Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-02-21
Honoa OF De lfsseps.


Naw YssKk. Feb. 2u.--A French nier-
.hsns n ile came To this country less than
i've wears sgo, asIsi who has keps in touch
sikh crrrent events 10 Franes. SAYS that the
reports Of protect by the French people
sgainst the sentence imposed On Ferdinand
lie Lessers are entirely nnfoansaed He
asserts that ihe Paris newspapers are pro-
testing against the verslit.s of the court. but
hee,ing pabiie opinion. IS sryins,o form it.
You must rot forget sail he. ''tiia,
alnios, every editor AMI proprietor of -
Partisan nevs paper eae,e in for part OF
the pillage of the peoples savings hy az
eepting fancy prices as brides for suppress
sing ne.s. These men were at least NOR
rally, sccomrliees, ami their opinion of the
sentence, therefore. is obviously BIASED,
AMI consequently of no account
The real opiiiien we want is that of the
people. of the hundred thousand boargeoi,
who have been almost ruined by this i'm
meEse jobhery- and OF the families OF those !
more numerous than one would think, who
have been driven 10 suicide. Their opinion
will be found very different These men
cannot find words violent enough to sssaii
the name of De Lesseps, nor any punish.
uient too severe 10 be applied 10 him. AMI
their opinion, in spite of what the French
newspapers of to-day may say, will be that
OF history for when Eight shall have been
thrown on the truth concerning The Saez
canal, as il has been on the dealings al
Panama. de Lesseps will be CHASED among
the greatest robbers of modern times.
AS far as the Suez canal is concerned
the end may have justified the means, for
tie time being al hast But il is neverthe-
less true that as a result of the Snpz thctts,
winch were even greater than tlios. of Pan
anna, the tonnage tax, Which ought not 10
have been more than two francs, is now 10
francs for vessels passing through the
canal. The way in which DE Lesseps
CAME 10 he connected vito the construction
of the Suez canal, was, to say the beast of
it, peculiar. Napoleon |. wanted to attack
England through india after making him
self master of Egypt, and he conceived the
idea of piercing the Isthmus.
He summoned a commission of engineers
from France. with Monge and Laplace at
the head of ii. When the engineers ar
rived in Egypt and began their investiga-
tions, they found traces of the Old canal
built by Pharaoh, and they adopted the oil.
iiiit III fidtiS " litSil iittF ioi M
poleon. 1t was estimated that the isthmus
could be pierced for 50.o00,O00 francs, and
the Emperor ordered that the work should
be begun. Shortly afterward, as is well
known, he was forced TO return 10 France.
Kleber was assassinated the course of poll
teal affairs in the empire was changed, and
the work at Suez came to a standstill
Some years later, in the reign of Loais
PHILIPPE, Ferdinand lie Lesseps was APP
pointed French consul at Cairo, and by u
curious streak of luck he discovered one
day, in the local archives, the plans for The
Suez canal which had been made by Mouge
and Laplace. He began his life as pirate
by appropriating these plans, foreseeing
that some day he should be able to turn
them to his advantage When the second
empire was inlGg rated. Napoleon Ill.
married Eugeni,, lie Ai", ~, who was q
cousin of DE Lesseps. Tins made an open
ing for the latter, and lie submitted his
plans to Napoleon H., with an offer to
build the canal for 100, 900, 900 francs.
With the assistance of his cousin, the
Empress, and of the khedive, Ismal Pasiia,
who came in tor commission of several
millions, it was possible to borrow 600 ,00n,
600 francs. The wildcat methods that were
employed TO raise this sum have become
matters of history. Less than onetenth of
the money, however, was actually eXpend-
ed in the construction of the canal almost all
the work being done by the khedivc's fell
iahin whose only wages consisted of stripes
from cowbide whips. The other nine
tenths found its way into the pockets of
De Lesseps of the Moniijo family, of thu
khedivc, and Of other favorites of the En-
press.
THE success of the canal has kept these
stories out of print. But when the me
mo RS of the principal characters of those
times shall be published, after the usualde-
lays in such eases, and when The truth shall
have been fully told, history will class DE
irsscps with such men as Cartouchs and
Mandrin, and make him worse. perhaps
for the latter never stole money. De Les
seps not only stole money. but he usurpcd
regulations and built up his renown On a
foundation laid by others