MEMORANDUM TO HIS HIGHNESS MOHAMMED SAID PASHA,
VICEROY OF EGYPT.
The linking of the Mediterranean and Red seas by a navigable canal
is a project which, because of its usefulness, has caught the
attention of all the great men who have ruled or passed through
Egypt: Sesostris, Alexander, Caesar, the Arab conqueror Amru,
Napoleon I and Mohammed-Ali.
This canal, connected with the Nile, was in existence during Antiquity
for an initial period of one hundred years until the middle of
the ninth century before the Hegira, and for a second period of
445 years from the reign of Alexander's earliest successors until
about the fourth century before the Hegira, and finally for a
third period of 130 years following the Arab conquest.
On his arrival in Egypt, Napoleon assigned a commission of engineers
the task of investigating the possibility of reopening this ancient
shipping route. He received an answer in the affirmative, and
when the scholar M. Le Père submitted the commission's report to
him as he was set to leave for France, he said, "This is no small
matter, and it is not I who shall be able to accomplish it, however
the Turkish government will perhaps one day win glory and a place
in history by carrying out this project".
The moment has come to fulfil Napoleon's prediction. The task
of opening up the Suez isthmus is surely destined, more than any
other, to contribute to the preservation of the Ottoman empire
and to show those who not so long ago were announcing its decline
and collapse that it is still leading a fruitful existence, and
that it is still capable of writing an outstanding chapter in
the history of the world's civilization.
Why have the governments and peoples of the West joined forces
to keep Constantinople in the hands of the Sultan,
and how is it that he who sought to threaten this state of affairs
was confronted by the armed opposition of Europe? Because the
passage between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea is of such
importance that the European power which became master of it would
become master of all the rest, upsetting a balance which it is
in the interests of the whole world to preserve.
Whether one establishes a similar and even more important position
in some other part of the Ottoman empire, or whether one makes
Egypt into the world's trade route by opening up the Suez isthmus,
an identical deadlock situation would arise, since, as far as
the new passage is concerned, the great European powers would
regard guaranteeing its neutrality as essential, out of fear of
seeing one of their number seize it one day.
Fifty years ago, M. Le Père requested 10,000 workers, a time allowance
of four years and 30 to 40 million Francs to build the Suez Canal.
He favoured the possibility of digging directly from the isthmus
towards the Mediterranean.
M. Paulin Talabot, one of the three renowned engineers selected
ten years ago for the research company on the canal linking the
two seas, opted for the indirect route from Alexandria to Suez,
taking advantage of the dam to cross the Nile. He estimated the
total cost at 130 million for the canal and 20 million for the
port and roadstead at Suez.
M. Linant-Bey, who has been competently running canal building
projects in Egypt for the last thirty years, and who has devoted
his life to the study on the ground of the question of a canal
between the two seas, and whose opinion therefore merits serious
consideration, proposed cutting an almost straight line through
the isthmus across its narrowest part, and building a large inland
harbour in the basin occupied by Lake Timsah. In this way the
passage between Port Said and Suez, linking the Mediterranean
and the Red Sea, would be made accessible to even the largest
craft.
General of the Engineers Gallice-Bey, creator and manager of the
fortifications at Alexandria, for his part presented to Mohammed-Ali
a project for digging a direct opening through the isthmus, in
line with the plan drawn up by M. Linant-Bey. M. Mougel-Bey, director
of the construction of the Nile dam and chief engineer of the
civil engineering department, also discussed the possibility and
potential benefits of opening up the Suez isthmus with Mohammed-Ali.
In 1840, at the request of M. le comte de Walewski, on assignment
in Egypt at the time, he was put in charge of taking preliminary
steps; however, the subsequent serious turn of events meant that
these were never followed up.
A detailed examination will establish which of these plans is
the most appropriate, but once the project has been declared viable,
all that remains to be done is to make the choice. The various
processes to be executed, however difficult they might be, hold
no more fears for modern know-how. There is no longer any question
whether or not they will be successfully completed; it is a question
of funds, which the spirit of enterprise and partnership cannot
fail to resolve, if the forseeable resulting profits are in keeping
with the cost.
It is easy to illustrate that the cost of the Suez Canal, taking
the most expensive estimate, is not out of proportion with the
usefulness and profitability of this major piece of work, which
would cut the distance between the East Indies and the main countries
of Europe and America by more than half. This result is illustrated
in the following table, drawn up by Professor of Geology, M. Cordier.
DIFFERENCE
(in leagues) |
|
DISTANCE TO BOMBAY |
|
EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN PORTS |
|
via the Suez Canal
|
via the Atlantic
|
|
Constantinople |
Lieues |
1,800
|
6,100
|
4,300
|
Malta |
-
|
2,062
|
5,800
|
7,778
|
Trieste |
-
|
2,340
|
5,960
|
3,620
|
Marseilles |
-
|
2,374
|
5,650
|
3,276
|
Cadiz |
-
|
2,224
|
5,200
|
2,976
|
Lisbon |
-
|
2,500
|
5,350
|
2,850
|
Bordeaux |
-
|
2,800
|
5,650
|
2,850
|
Le Havre |
-
|
2,824
|
5,800
|
2,976
|
London |
-
|
3,100
|
5,950
|
2,850
|
Liverpool |
-
|
3,050
|
5,900
|
2,850
|
Amsterdam |
-
|
3,100
|
5,950
|
2,850
|
Saint Petersburg |
-
|
3,700
|
6,550
|
2,850
|
New York |
-
|
3,761
|
6,200
|
2,439
|
New Orleans |
-
|
3,724
|
6,450
|
2,726
|
Such statistics render discussion useless; they reveal that every
nation in Europe and even the United States of America share an
equal interest in the opening of the Suez Canal, and also in maintaining
the strict and inviolable neutrality of this passage.
