The Columbia evening Missourian., 1921-09-29
PACIFIC
ARE ElNOLVED
INCOMPETENCE
Value of Small Lands in Ocean
Now Apparent TO World,
Says Geographic
Society.
HAWAII MOST STRATEGIC
United States, Japan, England
Most Interested Powers
France and China
Concerned.

". III.
ery rock and coral reef in the Pacific
Ocean is involved in the for,hcomine
Washington conference on the Limitation
Of srmaments and Far Eastern affairs
The much discussed Pacific opes,ion i.
not 50 much a question of the ocean il.
xelf as the innumersb,e large and small
islands do,tinr il. II may easily he n
question Of life or death for the inter.
cs,ed powers. ..
Ii was not until a generation ago rha,
the great mowers perceiyed the i'm.
,nense vain. NJ the .P.c;f;r ;sl,rds ,b.
National Ceorraphic Society declared
in comprehensive interview Of the pa.
rifle angle of the conference made npb.
lie today
III modern fleets had 70 he o,.,.,ed
5000 miles from home wi,bou, fpeI
bases. or il cables had 10 span such dis.
tances under wafer wi,bou, relay STA.
lions. offensive naval warfare and ,ele.
pranbic communications over v;res
would be practically impossible- the
SURVEY stated. The great mowers Of
the world WOKE nm ,o this fac, in earn.
rs, about a generation apo and beoan
taking over island bases and stations in
the Pacific that had preyiouslv. seemed
of lille more significance than stages
for exotic dances and cannibal feas,s
Before this islands and the bands bor.
dering the worlds creates, ocean had
been acquired chiefly with the idea of
exploiting their products and only the
larger areas were considered imnor,an,
With the realization Of the valuable nar,s
that naval bases and relsy stations
nigh, play in the future there deyeloped
a keen in,eres, in even the ,;n;es, rocls
and coral rings
"As landlords Of the c,mains that
bound the vas, bowl of the Pacific now
81, three great vitality interested now.
ers-,he United States. C,ea, Br;,aip
and Japan. In addition there are four
nations hardly isss ;,,.res,.d- Cb;n,
Russia. Holland and France Among
those countries whose interests are by no
means neplic;ble ar. Mex;co Chill and
the other west Latin.American states
Spain and GERMANY have passed from the
Pacific: bu, in passing each has accep.
tuated the problems of the limited States
What may be called the stakes of
the vorious countries whose lands kem
in the Pacific vary greatly on hasis
of their coast lines The United States
leads in miles of frontage nm the Pacific
with more than 1000 miles counting
both the sweep of the Aleutian Islands
and the mari of Alaska above them The
PHILIPPINES add direct frontage of abou,
l.eOO miles more on the other side Of
the great ocean.
sAsiatjc Russia is second with an.
proxima,ely $500 miles from Bebr;no
Strait to Chosen (Korea, coun,;nr tho
coas, line of the sea of Okbo,sk com.
parable in size 10 our own Gulf Of Me..
leo.
.Across,the southwestern corner of the
Pacific. British territory stretches from
Dutch New Guinea to New Zealand
distance of about $500 miles bu, with
a break of over Iooo miles between
Australia and New Zealand In a way
however. Australia NAV fairly he con.
sidered entirely a Pacific land giving
Great Britain by far the creates, co,s,
line. The continent has for nro,.c,;,n
coas, ;;nc NJ ,nnro,;,,,.l,, ooo IL.