The Paris correspondent of the Times states on "good "autho-
rity that the general basis of an agreement between the Suez Canal Company and the British shipowners is to be as follows : —A second Canal is to be cut, the British Government lending the Company £8,000,000 at 3 per cent. for that purpose. That Government is also to consent that the 44 per cent. of all the shares which it now holds, but which receive no dividend till 1894, shall never receive more than 5 per cent. In return for these large concessions, British trade will be benefited by the second Canal ; 44 per cent. of the administration will be English ; English tribunals will settle differences ; and the whole revenue of the Company, after dividing 20 per cent. among the shareholders, will be devoted to reducing tolls. We presume, though this is not mentioned, that the pilotage of the Canal will be placed under a British Naval officer, as that was conceded before, and is a cardinal point. The offer seems a greedy one, as the British Govern- ment surrenders a great sum obtainable in 1894 by the sale of its shares, but it will serve as a basis for negotiation. The Government does not desire trading profits, and, indeed, ought not to take them, but greater facilities for the Eastern trade.
