The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-06-11
TOentieth Century Egypt
XH-- 7he Romance of the .Suez Canal
By Frederic J. Haskin.


 advance money for ventures. England was opposed to the canal that would let anybody have a chance at India, and the English Government did every thing possible to keep the Frenchman rom securing funds. He failed in Europe. for he could not get enough even for survey of the canal. Noth- Ing daunted, he went back to Egypt and borrowed money enough from Said to survey the canal and to exploint 1t through Europe. Theu came much planning and more concessions. and much stock jobbing. but by 1860 the French company was again without money. Again the appeal was made to Said and not without avail. for he sub scribed more than one-third of the to- tai capital stock and promised to ad- vance money for the construction work and all for e project that was not to cost Egypt anything. That was the beginning of Egypt's bondage to the money-ienders of Europe. for Said had to borrow the money he gave to the canal.
 Tn 1863 the magnihcently extrava- gant Ismail Pasha came to the throne of Mehemet Ali. He burned with ambi- ton to make himself the greatest ruler in the world, and the canal was darling of his heart. He was the ready and willing victim of the loan sharks of Europe. and he would sign anything in the way of an obligation if there was little yellow gold in sight.
 Meanwhile the canal was progressing slowly Ismail ordered the Egyptian peasants to do the work. under the ancient corvee system Every three months, 25,000 drafted fellaheen went to the big ditch to dig. Every three months a miserable remnant of the pro- ceeding 25,000 left the dead bodies of their comrades beneath the dump heaps.
 The Suez Canal was dug. for the most part. by those poor creatures who scooped up the sand and dirt with their bare hands and carried 1t up the steep banks to the dumps in palm-leaf bas- kets of their own making. Task mas ters with cruel whips of hippopotamus hide punished the sick and the faint ing. as well as the lazy. There were no sanitary precautions and the men died by the thousands.
 This horrible condition of affairs aroused the indignation Of John Bull, who protested to the Sultan. The Sul- tan ordered the employment of fella- heen labor to be stopped. Then de Lesseps and the canal ring descended upon Ismail and held him responsible for damages. The case was left to the arbitration of Napoleon III, who de- cided for the canal ring. and Ismail was forced to pay fine of nearly $10,- 000.000 because his titular sovereign lord had ordered that IsmaiTs subjects should not be murdered in the canal ditch. Each month @ new obligation was fastened upon suffering Egypt Finally. when the canal was completed, 1smail gave a great fete to celebrate It's opening. The celebration cost S21,- 100000. Verdi wrote the opera Aida" to order that Ismail might give a box party one evening. and an opera house was built especially for that purpose.
 But Ismail had signed too many notes of hand. The day of reckoning came. Ismail sold his canal shares to the English Government, and by thcir purchase Benjamin Disraeli gave the British Empire dominion over the traf- fic between the East and the West. It was g bold stroke, and it brought to an end the commercial aspirations of the French of the second Empire. The canal company still has it's chief off, fees in Paris, its clerks speak French and it's tolls are charged in francs, but otherwise 1t is English.
 Ismail was dethroned and died In exile, his magnifoence forgotten. De LeEseps yentured on another canal project, was plunged into disgrace, and died a mental wreck. Egypt. which once levied toll on all the commerce passing between the orient and Occi- dent, now watches the tradeships pass by. The digging of the canal was the greatest blow ever given to Egyptian commerce. But the losses of Ismail and de Lesseps and Egypt make up the gain of the civilized world.
 Opened just forty years ago. its im- portance has increased with every year, and its revenues are expanding each month. It cost S10o. 100000. half of which was spent in bribes and ex- cessive discounts. With modern ma ehinery, such as is being used at Ran- anna, 1t could have been built for one fourth as much. As an engineering problem, 1t is to the Panama Canal as a boys toy block house to a forty-story sky -scraper. How 1t will compare to Panama as an avenue of commerce is question to which Americans anxious ly await the answer.
 (Copyright, 1909, by Frederic ].
 Haskin.)
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