The Times assures the world that Lord Granville has ad-.
dressed a Circular to the Powers recapitulating what has been done in Egypt, but not asking permission to do anything, and not expressing any distinct view of the future. The Foreign Secretary ends, however, with the definite proposal that the Suez Canal shall be declared to be, in International Law, an arm of the sea, open at all times to all vessels, though as free from fighting within its limits, and to a certain distance beyond them, as it would be if it were within the municipal jurisdiction of a neutral Power. Under the circumstances, the proposal is most disinterested; but it will be acceptable to the Powers, and, as we have argued elsewhere, it does not weaken any security of Great Britain. If we are at war, we have an unbroken, open waterway from Southampton to Bombay, and can fight in any part of it, except the Canal. That is all we need, while the final separation of the question of the Canal from the question of Egypt will greatly simplify the latter. There will be much leas jealousy of an influence which cannot shut the Canal.
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