Richmond planet., 1918-03-02
BETTER III.
THE TOGOLiND CAMPAIGN
BY W. +. Hutchinson.

tNopNrlCht hy j. j.. Bruce
Special to Richmond Planet.
OF all the British possessions, the
Gold Coast Colony WAS the first TO
take an active part in the war. With
in month from the start OF hoSti-
itir$ it had carried through n cam
paign which compelled the surrender
Of $4,000 square niles Of territory
under the German i.aE.
TogOland is 4 wedge Of territory
on the Gulr Of Guinea. sandwichcd
between the British Gold Coast COL
ony on the West and French Dohonrv
ON The East. With only thirty miles
Of SrahOard, il widrnS at Il short dis
tame" from the sea and extends in
land about thrc" hundred and fifty
miles. possessing Il total area Of n
little less than thirty-four thousand
Square miles, slightly larger than
ireland. IDclctcd.)
On tn" North it is enclosed by the
French territory. 'rhc chief port,
Tom". is only Il few miles from the
British port OF Eitta and about one
hundred and ten miles from Accra
the seat Of the Gold Coast Govern
mcnt. Large sums had been cvncnd
ed by tn" Gcrmal,S in developing the
Colony in making the port OF rome
into Il depot for trade ana laying
down railway OF about one hundred
miles to the town OF Kamina, almost
due North OF rome
rhcy had acted with their usual
cruelty towards the natives OF the
country. whose rights were totally
diSrcgardcd. the country being treat
cd rs an appanagc of the German
Empire. whose resource. both COM
mcrcial and human, were TO be en-
ploNcd solely for the advantage and
profit of Germany and the Germans.
Many complaints Of brutal diSrc-
gard OF human life and human rights
and OF Nranlalou$ OutragcS OF dcccncv
by Germans, officials ana others. had
issued from the people. but these had
been unh"ard in Europe until Ger
man arrogance threatened Europe
itself, when it was decided that Ger
many must be turned out of Africa
SECRET WIRELESS STATION.
There Was special reason for
turning them out OF Togoland. At
kamina trey had erected one Of the
most powerful wireless iu&tallationS
in the world With such secrecy that
the French authorities in Dahomcy
were not aware OF its existence. II
communicated direct With Naucn.
near Berlin and with the German
Colonies OF CAMERON and Southwest
Africa, and was no doubt intended to
maintain communication between
Berlin and German warShipS and
commcrcc-raidcrs operating in the
Atlantic. The in Ntallation had been
completed just before the outbreak
Of the war and the designer, Baron
todclli. was still in the Colony and
was taken prisoner by the British
forces.
On the declaration Of war with
France. Major Won Doring. Acting
Governor and Commandcr-in-Ch CHIEF in
rogoland. assuming that Great Bri.
tain would remain neutral, made
preparations to seize the French pos
session OF Dahomcy, but had not com
mittcd any hostile act when Great
Britain entered into the war on the
fourth Of August.
The German Governor by instruc-
ton from Berlin then cablcd to the
Acting Governor OF the Gold Coast
and the Governor General OF French
West Africa, proposing that ncutral-
ity should be observed between the
European Colonies OF the Gold Coast,
'Togoland and Dahomcy, on grounds
Of humanity and the desirabilitv of
maintaining the prestige OF the white
races in presence OF the black races,
who might learn dangerous lessons,
if allowed to take part in a compaign
in which white men were opposed to
each other, tho bulk OF the troops
engaged being Of necessity natives.
Tho proposition was not oven an