Printed papers on the political situation and military policy in Egypt [‎10v] (20/176)

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94. In this connection the Admiralty would invite the attention to the following
extracts from Foreign Office note quoted above :—
“ It appears to the Foreign Office, after carelul consideration, that, by
“ virtue of the Convention of the 29th October, 1888, respecting the free
“ navigation of the Suez Canal, signed by all the Powers and accepted by His
“Majesty’s Government m 1904, Great Britain, in common with the other
“ Signatory Powers (of whom Turkey is one), is under a joint and several *
“ obligation to preserve the neutrality of the Suez Canal.”
“ Our ground of interference, however, would not be the protection of
“ Egypt against attack, but the protection of the Canal against violation. So ,
“ far as we claim to intervene under the Convention, our intervention should
“ be strictly confined to such measures as are necessary to prevent the violation
“of the neutrality of the Canal.”
“ Our interference with force sufficient to protect and preserve this
“ neutrality for the benefit of the world at large does not, however, entail inter-
“ ference to preserve Egypt so long as the neutrality of the Canal is assured.”
“The neutrality sruaranteed, however, is really in the nature of a passage
“ without let or hindrance through the Canal for the shipping of all nations,
“ and this would obviously meet with interference from bodies of armed men
“ forcing a way across the Canal and fighting on its banks, to the danger of the
“ passing shipping.”
95. It would appear, by virtue of its traditional practice and obligation, that
the British Government should, on the grounds of maintaining the freedom of
passage of the Canal to the world's shippinOj take the necessary steps during a
period of strained relations to preserve the utility of the Canal by keeping it open for
the passage of ships, or, in other words, to prevent either ships or ill-disposed
persons doing anything to impede the passage of ships through the Canal.
96. As the first visible act of interference would be the actual blocking of the a
Canal, it would be necessary to institute the necessary precautions on the strength
of suspicions that such an act was in contemplation based on information received
from secret and other sources. j
97. It may be argued that in taking any preventive steps we should be actuated
by “ interested ” motives, but it would, in the opinion of the Admiralty, be a mistake
to allow reflections as to the interpretation other nations might put on our actions
unduly to influence our policy when so much is at stake.
98. Our “interests” are indeed of such a striking nature that, even if the
1888 Convention did not enforce on us a moral obligation to take certain steps,
possibly of a seemingly high-handed nature, in the interests of the world’s shipping,
they alone would constitute a sufficient justification for doing all in our power to
preserve the utility of the canal.
99. Briefly, those “ interests” appear to be—
(a.) The overwhelmingly high percentage of British tonnage using the Canal
compared to all other nations.
In 1922, the British percentage was 64 compared with Dutch
10 per cent., Japan 4 per cent., United States of America 3 per cent,
and France 4 per cent.
(5.) The revenue Great Britain derives from the 176,602 out of the 400,000
original shares in the Canal Company, a shareholding capacity which
gives us a clear majority over any other individual shareholder and a
dominating interest in the prosperity of the Canal as a commercial
undertaking. *
(c.) Our special status vis-a-vis the Government of Egypt.
(d.) The extreme vulnerability of this delicate link in our Imperial communica
tions, and the profound effect which its rupture would exert on our #
strategy if we were ever faced with the possibility of war with Japan.
XIV.—The Attitude of the Suez Canal Company and its Effect on the Passage of
a Large Fleet through the Canal in the Event of a War with Japan.
100. The Canal was commenced in 1858 and opened to traffic in 1869 (November).
Bv an international convention, signed the 24th October, 1887, it was declared