New Britain herald., 1927-09-02
Crop acreage has been increased

Italian government is doing by men tioning the fact that the growing Of barley has been increased from l95.- GOO acres in lgHi 10 4uo. .p0o acres today. More than Aou.0oo olive trees are growing. of which more than half are already bearing. More than million date palms are producing. More than 4oo ooo hectares of new land were prepared Tor orchards.
 Thus the work goes on. By 1920,
 Mussolini believes, Tripolitania will once more he able to supply ItaIy's entire needs in olives and olive oil
 Most important of all artesan water is found everywhere in the colony at q depth of T to 250 feet,
 this being d considerable advantage over Tunisia. the French protector ate 10 the west, which frequently
 has serious water shortages. The Cli- , mate is similar 10 that of southern Italy for eight months Of the year;
 the remainder of the time it is hot ter. But the zone of arable land eN-
 tends for several hundreds of miles inland from the coast and the
 quality of the soil compares favor
 ably with that of Italy What pros poets for the colony are in store can
 be gathered from the statement that
 the total area now under cultivation
 does not exceed one per cent of the
 territory formerly cultivated by the Romans. In three more years all the vegetables needed in Italy can be grown in the colony. it is believed. Italy is acting wisely in its att-
 tude toward the natives. who are ! left to their own customs. Though
 there are 2,000,00o of them. the | territory is sparsely populated be- , cause Of it's vast extent. The Italian government has acted with firmness in political matters. but not in such a matter as to interfere with tribal customs and create resentment. The tribes have been accustomed 10 for , eign rulers. and so long as they are left alone to live their lives in the
 ancestral fashion they are not greatly interested as to who "oWns' the country. The local populations | are allowed to collaborate with the government through the medium of q general council named by the governor. Italian courts have full jurisdiction except Tn those tradi- tional matters left to the Mussulman and Rabhinical jurisdictions. Hullinger gives a good insight into . the energy being displayed by the , Italian government Tn developing this new province. The ocean front of Tripoll was 3 line of shabby shacks in 1924. he says. Today 1t is i frOnted with a beautiful cement es- pIanade and sea wall a mile long, Along the seashore q strip an eighth of a mile wide and three quarters Of a mile long has been dotted with new cement buildings. including a large hotel-built for the tourist traffic Tripoli hopes 10 attract-an opera house, two banks and a number Of business blocks" One has a feeling. the Current His tory writer says, of being in a place where things are being done"
 Making two blades of grass grow where only one grew before is process that from time immemor- able aroused the ina gina ton of the doers of mankind. Italy is doing even better in the new colony it has renamed Libya. There can be little question that the colony will become rich possession to the Fascist government-one combining the re- sources needed in Italy and provid- ing a close and convenient outlet for the nations increasing population In Llbya. there are opportunities for energy and enterprise 10 last the Italians q great many years. In the days of ancient Rome it's resources were fully appreciated and it was made into a granary that stood the Romans in good stead. That the pro- ductive possibilities of northern Africa were allowed 10 go 10 waste after the chaotic end of the Roman Empire can well be understood: but that they were allowed to remain dormant from that time to this late day is rather surprising
 The North African possession is only a comparatively short sail across the Mediterranean from the southern point Of Italy.