The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-14 00:00:00

TEE ISTIDIU3 OF SUEZ .SHIP CANAL.

On Monday, a moiling of Ills Council of the Dublin
Chamber of Commerce took place, to hear a statement on
behalf of Baron de:Lesseps, the "promulgator of the plan
for throWing open the lathm-ue of Suez, 'by mews of a ship
canal, and thereby to unite the Red Sea with the Mediter-
ranean. As Id, de. Lesseps was unable to exnress his
views in English, •Mr. D. Lange, acting on his behalf,
proceeded to give some details upon the Subject of the
Suez Canal. He began by explaining that the object
of the - -baron's visit was simply to elicit from
the council an expression of ?pinion with regard
to the utility of the undertaking, of. cutting the canal,
the . Viceroy of Egypt, 'when granting this con-
cession to H. de Lessens, h%ving expressed a , wish that ho
Should ascertain from 'different countries.thsrexaet opinion:'
entertained in reference to its ueefuiness. It was upon
that point solely that they had -sought this interne*,
mei not'with the object of proving: to the omitted that
the- thing could be accomplished, : becatise that point
had been already set at rest by the 'opinion exeressed
by a commission consisting of the mist eminent,
engineers in Europe who had gone out to the spot
and after remain', g there for two or three, months agreed
upon their return to, a most decided opinion as to the
practicability of the un iertaking. The track of the canal
was from Suez to a town in the ,Persian Gulf, a distance of
seventy-two miles, and the canal would run into two Likes,
Tinesah and the Bitter Lakes, which, in fact, was dry or
very nearly .dry at the present moment. It was, irate ided
to convert Lake Tunsah into a harbour fit for coaling and
repairing Yessals,-and for a careening' dock. A very int-
pbrtant feature connected with this project Wei that the
Viceroy had granted to the cempaey a tract of land 60
miles in extent, which runs from Curio to Lake Timsah ;
this land would be uselesaeunless a branch canal were
formed to irrigate it, but the V;ceroy had already antici-
pated the advantages tube derived from it; and'had pro-
jected at his own expense this canal at the cost of
9,0'10,000 francs or £300,000. The whole extent of the
land given to the compsne, not merely upon leases, but
by it geant in perpetuity, :V4'3 250,000 acres, which
were capable of.. growing , indigo; cotton, and Indian
corn, and might, in time, be very valuable to the
company. There would be no locks in the canal
so that a v. ssel could sail right through from- the
Mediterranean to India, or to any part of the East.
They should remeneber that it was not sailiog vessels, but
steamers and screws that they had calculatsd upon ;
although sailing vessels at certain periods of the year, from
April to September, coal I alwsys avail themselves of this
canal wh-n going to India, or to ports on the other side.
The saving of distance in going to Ceylon by this means
would be just half-7,000 instead of 14,000 miles, and a
very favourable feature connected with the Cutting of this
canal was that five-sixths of its extent were under the level
of the sea. With respect to the capital of £8,000,000, it
shad been reserved in portions for the various countries of
Europe. Egypt and Turke, had contributed two millions ;
-the northern parts of Europe one million ; Holland and Bel-
gium one million ; Spain, the United States of America,
and Portugal, one million; France, £1,500,000; leevaig
over fir Great •Britain, in case it should choose to avail
itself of this undertaking in a financial point of view,
£1,500,000. Thepreseut object of M. de Lesseps was to
ascertain whether England and I eland would be disposed
to admit the utility of theunderiaking, and then to embark
financially in it. If such should not be the case, and that
England and Ireland should -consider thst the Suez Canal
was. not necessary to them, the undertaking would, not-
withstanding, progress, because there was no difficulty in
raising the amount. It was a perfectly mercantile specu-
lation, and had nothing to do with government. The ma-
nagement would be centred at Piris, and would be composed
of those who had large interests at stake, deputed 'by
the various shareholders in different nations as best quali-
fied to fill that office - -These curse, appoint
amongst themselves the individuals who .would heineces-
Siry to ensure the good alministratioo of tics project.
The President : In case of war, how would you preseue
-i:eutrality 1)- Mr. Lange : By ,each nation having an jute.
rest at stake. It is one or the articles in the concession
that it shall, bo a neutral passage—that no. country shall
ho excluded, 'aril the presence of Xt. do Lesaeps here shows
the desire that exists, that it should be a neutral passage.
Mr. Parker : lias not the B,itish Govemzent looked
coldly on it ? Mr. Lange : It is a matter of , indifference
to the promoters whether governments have looked odd
or hot upon it. It is
_purely a private simulation.
Mr. Parker : Dot yen mast he aware that, the fact
of British merchants having stock in au undeea,king of
this kind by no means obliges the government to neutrality,
or to look-upon it as a neutral canaLin case of war. M.
de Lesseps rema ked that it was only the proprieter of the
Country who could oppose the 'passage .an.l as habad
given his consent, and was anxious even for the perfect
.neutrality of the company, there could be no difficulty in
the mat ter. After seine further obseriratioes, M. ds
Lesseps, and the gentlemen by whom he was accompanied,
withdrew, the council undertaking to give the subject every
ConsideNation, and to furnish them witn their opinions with
as little -delay as posSible.

whispereiViat a ri.v-..rp001. cotton broker " potted"
£30,009 by th •sticees of Le,tmi tol Chess[ r.

• .
The nisi prizes casi of E:ancis Wiii Esq., Inspector
General -ot Lunitics, against the Klkertay hall way
company fur the severe injuries received by the piabiliff
in the nOettihg of the train, is set down for trial in the
Queen's Bench, beforiChief Justice Lefrny. Divnage3
are laid at £6,U00.--Limerick Chionicle.