Said Pasha is already aware that there is no undertaking which
could match that which I am proposing to him in magnitude and
usefulness of its results. What a magnificent claim to fame for
his reign! What an inexhausible source of wealth for Egypt! The
names of the Egyptian rulers who built the pyramids, those useless
monuments to human pride, have sunk into obscurity. The name of
the prince who opened the great Suez shipping canal will be praised
for centuries to come, for all posterity.
The pilgrimage to Mecca ensured for all time and made easy for
every Muslim; a huge impetus given to steam traffic and long-distance
voyages; the countries on the shores of the Red Sea and the Persian
Gulf, the east coast of Africa, India, the kingdom of Siam, Cochin-China,
Japan, the vast empire of China with its no fewer than 300 million
inhabitants, the Philippine islands, Australia and that vast archipelago
which is increasingly becoming the destination of emigrants from
Old Europe, all brought nearer to the Mediterranean basin and
the north of Europe by almost 3,000 leagues - these are the immediate
effects which will follow on from the opening of the Suez isthmus.
Calculations show that shipping from Europe and America via the
Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn can involve an annual displacement
of 6 million (metric) tonnes and that on only half this tonnage
world trade would make a profit of 150 million Francs per year
by sending its ships via the Arabian Gulf. Doubtless the Suez
Canal would lead to a considerable increase in tonnage but, counting
only 3 million tonnes, an additional annual income of 30 million
Francs would be generated by levying a duty of 10 Francs per tonne,
a tax which might be reduced in proportion to the increase in
shipping.
Having briefly indicated the financial advantages of the project,
let us now turn to its general political advantages, which we
believe to be equally indisputable.
Everything which results in some degree of expansion for world
trade, industry and shipping is of particular advantage to England,
the power which cannot be rivalled by the rest for the importance
of its navy, its manufacturing output and its trade relations.
A deplorable prejudice, based on the political antagonism which
has unfortunately existed for so long between France and England,
is all that has been needed to substantiate the opinion that the
opening of the Suez Canal, in the interests of civilization and
the general good, might harm those of Great Britain. The alliance
of the two peoples at the forefront of civilization, an alliance
which has already demonstrated the feasibility of solutions regarded
until now as impossible by primitive traditions, would make it
possible, among many other benefits, to study this vast question
of the Suez Canal with impartiality, to get a precise idea of
its influence on nations' prosperity, and to present as heresy
the belief that a project designed to reduce by half the distance
between the west and the east of the globe should not be acceptable
to Great Britain, ruler of Gibraltar, Malta, the Ionian islands,
Aden, important settlements on the east coast of Africa, India,
Singapore and Australia.
England, as much as if not more so than France, has to be in favour
of opening up this 30-league tongue of land which any man preoccupied
with questions of civilization and progress cannot see on a map
without feeling a violent desire to be rid of the only obstacle
placed by Providence in the way of the world's main trade route.
The railway from Alexandria to Suez is not enough in itself. It
will only take on true significance and generate a steady income
once it has become an auxiliary route to the Suez shipping canal.
There is no question about the necessity of the railway line,
which will be of great service to travellers and which England
justifiably seeks to complete, but it will no longer be the financial
responsibility of the Egyptian government.
Germany will be equally appreciative of the efforts to open up
the isthmus with a canal, as this will complement unhindered river
transport along the Danube and the clearing of a passage through
the Sulina delta.
Advantages for Austria will include the increase in importance
of Trieste and Venice, openings created for products from the
Empire and the kingdom of Hungary, which will be more easily exported
once the project for a canal linking the Danube and the Black
Sea has been realised.
The opening of the Suez Canal will more than satisfy Russian national
ambitions towards the Orient. The tsar's inherited task of civilizing
the numerous peoples over whom he arbitrates would be a challenge
for the most high-minded ambitions. The new openings which will
be created peaceably for Russian trade and expansion will be worth
more to the country than a policy of conquest and exclusive rule
which no nation can adopt successfully nowadays.
The United States of America, whose relations with Indochina have
strengthened enormously in the last few years, Spain with the
Philippines, Holland with Java, Sumatra and Borneo, the cities
which once flourished along the Italian coast, the ports of Greece,
in short all nations will be eager to share in a project which
will increase their wealth or generate new riches. I can assure
His Highness Mohammed Said Pasha of the active and energetic cooperation
towards the success of this project of enlightened men from every
country.
Camp de Maréa (Libyan desert), 15 November 1854.
FERD. DE LESSEPS.
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