The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-04 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES..—It is more than ten years ago that the
attention of the world was called in a practical
manner to a scheme which had been the dream of
at least the last four centuries. In the first days of
commercial speculation which succeeded the coup
d'etat of 1851 it was announced by a French gentle
man, M. Lesseps, that a company was to be formed
for piercing the Isthmus of Suez by a canal navi-
gable by the largest ships, and for thus restoring to
the old highway to the East more than all its for-
mer traffic and fame. It cannot be said that this
scheme at first met with much commercial favour.
First there were against it the conceptions which
people had formed of the Arabian desert and the Red
Sea. To cut an immense trench through 90 miles of
sand, to run out moles into the Mediterranean, to
deepen the shoal water at the two extremities of the
canal so as to create porta capable of receiving the
huge vessels which now make the voyages to India
and Australia, and the still huger ones which the
next twenty years might be supposed to produce;
finally, to keep this grand work in repair and open
for traffic, seemed an enterprise more befitting some
all-powerful Prince who disposed of The wealth
and labour of a whole race than a mercantile
company, which must buy everything it wanted,
pay wages to every one it employed, and ever have
an eye to a satisfactory return for capital. Never -
theless, by degrees the enterprise took form and
consistency. Its object was declared to be praise-
worthy, whatever might be the chances of success.
After a little time it became a favourite subject
with the French press, it was much discussed both
on the Continent and in this country, and
,though
it did not attract men of capital, it rather fired
the imagination of those who are anxious to see
grand experiments tried with the capital of others.
M. Lesseps wad a man of energy, and while all
Europe was intent on the great quarrel which had
broken out between Russia and the Western Powers,
and thought little of peaceful undertakings in the
East, he obtained a concession from the Egyptian
Viceroy for a canal navigable by large vessels
from Suez and Pelusium. The details of the enter-
prise were to a certain extent agreed upon.' The
work was to be completed in six years. Four-fifths
of the workmen were to be Egyptians, who it was
understood were to be found by the Pasha and paid
by the Company. As another minor undertaking—
namely, a canal for irrigation and the passage of
fresh water from the Nile—was included in the con-
cession, it came to pass that a considerable tract of
land was brought under the operation of the Com-
pany, and over this land they were granted rights
which almost gave them the sovereignty of a slip of
territory lying between Egypt and the rest of the
Turkish Empire. For these extraordinary con-
cessions M. Lesseps, in the name of the future com-
pany, contracted to do the work in a masterly and
complete manner. Lake Timsah was to be converted
into an inland harbour, fit for vessels of the highest
tonnage; a harbour of refuge was to be constructed
in the Mediterranean ; the port of Suez was to be
improved; in short, by the combination of French
genius and Egyptian liberality the greatest work of
Vie age was to be accomplished. But it happened
that at that time the Porte was more than ordinarily
jealous of its rights, particularly as regarded the
semi-independent provinces. Already Europe was
at war; the Sultan was calling for troops from the
furthest extremities of his empire to resent an inva-
sion of one outlying province ; and there was no in-
clination to give to a Power like France, good ally
as she was at the moment, rights which might be
used as much to 'Turkish detriment as the rights of
Nicholas in Moldo-Wallachia. This new conjunc-
tion between the French and the lately rebellious
family of Egypt to carry out so singular an under-
taking was scrutinised narrowly by the Porte,which
came to the conclusion that there were circumstances
in it which would make it more prudent to refuse a
firman. When we say that the British Ambassador
at Constantinople concurred in this opinion, and is
even reported to have urged it on the Porte, and
when it is also remembered that Lord Palmerston
was almost vehement in his opposition to the pro-
ject, it may be supposed that there were valid
reasons against it. The chief of these was
in fact the imprudence of granting terri-
torial rights to a foreign company belonging
to a nation which had always been most strict
in maintaining the independence of its citi-
zens in the Turkish empire, as allowed by the capi-
tulations, and which might be expected to take this
company, with its 90 miles of ground, under its
especial protection. Then there was also the belief
that the canal would really be made, and that the
company's works, though inadequate for the passage
of an Australian liner or the Peninsular and Orien-
tal steamboat, might be turned into an excellent
barrier between Egypt and Syria whenever it might
please a descendant of Mehemet Ali to renew the
daring policy of his ancestor. The end of the ne-
gotiation was that, in spite of all the entreaties of
M. Lesseps, no firman was granted to his under-
taking. But this event, which might be supposed
to be fatal to the enterprise, was in reality the cause
of its first real success. What it wanted was share-
holders—men who would not only give alanguid ap-
provel as to something beneficial to humanity, but
who would take an active part in it, and show their
zeal by a liberal subscription. These were obtained
for it by the sharp discussions which ensued on the
refusal of the firman, and continued
for two or
three years. It was said with considerable truth
England had been the chief cause of MM. Lesseps'
non-success, and with no truth at all that
her
reason was a jealousy of French trade and
_ French
influence making their way to the far East, and
supplanting her own.
The piercing of the Isthmus
of Suez became a standing
.topic of declamation in
the French papers, and public feeling was so roused
on the subject that when the rock of Perim was oc-
cupied for the purpose of placing a light upon it,
the Continent rang with invectives against the na-
tion which has thus stopped up the Red Sea in fear
of the speedy piercing of the Isthmus by its rivals.
The consequence of these political discussions was,
that, when in the end of 1858 it was determined to
proceed without the firman, and the subscription
was opened, the whole capital of £8,000,000 was
forthcoming in less than a month. From that time
M. Lesseps and his friends have practically had
their own way. The Porte had reserved its rights,
and, as the only wish of the British Government
was to maintain those rights, there was no further
cause to interfere. As a political question the Suez
Canal has ceased to be discussed for several years,
much to the advantage of both ourselves and oar
neighbours. A general interest was revived a few
months ago by the note of the Porte which followed
on the Sultan's visit to Egypt, and which was di-
rected to the questions of the forced labour by which
the canal is constructed, the possession of the lands on
its banks, and the agreement with regard to its neu-
trality. This communication of the Porte, though
quite consistent with its former policy in not granting
the firman, of course brought it at once into col-
lision with France, and has produced discussions of
rather a spirited kind—France being as imperious
as usual, and the Sultan showing more resolu-
tion than was expected of him. The end, we learn,
is a compromise. On the first point it is under-
stood that the fellahs are to be better paid, and
it is promised that they shall be fairly hired,
though this last substitution for forced labour is
not likely to be fully carried out. But the most
important question relates to the Company's land,
and on this subject it is stated that the Viceroy is
to come to an understanding with the compan
which will receive a pecuniary compensation, to
be
decided hereafter, in place of the grant of the
The third question—of the neutrality of the canal
—is likewise satisfactorily settled. When every-
thing is arranged between the
eed Viceroy and
the
the
Company on the bases already Viceroy to,
Porte will ratify the convention and reco.g. nise the
undertaking. We may . congratulate all parties
concerned on this conclusion, which must entirely
remove the Suez Canal from the domain of politics,
and puts an end to any uneasiness that may have
been felt at Constantinople, or, in a less degree, in
London. The Porte
has, in fact, established the
i prnciple for which it contended in 1855, when it
declined to recognise the late Viceroy's concession.
The Company's enterprise is now merely an ordi•
and as such will be looked
nary work of industry,_
upon with goodwill
b by all Europe, and by no
people more than y. the. English, who, if.it sue-
profit by it most. On this last
reeds,
question we have no desire to give an opinion.
Mr. Hawshaw has, after a long examination of
the works in progress, reversed, as it were,
the judgment of Mr. Robert Stephenson and