Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1909. GERMANY AND THE BAGDAD RAILWAY.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4487, 11 November 1909, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1909. GERMANY AND THE BAGDAD RAILWAY.

This above all—to thtne own telf be tfue f And it matt follow a$ the night the day Thou canet not then be falee to any man Shaketpeare .

A dat or two ago Ifoa (piloting iimocent-loolriug cablegram came from London :

“ A syndicate of Continental bankers, headed by the Deutsohe Bank, is taking up the second and third series of the Bagdad railway loans, the two series amounting to £9,000,000, enabling the co»j*tr#c|tjfl# of the Burgurlu - Helif section, by $ Continental construction company, with headquarters in Switzerland, Jhose who have »ojt watched methods C { Germany's militant worldpolicy, may how it is that the Bagdad railway can ho Q* more interest to our readers than the cana.? i ll Mars are. It is indeed a very important political and commercial affair, and one that may entail great trouble upon Britain and involve serious consequences in the not very distant future, We as Britons are deeply interest jd, The German railway invasion of. Asiatic Turkey was one of the great events and surprises at the latter end of the nineteenth century. Britain’s policy for many years has been and is still the upholding of Turkey. During the last Busso-Turkiah war, when Russia was drawing nigh to Constantinople apd her victorious troops were ready for a final 1 spring to seize the city, the British

Fleet steamed up the Bosporus and threatened to shell the Russians if they advanced. It was thus Constantinople was saved, and the Turks have been grateful to Britain ever since then for her servioes. The e ent brought jrreat prestige to the Beaoonsfield Government.

After the fall of Lord Beaconsfield’s administration in 1880. Mr Gladstone regained power and he was so incensed at Bulgarian and other atrocities, that he denounced the Sultan of Turkey as the great assassin, and officially rebuked Turkey. That for awhile cooled the ardour of the Turks for British friendship,. and then the clever and alert German Emperor seized the opportunity to ingratiate himself into the Sultan’s good graces. While the latter’s hands were practically reeking with the blood of Bulgarian and other victims, the Kaiser paid a visit to the Holy land under the official sanction and protection of Turkey. Germany’s object was to secure the friendship of the Turks for commercial and political reasons. Turkey responded. She gave nearly all her orders to Germany for equipment, armaments, stores, ammunition and things she had to buy abroad. German trade with Turkey increased fortyfold between 1882 and 1902.

But Germany’s greatest achievement was her obtaining from Turkey her consent to the construction to the Bagdad railway from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. Moreover, German diplomacy successfully secured very large contributions and guarantees from Turkey. It was evidently the deep design of Germany to keep in her own hands the primary control of the railway, because although she invited Britain, France, and other Powers to join her in the enterprise involving about £25,000,000, she reserved such enormous voting power to herself that Britain and France stood aloof from the enterprise. The Spectator observes that Britain’s true policy is contained in the following injunctions :

“ (1) Do not oppose the railway, or play the part of the dog-in-the-manger. Such action is foolish and unjust, and almost always unsuccessful. (2) Consult Russian interests and susceptibilities in the matter, and act loyally w Ith her in any diplomatic action. (3) Maintain the sound British policy of leaving investors to undertake their own responsibilities, and refuse to have any investments earmarked by the State as “ specially recommended.” (4) If the railway is made, take care that the fiual section —i.e., that which debouches on the Gulf—shall be either under British control or else really independent. (5) Avoid dual control or participation in international control.”

That Britain will jealously regard any rival’s approaches to the Persian Gulf, goes without saying, because she might as well almost make a present of India to a hostile power, as allow it to establish itself at the railway terminus on the shores of the Gulf.

In 1899 Britain prevented France from getting a naval station at Muscat in the Gulf vicinity, and when Russia indicated a disposition to go there Lord Landsdowne declared that His Majesty’s Government would regard the establishment of a naval base in the Persian Gulf by any power as a very grave menace to British interests which it weuld certainly resist with all the means at its disposal.

When the railway in question reaches Bagdad and then is made from there to the Persian Gulf there will be danger of British and German interests leading to serious trouble, and that is how this apparently remote subject affects and interests us at Te Aroha.