Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1923-03-14


ciety. Washington. d. CO
Out OF the exceedingly complex
Near Eastern puzzle. that kept the CON
ference at Lausanne In session longer
than any other OF the postwar meet
lngs except that az Versailles. the
Kingdom Of Iraq and its province Of
Mosul finally emerged as the pivotal
problem. one OF the chief reasons
was oil. The Germans discovered IL
In 1904 and planned 10 exploit t.
The World war eliminated the Ger
mans. Then came the creation of the
Arab Kingdom Of Iraq under British
control with the Mosul oil regions an
Important part In the kingdoms
domains.
When IL was created In 1877, Iraq
was hailed as a new" country. but
in reality IL Is one OF the oldest and
most historic patches Of the earth's
surface. Iraq has existed as n geo
graphical name for ages. but I'm recent
centuries Il has had little more Off
cial sanction than "Manhattan' for
the American metropolis or "Frlsco"
for a thriving Pacific port. Yet IL
covers more or less Indefinitely a
region known. and often famous. In
every age Of man from the dawn OF
tradition 10 the present-the fertile
plain 81 the Tigrls and Euphrates val
leys. where the Garden 81 Eden Is sup
posed by many students 90 have been
situated and where the FIRST weak
ro0tlets sprouted that have grown into
the worldwide civilization OF today.
strip Iraq OF its alias; call IL Babylon,
Nineyeh, Nesopotamia. and Il is
known 20 every school child.
The country includes approximately
the old Turkish v!layets Of Basra.
BaEdad and Mosul which cover the
delta ~ the Tigris and Euphrates and
considerable part Of the upper
reaches Of those streams. lying be
tween the Syrian desert on the one
side and the hills Of Kurdlstan and
western Persia on the other. To the
southeast. az the mouth Of the rivers,
Is the navl-able Persian gulf
Capable Of Great Development.
To gain an idea of what wonderful
development can be brought about IN
Mesopotamia one need only look into
the past. At the beginning Of history
the plain Of the Tigris and Euphrates
was a gardenSpot teeming with a
well-fed and wealthy people. II there
was "a grandeur that was Greece and
a glory that was Rome" there was as
truly a spIendor that was Babylon.
And the splendor Of Babylon was
matg possible five thousand years
axe largely by the wealth that sprang
from the Intensive cultivation OF the
river plain under a gigantic system OF
irrigation which even the most am
bilious modern systems probably have
failed In many ways to surpass.
Great canals crossed the region be
tween the rivers and ran Tor miles on
the outer sides. while smaller canals
spread the water 90 every corner OF
che country. Some Of these ancient
canals were practically artificial riv-
ers with two and three parallel chan
nels the remains OF which may be
traced today for scores Of miles. Wat
cred by these countless streams, near
~ every square foot OF the country
produced It's crop Of dates. figs. grain
and other products. and the popula-
ton was many times that Of today.
Babylon's agricultural Utopia was
not a short-llved affair. but continued
for nearly ten times as long as the
period which has passed since white
men settled in America. The country
throve with only minor interruptions
under Rabylonians. Assyrians. Chal-
deans. Greeks and Romans. But al
ways the settled civilization Of the
agriculurisfs was threatened by the
turbulent hin people 70 tie north and
east. Finally the Parthlans captured
tie country and were followed by the
Psrsians. Under these more barharous
rulers the great Irrigation systems,
sven then much less efficient than