The Pahiatua Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 1936. CLOSING THE SUEZ CANAL.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13166, 27 January 1936, Page 4

The Pahiatua Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 1936. CLOSING THE SUEZ CANAL.

When the League of Nations Council condemned Italy as being the aggressor in the Abyssinian dispute, various agitations were made by sections of the Press which included the closing of the Jsuez Canal against Italian shipping a step which' would practically cripple Italy’s African army as the latter would be placed in a perilous position without ready access lor supplies and reinforcements. By *tho Convention ol Constantinople' (October 29, 1888) all European powers guaranteed the ireedom of passage to all countries through the Canal in war as in peace. The canal itself is operated and controlled by- the Compagriie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez—a private Egyptian joint stock company, whose headquarters are m Paris, and of the 32 directors, oil the Board 21 are f rench Tor nearly 50 years England has had the exclusive defence of the Canal, which nominally was the duty of the Khedive and Sultan of Egypt. England m 1882 occupied Egypt to assist the Khedive in this direction, and when war broke out she declared Egypt a protectorate state, which remained thus till 1922, when Egypt was given the status of an independent sovereign state. Under the mles governing the use of the Canal in war time “no belligerent vessels are permitted to revicttual or refuel in the Canal, and their passage through and departure from must be speedily carried out.” Hostilities are naturally prohibited and no belligerent vessels may claim sanctuary m the territory of the Canal. It can be seen that England’s position in regard to tlie Canal is determined wholly by her relationship with Egypt, and she naturally wishes to retain her standing there for this reason, if no other. Early in the Great War a number of German ships were in the Canal and the rule against sanctuary was imposed, and after being escorted beyond the three-mile limit by Egyptian gunboats they were seized by waiting English man-o-wars. In 1901 part of the Russian fleet passed through the Canal on its way to engage the Japanese who were allies of England’s at that time. The Russians violated the coaling clause, hut were not penalised. Even if England happened to be the hostile power she could not close the Canal against an enemy ship, and so long as Italy (who may be technically at war with all members of the League) observes the conventions of the Canal she may continue to use it. Should she fail to pay her huge debt for Canal dues it may form the basis of an action restraining her from doing so, however.