Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-04
EARNINGS OF THE sUEz CANAL.
IN Average Dividend of Over Is Per
Cent to the Shareholders.

Cent to the Shareholder.
annually there comes to the notice Of the
public the fact that the Suex canal is earn
ing an immense amount of money, and the
company's report for 1873 is now before the
public. The profits which The shareholders
VI TINS corporation arc making were last
year as large as usual. says the Providence
Journal. and they again present to Ameri-
cans especially. the strongest argument
That perhaps will ever be offered for the
revival OF the Central American venture
The dividends paid by the Suez corpora ton
for the last four years have been-1S9O II
per cent; 1891. Il per cent: 1892, IS per cent;
1873, Is Der cent. This was OH q capitalixa
ION OF l07. 125O0O francs, at 500 francs a
share, Inclusive Of q reservation of 3 per
cent interest on the 334, 80 shares With
this per cent interest the yearly pay
nents are made on the company's redeem
able obligations. the total amount of which
was originally 2O2, 764. III francs. Reduced
TO our own currency terms these figures
snow that the canal cost IN round figures
the sum OF $SO. OUOO0, Of which the share
holders contributed one-half at 500 a
snare: This investment Is now returning
anywhere from 81 a SHARE as in 1891, to
~, IN 1890 The company's exact revenue
In 1893 was 1879. 9y2 francs. The expenses
amounted to $685. 55 francs, leaving q
gross profit of 39.615,5 37 francs, or a little
less than sS,OO0OOO. This is equal to a diyi-
dend OF q francs per share. or with the s
per cent interest on the shares, o. francs
The shares in our money thus netted their
owners about $l4 each. or with the bond
reservation. SIS. No objection can be made
to calling the last figure the real net. since
1t represents the gradual wiping out of Inc
company's bonded obligations a process
which Is steadily going on. If these OBJ
legations were paid off as soon as possible,
or when convenience permitted. the share
holders might still receive over 10 per cent
or $40 per share. and yet pay off the indebt-
edness in twenty-five years. Il
The practical question in applying this
lesson OF Suez.as we may call IT, to the Cen
trail American project Is whether the ship
ping business Of the eastern waterway Ia at
all analogous and similar to the business
which would be done at Panama or in
Nicaragua. Is Suez in a position which
offers 1t a chance of larger usefulness TO
patrons than a channel across Central
America would provide? The man who
would say that 1t Is would risk any reputa-
ton he might have as an economist of siz-
able caliber. In the same way the finan Ser
who does not appreciate the value Of the
proposed route from the Atlantic to the Pa
cifc is risking his good name as a specu-
lator and capitalist. How the English to-
day laugh at the foresight of the late khe-
Suez canal in 1878 for 500. OOUO0. The same
shares are worth SS5OOO.OOO today. Yet
the German. Paris and other bourses Of Flu
rope, together with the most far-seeing
bankers IN the world. permitted DisraelL q
man who was not a financier as we ordi-
narily understand the word, to buy up these
shares. The future will bring ridlcuie upon
United States capitalists and financlere II
they permit any one else to build the Pan
anna 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 de-
velopment of the Australian world. with the
utilization of the Pacific islands as coaltng
stations and depots, is at this very moment
increasing the prospective and potential
value OF the work enormously.