Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-10-07
ANCLO-FRENCH
PEACE Helps
TUNNEL TALK
F~riendliness Revives
Urge For Highway
Beneath the English
Channel

LONDON, Oct. 5.-(P)-Progress
toward peace and disarmament has
revived agitation in England for
early construction of a submarine
tunnel joining Great Britain and
France.
Fear of invasion from the CONT
nent, firmly rooted in English his
tory, has lately subsidized TO the
point where an all-land route from
London 10 Paris can be discussed
as an engineering a. well as politi-
cal question.
Major General G.. Barker, Colonel
Commandsnt of the Royal Engineers.
has brought this mooted question to
the fore again by a letter in which
he says il would be advisable 20
reopen the subject, keeping in mind
the changed conditions" General
Barker was secretary Of the Chan
mel Tunnel Military and Civil Com
mittee which began to investigate
the subject in 1884 and turned il
down.
New experience gathered in Amer
lea from tunneling the Wellington
holes under the Hudson, and in Eng
land from building the roadway tun-
mel "a feet in diameter under the
Mersey Is leading experts here TO
believe that the construction Of a
tunnel under the channel would Of
fer little difficulties except those OF
finance and time.
The consequences Of the building
OF an under-Channel tunnel would
be far-reaching. and the committee
which deliberated on the project
permitted the military consequences
TO influence their decision. They
thought that such a tunnel would
render England more liable to at
tack from the continent. and would
lessen her famous position Of I'M
pregnable insularity. Parliament.
as a result. refused to sanction the
building of the tunnel.
But since those early days the
airplane has come and Britain IS
now little more insulsr from a
military viewpoint than France or.
Germany. The last air maneu,ers
over London disclosed how %vulner-
able the capital is from above. Al
tunnel linking England with the
continent would add little 10 her
danger from attack from the east.
MtA pal NlAht1 ANWA ~
Channel project the argument 40
Tanced against il was that of the
danger of a surprise attack. A
continental power, il was said, might
mass troops az the French end Of
the tunnel and pour them without
warning or declaration of war into
England. Butt number of new pre-
cautions might be added now to
those advanced when the project
was first under consideration to
guard against surprise.
And Il is readily admitted that
England's superior navy could sink
depthbombs or torpedoes and de-
molish the tunney within an hour or
so after che first attack.
Proponents of the tunnel project
have a number Of arguments in their
favor. The Improvement in trans
portation would be tremendous. The
American tourist who goes from
London TO Paris. unless by airplane.
must board a train in London for
the south coast. get out ard embark
on a channel boat, toss about some
times like a rubber ball for prac-
ticslly an hour. and then get on an
other train for Paris. II the tunnel
were constructed he could get into 4
nonstop express train which would
whisk him from ore capital to the
other without a halt. The trip nOw
occupies almost half n day. It
could be made in several hours.
The recent act of parliament CO.
ordinating railroad and road trans
.portation may have the effect Of
making the tunnel, IL built, open
for motor-driven vehicles as well as
trains.
Financing Of the project. accord
ing 20 its supporters, would be done
equally by the French and British
governments. But judging from the
present condition OF British govern
mental finance, q good deal of the
money advances would have to be BY
private capital. Construction of the
tunnel would certainly absorb a con
siderable amount of England's pres
ent unemployment.
Some agitation IS row under way
TO induce Baron Emile D'Erlanger.
British capitalist, to call a meeting
of various interests in October or
November.