By the 13th June, 1885, the Commission had agreed on the text of a convention by which the freedom of navigation of the Canal in war-time was to be secured, and the Commission then concluded its sittings.
It should be mentioned that the British delegates, in approving the arrangement, formally declared that they did so under express reservation against the application of any of the clauses which might be incompatible with the existing situation in Egypt, or which might fetter the action of Her Majesty's Government or the movements of Her Majesty's forces during the British occupation of Egypt. From the date last mentioned, the question was under discussion by the respective Governments till more than three years later, when the Convention was concluded, and finally ratified by the Powers on the 22nd December, 1888.
The principal provisions of the Convention were the following, viz.:—
That the Canal should be open to both merchant vessels and men-of-war both in time of war and peace; that the Canal should not be subject to the exercise of the right of blockade; that no act of hostility should be committed in the Canal, its ports of access, or within a radius of three miles; that vessels of belligerents should only take in supplies so far as they were actually necessary, and that their stay in port should be limited to twenty-four hours; that the like interval should elapse between the sailing of a belligerent vessel and the departure of a vessel of a hostile Power; that no belligerent Power should disembark or embark either troops or munitions of war; that no vessel of war belonging to the contracting Powers should be stationed in the Canal, and not more than two at Port Saïd or Suez; that the restrictions imposed should not apply to measures which the Sultan or the Khedive might take for the defence of Egypt by their own forces or for the maintenance of public order; and that no fortifications should be erected.
Referring to a former chapter dealing with M. de. Lesseps' contention as to the neutrality of the Canal, it is worthy of note that in no part of the Convention does the word "neutrality" occur, and it is a fact that in Lord Salisbury's instructions to the British delegates they were expressly warned to avoid using that expression and to substitute for it the term "freedom of navigation."
The Army of Occupation. In August, 1885, the continued presence of the Army of Occupation (then 14,000 in number) had for some time been producing increased irritation on the part of the Sultan, and also of the French Government. Sir H. Drummond-Wolff was then sent to the East with the object of endeavouring to arrive at some understanding with regard to the withdrawal of the British troops. The British envoy was also, in combination with the Turkish commissioner Moukhtar Pasha, to consider the steps to be taken for tranquillizing the Soudan, and to inquire what changes might be necessary in the civil administration of Egypt.
The British commissioner was received by the Sultan on 29th August, and having signed a preliminary convention with the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs at Constantinople, came on to Cairo two months later, where he was joined by his colleague.
Their joint inquiry lasted till the end of 1886, and resulted in various suggestions which were not adopted.
In January, 1887, the Sultan, backed by France, was pressing the British Government to name a day for the evacuation, and, with a view to meeting his views as far as possible, a definite convention on the subject was signed by the two commissioners on the 22nd May, 1887.
According to this agreement, the British troops were to withdraw at the end of three years, unless at the expiration of that period external or internal danger should render the postponement of the evacuation necessary, in which case the troops were to be withdrawn as soon as the danger should have disappeared. Two years after the withdrawal, the supervision exercised by Great Britain over the Egyptian army was to cease. Thenceforward Egypt was to enjoy territorial immunity, and, on the ratification of the Convention, the Powers were to be invited to recognize and guarantee the inviolability of Egyptian territory. Nevertheless, the Convention continued, the Turkish Government was to have the right to occupy the country militarily if there should be danger from invasion without, or if order and security were threatened within. On the other hand, the British Government reserved the right to send, in the above-mentioned cases, troops which would take the measures necessary to remove those dangers. Lastly, both the Ottoman and British troops were to withdraw as soon as the causes calling for their intervention should be removed.