  FIRMAN OF CONCESSION.Our friend Mons. Ferdinand de Lesseps, having called our attention to the advantages which would result to Egypt from the junction of the Mediterranean and Red Seas, by a navigable passage for large vessels, and having given us to understand the possibility of forming a company for this purpose composed of capitalists of all nations; we have accepted the arrangements which he has submitted to us, and by these presents grant him exclusive power for the establishment and direction of a Universal Company, for cutting through the Isthmus of Suez, and the construction of a canal between the two Seas, with authority to undertake or cause to be undertaken all the necessary works and erections, on condition that the Company shall previously indemnify all private persons in case of dispossession for the public benefit. And all within the limits, upon the conditions and under the responsibilities, settled in the following Articles. Article I.Mons. Ferdinand de Lesseps shall form a company, the direction of which we confide to him, under the name of the Universal Suez Maritime Canal Company, for cutting through the Isthmus Article II.The Director of the Company shall be always appointed by the Egyptian Government, and selected, as far as practicable, from the shareholders most interested in the undertaking. Article III.The term of the grant is ninety-nine years, commencing from the day of the opening of the Canal of the two Seas. Article IV.The works shall be executed at the sole cost of the Company, and all the necessary land not belonging to private persons shall be granted to it free of cost. The fortifications which the Government shall think proper to establish shall not be at the cost of the Company. Article V.The Egyptian Government shall receive from the Company annually fifteen per cent. of the net profits shown by the balance sheet, without prejudice to the interest and dividends accruing from the shares which the Government reserves the right of taking upon Article VI.The tariffs of dues for the passage of the Canal of Suez, to be agreed upon between the Company and the Viceroy of Egypt, and collected by the Company’s agents, shall be always equal for all nations; no particular advantage can ever be stipulated for the exclusive benefit of any one country. Article VII.In case the Company should consider it necessary to connect the Nile by a navigable cut with the direct passage of the Isthmus, and in case the Maritime Canal should follow an indirect course, the Egyptian Government will give up to the Company the uncultivated lands belonging to the public domain, which shall be irrigated and cultivated at the expense of the Company, or by its instrumentality. The Company shall enjoy the said lands for ten years free of taxes, commencing from the day of the opening of the canal; during the remaining eighty-nine years of the grant, the Company shall pay tithes to the Egyptian Government, after which period it cannot continue in possession of the lands above Article VIII.To avoid all difficulty on the subject of the lands which are to be given up to the Company, a plan drawn by M. Linant Bey, our Engineer Commissioner attached to the Company, shall indicate the lands granted both for the line and the establishments of the maritime Canal and for the alimentary Canal from the Nile, as well as for the purpose of cultivation, conformably to the stipulations of Article VII. It is moreover understood, that all speculation is forbidden from the present time, upon the lands to be granted from the public domain, and that the lands previously belonging to private persons and which the proprietors may hereafter wish to have irrigated by the waters of the alimentary Canal, made at the cost of the Company, shall pay a rent of.... per feddan cultivated (or a rent amicably settled between the Government and the Company). Article IX.The Company is farther allowed to extract from the mines and quarries belonging to the public domain, any materials necessary for the works of the canal and the erections connected therewith, without paying dues; it shall also enjoy the right of free entry for all machines and materials which it shall import from abroad for the purposes of carrying out this grant. Article X.At the expiration of the grant the Egyptian Government will take the place of the Company, and enjoy all its rights without reservation, the said Government will enter into full possession of the Canal of the two Seas, and of all the establishments connected therewith. The indemnity to be allowed the Company for the relinquishment of its plant and moveables, shall be arranged by amicable agreement or by arbitration. Article XI.The statutes of the Society shall be moreover submitted to us by the Director of the Company, and must have the sanction of our approbation. Any modifications that may be hereafter introduced must previously receive our sanction. The said statutes shall set forth the names of the founders, the list of whom we reserve to ourselves the right of approving. This list shall include those persons whose labours, studies, exertions or capital have previously contributed to the execution of the grand undertaking of the Canal of Suez. Article XII.Finally, we promise our true and hearty co-operation, and that of all the functionaries of Egypt in facilitating the execution and carrying out of the present powers. TO MY ATTACHED FRIEND |
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