If there is one point upon which totalitarian states agitate with which it is possible to be in agreement it must certainly be that raised by Italy demanding representation on the board of the Suez Canal Ca., and a reduction of the dues which are at present charged. With regard to the former it is apparent that Italy as one of the "nations principally interested" Vs entitled to representation on the board, and it is not to be believed that there will be any very strong opposition to such a demand On the other hand the case for a further substantial reduction in canal dues is overwhelmingly strong, and in this connectiort it should be pointed out that the recent reduction from six shillings a ton to 5s. 9d. represents no very real concession to the shipping which uses the canal. Profits on the various scales of dues have always been. high: in 1913 they were 33 per cent, in 1930 they had risen to 44 per cent, falling to 32 per cent. in 1932. Dues which were 5s. 4d. a Suez Canal ton in 1913 were at six shillings in 1937, meaning that the transit dues on a cargo say of 7,000 tons of coal from Swansea in a collier of 2,900 net tons—equal to 3,700 Suez Canal tons—would be about £1,100 or nearly 3s. 0d. a ton, a crushing addition to the cif. value of a commodity which is shipped in competition with that of other countries, at an fob. value of say 20s. a ton. From such an example it must be obvious that European countries trading in the Far East are consequently at a very considerable disadvantage as against such shipping as the Japanese which in this connection would not have to use the Canal. This burden is all the more surprising when it is recalled that the dues of the Panama Canal, ship for ship are from 10 to 20 per cent. below those of the Suez Canal, despite the fact that the former cost three times as much to construct, s much costlier to maintain and is still not run at a loss.
The height of the Suez Canal dues has been a matter of considerable concern practically since the inauguration of the company, and quite early in its history the agitation took such a form that the construction of a second competing canal was seriously considered. De Lesseps met the agitation by giving British shipowners further representation on the Board, and promising to apply profits, accruing after paying a dividend of 25 per cent., in reduction of dues to a minimum of Fr. 5. That, however, was q ly allowed to lapse. Since then the profits have risen as shown above, but protests have been ineffective whether they have emanated from British shippers, Dominion or foreign Governments. It has to be admitted that the Canal Company have the law on their side. Their business is to make profits, for they are not a public utility concern, but a private French company. They have accumulated vast reserves, pay liberal salaries and provide generous pensions. But it is clear, and has been so for years that the existing scale of dues has operated seriously against shipping obliged to use the Canal. Indeed they are so high that it has been estimated that the charges are equivalent to the cost of ten days' extra steaming for every ship, a serious handicap indeed upon shipping forced to use that thoroughfare. It has been suggested that the present system of fixing rates might with advantage be changed: by adopting a scale which would take a vessel's draught and the amount and nature of the cargo carried into consideration, while another school of thought favours a three-part tariff based upon tonnage of cargo, draught and net tonnage. Of the supreme importance of the efficiency and cost of the Canal to European and Asiatic countries alike there cannot be the slightest doubt. There is no suggestion that the Company is not demonstrating complete efficiency in the manner in which it operates the canal, but it is contended that the charges are in the circumstances unwary rantably high, and that the time has come for further scaling down, and that despite the recent reduction by the small sum of 3d. a ton.
Of the importance of greater reduction to all trade east of Suez there cannot be the slightest doubt. In the Asiatic trade both the United States and Japan are in a favourable position, for even cargo brought from the eastern seaboard of America passing through the Panama Canal can be carried to Asia cheaper than it can from Europe via Suez Canal. The disadvantage at which European countries trading with the Far East are placed is a serious one, and if de Lesseps' proposal to use surplus profits for the reduction of dues to a minimum of Fr. 5 had been carried out, and there appears to be no valid reason why it should not have been, canal dues should by now have been in the neighbourhood of 4s. 6d., a vastly different figure from the charges which are now being made after the latest reduction. There is, therefore, very much substance in the claims which have been made for a drastic alteration in the charges which are now being made. They could quite easily on the foregoing figures be reduced by 20 per cent. without doing any injustice to the Company, but conferring an enormous benefit upon ocean-going trade using the canal. Italy is not the only country which has protested against present scales, but the fact that she is now joining the ranks of the protestants merely serves to show how generally the charges are held in disfavour. How a material change can be effected, it is difficult to see, for as has already been pointed out the Company is well within its rights from the legal point of view, and may be expected to stick as, firmly to its guns in the future as it has in the past. It might, however, be possible to show that with the incubus of present dues removed for something less onerous the canal might in time do an infinitely bigger trade, with corresponding benefits to. the company as well as to its clients. In any event it is obvious that some change is necessary to alter conditions which discriminate against the European trade in the Far East, and thus permit some answer to the keen competition which Japan is putting up in this part of the world, which cannot be done effectively until these necessary reductions are made.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.