Litchfield enquirer., 1869-11-25
The suez Canal.

The formal opening of this great work took place last week. Great Sovereigns were present in person, and nearly. e12S ,0O( spectators of lower degree. Christian and MussuIman prayers were said, and forty five ships passed through from the Medit- erranean to the Red Sea. So, the Sue2 Canal is no longer a project, but an accom- lished fact. ..i. ..l.s,t5r. .., .se |. sssas
 The Canal is one hundred miles long, two hundred and fifty feet broad, and twen- ty feet deep at the shallowest places. Steamers drawing fifteen feet of water can navigate it with ease in fifteen hours. The cost of the work has been immense. Har- bors had to be constructed, stone for lin ing the banks made, sand dredged out, and expensive precautions taken against its re- filling by sand storms. Work was begun in 1859, but, owing to difficulties between the Sultan and the Porte, and, it is said, to British opposition, operations have been considerably delayed. The original stock of the company was forty million dollars, and, up to the first of July, the cost of the work was ffty-five million dollars in gold.
 The tariff charged on freight and passen- sengers passing through the Canal is nec- essarily high, 10 francs (about $2) per ton burden, and ton francs for each passenger, Whether these rates are so high as to drive away business, experience only will deter mine. The saving in time and distance on East India vessels is very great: from Gib- raltar to Calcutta, around the Cape, the dis tance is l5,OOO miles; by the canal, $500. The canal is not deep enough as yet for the largest steamers, which draw about 25 feet, but can easily be dredged to the re- quired depth. a - -+-t .----
 There is much speculation about the eff. feet which the completion of this enter. prise will have on the course of traffic, ns---ii--- -1:--~-~-s-,s4 4in- -z,nsso9a- hx the Cape of Good Hope, the bulk of East ern trade was transacted through Venice and other great commercial Italian cities of the Middle Ages Since that discove ", trade has been carried on in great ocean ships; and the small vessels, shallow harbors, and extensive land transporta. tion, through which ancient commerce was conducted, have long since been abandon cd. The Suez Canal can hardly fail to bring back something of their old prosper ity to the Mediterranean ports. Instead of being off the line of trade, they are now directly on it, and it will be their own fault if they do not profit largely by it. Whether Great Britain will lose its present lead in European commerce, is very diff. ferent matter. That the Canal will be g disadvantage to her, as compared witI France and Italy, is evident from her con. stant opposition. The great sources oi British prosperity, however, are beyond the reach of injury; for they lie in tho character of the British people. ' 1
 To M. De Lesseps, the civilized world, and particularly the people living on the Mediterranean, owe great debt of grati. tude., Next to him, the chief credit is due to the Emperor Napoleon III, to whose in. :elligence and ability as ruler, the Suez Canal is the most glorious monument Nextin the order of great enterprises comes the ship canal across the Isthmus of Darien which American enterprise ought forth with to attack.