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Extract from L'Isthme de Suez. Journal de l'Union des deux mers, n°195 1-3 août 1864
Napoleon,
By the grace of God and the national will, French Emperor,
to all those who these letters will see, greetings.
Given the agreement signed on 21 April 1864, by:
His excellency Nubar Pasha, special agent of His Highness the
viceroy of Egypt,
And Mr Ferdinand de Lesseps, in name and as founding Chairman
of the Universal Maritime Company of the Suez Canal,
Of which article 2 is set out as follows:
“ His Majesty is entreated to give his opinion on the matters formulated
thus:
” 1° The removal of the corvée being accepted in principle, what shall
be the nature and value of the regulation of 20 July 1856 regarding
the employment of indigenous workers?
”2° What is the compensation that may result from the cancellation
of this regulation? The authorised representative of the viceroy
being declared justified in promising that the clause stipulated
in article 2 of the second act of concession and list of specifications
dated 5 January 1856 shall be deferred.
” 3° Is the portion of the freshwater canal, not retroceded to the
viceroy under the terms of the convention of 18 March 1863, to
continue to be owned by the Company for the duration laid down
by the act of concession as an essential annex of the ship canal?
If this is not so, what shall the conditions be under which the
retrocession may be operated and to which the parties undertake
forthwith to agree?
” 4° As the maps and plans which, under the terms of article 8 of
the act of concession of 30 November 1854, and of article 11 of
that of 5 January 1856, were due to drawn up, but have not been,
what, therefore, is the extent of the land necessary to build
and operate the ship canal (and the freshwater canal, assuming
this remains a part of the Company) in conditions suitable to
safeguard the prosperity of the enterprise?
” 5° What is the compensation payable to the Company, by reason of
the accepted retrocession in principle of the land as mentioned
in articles 7 and 8 of the act of concession 1854 and in articles
10, 11 and 12 of that of 1856?” [...]
By these reasons, we have reached the following decision:
On the first matter:
The regulation of 20 July 1856 has the characteristics of a contract,
and contains mutual undertakings which must be carried out by
the viceroy and the Company.
On the second matter:
The compensation to which the cancellation of the regulation of
20 July 1856 gives rise shall be set at thirty-eight million francs
(38,000,000 fr.).
On the third matter:
The retrocession of the freshwater canal shall be undertaken under
the following terms and guarantees:
1° The section of the canal between Ouady, Timsah and Suez shall
be retroceded, as with the first section, to the Egyptian government
although exclusive possession thereof shall be left to the Company
until the ship canal is fully completed, on the understanding
that no water shall be taken without the consent of the Company.
2° The Egyptian government shall maintain the water supply to this
canal by that of Zagazig; furthermore, it shall carry out the
work for the section which has been retroceded to it, in accordance
with the agreement of 18 March 1863, and shall bring the first
and the second sections into communication with one another, at
the Ouady junction point, thereby ensuring its supply at all times.
3° The Company shall be bound to complete the remaining work in
order to ensure the canal from Ouady to Suez is made in all the
agreed dimensions and ready for reception.
4° Throughout the duration of the concession governing the ship
canal, the Company shall be charged with maintaining the freshwater
canal in perfect condition, from Ouady to Suez, such maintenance,
however, being at the expense of the Egyptian government, which
shall compensate the Company, by means of an annual subscription
of 300,000 francs, unless it wishes to pay the maintenance costs
by invoice; it shall be bound to inform the Company of the method
it has chosen within one year from the day on which the canal
is handed over. The Company must shore up the plantation dikes
in order to prevent landslips and protect against the movement
of the sand.
The subscription shall be applied as the work progresses and in
proportion to the length of each completed section; it shall be
subject to review every six years.
5° The level of the water in the canal shall be maintained:
in the high waters of the Nile, at 2.5m
at the medium low water, at 2m
at very low water, at no less than 1m
6° The Company shall take seventy thousand cubic metres of water
(70,000 m) per day from the canal for the supply of the populations
established along the route of the canals, for watering gardens,
for the running of the machines intended for the maintenance of
the canals and for those of the industrial facilities associated
with their operation, for the irrigation of crops et plantations
grown on the dunes and other land not naturally irrigable, situated
in the reserved zones along the canals and for the supply of the
vessels passing through the ship canal.
