Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1920-02-19
BRITAIN'S SPOILS OF WAR
NEW SOURCE FOR COTTON AND
TOBACCO SUPPLY

NEW SOURCE FOR COTTON AND
TOBACCO SUPPLY
WASHINGTON, Feb. 5-The Re
publican Publicity Association, thru
its President, Hon. Jonathan Bourne,
Jr., today gave out the following
statement from its Washington
Headquarters:
Recent dispatches from London
throw new light upon the advantages
Great Braitain will gain by reason
of her mandatory power over former
German Colonies, particularly in
Africa. The latest dispatches on the
subject announced the Opening of
Africa as Rival to America, and it
is specifically announced that the high
price of American cotton and tobac-
co has induced Great Britain to look
to her own domains for her supply
of those commodities.
GAS result of the War, Great
Britain came into control of German
East Africa and German South West
Africa, the former vast territory be-
ing greatly desired because it COM
pletes a stretch of British territory
from the most Southern point of
Africa to the mouth Of the Nile. One
of the great regrets in the planning
of the pe-to-Cario railroad was
that a small portion Of the line, be-
tween Rhodesia and the Sudan, must
pass over British territory. The
route across the Belgian Congo was
chosen in preference to crossing Ger
man East Africa, for obvious polit-
zeal reasons. The road has already
been constructed far into the Belgian
colony, but it is altogether likely that
eventually the main line of the road
will be diverted as formerly desired,
to traverse what was German East
Africa
"a railroad is under construction
from Beira, on the Mozambique Chan
mel, inland to Lake Nyssa. This
will connect with the Cape-to-C Carlo
line, and provide additional traffic
for the main road across the CONT
nent. A portion of this tap line from
Beira crosses Portuguese territory,
and will serve to promote Portuguese
business interests, but the larger adj
vantage will be to the British railroad
connecting Capetown and Carlo. The
dispatches say that there is every
reason to believe that the resultant
potential gain to this integral fart of
! Mozambique and to Portuguese CO.
! lonial interests will be hardly less val
liable than the direct outcome to the
Nyasaland protectorate (British) in
broadening the planting there, notably
cotton and tobacco, 1t is also stated
that extension of railroads in South
ern Egypt, where Their are vast re-
gions suited to cotton growing, opens
up hitherto UNEMPLOYED territory to
British traders.
"All of which will be of interest
to America, pleasing in some respects
AMI conducive to sober reflection. 1t
is desirable that Africa be opened up
to such development as, twentieth
century civilization can give it. Ii
Great Britain desired to build a Cape
to-Cario railroad, and found German
! control of portion of the most de-
/ sirable route an impeachment, most
Americans would be glad to have the
impediment removed.
cat the same time, however, Amer
leans will not lose sight of the fact
that under the peace treaty, with its
league of nations appendage, Great
Britain came Immediately into con-
troll of SO3 GOO square miles of former
German territory, of which about
100000 square miles is in Africa.
Some $4,000 square miles Of other
Is -.--.-