The Washington times., 1916-08-07
out Of the State and sell to satisfy q
Judgment. Things have certainly
changed in Georgia.
GERMANY OUT OF AFRICA

has turned only infrequently and
then but for a fleeing glance to
what has been accomplished by the
allies in Kidding Germany OF. her CO.
lonial possessions and her complete
humiliation in Africa. The tremen-
dous magnitude Of the operations on
the eastern and western fronts has
eclipsed the fact that whereas when
war was declared the Teutonic EN-
pire included colonies in. Africa oc-
cupying nearly a million square
miles with approximately $4,000, 900
population, this territory with the
exception Of a small area yet to be
conquered, has passed into the hands
Of France and England and is now
being governed by officers Of those
two powers.
Germany in her suggestions Of q
peace based on conquered territory
or ION the map" as Bethmann- Holl-
veg phrases it, has made scant ref
erence to the loss Of this great area
or its antebellpm value to her.
France believes that one Of the prime
causes of the war was the desire of
Germany to acquire the French pos
sessions in Africa. She has some
ground for this conclusion based on
the statements at Berlin addressed
to England that if the British would
remain neutral, Germany would I'M
dertake not to harm France to any
greater extent than to seize some of
her colonial possessions.
That, influenced by commercial
ambition, Germany had a big Afri-
can campaign in mind is evidenced
by the completeness Of the prepara-
tions made to prosecute it, with ire
mendous depots of ammunition and
supplies, and a preparedness for
everything-everything but the de-
feat which has come to her. The
markets Of the Congo, Of Morocco,
and of French Africa were tremend-
ously attractive to her, and she
thought easily obtainable with Eng
lands power quiescent. And in all
probability her judgment was good,
for with her feet available, Germany
would have made short work of the
defense France might have put up.
And this is but another instance of
the tremendous value, the deciding
value in fact, which the English navy
has had in this great conflict.
The conquest of the German colon
les has not been a small task. For
more than eighteen months the
fighting has been going ON without
one days cessation. The allied
forces have marched over six hun
dred miles against persistent and
continued opposition, and it is alto
gether certain that when peace terms
are discussed, due value will be at
tached to that campaign and its re-
suits. ..... ~ X>,v,
The situation in the Congo Basin
bears a very marked resemblance to
the conditions which obtained in Bel
GUM. BY the terms Of the Berlin
convention, the Congo Basin was de-
nominated as neutral territory. Ger
many chose, however, to ignore this
condition, and, just as in Belgium,
gave no value to her agreement Of
neutrality. It is one of the ironies
Of warfare that the Belgian troops
contributed not a little to the cam
paign which drove the Germans out.
The fact that although French,
British, and Belgian forces were en-
gagged in the victorious African cam
paign, the government Of much of
the conquered territory has been
turned over to the French authori-
ties, may presage, and in some
quarters is taken to indicate, that in
the final peace settlement, France
will find herself with largely increas-
ed interests in the Congo district
and the Cameroons.
What has been a little noticed and
conflict, will in the final determine
ton of its results. and in the remak-
ing of maps, be very considerable
70 c%or