SUEZ CANAL

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21195, 19 August 1940, Page 13

SUEZ CANAL

FASCINATING HISTORY ENGINEERING FEAT The fascinating history of the Suez Canal was recalled in an address which Mr J. S. Sinclair delivered to the members of the Otago Importers and Shippers’ Association on the occasion of the annual meeting of that body. As Mr Sinclair pointed out, the war situation has once more invested the question of the Suez Canal with considerable significance, for it was the speaker’s opinion that Hitler would not readily attempt an invasion of Britain but would, rather, attack her at some point away from her fortress home, and where she might be more vulnerable. Tribute to De Lesseps The speaker, in traversing the events which led up to one of the greatest engineering achievements i'n history, paid a warm tribute to the genius, the determination, and the ultimate success of the Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps, who, in the face of tremendous odds, had carried through a project of such vast importance. De Lesseps had succeeded largely because of the friendship which had grown up between him and the Viceroy of Egypt. It seemed incredible, said the speaker, that, at the outset, Britain had raised strenuous objections to the scheme, and, when it was realised that de Lesseps had obtained the required sanction and had formed a company, strong representations were made to the Sultan. There was only one thing to do, and that was for de Lesseps to win over England, and this he did through the agency of the mercantile and maritime interests in that country, by assuring them that no one nation would be permitted to control the canal.

Flow the work was begun in 1859 and the canal completed in 1869 is a matter of history, but de Lesseps encountered more difficulties, as during the first year of operations only 500 ships passed through, and the fees amounted to but £186,000. Today the annual fees represented something like £9,000,000 or £10,000,000. Mr Sinclair told of England’s response to the appeal of Egypt to repel the threatened invasion of the* Arabs and how England eventually assumed control of the canal and how the nations, including Germany and Italy had agreed to the neutrality and sanctity of it. Ships of all flags, warships or merchant vessels, were to use it unmolested, and it was not to be blockaded under any circumstances. The world, however, knew, said Mr Sinclair, what the word of the dictator was worth. Termination of Concession In 28 years the concession, which was for 99 years, would come to an end, said Mr Sinclair. What would happen then no one knew. But one hoped that Egypt, which had never spent one penny on the canal or contributed one penny toward its cost, would remember what England had done in preserving it and helping, by this means, to bring fertility and vast wealth to the land of Egypt. Mr Sinclair stressed the importance of this great waterway to the world today, and pointed out that, whatever happened, the canal was one of the danger spots in the Mediteranean and that it was essential for England to retain control of the Mediterranean. That England would carry out her covenant of 1888 went without saying. She would guard the canal and protect it from blockade and invasion.