The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON. MONDAY EVENINi OCTOBER 8 18bh.

admitted, suggestive of a frightful expenditure. Or
supposing the river were not crossed by a bridge
the canal would be in constant danger of being
choked up by the alluvial deposits, and would
greatly interfere with the existing system of
canals so necessary to the irrigation of Egypt,
while vessels sailing along it would have great
difficulty in crossing when the strong currents set
in, and the easterly or southerly winds prevailed.
The direct line commencing at Pelusium and ter-
minating at Suez, without being liable to any of
these objections, has the positive merit of offering
a useful harbour and twelve miles of existing
water communication. At ten leagues distance
from Pelusium it would merge in " the Bitter
Lakes," which, filled as they are with the waters
of the Arabian Gulf, would also serve as an inex-
haustible reservoir for the service of the canal. The
main obstacles to be contended against would, it ap-
pears, be in the vicinity of two mountains where a
short detour would be necessary, involving, however,
only a cutting 70 feet in depth, including the
depth of the canal. The mode in which M. DE
LESSEPS proposes to carry out this plan is by the
joint capital and exertions of all commercial na-
tions who may see fit to lend their aid, the canal
being intended for the advantage of all, and a
guarantee of its neutrality by the respective
countries being a primary consideration.
The advantages offered by the scheme are vast
and manifold. To this country they are of the
first importance. The five hundred millions of the
population of India and China would be brought
nearer to Europe, and consequently to us, by seve-
ral thousand miles. In the voyage from London
or Liverpool to Bombay, via Suez, as compared
with the Cape, there would be a saving of
8,550 miles, the result of which would be a
large increase of commercial activity, not
only arising from more rapid communication, but
also from a reduction in freight and other charges,
and the opening out of new, and the increased
demand from, old markets. In a military point
of view the advantages offered by the canal are
immense, since it would enable us to send out
troops from Bombay in twenty-one days, and to
Ceylon or Madras in about twenty-eight days, in-
stead of four or five months as at present,
a diminution of time which might involve the sal-
vation of our dominions in the East. To other
European nations, and to America, it holds out
advantages sufficiently great to insure their sup-
port, and its inviolability as a neutral point of
communication. With respect to France the
adoption of the plan would remove the
only ground of difference that can be foreseen
between us, and might possibly lead to a recipro-
cation of good offices in relation to a similar
scheme elsewhere.

Taking all these things into consideration, and
more especially the security it would give us in the
possession of our Indian Empire, to which the
eyes of Russia have long been enviously directed,
we cannot but wish M. DE LESSEPS success in his
splendid undertaking.

gaus, seems likely to prove a failure, for it cannot
remain a secret that the resources of the country
are not of a nature to admit of ships of war being
built with the celerity so desirable. There are no
stores of dry and seasoned timber at Nicolaieff
suitable for shipbuilding. Whenever a stock is
required the Minister makes a contract with some
favourite, or whoever pays him the most handsome
bribe, who makes an advantageous sub-contract,
and thus the affair may pass through the hands of
ten or a dozen different persons, each of whom
makes a pretty picking of a Government contract ;
and when at length the timber is floated dow n
the Dnieper frum up the country, it is found
to be quite green, full of sap, and general:y
cut at the wrong time of the year ; consequently,
perfectly worthless, and totally unfit for imme-
diate use. The Emperor's shipbuilders at Nico-
laieff may celebrate the presence of their sove-
reign by laying down the keel of a 131-gun ship,
to compete with the Royal Albert, but the day of
its completion is far distant.