Year: 1871

G23S0 leaving q balance of tSS,OO TO tho
Government. Assuming the correctness Of these
figures, that we have means of verifying this re-
suit however unsatisfactory 70 the shareholders. IA
very encouraging TO the public. 1t is a matter Of
utter indifference to the world at large whether the
Suez Canal actionacs get % per cent, per cent
OF per cent, but it is Of immense importance to the
world that the Canal should pay its working ex-
penses aud if in the first year there is balance of
thirtyodd thousand pounds of receipts over outlay
it is obvious that somebody other viii find their
profit in keeping the Canal open a speculation.


The immediate difficulties, however, of the under
taking arise from the claims Of the debentuIe-
holders or obigateurs" The Canal is owned by
four classes Of propretors. There are hrst, 'ho
original shareholders who subscribed eight millions
secondly the Khedive, who hOlds-as far as can 10
ascertained from very complicated statement-
about four millions on which. however, he has
agreed to receive no dividend except under the very
improbable contingency of the shareholders being
paid. we believe. ten per cent; thirdly, second
class of shareholders representing about million
and half of preference stOck-the preference, how
ever referring TO the stock held by the Khedive not
TO that held by the original shareholders; ana
lastly the observation-disclosures, whose debentuos
amount TO H4OOOOO0 With respect to the nTst
three categories of claimants no difficulty is to be
opprehended. Like other shareholders III nu-
merous other undertakings which have not
realized the expectations of their promoters they
will have to put up with their disappointment rs
best they may. The observation-disclosures occupy diff
ferent position they are guaranteed minimum DIV
dend of five per cent, and for the payment OF the
100000 required to provide a dividend of five per
cent on f4OOOO0O there is only somewhat problem
attic asset of GS2,OOO. The difficulty arising from
-. IoI 20 ha hafo
but for the accident of the war. NJ dc Lesseps has
been shut up in Paris during the siege there by the
way his second son, who was serving in the Mo-
bies has been seriously wounded and, owing to
the complete suspension of communication between
the capial-where the head Office Of the Company is
situated-and the outer world, it has been impossi-
BILE to declare dividend even if there had been
dividend to declare But as soon as peace Is restored
the Suez Canal observation-disclosures viii be clamorOus
for a settlement of their claims.


Every legal question connected withEgypt in gen
era and the Suez Canal in particular is of so COM
plicated character that is impossible to say what
are the exact guarantees held by the debenturc-hod
ers for the fulllment of their contract This much
however is certain that any default in the payment
of the guaranteed dividend would involve the Com
pany in serious legal cmbarTassments and would
gravely prejudice its commercial as well as It's
financial prospects. Fresh capital must, therefore,
be raised The Khodive, who, like all Ori-
entails, is unreasonably influenced by prestige,
has modified his French proclivities since
the defeat of France, and is reluctant to
sink further capital in the Canal scheme, so long
as it remains in French hands Moreover, ready
money is not plentiful at present at Cairo. France
is so impoverished by the war and the payment of
the terrible indemnity eXacted by Prussia that the
spirit of French speculation is paralyzed; and, even
if this were not so, the extent to which the Suez
Canal was identified with the Empire would stand
terribly in the way of any fresh demand on French
capital for the sustenance of the enterprise.


Under these circumstances, it is secret that the
management of the Canal look to England for the
funds required TO carry on the undertaL &, and
several English capitalists have lately been TO
Egypt to find out how the ground lies. We remeIn-
Der, during the progress through the Canal, that
when the British war steamer Norfolk was
taking sOundings as she steamed along, somebody
on board the vessel following in her wake asked an
old French resident in Egypt what the Norfolk was
about. Mapping out the new British possessions"
was the reply half in jest half in ,earnes; and the
sneer seems likely to be prophetic.


Still it is not easy to see how any radical change
in the proprietary of the Canal is to be brought
about. English capitalists will assuredly not lend
mo..ey 20 meet the liabilities of the Canal unless
they can see their way TO handsome profit and
though the British Government would probably be
willing enough to purchase the whole concern, yet
the jealousy of France and the dislike of the khe-
dive TO the great influence in the Delta which En-
gland must acquire by the possession of the Canal
would prove serious obstacles in the way of any
direct transfer of the Canal from France to Great
Britain 1t is true that the Company owDs large
tracts of desert land adjacent to the Canal
that it might mortgage for fresh ad-
vances but then, in addition to the doubtful
character of the tenure by which these lands are
held. they are valuable only on the contingency OF
the Canals commercial success and therefore to
lend money on the security of these lands is really
the same thing as lending money on the security Ot
the Canal itself. If any arrangement IS come TO at
present it must be- we think by the debentnre-hold-
ers agreeing to transfer their rights, or portions
thereof to some new Company, which would afford
them additional guarantees for the payment OF their
arrears and the ultimate repayment of their capital
and in any such Company the dominant interest
would be English not French. Such, at least is the
opinion entertained by the persons who have the
best means of forming judgment.





THE DRAMA.