1186 FOREIGN RELATIONS.

intention of preventing all ship passing through the canal which refused
to pay the customary toll. He declared that sooner than submit to any
reduction in the rate of tonnage-dues he would withdraw his pilots,
extinguish the lights, and close the canal to navigation. rt

The vizieral letter from His Majesty the Sultan to His Highness the
Khedive, ordering the latter to enforce the application of the rules laid
down by the international commi ssion, a copy of which I had the honor
to inclose with my dispatch No. 183, granted to the canal company a
delay of three months in- which to prepare for the application of the new

rules. That delay expires to-day. Until the 25th instant Mr. Lesseps °

maintained a bold and deti ant attitude, and the Khedive prepared to
enforce the decision of the Porte, and determined, if necessary, to take
possession of the canal and manage it himself. — Os tes
On the 23d instant a force of several hundred men and officers, under
the command of General Stone, was stationed at various points along
and in the neighborhood of the canal, to prevent any overt action on

the part of the canal company, and to be ready to take possession of the -

canal in case of necessity. The Egyptian frigate Mehemet Ali arrived
at Port Said from Alexandria the same. day, the 23d, and, with the sta-
tionary frigate at Port Said, formed the naval contingent of General
Stone’s force. The general had with him pilots who were acquainted
with the canal, and was supplied. with everything necessary for facili-
tating the passage of ships and the organization of a new transit-
service. a |

Mr. Lesseps was at Jaffa on the 23d instant, where he had been for
several days. On the 24th he returned to Port Said and Ismaila, and
on the 25th he arrived at Cairo. | |

On the 23d instant I reeeived a communication from. the minister of
foreign affairs, (inclosure No. 1,) informing me of the mission of General
Stone, and requesting me. to order any citizens of the United States
who might be in the service of the canal to‘ abstain from appealing to
their nationality or displaying the flag of their country in case of a con-
flict of authority between the canal company and the territorial authori-
ties. On the 24th I addressed official communications to Mr. Page at
Port Said, and to Mr. De Haro, United States consular-agent at
Ismaila, (inclosures Nos. 2 and 3,) instructing them in case of any con-
flict to maintain a strict neutrality. | |

On the 26th instant I received a second communication from the
minister of foreign affairs, (inclosure No. 4,) informing me that Mr. Les-
_Seps had decided to conform to the deeision of the Sublime Porte in re-
gard to the tonnage-dues, and inclosing Mr. Lesseps’s official letter to the
minister of the interior, (inclosure No. 5,) in which he announced that
from the 29th instant, to-day, the new rules, as recommended by the
international commission, would, under protest, go into effect.

I have the honor to inclose also a leading article on he Suez Canal
from the London Mail of the 24th instant, (inclosure No. 6,) and a letter
on the same subject from the Constantinople correspondent of the same
journal, (inclosure No. 7,) both of which are interesting contributions to
the subject treated of in this dispatch. ee

Tam, &e., on : R. BEARDSLEY.

 

[Inclosure 1 in No. 193.—Translation.]

Nubar Pacha to My. Beardsley.
Cartro, April 23, 1874.

Mr. AGent AnD ConsuL-GENERAL: You no doubt are aware that Mr. Lesseps has |

_ manifested his intention of opposing the execution of the decision of the imperial