30th of November, 1854.

The grant made to the Company having to be ratified by his Imperial Majesty the Sultan, I send you this copy that you may keep it in your possession. With regard to the works connected with the excavation of the Canal of Suez, they are not to be commenced until after they are authorized by the Sublime Porte.

A true translation of the Turkish text.

KOENIG BEY, Secretary of Mandates to his Highness the Viceroy.

Alexandria, May 19th, 1855.

Cairo, January 15, 1855.

While bearing witness to the good understanding that I have observed to exist between them, and the identity of their convictions, as to the possibility of the communication between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, by a Canal accessible to large vessels, I beg them, in case the opinion of either, upon any question whatever, should not be entertained by the other, to state the difference of their views, and to assign the reasons thereof.

Finally, the precursory scheme, accompanied by an explanatory map, is to be finished as quickly as possible.

FERD. DE LESSEPS.

The enlightened Prince who now governs Egypt, Mohammed Sa?d Pacha, wishing to withdraw the question of cutting through the Isthmus of Suez from the uncertainties of theory, and to bring it into practical reality, has granted a firman by which he concedes to the Universal Company formed by the capitalists of all countries, who are freely willing to take part in the undertaking, the construction and working of a Maritime Canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, with an additional Canal for communication and irrigation, derived from the Nile.

Dictating himself the terms of the Firman of Concession, Prince Mohammed Sa?d has required that the undertaking shall be complete, and that an attentive examination of the localities be made, in order to profit by all the advantages offered by nature. He has recommended that the shortest track be followed, the least expensive, and that which will admit of the largest ships. His early studies and his experience in nautical art, have perfectly prepared him for the comprehension of all the bearings of the scientific question. He has indicated Pelusium and Suez, as the extreme points of the cutting to be made in that narrow tract of land, which presents a longitudinal depression across the Isthmus, of thirty leagues, and which is formed by the meeting of the two plains descending with a gradual slope, the one from Egypt, the other from the frontier hills of Asia. He considers that nature has herself traced out the communication between the two Seas, in the line of this depression.

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