The Company shall have right of way on the land crossed by the
water channels and conduits necessary for taking the 70,000 m.
7° Once the ship canal is fully completed, the Company shall be
granted no further usage of the freshwater canal than that belonging
to Egyptian subjects, although its ships and vessels shall be
granted no right of navigation; the supply of freshwater directly
to Port Said shall continue to be provided by the means that the
Company deems fit to employ at its own cost.
8° The Company shall cease to have the rights of cession over water,
navigation, piloting, towing, hauling or mooring granted to it
on the freshwater canal under the terms of articles 8 and 17 of
the act of cession of 5 January 1856.
9° Apart from the locks under construction at Ismailia and at Suez,
and the three other locks on the Suez diversion, it shall not
be possible to establish any fixed or mobile installation on the
freshwater canal and its dependencies without the mutual agreement
of the Egyptian government and the Company.
10° The Egyptian government shall pay to the Company the sum of ten
million francs (10,000,000); seven million five hundred thousand
(7,500,000) of this being for the work executed, the portion of
general costs and the interest on advances, and two million five
hundred thousand francs (2,500,000) for the work remaining to
be executed.
11° The Egyptian government shall pay the Company the sum of six
million francs (6,000,000) in compensation for the navigation
rights and other charges which the Company no longer enjoys.
On the fourth matter:
The perimeter of land required for the establishment, operation
and maintenance of the freshwater and ship canals, shall be set
at ten thousand two hundred and sixty-four hectares (10,264 h.)
for the ship canal, and at nine thousand six hundred hectares
(9,600) for the freshwater canal, these being divided up as follows:
Ship canal
Africa
Asia
Port Said
hect. 400
”
From Port Said to El Ferdane
Ras-el-Ech
Kantara
From El Ferdane to Timsah
Junction canal with the freshwater canal
Town of Ismailia
Port of Ismailia in Lake Timsah, canal in Asia
From Lake Timsah to the Bitter Lakes
Crossing of the Bitter Lakes
From the Bitter Lakes to the Suez lagunas
Crossing of the Suez lagunas
Channel of the port of Suez
Freshwater canal
From the end of the canal to be built by the Egyptian government
to Ras-el-Ouady
From Ras-el-Ouady to the end of Lake Maxamah
From Lake Maxamah to Nefiche
From Nefiche to Ismailia
From Nefiche to the Bitter Lakes
Windings of the Bitter Lakes
Suez station
On the fifth matter:
The compensation payable to the Company by reason of the retrocession
of the land is set at thirty million francs (30,000,000).
CONCLUSION.
Total compensation payable to the Company, which amounts to eight-four
million francs (84,000,000), shall be paid by the Egyptian government
in annuities as follows:
The first allotted sum of 38 million shall be payable in six annuities
divided by half-year period. The first eight such periods shall
be of 3,250,000 francs each, the last four of 3 million each.
The first half-year period shall be due on 1 November 1864, the
following payments continuing from one semester to the next until
the sum of 38 million has been acquitted in full.
The sum of 30 millions allocated for the compensation of land
retroceded shall be divided into ten annuities of 3 million each.
The first annuity shall be due only once the entire sum of 38
millions as set out above has been acquitted, that is 1 November
1870, and the payments shall continue, from year to year, until
the sum of 30 million has been paid in full.
The sum of 6 million, allocated for the compensation regarding
the rights over the freshwater canal, shall be divided into ten
annuities of 600,000 francs each, due on the same dates as those
shown above set for the compensation of 30 million.
Finally, the sum of 10 million, allocated for the work executed
and to be executed on the freshwater canal, shall be paid in the
year in which the said canal is handed over.
All of the above being in accordance with the following table.
-
-
-
-
-
1st year
fr
1 May 1865.
2nd
1 May 1866.
3rd
1 May 1867.
4th
1 May 1868.
5th
1 May 1869.
6th
1 May 1870.
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
Fontainebleau, sixth of July eighteen hundred and sixty-four
Certified copy of the original contained in the archives of the ministry of foreign affairs.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Signed: DROUYN DE LHUYS.
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