The sun., 1905-08-20
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WHY THEY WANT SAKHALIN.
RUSSIA NEEDS ITS OIL; JAPAN
ITS FISHERIES.
A Territory Nearly Is Large - Ireland and
Useless for Farming-Its stores OF
Coal Abundant and There's an Un.
touched Wealth OF Forest Land.

cether, very nearly as big as Ireland, and
fully twice az big as Greece, ,Sakhalin Island,
taken by Japan few days ago, will add
about rs 900 square miles Of territory to the
Mikado's empire. 1t is narrow island,
nowhere wider than the State Of Massa-
chusetts is long, and at certain points not
wider than Nantucket, says the Boston
Erening Transcript. But this ribbonlike
island, lying northwest Of Japan, stretches
along the coast of Siberia from which
a narrow sea separates it) for a distance
of go miles. Sakhalin has river $50 miles
long and mountains 5000 feet high. It's
by no means vest pocket country.
Japanese enterprise, then. will have
plenty of room to knock about in, but
square miles aren't everything, even when
you can count them by the tens Of thou
sands, and unfortunately Sakhalin's q climate
is nothing to boast Of To be sure, the island
isn't far north Gt lies in about the same
latitude as France), but the sky is almost
always clouded and the cold currents flow
ing from the Okhotsk Sea keep the east
ern coast pretty we'll ice etrewn all sum-
mer, while on the western coast the Ice
from the Amur clogs up the narrow
space between the island and the main
land and long remains unmelted. Nobody
IL ever too warm on Sakhalin. The Gil
mate resembles that Of Siberia, and Alex
androffsky is colder in winter than Arch
angel.
Another thing. equally disoouraging as
far as it goes, you can't farm to advantage
on Sakhalin. Only here and there ID
the soil at all fertile, and even then You
must content yourself with raising market
truck and expect to get malaria while
wedding your garden. Such at least has
been the experience Of Russian penal
oolonists who have tried to wrest living
from the soil Moreover, the country
looks every whit as inhospitable as ex-
pertinent has proved it to be. They say
that when Russian exiles get their first
glimpse Of that rocky coast and those
grim, cloudcapped mountains they often
burst into tears for very despair. When
such of them as are not life prisoners have
served their term and become free
colonists." they are almost certain TO leave
sakhalin and settle in Siberia. They call
the country Of their imprisonment The
Isle of the Lost"
Cold, untillable; but big-h that the
whole story? II it we're then we should
certainly be at q loss to know why the
peace ENJOYS at Portsmouth are haggling
over the question of who Is to own Sakhalin.
But that isn't by any means the whole
story. The Isle Of the Lost is also the
Isle OF Potential Wealth. II 1t had no
other claim to importance its dense forests
would be enough to make it worth owning.
Practically untouched, they stretch from
enc end OF Sakhalin to the other. The
Japanese will know what to do with them.
Besides, there ia coal-not easily mined;
hut abundant. At Duey the toughest
criminals have worked chained to their
barrows. and each year they spcnt in tho
mines has counted as year and half to-
ward Fastening their discharge. Sakhaiin
has long supplied ships with fuel. Perhaps
the Japanese will develop the Goa! mines
it is certain at all events that they will de-
veop the oil fields. According to Q. 3.
Patonoff the oil regions Of Sakhalin are
richer than those Of America: Subterran::
5000 square feet--lie 30 close to the surface
that natural gushers can be easily estab-
lished The oil regions lend themselves
readily to exploitation. for the east coast is
only from twenty to twenty-five miles
bors that boats drawing twenty feet Of
water can safely enter. For four months
of the year, to be sure, those harbors are
iceiociSed, but the ice can be broken by
specially constructed steamers ! known las as
for the oil business. As coal couldn't be
got for love or money from England or
japan. Admiral. Rumginwhisky, (as the
Dogger Bank fishermen still call him) was
sakhalin. Under Government auspices the
Russian Sakhalin Oil Company came sud
denly into existence, glorious monopoly
that proposed to employ cheap Russian,
Chinese and Corean labor. turn out from
900 to 100000 tons Of oil year and drive
Mr. Rocl,efeller ont of business in the Far
East.
Meanwhile another sort Of game will fall
to the Japanese-in the north fine me-
be at snd in % the south
an occa sionai tiger; ON the coast a remu.
nerative profusion OF seal, sea lions and
dolphins, not TO mention species OF pie
beian whale little priced by baubber
hunters.
But the chief source Of wealth in The
Sakhalin OF to-day is the fisheries. The
rivers TEEN with salmon, the waters along
the coast With herring. ing o In ts single yeShr
and this in spite Of the most discouraging
conditions. The Russians wouldn't give
the Japs free hand, nor would they them
selves develop the full possibilities OF the
sort Of Siberian backyard, into which
exies were constantly to be thrown, 1t
was bad policy to encourage fleets OF fish
ing boats to come prowling along the shore.
ne Doat6 mlRnC Cnun Out tuo poPulaeiOa'
But when once the penal colonies are with.
drawn. and Japan takes control, the sa-
khalin fisheries will have q chance at nor
NAL progress. Some day, unless all trav.
elers afe liars. they may rival those OF
Newfoundland.
Now the moment you begin to talk about
Ash the Japanese pIsck up their ears. No
fish, no rice; no rioe, no jap: p Every year r
fish fertilizer to the Japanese rice fields.
This fertilizer, nee herring. is so indis-
pensable to rice growing that when the war
cut off the Japanese fishermen from the
Salhalin coasts two Japanese towns Hok-
iaido and otaru. petitioned n the MikadE :s.9 to
could not be done, to permit the two indig-
nant towns to fit out an expedition Of their
own. The director general OF prisons asked
permission TO organize an army OF Japa-
hese jaibirds for service In Sakhalin. Such
oyertures as these met with governmental
discoura cement but the seizure OF Sakhain
by trained troops was undertaken as soon
as practicable. Nor did Japan fail to per-
cceive that Sakhalin in the grip Of a foreign
tktrto aTo aOo