Me maritime cAnal oi? sWez. iy^ 



Foreign Minister, at the beginning of 1887, that any energetic 

 action was really taken to arrive at a satisfactory settlement. 



The first evidence of the Noble Marquis's determination to grapple 

 in earnest with the difficulty, is to be found, in the able and .stales- 

 manlike Despatch of the 21st October, 1887, and which deserves 

 more than a passing notice, so therefore, we submit the full text : — 



" The Marquis of Salisbury to Mr. Egerton. 



" Foreign Office, October 21, 1887. 



" Sir, — More than two years have elapsed since the last meeting of the Com- 

 mission appointed by the Declaration of London, of March, 1885, to prepare a 

 Treaty for guaranteeing the free use of the Suez Canal by all Powers at all times. 

 It separated on the 13th of June, 1885, apparently in consequence of the change 

 of Government in England, without coming to any conclusion. Since that time, 

 the French Ambassador has repeatedly urged upon Her Majesty's Government the 

 importance of resuming the discussion, with a view to bringing the negotiations 

 to a conclusion. On the 13th of January, 1886, M. Waddington informed me 

 that, ' the French Government had consulted the other Powers as to the resump- 

 tion of negotiations on the subject of the Suez Canal, with the result that these 

 Powers expressed their readiness to concur in any solution of the questions left in 

 suspense at the time of the sittings ol the late Conference in Paris which might 

 be acceptable both to Great Britain and France.' I deprecated a renewal of 

 the discussion at that moment on account of the uncertain condition of political 

 affairs in England. Shortly after the change of Ministry, M. Waddington urged 

 a resumption of the negotiations upon Lord Rosebery, but was again met with the 

 observation that the moment was not favourable, though Lord Rosebery expressed 

 the earnest desire of Her Majesty's Government to be in harmony with that of France 

 on this important question. Considerable discussion took place upon the matter 

 in the time of Lord Iddesleigh, and it has been the subject of several communi- 

 cations between M. Waddington and myself. The French Government are now 

 pressing very earnestly upon us that it is of great importance that this long 

 negotiation should now, if possible, be brought to a close. We are not in a posi- 

 tion to dispute this allegation. We have declared, in the most formal manner 

 possible, first in conjunction with the French Government, and afterwards with 

 the other Great Powers in the Declaration of London, of the 17th of March, 

 1885, that ' we have agreed to recognise the urgent necessity for negotiating 

 with the object of sanctioning by a Conventional Act the establishment of a 

 definite regulation destined to guarantee at all times and for all Powers the freedom 

 of the Canal. ' As a matter of good faith, therefore, we are under an obligation 

 to spare no effort to arrive at an agreement upon the terms of a Conventional Act 

 which shall satisfy the above Declaration consistently with the duties and interests 

 to which Her Majesty's Government are bound to have regard. 



" It is possible, that the French Republic may insist upon conditions to which 

 the objections in our judgment are insuperable. But the tone of their communica- 

 tions appears to me to indicate a disposition to meeting in a considerable degree 

 the objections of detail raised by the British delegates at Paris. In view, there- 



