LIST OF EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN PORTS.
| Distance to Bombay in leagues: | Viâ Suez | Viâ the Atlantic | Difference. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Constantinople | 1.800 | 6.100 | 4.300 |
| Malta | 2.062 | 5.800 | 3.778 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| St. Petersburgh | 3.700 | 6.550 | 2.850 |
| New York | 3.761 | 6.200 | 2.439 |
| New Orleans | 3.724 | 6.450 | 2.726 |
With such figures before us, comment is useless; they show that all the nations of Europe, and even the United States of America, are alike interested in the opening of the canal of Suez, as well as in the rigorous and inviolable neutrality of that thoroughfare.
Mohammed Saïd clearly comprehends that there is no undertaking within his power, which, from its immensity and the utility of its results, could bear comparison with that which I propose to him. What a splendid title to fame for him! What an everlasting source of wealth for Egypt!
The pilgrimage to Mecca henceforth assured and facilitated to all Mussulmans; an immense impulse given to steam navigation and to distant voyages; the countries on the coasts of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Persia, the eastern coast of Africa, India, the kingdom of Siam, Cochin China, Japan, the vast empire of China, with its more than 300,000,000 of inhabitants, the Philippine Islands, Australia and that immense Archipelago, towards which the emigration from old Europe is directed, brought nearer by nearly 3000 leagues to the Mediterranean Sea and the north of Europe: such are the sudden and immediate effects of cutting through the Isthmus of Suez.
It has been calculated that the European and American navigation, viâ the Cape of Good Hope and viâ Cape Horn, may carry on a yearly traffic of 6,000,000 tons, and that on the half only of that tonnage the world’s commerce would realize a benefit of 150,000,000 francs annually, by sending the ships viâ the Gulf of Arabia.
There is no doubt that the canal of Suez will occasion a considerable increase of tonnage; but in reckoning only upon 3,000,000 tons, there will yet be an annual produce of 30,000,000 francs by collecting dues of ten francs per ton, which might be reduced in proportion to the increase of navigation.
After having indicated the financial advantages of the undertaking, let us consider its general political advantages, which we believe to be equally incontestable.
Everything that results in contributing to the extension of the commerce, of the industry, and of the navigation of the world, is especially advantageous to England, a power which stands foremost amongst all others from the importance of its navy, from the productions of its manufactories, and from its commercial relations.