The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1913-02-15

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iliZed world are centered upon
the channel of Constantinople
and on the Thracian Bospor-
us, which forms the outlet to
the waters of the Black sea and which
separates the continent of Asia from
that Of Europe The channel stretches
from the Black sea to the Sea OF Mar
mora, and where it runs into this land
locked little body of water. CONSTANT
nople lies upon an arm of this sea
known as the Golden Horn on the Eu-
ropean side. There Is scarcely a bit
of water on the face Of the earth
whose name appears more frequently
in the annals of human history than
this narrow channel. AS the history
of the world centers so largely along
the banks Of the River Rhine since
the days of Caesar, SO it centered
along the Bosporus for some thousand
years before Caesars day. and SO 1t
has centered largely since then. All
around the Black sea, on the Aslatlc
shores and on the European. lie I'M
mensely broad stretches of the most
fertile land upon the globe. Immense
rivers drain this territory. keeping the
Black sea full and overlooking through
the Bosporus. From the first dawn OF
history a large population has always
found homes on these fertile lands.
and as commerce developed it's path
ways multiplied along the uxine sea
coming down from these immense riv-
ers. On the south lay the Mediter-
ranean, large body of inland waters
replenished by all the overflow OF the
Black sea and multitudinous rivers
from the Nile to the Rhone. surround
ed by broader and richer lands, and
as commerce grew up around the Med
iterranean its paths crossed those OF
the commerce of the Euxine or Black
sea, and the Bosporus became the con-
Meeting link between. Below the Sea
of Marmora the outlet for the Black
sea waters is the strait of the OAR
danelles, shorter but broader than the
Bosporus.
important Waterway.
Important as this bit of water. was
TO the ancient world. it is much more
so now, and is becoming increasingly
SO as the years pass. With the devel-
opment of modern naval warfare the
importance Of Constantinople rises to
a predominance in European and Ash
attic affairs scarcely equaled by any
other point on the shores of the two
continents, and If great power ever
gets possession of Constantinople and
controls the passage of the Dardanelles
and Bosporus it will be very possible
for 1t to dominate the fortunes of all
Europe At the mouth of the great
rivers that empty into the Euxine will
grow up immense cities, ahfording op-
portunities for the construction of a
mercantile marine as well as one for
naval warfare. and with the passage
between the Mediterranean and the
Euxine controlled by such great
power these fleets would be unattacka-
BILE by the combined forces Of the
world. 1t would not be great under
taking to the engineering enterprises
of today to construct bridge over the
Bosporus which would enable railroad
trains to pass from one continent to
the other. resulting in an exchange Of
commerce almost unimaginable in ex-
tent. With the Dardanelles fortified.
the Sea of Marmora and the Golden
Horn would afford a rendezvous for
merchant ships for a back country
reaching up to Vienna around the Dan
ubial provinces and into Russia. with
Asia on the other side, including the
rich territories Of Palestine and on in
to Persia and the valley Of the Eu-
pirates, going on down in the path of
Alexander's conquests into India and
to the banks of the Indus.
The nation which could make the
best use of this strategic point would
be Russia and the Muscovite has COW
eted it for 200 years, but this ambi-
ton has been baked by the jealousies
OF rival European powers. The next
nation that might make the greatest
use OF the position would be Austria.
with its Hungarian annex, and a popu-
lation neither purely European nor
purely Asiatic. Germany ranks third
in the possibilities presented for ma
tional commercial development by the
possession Of Constantinople and the