Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1914-08-13
RUSSIA HAS ALL TO
WHICH IMPER|LS
Regardless of Her Stand, Brit
aims Position In Mediter-
ranean Is at Stake.
[From the New York world.l

with Italy, their third partner
in this pact OF nations, stand
on one side Of the European battle
field grimly ready TO meet their foes.
Russia, with England and France,
bound together in the more elastic un-
ion of the triple entente, have I'M
sheathed their swords in the face of
the triple alliance.
1t is now a war of giants. They will
fight to the death unless all signs fail.
1t will be the most stupendous war
mankind has ever known The mind
is staggered in contemplating its stu
pendous possibilities in carnage, in
devastation, in ruin OF commerce and
international profit making, in the final
wounds Of war which century may
not heal.
Little Servia is lost sight of. she is
but cipher in the game. a pawn
upon the checkerboard. Her wrongs OF
the past. her crimes of the present, are
of small Importance in this herculean
struggle of titanic forces.
We shall hear much Of encounters on
land and sea if the conflagration OF n
great war sweeps over Europe. light
ing its torch in the nations Of the
triple alliance and the triple entente.
But two vital questions will be ever
uppermost in the minds of the states
men who sit at the helm Of govern
ment in the capitals of st. Petersburg,
London, Vienna, Berlin, Paris and
Rome directing the affairs OF their diff
ferent states They have the heritage
of the past TO guide them, the wise
counsels left by statesmen long since
dead and gone, but who knew how to
govern and how to guide, who learned
it by success and by defeat They
have the future in their minds and pol
icies that are worked out slowly, little
by little. now gain, now loss. The
objective points remain ever the same.
Two Vital Questions.
The two vital questions of this war
will be:
The possibility of Russia becoming
so powerful that she can go 10 Con-
stantinople and stay there
The possibility of England becoming
so weakened that she can no longer
adequately guard her passage to and
fro through the Mediterranean sea-
These are questions. both of them
older than either the triple alliance or
the triple entente. They are RESPONSE
BILE. as primary motives. for the fOrma-
ton of both Of these divisions of ma
tional powers. They will inevitably
become ultimately affected one way or
the other by the consequences of this
war
The arraying of Germany and Aus
tria against Russia. with whatever as
sistance Russia may get from her al
lies. is spoken of as a conflict for the
supremacy Of the Teuton or the Slav
in Europe. But the supremacy of the
Slav means nothing more or less than
that the mighty Slav nation Of the
north, ever winged like a huge bird
ready for flight TO the sea. shall have
freedom to make its way to Constan-
tinople and from thence. through the
Bosphorus and the Aegean sea. to Asia
The Mediterranean.
And the supremacy OF the Teuton-in
other words. the victory of Austria and
Germany-means nothing more or less
than that England shall lose her liber-
~ Of passage through the Mediter-
ranean.
Russia must needs go through the
Black sea and the Bosphorus to get
close to her Asiatc possessions. Eng
land must needs have free passage
through the Mediterranean In order to
be able TO obtain food for sustenance.
Austria and Germany may fight to-
gether against Russia OF one pretext
or another. but what they want final
ly as their reward is control OF the
Mediterranean sea. Germany has no
place upon it 10 call her own. With
an enormous feet, second only to that
OF mighty England. Germany has no
Mediterranean port Austria has the
port OF Trieste and that of Fiume
upon the Adriatic, an arm of the Med
iterranean sea. Could the two Teuton
powers prevail in this war they could
bottle up England's food supplies COM
iHb W ueT lIOlu All pdrlS OF the WOrlu
through the Suez canal and from
there into the Mediterranean. from
Egypt over which England has q pro-
tectorate: from Australia. New Zea-
land and from India.
England raises In her own land OF
Great Britain such a small part of the
food she needs daily TO put upon her
tables that II could be called nothing.
With II and with nothing more her
people would soon starve TO death.
She is practically the only country on
earth so dependent She gets most OF
her food through the Mediterranean
sea. Austria and Germany are fight
Ing TO control this. her base OF sup
plies. II is England's vulnerable point,
the Achilles heel OF her power. Her
Toes can. by striking her there, give her
the wound Of death.
Berlin Congress Of '7S.