VALUABLE TERRITORY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 January 1943, Page 4

VALUABLE TERRITORY

PORTUGAL’S AFRICAN ASSETS STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF MOZAMBIQUE. RUBBER & OTHER PRODUCTS. (By Louis Shepard, in the “Christian Science Monitor.”) Portugal is never free of rumours that either the United Nations or the Axis will seize one of her far-flung colonies. The fact that Mozambique, Portuguese East African colony, occupies a strategic position along the United Nations supply route to the Near East, and the sinkings in the Mozambique Channel are special causes for concern. Shortly after the British landed on Madagascar, the French newspaper “Gringoire” declared that Mozambique could have been used as a base of operations instead of Madagascar and intimated that England feared contact with strong Portuguese forces there. The Portuguese Government' about a year and a half ago completed a network of airports in Mozambique. These air bases were primarily constructed to protect the only railway to cross Africa from west to east, beginning at Lobito in Angola, winding through the Belgian Congo, Rhodesia and South Africa, to terminate at Beira and Lourenco Marques in Mozambique, and which has grown in importance as a line of supply to North Africa. trans-african railway. Last year, in Lisbon, some consideration was given to the possibility of shipping material to the Near East via the Portuguese trans-African railway. Although it is doubtful that any* shipping time could be saved by this plan, it was felt that a number of cargoes could be saved from destruction by submarines during the 4,000mile sea voyage around the Cape of Good Hope, from Lobito to Beira. Due to Portuguese neutrality, however, and the fact that the railway is a singletrack, narrow-gauge line, the plan was dismissed. The railway, however, is constantly protected by Portuguese troops. The main airdrome at Lourenco Marques has an area of about 3,000 by 3,000 feet, and what is probably the largest airplane hangar in all of South Africa is located there. British East African airways use the airport as an important way station between Egypt and the Union of South Africa. The harbour is generally crowded with ships carrying cargoes to and from Johannesburg, and a mile-long wharf is equipped with numerous electric cranes, waterside railways, and warehouses. The bay is usually calm enough to permit the landing of huge flyingboats, and about 15,000,000 gallons of gasoline can be stored in tanks near the waterfront. For a number of years Rhodesia and most of Central Africa have been supplied with news from the powerful radio station at Lourenco Marques. The city is modern, with wide, clean streets and white public buildings, but residents are forced to remember that they are living in Africa when they must carry flashlights at night in order to keep snakes away. Up to 90,000 native labourers are recruited every year in Mozambique for work in the Witwatersrand mines, and they generally return to Lourenco Marques to spend their money. DEVELOPMENT OF ANGOLA. Some time ago Lisbon newspapers published reports that the Portuguese Government is attempting to accelerate the production of raw rubber in Angola, Portuguese West Africa. Portugal has shipped thousands of troops there to protect important diamond, copper, iron, gold, uranium, tin, and bauxite mines. This is partly due to the fact that Angola is just north of the former German colony of SouthWest 1 Africa, where many pro-Nazi Germans are reported to be living. Also, Lisbon reports indicate that Portuguese army engineers are soon to leave for Angola to build modern airport facilities there to protect the western end of the vital transportation system and industrial establishments. Copper from Katanga in the Belgian Congo, uranium, tobacco, cobalt, some iron ore, and many other products are shipped through Angola’s port of Lobito, which is one of the few excellent harbours on Africa’s west coast. The city possesses a natural landlocked bay which is about a mile wide and is deep enough to permit the entrance of large ocean-going vessels. Looking ahead, with a view toward having Angola become one of the most flourishing of Africa’s colonies, Portugal has treated the natives in Angola rather well. The Government has not discouraged inter-racial marriages and the colony boasts the largest settlement of “white elements” on the west coast of Africa. Many of the local government administrators have been drawn from this group. Portugal has high hopes for the commercial future of both Angola and Mozambique. British syndicates hold important concessions for oil and asphalt and it is expected that American and British capital and technicians will aid in the production of rubber.