The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-12-19
THE SUEZ CANAL.
The Future Of the Great Work-Its Uses
and Profits English View of the
Commercial Revolution -Ismail
Pasha's Grand Ball

Pashas Grand Ball
(suez Nov. 20) correspondence Of London Ncwsl
The talk about the canal having show
end ike n COvent garden strawberry polite. and OF
sDccous and confident the assertions OF people on
the spot TO the all-abundant supply OF water and
the unbroken communication between sea aud sea
have contradicted consistently and smiled at
50 often as superficial that the canals break
ae Ssx SGosns Up
OF large draught or infilcting rremediable
injuries on the craft entrusted to it. or Of
being otherwise unmanaRabe and useless, are now
the ogica harbors OF refuge for the many prophets
In distress. 1t was SO when the Atlantic cable was
doubtless, so when the rash experiment OF building
mouse, or OF replacing the ancestral fgleaves by
objections already being raised IN Cairo and Alexan
dria will however. assuredly md echo III Europe,
and are therefore worth treating gravely and exam,
bitter, and may be divided into three heads
the commercial. the engineering and the nautical.
The canal cannot pay the original shareholders. The
cost Of widening and deepening will he loo great,
The charges for maintenance too absorbing, and the
dangers TO ships above certain draught too hume
rons for anything approaching legitimate return
lcr -ae capital already expended. SO runs some OF
ers" ana 80 many estlmable people are deriving a
gloomy relish from the supposed misfOrtunes OF
statistics OF the Suez Canal aud believe them to be
generally as follows. On such n subject data Is
necessarily speculative, but speculation Is right
Now comes o branch Of the subject upon
which some diversity of opinion may be INDUCED
in-namely, what the earnings or the canal are
likely to be; and here l prefer quoting gentlemen
whose names are well known IN the commercial
world VINO nave like the rest OF u.s. Just been over
the canal ana VINO are not likely to be suspected OF
undue lmpulsiveness enthusiasm In the course
OF semipublic discussion which took place
recently among some OF the leading Epgshmcn in
Egypt, one OF the speakers. in reply to the local
assertion, .'tne canal can never pay,n stated
his conviction that taking 1t as 1t stands. without
another penny being spent 1t for purposes OF
completion 1t is fully capable OF earning sucn
come Will pay its shareholders their dividends,
Ships OF 1000 tons register made the journey the
other day with safety but we take for the sake OF
argument vessels averaging 800 tons register aud
assume that two OF these pass through the Canal
| each way every day IN the year. sne re-
suit at the present rate Of Iarin l. e. ten
| francs q ton, would yield fS73,600. NJ. Law
| elley has offered to maintain the canal for
siooo year, so that with the 1850, 900 interest
the shares held by the public there would, even
this low estimate be cara, 600 for salaries and for
| dlysion, the viceroy taking one-seventh ana the
shareholders sixth-sevenths. according to arrange
ment. This Is, OF course intended as e1uct.o az
ab31ud,sDs OF the hypothesis that the shareholders
OF the suez Canal viii surely be prevented reaping
the fruits or It's success. Let shipping authorities
students OF the Board OF Trade returns say by how
many times these two suppositilious vessels should
| Let us now quote another high authority In COM
merclal circles. one OF the largest dealers III Man
| chester goods IN the world aud whose trade with
| Bombay and China Is most extensive, Is outspo&cn
| in his opinion that the canal ID henceforth
| the highway between England and the East. the
character Of much OF the trade will be altered. TO
talk OF ships being too large Tor the cana Is to
denim chem as mint Iortheir work; to cayil or argue
l 10 the relative advantages OF the lsthmus and
the Cape will be to enable your rivals to ship, land
and sell cargo while you hesitate. Both the gen.
temen quoted are shIpowners. both are interested
| In existing plant and both have decided tnat the
final stroke has been given TO sailing vessels between
sent dimensions can when finished, be made to
| carry all the commerce vi all Europe to aud from
| the East.
The engineering and navigating objections remain
to be disposed OF. First, az to the actual state OF
the canal and what is absolutely necessary 10 be
| done to It, And here l have simply to repeat the
words used in recording my Impressions after TAX
| ing private soundings nearly month ago. Time,
means to The extent the croakers would have us be-
lieve The three things which need seeing TO at once
the passing away 81 the @ rScn Which
and gave rise to so much CONSERVATION and der-
sion; the additions to the pier on the Damietta
side OF the harbor OF Port Said and the walling
OF the banks for about thirty miles OF the canal
The blasting win be tedious, ana 1t Is estimated
that three months must pass before so much OF the
| rock-whch is OF gypsum and difficult TO move
can be destroyed as will make the depth Of water
| uniform. The operation need not, how ever, inter
fere with the traffic OF the canal, vessels of tue
| draught Of those which have passed through can
TO ana ro N ne , neft sas 81 rnT
pendent professional authorities estimate the cost
Of blasting away this rock 1T from 100000 TO
f3oe, 0o0
as But the bottom OF the canal is not yei
nat The scoopinG out OF the sand has
| because 1: has been accommodated in some
measure to the shape of their huls Dredging Will
however, soon put this right, and my readers
urged against the canal In an engineering sense
1t needs more capital, more labor and more time;
but smal-comparatiyely speaking a very small
portion OF each Is required and 1t can be earning
money IN the meantime. Allowing for the forego
| ing work and all contingencies, two. millions
| sterling Is the estimate OF the professional
| authorities have already quoted as the outside
| sum required for the completion, an amount which
| should be taken into consideration when Weighing
| the calculations have given rs TO capital and In
terest Some shrewd thinkers who have been tt
the canal consider that strong WIND blowing
| full on ships beam is sure to drive her aground
| but this theory Ia disposed OF when we consider
that the Great North Holland Canal Ia navgated
without such casualties. That channel OF water ID
sixty eight miles long. and far narrower than the
| Suez Canal. II IS, moreover, go banked M
that the ships on 1t are far more exposed to wind
than on the 5uez Canal but its navigators are
accustomed to kind OF work which was new to q
majority OF the seamen who conducted the vessel:
last week, and one never hears OF the peris Of con
veyina craft through It, Dropping anchor Is anothei
| way OF meeting the suggested difficulty.
| j have now, believe, gone through the main
objections with which those who find 1t the reverse
| OF easy to admit OF the success OF the Suez Cana
are likely to s0lace themselves. The choking ur
with sand and other OF the more determined hostile
theories are not seriously believed in by people
who have made the journey. The time was favor
able for ascertaining the opinions OF men eminent IN
| gwen me considerable facilities for dong this
letter simply processes to be reflex of the c9rcfu
| decisions OF those best capable OF forming them
s'Tls said whene'er the Judgments weak the preju
dice Is srong is a. true as when Vestrls sang ant
some appeals l have heard to "the laws o
| naturer against The canals permaDence, remtnt
| one OF the cynical philosopher IN ''Pau Clifford,
who advised his pupils, when needing a satisfactory
authority for groundess assertion, TO Gasp hands OF
hearts and "to appeal 10 the laws OF nature which
| as they are nowhere written no ono can contra
| Dict" So much lor the future.
Ismnn Pncha's supper md Grand Ball.