Norwich bulletin., 1921-12-16
IN THE DAYS NEWS
THE PACIFIC.

If the Pacific were merely a great ocean devoid of islands or with as few bits of land ss those in the North At lantic, probably there would be no Pa eific problem says a bulletin issued from the Washington, D. C., headquar- ters of the National Geographic Society in connection wrth the approaching con- ference called hy President Harding for the discussion of the Limitation of Arm aments and Far Eastern questions. Tn other words" continued the bulletin. leach island might be visualized not inappr0pridtely as the dot under a vast hay question mark. >To split hairs, 1t is not so much the tSroblem of the Paei- fic' that is oothering the world, as the problem of its islands.
 If modern fleets had to be operated 5000 miles rom home without fuel bas- es, or if cables had to span such dis tances under water without relay sta tions, offe.NEive naval warfare and teIe- graphic communication over wires would he practically impossible The great powers of the world woke up to this fact in earnest about @ generation ago and began taking over island bases and stations in the Pacific that had preyi- ously seemed of little more significance than stages !or exotic dances and can- nibal feasts. Before this, islands and the lands bordering the worlds greatest ocean had b"en acquired chiefly with the idea of exploiting their products. and only the larger areas were considered im- portant. With the realization of the val uable parts that naval bases and relay stations might play in the future, there developed .a keen interest in even the ttnieSt rocks ard coral rings
 As Ian llorls of the domains that bound the vast bowl of the Pacific now sit three great vitaIIy interested powers
 the United States, Great Britain and Japan. In edition there are four na- tions hardly 'pss interested-China Rus sia, Holland and France. Among those countries. whose interests are by no means negligible are Mexico, Chile and the other west coast Latin American states. Spain and Germany, once inter ested at least to the extent that France is now interested, have passed from the Pacific: but in passing each has accent 'uated the problems Of the United States.
 What may be called the stakes of the various countries whose lands hem in the Pacific vary greatly on a basis of their coast lines. Leaving minor con- volutions of The coasts out of considera-
 
 leads in miles of frontage on the Pacific with more thar 4.0o0 miles, counting both the sweep of the Aleutian Islands and the part of Alaska, above them. The Philippines add direct frontage of about 1,000 miles more on the other side of the great ocean.
 'Asiatic Rnesia Is second with ap- proximately $500 miles from Behring Strait to Chosen (Korea), counting the coast line If the sea of OI5hotsF. com parable in siza to our own Gulf of Mex leo.
 "Aeross the southwestern corner of the Pacific, British territory stretches from Dutch New Guinea to New Zealand a distance of ohout $500 miles but with a break Of ovAk leo miles between Aus tralia and New Zealand. Tn a way. how 1 ever. Australia may fairly be considered entirely a Pacific land giving Great Bri- tain by far the greatest coast line. The continent has for protection coast line | of apDroxf71 1tely 5000 miles, easily reached by fleets from the Pacific, and | it matters 1,ttle from a naval point of view that half the water that bathes this | long shore Ire is called the Indian l Ocean. Canal Ia adds approximately 50r miles to British Pacific coast lines.
 ''The islands that constitute Japar i stretch along Asia from near the tir ! of Kamoc1atHa to the southern point oi 1 Ta:wan C'1rupsa). and thus have 3 1 frontage on tra Pacific of about 2,70r miles The coast line of Jaran is n1uci | greater, however. due to the western 1 frontage on t1e Sea of O!5otsl. the Sea | of Japan. and the Yellow and Eastern tSeae
 "Screened hv the Philippines and th, i British possessions in northern Borneo 1 the Dutch possessions have dlrec
 frontage on the Pacific of only abou