New Britain herald., 1915-06-01
WHAT OTHERS SAY.
Views ou all sides of timely questions as discussed in ex- changes that come to Herald ofl1C0.
The Stake in Colonial Empire. (Springfieid Republican,

Tn one or n1S lectures aI the uNlNeTBlIy of Berlin. The virtual completion of the conquest of German Southwest Africa by Gen. Botha, who captured Windhoek about two weeks ago, has made Africa British from ocean to ocean as far north as the Zambesi river, barring the east African posses sions of Portugal. But the Germans still hold in central Africa their sphere on the east coast, notwith- standing British attacks from the north, and also Togo and Kamerun on the western coast. Their total Afri- can possessions have shrunk over one- third in square miles as the result of
 Gen Botha's campaign, although the
 estimated total popuplation of Ger
 man Southwest Africa is less than
 100000 as compared with popula-
 ton of 10,000.000 (native blacks in German East Africa.
 There's nothing left of the German colonial empire outside of central
 Africa In Asia the kaiser had
 kauchau until the Japanese took it; and scattered about the Pacific ocean
 were eight or nine islands or archipe- lagoes under the German flag, but the British and Japanese fleets have swept them clean of German authority. It ] was never colonial empire of much 1 importance or desirability, even from the German point of view. inasmuch as the colonies were not attractive in the least to the surplus population Of the fatherland. German Southwest Africa is mainly a desert and is fa-
 tally lacking in large rivers flowing i into the Atlantic; it will round out
 the Union of South Africa territorial l ly and its acquisition will remove a | dreaded colonial power from that end ! of the continent, but the British em- | pire cannot be greatly enriched by
 conquest so poor in natural resources I and so repellent to homeseekers of l the white race.
 I To compare the loss of Germany's
 colonial empire with the loss of Can-l
 ada to France in the 18th century l would be absurd: and this is probab- ly a fair statement even if the loss i of Gcrmanys tropical possessions in i central Africa be conceded. That part of the dark continent must al-
 ways be black mans country; in
 fact, the blacks today hopelessly out number the whites in British South
 Africa, for British supremacy has | resulted in an enormous natural in-
 crease of the black population owing to the cessation of the old interrtibal wars If German East Africa be-
 comes British or stays German, the 1O,000,000 native blacks now living 1 there will multiply and the govern | ing class of whites will always be | small in numbers. The tropics may | be made fit for whites to live in and rear their children, but the African 1 Negroes do not disappear in contact
 with the white mans civilization, a of 1SSi inr1f1 "a af<sd l South Africa under Boer anl British
 rule as we'll as in the United States l of America under slavery and free- dom.
 The ultimate colonial significance of the world war, according to the I present outlook, does not compare l with that of the Seven Years war of
 the 18th century nor with that of the Napoleonic struggle. The destiny of | North America, of India and of Latin America was determined by those for mer European conflicts over the
 balance of power Even the Russo
 Japanese war a decade ago had more l effect on the colonal imperialism of
 the western nations than the present war seems likely to have, for the i check to the Russian advance in I Manchuria and Korea saved the whole l. m. | Japan's capture of Kiauchau Is hard l ly more than the logical sequel to l the capture of Port Arthur
 l But the colonial significance of 1 the present struggle in Europe might easily be as momentous as that of the former European conflicts re- fered to if the Teutonic powers and Turkey should somehow manage to
 score decisive victory, embracing the virtual destruction of the British fleet. Improbable as such a solution of the war now seems, it is only such a solution that could change radically
 and fundamentally the map of the
 colonial world. There would then be developments in overseas imperialism that would stagger the imagination Not only would Germany take the immense French empire in North Africa, but Egypt, the Suez route to India and India itself would ultimate ly be lost to Great Britain For the
 Teutonic allies would not only don-
 mate the Balkan peninsula, but Asia
 Minor far to the east would be opened
 to German commercial exploitation
 and India would soon be the great
 prize of German imperialism, the
 most ambitious since the days of the
 Roman Caesars. A Germany that
 had been able to humble Great Brit
 ain on land and sea would reopen col
 onial and military questions that had
 presumably been settled for genera
 tions, and neither the Orient nor La.
 tin America could escape the conse-
 quences of such a tremendous re-
 versal of colonial tendencies since
 Wolfe conquered Canada and C1ive
 established British power in Hindus-
 tan.
 Germanys next successful var
 which Treitschke evidently had n
 mind, must be overwhelmingly suces-
 ful on both sea and land to bring to