Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-03
BY DREW PEARSON,
Special Correspondent of The Star.


YUST as the Washington Nava
Conference revolved around tn,
problem of who should con
~ troll the Pacific, so the Geneva
Naval Conference hinges OF
the problem Of the control of the Med
iterranean.
The Mediterranean, across which
Hannibal, Caesar and Marc Antony
once battled for the supremacy Of
the then known world, has come bach
as a strategic area of naval control
Who controls the Mediterranean also
controls the vast resources of Africa
Africa means to Europe at the
Geneva Naval Conference what Asia
meant to Japan at the Washington
Conference-food, iron, coal, water
power, markets for manufactured
goods and outlets for surplus popu
lation. Africa represents the only out
let for an overcrowded Europe and
the only fresh source of raw materials
for continent where every plot OF
land is exploited to the limit. Just as
the future wars of the West, il any.
will be fought for the control of
Asia, so the future wars of Europe
will be fought for the control of Africa
Mediterranean Dividing Line.
Between Africa and Europe lies the
Mediterranean. On one side of that
body OF water are France and Italy
On the other are the great French
colonies of Morocco, Tunis, Algeria
and the Italian territories of Tripoli,
Eritrea, Italian Somaliland and Juba-
land. Through this body of water
is the British colonial route via Gil.
braltar, Malta and Port Said to India,
Australia and the Orient. This route
is the jugular vein of the British EN-
pire. Through it daily pass Australian
wheat and beef, New Zealand butter,
Indian jute, Egyptian cotton, Ceylon
tea, Malay rubber, Java coffee and
South Pacific nitrates. Through this
route in the opposite direction pass
Lancashire piece goods, Leicester wool
ems, Birmingham hardware, Sheffield
cutlery and the thousand-odd assert.
ment of bartered manufactured goods
which make Britain the worlds great
est trader. Block this life route of the
British Empire for six weeks and it
collapses. Britain, therefore, will sur
render supremacy in the Mediterra-
mean only when she is prepared to
surrender her empire.
OF Importance to Italy.
To Italy, with her own food supply
and with growing interests in Africa,
the Mediterraf1ean is equally a life
route. For France the control of the
Mediterranean by a hostile power,
while it would not mean starvation,
would disrupt her vast Colonial en-
pire. The control of the Mediterra,
mean, with freedom of navigation
through and across it at any time, be-
comes, therefore, necessity in the
naval plans of France, Italy and Great
Britain. Naval warfare on the Medi-
terraYiean liz most effective by the use
of cruisers, destroyers and submarines.
These are what the Geneva naval con-
ference is trying to limit.
One problem which confronts the
conference is the fact that Britain,
chief naval power in the Mediterra-
mean, is asked to limit her auxiliary
craft without any similar agreement
on the part of the other two Mediter-
ranean naval powers-France and
Italy-which are not participating. AT
present British naval strength in au-
Hilary craft is based upon the COM
bined strengths of the French and
Italian navies. For instance, Britain
maintains about as many submarines
and destroyers as Italy and France
combined, and in order to take no
chances in allowing the British jugu-
lar trade route to be cut by fleet
of submarines operating off Tangier or
Algiers, Britain maintains twice as
many cruisers as Italy and France
together.
In order to secure British participa.