The L'Anse sentinel., 1923-04-20

Pi,pared by the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington, d. c.
Though France Is chiefly occupied
with the Ruhr at present, occasional
dispatches mentioning friction in Syria
recall that that country, too, is p.oving
something of problem in French adj
minlstratlon. France was given a
mandate over the country following
the World war. But besides indlcat-
Ing the French mandate, "Syria" has
a wider historic and geographic sig
nlficance. In this larger sense 1t in
cludes Palestine-represents in short,
the whole Mediterranean front of the
Arabian peninsula.
The future of greater Syria depends
largely upon the development of its
ports and upon who controls these
strategic centers of politics and com
mer0& Alexandretta and Haifa will
attain new Importance If the Darda-
nelles are internationalized and free
passage, open to all nations, cuts
across what Germany was forging as
archaeological route. All but 800
miles of this road, between Nisifn and
Tekrlt, few miles above Samarra, Is
now complete.
The new line of traffic from Alex
andretta past Aleppo to the Euphrates
river at Jerablus, connecting the oldest
routes Of international commerce, also
separates two important lingual
groups, for Turkish Is generally spoken
TO the north Of the railway and Arabic
to the south.
Whatever political adjustment is
made between England and France,
Italy and Greece, Arabia and Syria,
conservative Mecca and liberal Beirut.
Zionist and Greek Orthodox, Christian
and Moslem, Maronite and Druse, the
line of division between the Turkish
and Arabic tongues will be significant,
for language differences as well as
those of race exert profound effect
on political life In the Levant.
The Halfa railway separates the
northern part Of Greater Syria, or
French Syria" from the southern
part, Palestine. Haifa is Of impor-
tance because it Is the southernmost
Syrian harbor capable of large devel-
opment and is the terminus Of the rail
way which is becoming the key to Je-
rusalem as well as the more impor'
tant line to Damascus and Mesopo
tamia. 1t Is the real prize Of the Near
East, for once II is to become the
greatest port of the eastern Med
iterranean llttoral, az 1t was when II
served as the chief landing place OF
the Crusaders and transshipment
point of the Venetian, Pisan, and
Genoese trade from argosy to caravan
Syria Is the hub. Of the Afro-Eu'
rasian continents, and with every rail
way that reaches out to Bremen
Balxu, Bokhara, Burma, or Bloemfon
tein the central region Of the worlds
greatest land-mass achieves new sig
nificance.
Aside from its Importance as trade
route, Syria will find its greatest fu
ture as an agricultural nation. and ha,
extensive regions which can be made
10 produce large crops.
Many Races interrnIngIed.
The population of Syria number
about three and half millions. of Sc
mitic origin, speaking the Arabic Ian
guage, and yet with so many races In
termlngled through the centuries Of
the various conquests and occupations
that the people cannot claim any one
race as their own.
Greek, Roman and European cru
sader have all blended with the an
cient Semitic stock to produce tho
Syrians of today. whom Lord Cromer
In his memoirs, termed the cream
OF the East"
In Syria was the one green spot oi
prewar Turkey-the Lebanon noun
tains. In ancient times the mountains
were everywhere covered with forests
The cedars Of Lebanon not only fur
nished timber for the building Of Solo
mons temple In Jerusalem, but the
Kings of Egypt annually noated large
RATS of logs from the Syrian coast to
supply the demands of the cities Of
the Nile. This constant demand from
xoreisn lands. together with the lack