Suez vital link in
Middle East oil line

The Suez Canal, opened in
869, is 103 miles long and
inks the Red. Sea with the
Mediterranean.! It: saves the
:000-mile trip round Africa
fr vessels coming from‘ the
ar East, India and the oil
icrts of the Middle East.

It is, in fact, a vital link be-
ween the rich oil fields and
-urope. Oil from the Persian
tulf, Saudi Arabia and Ku-
vait accounts for more than
wo-thirds of the annual south
® North traffic. Tankers
‘mounting to 68 million tons
Sed the canal last year.

British ships are largest
iSers of the canal. In 1954, of
he 13,215 ships passing
hrough 4,493 were British.
4ssenger liners carried 537,976
parle through the canal ir

Legally, the canalis owned
ud controlled by “an Egyp-
{an joint stock company, the

“OMpagnie Universalle du

French Communists send unity

By J. R. CAMPBELL

PARIS
It is absolutely certain that

S0vernment based on a
Inited working class could
ally round itself a new pop-
lar front and could carry out
_ Vast policy of democratic

Nd social advance and a policy
f peace.”

Re Was the keynote of an
7 €Ss from the delegates of
= Communist Party con-
4 Sto the Socialist party
: opted at its closing session.

Such a united front would

Canal Maritime de Suez, with
an office registered in Paris.
The British government holds
the largest single block -of
shares—353,504, from a total
of 800,000.

The 20 million pounds (ap-
proximately $54 million) div-
idends are payable in Paris.
Britain gained her interest in
the canal in 1875 when ~Dis-
raeli bought 176,602 shares for
nearly 4 million pounds. This
deal has reaped profits of
many millions for Britain. In
1954, receipts from dues to
the canal company were over
33 million pounds (approxi-
mately $89 million.)

Egypt had previously an-
neunced that it would not
extend the company’s 99-year
concession when it expires in
1968 and had told the com-
pany’s board that it would take
over at midnight on November
16, 1968.

permit the achievement of de-
mands which the working
class had in common.

These included: The mini-
mum wage, parity between in-
custrial and agricultural
wages, improvement of social
security, construction of 300,-
000 houses per year, and demo-
cratic reform of taxation.

“The Communist and Social-
ist groups in parliament have
eften put .down resolutions
with the same content. Since
we vote together in the Nati-
onal. Assembly, why cannot
their task be made easier by

ASSERTS RIGHTS
nation
Suez Canal con

gypt

LONDON.

Behind the nationalisation of
the Suez Canal Company by
Egypt is the determination of
that country to be free — eco-
nomically as well as political-
ly — and to lead all the Middle
East to such freedom. <

The crisis has been brought
on largely by the American
Government’s refusal to help
build the Aswan Dam and by
British support of that action.

Now the City-.of Loncon is
ruefully considering the cost to
itself of tailing behind the bul.
lying policies of U.S. Secretary
of State John Foster Dulles.

While all the Middle East
and Asia are. rejoicing at the
boldness of President Gamal
Abdel Nasser in standing up
to American and British
threats, London and New York
financiers are busily consider-
ing what new blows they can
strike at Egypt.

To the disgrace of the Brit-
ish Labor party it was a Labor
MP, R. T. Paget, who raised
the question of using force
against Egypt. :
Asserting falsely that Egypt’s
action was “a threat to strangle
the whole industry of Europe,”
he demanded to know if Prime

Minister Sir Anthony Eden.

was “aware of the consequen-
ces of not answering force with
force until it is too late.”

Labor leader Hugh Gaits-
kell declared that he “‘deplored
this high-handed and _ totally
unjustifiable step by the Egyp-
tian government,” and _ sup-
ported the blocking of Egypt’s
sterling balances.

Why the Egyptian action
was “high-handed” Gaitskell
did not explain. Perhaps be-
cause British capital is con-
cerned in the Suez company.

Egypt is offering generous
compensation to shareholders
in the Suez company, largest
of whom is the British govern-
ment.

President Nasser said that
Egypt would pay compensa-
tion to shareholders at share
prices in Paris on July 27, the

the Communist and Socialist
parties in the country ?

“We could struggle together
for the welfare of the youth
of our country. We could
struggle together for a policy
which combats colonialism and
creates the conditions for new
relations between France and
the countries which up to now
heve been subject to colonial-
ism,

“On the unhappy: question
of Algeria we can find ways
and means of arriving at a
cease-fire and an garly peace
by immediate negotiations.

day he made his announce-
ment. These were 92 pounds
(approximately $243) on ordin-
ary shares and 76 pounds (ap-
proximately $204) on founders’
shares.

The major British govern-
ment holdings of shares was

PRESIDENT NASSER

bought from the King of Egypt
for 23 pounds a share im 1875.

For close to a century those
snares have been paying a
steady and increasing profit,
which has paid back the orig-
inal price time and again.

Now Egypt is buying back
the ‘shares at three or four
times the original price—and

is condemned for being “high-
handed.”

Nasser’s an-
shares of the

Following
nouncement,

Suez Canal Company dropped
29 pounds in Paris, London
and Amsterdam.

In Egypt, Transjordan and
other Arab countries crowds
greeted the news that the
Suez Canal company had been
nationalised.

With the Egyptian flag fly-
ing from the offices of the
canal company and Egyptian
controllers already installed,
oil and other traffic moved
peacefully through -the canal
as usual.

~ Far from desiring to check
the flow of oil to Europe, as
has been asserted, the Egyp-
tian hope is that oil traffie will
increase so as to facilitate its
announced purpose of using
income from the canal to build
the. Aswam Dam.

Answering questions in Cairo
about Egypt’s nationalisation
of the canal company, Dr.
Mohommed Abu Nosseir, min-
ister of commerce, declared
that the canal company had
been Egyptian since its incep-
tion and therefore, in law, no
international question arose.

If foreign banks tried to
block the assets of the com-
pany, then Egypt would not
compensate foreign share-
holders in the Egyptian com-
pany, he said.

In Egypt, it~is -caleulated
that President Nasser’s offers
of compensation to the share-
holders would cost about 70
million pounds (approximat-
ely. $189 million), of which 55
million pounds (approximately
$97 million) would be pro-
vided from the present re-
serves of the company, leav-

ing only a relatively small’

balance to be found by Egypt.

Dr. Noseir also accused the
Suez Canal Company of fail-
ing to modernise the canal to
take new big ships and to de-
velop transit trade facilities
at Port Said, deficiencies which
would be made good now by
Egypt, he said.

appeal to Socialists

“In such a situation if the
colonialists dare to come ~out
against the government they
would find their way barred
by the Communist party and
the Socialist party, supported
by the immense majority of
the people.

“The colonialists would meet
with the opposition of hun-
dreds ‘of thousands of young
Frenchmen being sacrificed
today to the interests of the
colonialists, and of hundreds
ef thousands of mothers,
wives and fiancees who voted

in the last election for the re-
turn of their dear ones.

“We well know that many
questions still separate us. But
those questions which unite
us are much more important.
The necessity and the possi-
bilities of unity arise from
the aims which both sides have
set themselves.

“Do not delay in replying
to these appeals, Every day
and every hour counts in
allowing us to prepare for the
great actions which will trans-
form the life of the toilers of
France.”

August 3, 1956 —PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 3