Farmers' champion. (Elgin, Okla.) 1912-1922, 1921-09-07

A Christian nation when ou ances-
tors were houndering in paganlsm,
now as for centuries an African en-
pirc-one of the three or four remain
ing empires of the word-and the
only bit of land on the lfeat CONT
ncnt of Africa, with the exception Of
the little republic of Liberia, which
has not been made a possession or
protectorate of European power
such Is Abyssinln. little heard Of In
the worlds affairs, but possessing
history and "A promise OF future
economic importance which make It
deserve a different fate.
The country owes It's Independence
In large part both directly and lndi.
rcctly TO It's geographical environment
Set upon great plateau, II Is n nat
ural fortress and while the natives OF
most other sections of tropical Africa
dwell In enervating jungles Or inhos-
pItable deserts, the people of Abys
slnia. thanks to their altitude, fertile
soil and temperate conditions In gen.
ernl, have an inylgorating climate and
land literally of milk and honey"
! A situation near Arabia and Palestine,
too, has drawn Arabian and Jewish
| blood TO Ahysslnia and has given the
people of the country racial adyan-
| tage which the African tribes of pure
| negro blood have not had.
| But while geographical situation has
In many ways been an advantage 10
Abysslnla. II has brought It's dlsad-
| vantngcs also. without access to the
sea for centuries, the AbysSinans, held
/ to their inland tahIelands without
contnct with the outside world, failed
\ To make the most of their possession
of q lofty religion and an early start
toward civilization, and have re
manned semiburharic people. II Is
! perhaps remarkable that, Isolated MS
they were, they maintained their Chris
tianlty In any recognizable form. OBJ
servers marvel at the fact that the
! principal tencts and obseryanccs OF
the faith are practically pure rather
than NJ the growth beside them Of
certain Superstltions and laXitcs.
Cut on From Sea and Nile.
As the situation now stands, Abys-
| Slnia is entirely cut of from the sea
/ aud the Nile hy the colonies of Euro
! pcan powers; Italian Eritrca, French
Somuliund and British Somnlilnnd on
/ the north; Italian Somaliland on the
east; British East Africa on the south
and the Anglo Egyptian Sudan on the
west. But this Is mere holding Of
the gates by new Keepers; since the
rise of MOhammedan power In the
Near East the country has been cut
OFT about equally us effectively by
various Mohammednn tribes. Those
people of Arabian blood were able "a
take possession of the low desert
lands, but ON their inylgornting high
lands the Ahyssinians were, with rare
exceptions masters.
AbySalnin Is more than twice the
size of the German republic and of
about the area of California. oregon
and Nevada together. The country
! lies In tile same latitude as Venezuela
! and the southern islands of the Philip
pines well IN the tropics: but because
of It's general high elevation II has,
Ike Mexico, II much cooler ana more
healthful climate than lis proximity
10 the equator would Indicate.
These highlands are from 5000 To
5000 feet above the sea. Their roll.
Ing prairics are well watered and have
good growth of grass. The climate
ON these uplands Is superb. and If one
desires cooler surroundings there are
mountain chains rising from the pla-
teau in almost all sections of the coun.
try. Some of these mountains reach
height of 1900 feet and are topped
by perpetual snow. Irrigation could
be practiced IN Abysslnia to great nd-
vantage, but the utilization of the
abundant water supply In that way
seems never TO have entered the minds
of the natives.
Canyons and Deep Valleys.
The great amount Of water which
runs down from the Abyssinian noun
tnIns has carved gigantic gorges
through the tablelands, some of
which. In depth at least, rival the
Grand canyon OF the Colorado. The
gorge Of the Blue Nile which flows for
more than half Its length through
Abyssinia Is from 5000 to 5000 feet
deep In places. The material washed
from this remote chasm has played an
important part, incidentally. In the
history Of the world. Ground into silt
and deposited through the centuries
end millennlums In the lower valley
of the Nile. II produced there garden
spot aud made possible the growth Of