An abstract of the Report to be presented at the
annual meeting of the Suez Canal Company appeared in Monday's Times. From this it appears that the receipts for 1898— 87,906,000 francs—have exceeded those of any previous year, while the number of vessels-3,503—which passed through the Canal has only once been surpassed. The traffic statistics show that of these vessels, representing 9,238,000 tons burden, England sent no fewer than 2,295, Germany standing second with 356, Holland fourth with 193, while Japan, with 46, was only two behind Russia. Of companies it is worth mentioning that the Norddeutscher Lloyd stands second in the traffic. Of the 219,000 passengers 79,000 were civilians, while of the soldiers 34,000 were English, 23,000 were Turks, 23,000 Russians, 14,000 French, and 10,000 Spanish. The pilgrims and emigrants amounted to 17,000. Allowing for the allot- ment of upwards of two million francs to the reserve, the sur- plus of receipts over expenditure amounts to 46,068,000 francs, and the dividend stands at 100 francs net. The Report speaks of the improvement in Indian trade, and of the prospect of increased traffic from the events in China and railway con- struction in Tonquin, Japan, Formosa, and East Africa. It will be interesting to see whether America's Imperial expan- sion will affect her contribution to the traffic of the Canal, which last year only amounted to four vessels. The Canal is the nearer route to the Philippines.
Previous page
