The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1915-04-23

IN NhO OhS
x most easy to defend and
MN~tM most formidable to assault.
6MH Mountains, rivers and seas
SAH> have their difficulties. and
T are serious obstacles for an
invader to tackle, but for
impracticability they do not compare
with even a narrow zone of barren
land, where food and water are non
existent and where bad ground makes
transport either laborious or alto
gether impossible. Battlefields, like
the sites Of capitals, are not made by
man, but are the outcome of geograph-
ical position. The chief lines of com.
munication Of the world, and conse-
quently the warpaths of nations, are,
In like manner, determined by the lie
OF the land and its physical features.
80 long, for instance, as Egypt and
Palestine are not under one rule, and
30 long as there is a likelihood OF a
recurrence Of hostility between the
powers that control these two coun.
tries, the desert barrier that separates
tnem Will be the scene of conflict. Be-
ing narrow neck Of land joining two
continents, and being the only land
link between two OF the most fertile
regions Of the earth, 1t has always
been, and will always be. an important
line OF communication. For the same
reason 1t must retain its Significance
from a military standpoint. It chances
That the link between Egypt and Asia
Is cursed by the blight of aridlty. But
the same providence that caused this
area to be useless to man provided the
more favored region OF the Nile val.
ley with an inimitable protection from
envious foes. A hundred miles OF
waste Is a better guard against lnva.
sion than any other natural feature; II
Is far less costly than modern fortif-
cations and probably more effective.
Yet, In spite Of natures bulwarks, this
area has probably been the scene of
more hostility than any other desert
In the world. Inexorably, as 1t we're,
the silent wilderness has been dis.
turbed by successive waves of migra.
tory hordes and by the continual pass.
Ing OF military expeditions. There is
no rest for this land; 1t seems to at.
tract tragedy.
The desert, Egypt's ancient barrier
against intrudlng foes, has proved to
be a formidable breakwater on TO
which many an enemy has hurled him.
self. Their efforts have been met
with varying success. Although II has
proved OF no avail against determined
and systematic attacks. 1t has caused
a hostile advance on Egypt to be
looked upon as big undertaking. II
would be foolish to treat such an oh.
stacle lightly, but with sufficient init.
alive its difficulties can be success.
fully surmounted. 1t is noteworthy
that desert frontiers to fertile lands
also probably entail the responsibility
Of wild tribes to be kept at bay. The
wilderness that fringed ancient China
was barrier against distant foes but
the nomads actually inhabiting that
desert were the source OF so much
danger that they might be considered
the direct cause for the building of the
Great Wall. In the same way the
early inhabitants Of the Nile valley did
not consider natures battlements suffl.
cient to repel the wild nomadlc tribes
that constantly swept in from arid
Arabia to raid them So they supple
mented this barrier by lines Of for
titications, which ran from the Med
terranean to the Gulf of Suez. Now,
adays still more effective barrier has
supplanted the crude, though colossal