The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-11-14

there il the feeling among music lovers
that the sooner II comes the better.
The Control Of the Mediterranean.
| For several years the control Of the
Mediterranean has been a favorItc topic
with the advocates of naval expansion
IN France Since Austria began tn
build Drcadnoughts they have found in
II one Of their strongest arguments. The
r,imor that Turkey will enter the Drei-
bund has still further strengthened their
| POSITION, but ha. Curio,lsly inverted the
line If argument
! The old plea used 10 be that France
must control the Mediterranean at the
beginning II war in order u effect in
security the withdrawal Of the Nine
tenth Army CORPS from Algeria and
expedite it, transit TO the eastern from
tier In assist in repelling invasion. To
this end all the striking power ~ the
navy must be- concentrated and the de-
fence Of the Blscayan and Channel ports
abandoned To submarines and aero
planes.
Should Turkey join the Triple ALI
ance the situation would bc reversed
II would become Imperative to keep
the Nineteenth corps III Africa II
would be- absolutely necessary 90 reen-
force 1t. Al any rate il must be- supplied
with ammunition from France, since no
factory for war material has ever been
established in tho French p"sssssions
in north Africa, despite eighty wears Of
occupation. To cover the line Of com
municstion a formidable fee, must he
provided, feet strong enough to COM
mand the sea
The new danger arises from the posi-
ton OF the Sultan as commander Of the
Faithful He has only To- speak the
word and a general uprising all over the
French territory and IN" Moroccan en-
pire would ensue. An article in Paris
newspaper. signed with the name OF
Vice Admiral BFssoN. presents the peril
in these words:
Already pcrhsp. Mussulman emissaries are
isayersinx our possesSIons IN AIxIers and T,lnis,
ss~eIl as Egypt. TriPoH and Morocco. announcing
10 ell that the great day viii 900 shine which
thanks TO their the NussulmAn,l friend Ger
many. the ROumis Of France ard England will ne
driven into the when from the straits OF
Gibraltar 10 the Nile renewed Islam viIl triumph
over the and. free snd lnvtnclbIe extend
It's religious propaganda over sIl Africa
So the French fear that Germany
would in effect turn her line OF defence
by the alliance with Turkey The minute
the Kaiser is ready 10 advance on Paris
the Padisha will proclaim tn. holy war
from the Sudan TO the coast, and France
mus, lose irretrievablv her colonial cm-
pire or else defend IL with troops that
she can i'll spare from her European from
tiers The only way TO meet the ext
gancv is 10 control the Mediterranean
with her own ships
Useless IN such an emergency TO
depend on England" Ia the cry. 1T
would be rs absurd a. 10 think tina, he
would rely upon us for the defence Of
Gibraltar. Malta and Alexandria. She
will have her hands full protecting her
own outposts. keeping her hold on
Egypt and guarding the route tn India.
France must protect her own ports,
Marseilles. Toulon and SO on: she must
patrol efficiently her own African liz
toral with her own vessels. and with
ference with the navigation between
the two coasts secure This is the first
obvious duty"
But u ~ bv no means all, the strong
navy faction goes on To argue "Maywe
not find. they saw, the counter move
To Gernany's latest coup in establish
ing complete command Of the Mediter-
ranean, IL We can muster there siffi-
Cient force 10 beat the hostile fleets Of
the Triple Alliance, can We not efrec-
lively break up the combination against
u.s.
The idea. briefly, is that by threaten
ing the great Italian seaports with bonn
bardment and the exaction Of large
ransom they could detaCh the nation
! from the Triple Alliance and compel
: her To remain neutral II il a perfectly
fair mode Of warfare. they argue: did
not Germany exact enormous contri-
buttons from our inland cities in 1870
; and 1871? What was legitimate then ia
J equally 49, now. In less degree NAV
not France hamper and embarrass Aus
tria in aiding Germany nv closing up and
, making naval forage upon her Adriatic
> seapnr'E,
But above all the Possession ~ n
commanding feet Offers Francs the op-
? pOrtunty If giving rhcckmats Ia the
activities Of Turkey Sh,,tII rho p,.,,.
~ IN" Instanc" If Germany. attempt Ia
b stir up the Mphammc'iHns u Algi.ra
and Iunis and Morocco 10 revolt, IN.
r tr'-'"n'" II n-Tnadr"n ~ Drradnoughts
: IN III" Golden Horn wu,lld b" calculated
b ~ bring NJ" Turks ~ their scns", with
great -'Idd"nn"sS and to convince them
! that their beet interests dd not bv any