Ship Canal across the Isthmus of Suez [pp. 766-772]

SHIP CANAL ACROSS THE ISTHMUS OF SUEZ.
In the sight of such figures all comments are useless. They
show that all the nations of Europe, and even the United States
of America, are equally interested in the opening of a canal
through the Isthmus of Suez, as well as in the rigorous and
inviolable neutrality of the passage. Mohammed-Ali-Said,
the present Viceroy of Egypt, already perceives that there is
no work to be executed which can compare with this in the
grandeur and utility of its results. For his reign what a title
of glory! For Egypt what an inexhaustable source of wealth!
The names of the Kings of Egypt, who creited the pyramids,
those useless monuments of human pride, remain unknown,
while the name of the prince who shall open this grand canal
shall call down the blessings of posterity to the latest times.
The pilgrimage to Mecca, secured for all future time and made
easy for all Mussulmans; the mighty impulse given to steam
navigation and long voyages; the countries which border upon
the Red Sea and the Gulf of Persia; the eastern coast of
Africa; India; the kingdoms of Siam, Cochin-China; Japan;
the vast empire of China; the Philippine Islands, Australia, and
that immense Archipelago to which the emigration of Europe
is directed; all these brought within about 3,000 leagues of
the basin of the Mediterranean and the north of Europe; these
are the immediate results of a canal across the Isthmus of
Suez.
It is estimated that at the present time ten millions of tons are
every year carried round the Cape of Good Hope and Cape
Horn, and that upon one-half only of this tonnage the commerce of the world would realize a saving of $100,000,000
per annum if the ships were to go by the Gulf of Arabia. It
is beyond doubt that the canal of Suez will give a very considerable increase to navigation; but, upon the calculation of
three millions of tons only, there will be an annual revenue of
$6,000,000 by the imposition of a duty at $2 per ton; a duty
which could be lowered in proportion to the increased use of
the canal.
The memorial to the Viceroy concludes with expressing
the belief that an enterprise like this, so important for the
future well-being of the world, will henceforth escape all opposition, and that the attempts to accomplish the object will be
sustained by the universal sympathy and by the active and
energetic co-operation of the enlightened men of all countries.
The Viceroy of Egypt, Mohammed-Ali-Said, upon receiving
the memorial of M. Lesseps, of which we have given the substance, referred the matter to the Sublime Porte, and, having
obtained its consent to the magnificent project, granted AM.
770