NEWS OF THE WEEK.
LORD DERBY'S chance has arrived. M. de Lesseps has warned the Admiralty that, in future, British men-of-war must pay the passage-dues before entering the Canal at Port Said, and the Board of Trade that "British vessels will have in future to take the old route round the Cape, or discharge their ships' cargoes at Alexandria" unless they pay the new duties, which are utterly illegal, and only imposed because the Suez Canal Company has not made as much as M. de Lesseps expects. The rates are already extravagant, but M. de Lesseps declares that if new charges are not paid he will dismiss the pilots, put out the lights, and close the Canal. Mr. Disraeli on Friday week said he did not consider " M. Lesseps' determination one which need be looked on in a serious light," and that remark probably provoked M. de Lesseps to make it serious. That must not be. If Lord Derby allows the Canal to be closed for a week—and it must be closed by the 30th, or not at al17,even at the risk of a war with France, his reputation with men of business will be gone for ever. The Porte will probably do its duty, and arrest M. de Lesseps before his wild threat is carried into execution, but if it will not, we must. Benefactors of the human race must not withdraw their benefits, though they may be entitled to compensation.
