The first and most valid objections alleged by Lord Palmerston were based on the practical difficulties in the way of execution, and were stated with great force and acuteness. The shifting sands of the Desert would, it was affirmed, soon fill up the canal; and the sand and silt, which from time immemorial had been brought down by the great father of waters, and which swept to the westward by the prevailing winds, would soon fill up any artificial harbor which might be constructed.
That these difficulties were resolutely encountered and overcome, is one of the marvels of this truly marvelous work.
To these objections M. de Lesseps cautiously replied that all questions would be referred to a commission of engineers.
After an examination of all the plans, the commission reported favorably on that which has just been successfully executed. The work found a few friends among the English people and in Parliament.
Lord Palmerston, being interrogated, declared that the scheme was hostile to the interest of the country. His real objection was obscurely hinted. “It is founded,” he remarked, “in remote speculations in regard to easier access to our Indian possessions, which I need not more distinctly shadow forth, because they will be obvious to any body who pays attention to the subject.” He further characterized it as one of those plans “so often brought out to make dupes of the English people,” and he expressed his preference for the communication by railroad between Suez and Cairo. As this railroad can never be more than a passenger route, it is evident that its influence on commerce must always be insignificant.
The work had barely commenced when, through the instigation of the English Embassador, the Sultan issued an order arresting the operations. The plea assigned for this interference was that the authority of the Viceroy was insufficient without the sanction of the Sultan. De Lesseps invoked the interposition of the Emperor, who, with apparent indifference, was watching the proceedings from his retreat at Biarritz.
Within a month after the presentation of the memorial the misunderstanding between the two cabinets had been explained, and Lord Palmerston was for a time silenced by the consent of Egypt to receive a Turkish garrison. This acquiescence was in appearance only, as the real object of these repeated assaults was to arrest the work. The Viceroy, desirous of silencing all opposition, consulted French jurisconsults in regard to the rights of the company, and definitely settled the powers of the contracting parties.
For a moderate sum he ceded to the company the belt of country bordering the fresh water canal. Immediately the cry was raised by the opponents of the canal, that it was intended to colonize this region with Europeans.
While this matter was in controversy, and the work was steadily proceeding, Said Pacha suddenly died, and Ismail, his nephew, reigned in his stead, with the title of Khédivé. He confirmed the concessions of his predecessor and entered into new conventions. His confidence in the work, which had appeared uncertain, was established by the able report of Sir John Hawkshaw, the President of the Society of Civil Engineers. This report, however, which was confirmed by the personal inspection of Sir Henry Bulwer, aroused all the fears of the English Government. The success of the work, at first problematical, now seemed more than probable. A decisive blow must be struck; one that should be fatal to the undertaking.
Throughout Egypt, according to an ancient and still prevailing custom, private and public work is executed by a system of forced labor, termed Corvē. The conscription is limited to the period of one month, at a fixed rate of wages. The company engaged to pay higher rates than usual, and to supply food, lodging, medical attendance, and half pay when sick. No sooner had twenty thousand men been collected on the excavations, than a “howl went up from Exeter Hall.” Lord Stratford de Redcliffe demanded of the Sultan “to stop the scandal.”