GERMANY AND THE EAST.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 March 1918, Page 7

GERMANY AND THE EAST.

POSITION IN MANCHURIA. ©R- G. E. MORRISON'S VIEWSThat any vision of the Germans sweeping across the' Russian railroads and thus opening an avenue to the Pacific is absolutely absurd is the opinion held by Dr 0. E. Morrison, Official Adviser to tho Chinese Government. Dr. Morrison, who is returning to China, said in the course of an interview in Sydney last week:—"l do not quite understand what you mean by asking what effect the peace 'between Germany and Russia can have in connection with Japan and China. "To think, as is suggested, the Germans could come right across by rail is nonsense. There are two main lines leading to the Pacific. One of these runs through Manchuria, and the other through Siberia, north of the river Amur. "The line through 'Manchuria enters at Manchou Li, and leaves again at Pogranitohaia, and so on down to Vladivostok. The length of this section is II2IJ miles, and right in the centre of it is Harbin, on the Sunguri River, held by the Chinese at the request of the. loyal section of the Russians. "The arrangement of these lines is a result of the agreements entered into previous to and at the conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War- In the first place, the Chinese in 1890 granted the right to Russia to run the line across Manchuria. That is the 921i/j miles section referred to. Then on Otii March, 1898, Russia demanded the right to he connected with Port Arthur by another line, running from Harbin. At the conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War Japan, who had conquered the line as far up as Mukden, was granted the right to the line as far as Chang Chun, 15'2 miles from Harbin, and giving a direct length of rail from Port Arthur of 459 miles. "So there the situation stands to-day-The line through Manchuria towards the open seas is in the hands of three nations. China, according to reports received by me, has done'excellent work in policing Harbin. In addition, there is also the fact to be, remembered that Japan has the right to station 25 troops to every mile of railway she controls in Manchuria. Taking branch lines into consideration, she can have an army there of 42,075 without breaking the conditions. "The only other way to reach the coast is by the railway that runs above the Amur River. The Germans are as far from this rail as it is from here to Port Darwin. The country is wild, bitterly cold, and inhospitable, and, 'this project, like the other, is absurd. "It must not be thought for a moment that the whole of Russia is disloyal, and the entry of Japan into the war on Russian battlefields must depend to a- great deal on this factor. If the real loyalists, those who stand for the old regime, are hard pressed and there seems a likelihood of their being defeated, then Japan would no doubt be ready to go to their assistance. As far as the present situation is known, however, the position.''in the East has not materially changed."