CHAPTER XXIX
OTHER GREAT CANALS
While the Panama Canal seems destined to endure for all time as the greatest artificial shipway in the world, there are other waterways, while small in comparison, that are in themselves wonderful works of engineering. In point of traffic the greatest canal in the world is the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, popularly called the "Soo." In point of economy of distance and world-affecting consequence the Suez Canal ranks with, or next to, Panama.
The Suez Canal was built while the Civil War was raging in the United States, and was opened for the passage of vessels on November 17, 1869. It is about twice as long as the Panama Canal, the distance from Port Said, at the Mediterranean terminus, to Suez at the Red Sea end, being approximately 100 miles. When constructed its depth was 26 feet, 3 inches, and its bottom width 72 feet. The maximum vessel draft permitted was 24 feet 7 inches. The canal was in operation for 11 years before vessels of this draft presented themselves for passage.
During the first dozen years of its operation various curves were straightened, the turning-out places where vessels passed one another were enlarged, and their number increased to 13. This work of straightening curves and widening the canal has continued from that time until the present, and to-day vessels may pass one another through a large part of its length. The policy increasing the general dimensions of the canal was begun in 1887. By 1890 its depth had been increased to 291⁄2 feet, so that it could accommodate ships having a draft of 26 feet 3 inches. The work of deepening continued, and when the United States began to build the Panama Canal this work was speeded up, so that by 1908 a depth of 323⁄4 feet was attained and vessels of 28 feet draft could be accommodated. In 1909 it was decided that it would be necessary to make the canal still deeper, and a project, which will not be completed until 1915, was then undertaken, calling for a depth of 36 feet 1 inch. By 1898 the width of the canal had been increased from 72 feet to 981⁄2 feet. This is now being still further increased to 1341⁄2 feet. Even when this project is completed in 1915, the Panama Canal still can accommodate ships of 5 feet greater draft than the Suez Canal.
The maximum draft of ships permitted to use the Suez Canal is demanded in comparatively few instances. A recent report showed that 94 per cent of the ships using the canal had a draft of less than 261⁄4 feet, and that only 1 per cent had a draft of 28 feet. The increase in the depth of the canal, therefore, was made largely in anticipation of future shipping requirements.
When the canal was completed it required 49 hours for a ship to pass through it. The growth in its dimensions, together with the increase in the number and size of passing stations, the straightening of curves, and the improvement of facilities, have brought down to 17 hours the average length of time required for the transit. Ships not equipped with electric searchlights are not permitted to pass through at night. The improvements being made on the canal are being paid for mainly from the revenues derived from tolls.
The Suez Canal was constructed, and has been enlarged and managed, by a private corporation which has invested from the beginning of the construction up to the present time about $127,000,000 of which approximately two-thirds has been secured from the sale of securities, and one-third from the earnings. The original capital of the Suez Canal Company, issued in 1859, was 400,000 shares of $100 each. These shares partake of the nature of both bonds and stock, for they are entitled to interest of 5 per cent as well as to participation in the company's profits. Provision is made for their redemption, but when redeemed they continue to share in the profits and merely lose the interest-bearing feature. On December 31, 1911, 378,231 of these shares were in circulation.
In 1875 the British Government, through Lord Beaconsfield, purchased the 176,602 shares held by the Khedive of Egypt, paying some $20,000,000 for them. The British Government does not own a majority of the shares, and the Suez Canal is controlled and operated by a French company. The annual dividends have increased from 4.7 per cent to 33 per cent. The shares are closely held and trading in them is light. The stock sells at a premium of over 1,000 per cent. When the work of building the canal was undertaken, 100,000 shares were given to the founders. These shares are not stock, but are, rather, certificates of obligation, requiring the company to pay 10 per cent of its profits to the promoters and founders of the original company and their heirs and assigns. The net profits of the canal amount to about $17,000,000 a year. Of this the stockholders get $12,000,000, the Egyptian Government $2,500,000, the founders of the company $1,500,000 and the administrative officers and the employees divide $100,000 among them.
The traffic of the Suez Canal during the first two years was relatively small, for the reason that the canal is not a practicable one for sailing vessels, and steam vessels had to be built. These, being much less efficient than freight steamers are to-day, were slow in securing the trade that had been enjoyed by the sailing vessels. The rate of tolls charged by the Suez Canal Company has declined steadily since the canal went into operation. On January 1, 1912, they approximated $1.30 a ton, with a reduction of nearly a third for vessels in ballast. On January 1, 1913, the rate was made approximately $1.20 a ton, the fraction of a cent higher than the rate at Panama. The passenger tolls are $2 for passengers above 12 years and $1 for children from 3 to 12 years of age; children below 3 years are carried free. The highest toll charged on the Suez Canal was in 1874 when it was $2.51 a ton.