Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1894-07-05
EARNINGS OF THE SUEZ CANAL.

Annually there comes to the notice OF
the public the fact that the Suez canal is
earning an immense amount of money,
and the company's report for 1898 is now
before us. The profits which the share
holders of this corporation are making
were last year rs large rs usual, and they
again present to us, to Americans cspec-
tally, the strongest argument that will
perhaps ever be offered for the revival of
the Central American venture. The
dividends paid by the Suez corporation
for the past four years have been-.1s9O,
II per cent; 1891, p per cent; 1892, Is
per cent; 1898, is per cent. This was
OH capitalization OF 1877 ,125, 900 france,
at 50) francs Il share, inclusive of res.
ervation of 5 per cent interest on the
1914 $50 shares. With this per cent in
terest the yearly payments are made on
the company's redeemable obligations,
the total amount OF which was originally
202, 164 ,l79 francs. Reduced to our own
currency terms these figures show that
the canal cost in round figures the sum
of $50 900 900, OF which the shareholders
contributed one-half, at 800 share.
This Investment is now returning any
where from $21 share, as in 1891, to
ST., as in 1890. The company's exact
revenue in 1898 was 76,579 1872 francs.
The expense amounted to 36,954 ,455
francs leaving a gross profit OF 39,615,-
537 francs, or little less than $4,000, COO.
This is equal to dividend OF ~ francs
per share, or with the 5 per cent interest
OH the shares, 81 francs. The shares in
our money thus melted their owners
about $l4 each, or with the bond reserva
ton, SIS. No objection can be made to
calling the last figure the real net, since
it represents the gradual wiping out OF
the company's bonded obligations, pro-
cess which is steadily going on. If these
obligations were paid off as soon as pos
sible, or when convenience permitted.
the shareholders might still receive over
10 per cent, or $40 a share, and pay off
the Indebtedness in twenty-five years.
The practical question in applying this
lesson OF Suez, as we may call it, to the
Central American project, is whether the
shipping business OF the eastern water
way is at all analogous and similar to the
business which would be done at Pana-
rna or in Nicaragua. Is Suez in Il posi-
ton which offers it !, chance OF larger
usefulness 20 patrons than a channel
across Central America would provide?
The man who would say that it is would
risk any reputation he might have as an
economist OF stable caliber. In the
same way the tinancier who does not APP
precaic the value Of the proposed route
from the Atlantic to the Pacific is risking
his good name as Il Spectator and cap
itaist How the English to-day laugh
at the foresight of the late khedive OF
Egypt for selling his shares in the Suez
canal in 1873 for $40, 100000. The same
shares are worth SS5 100000 to-day.
Yet the German Paris and other Bourses
of Europe, together with the most far
seeing bankers OF the world permitted
Disraeli, Il man who was not financier
as we ordinarily understand the word, to
buy up these shares. the future will
bring rdicule upon United States cap
talists and fnanciers if they permit any
one else to dig the Panama or Nicaragua
canal and own it. Every year shows
how much one or the other OF these
routes is demanded by commerce. The
new movement in the requirement and
development OF the Australian world,
with the utilization of the Pacific islands
as coaling stations and depots, is at this
very moment increasing the prospective
and potential value OF the work
oporp,,,,,.ly - Woet Convt TruIn