THE FRENCH IN THE PACIFIC.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 127, 29 May 1914, Page 4

THE FRENCH IN THE PACIFIC.

A curiotis calculation wor lately madt by a French journalist in one of the weeklies of Parie, by which he showed that the opening of the Panama Canal v-ould rt'sult in making a French port the future centre of navigation in tho Pacific. Taking all tbe main eteamship routes that will paes through the Canal, M. Guieyeete pointe out ta3t these lirrce nearly all converge towards Tahiti. In futuTe all vesfeje steaming between either EtiropE or America through 'Panama to Australia will touch there. The only rival 'porta are in Galipagos, Fiji, ajid Tonga. The txrok Archipelago, he acse.ru>, bus no good seaports, and by the are greater. From Panama, to ?ydney, t-hrough Papeete, the harbour of Tahiti, 4-he dir.tan«. is 7.900 miles, through Apia 5.0G.5 -miles, from Panama, to Wellington, through Tahiti. 8.828 miles, through Apia 7.66S mil as. 'M. Guieyetsr predicts a comTHprcjal future for iPapecle when the neceesary imprav«n-epte have been made to its harbour I>y wid'etiing the g«ps in the coral reef, to that, tile largest veseel* can enter, and .by erecting lighthouete on danger pointe. The whole. Polynesian Archipelago is now in a prosperous condition, and in the French Colonies its commerce has grown from t> million frn-nes in lOfti to 1b,2-28,000 francs in IM2, \Außtralasians are well α-ware -of the fertility and' productivity of most of these South .Sea groups. None of thote which arr mf-et 'highly favoured by nature are at present being worked so ac t.o yield anything like what they are i-apalile of. fk> far it has not 'pa-id the ccet of freight to Ta-ise such product; as cotton, which is grown in larger qu.intfti-es in the mam trade centres, c.".. in the. Southern State* of America. In islands like Tahiti there i* practically no iripical produce which cannot be raised, and with little trouble in iHlltiration. At present the products ari- confined chiefly to cocoa, coffee, vanilla, and a little cotton. In all the FTcnoh Pacific poa?et*ions -■ Tahiti. New Caledonia. Ihe New Hebrides-the French population is increasing. and sanguine prophets like M. Guievrs.sc are beginning to suggest an ex-pantio-n of Fr«noi Colonial power .in this ocean. All this ie. of codtsp, only the ujicnrtain an ticipatione of a few cn-thiielaete. and ertiioa can only guefts whether or no they may ev«r'be fulfilled. While there is certainly no ca.use for alarm in the growth of the colonies of 3. friendly neighbour, it is. juet ac wvll to bejr the exact eituation clearly in mind. Aus- . tralia and New Zealand are iriootnparably the most importAnt countries in the" South 'Pacific, and their commerce is most vitally affected, yet for all purpoees of defence they are so incompa.rahly weaker by themselves than any great European Po-weT that they would 'be completely at its mercy -before help 'could reach them from any MediMrrra- ; nean or North Sen fleet. The French I may or may not at some future time occupy an important commercial posi- ! tion in the Pacific ie certain | it- that the Pa.n-a.ma Canal routt* will • more or lesß alter the world's distribution of commerce and nav.iga.tion. The ■Pacific is the ocean of the future. The development of its island* hae lueen only in its infancy before the Canal opened. To stop th-e progresK of French or lierman colonies would, of course, be impracticable, and psrh'&ps undesirable, I but it more 'than ever necessary to I guard our own interests while these two nations are beginning to wake up to future possibilities for tlveir own race in these waters. The article by M. | Guieyesse is a fresh proof of the ro--1 markable foresight of Mr. tieddon in : sugrnpst.ing the strengthening of New ' Zealand's position in the Pacific. It ie aleo an indication from another quarter ; that- it m-ay not be in the Northern I watore alone that the British Empire I .will in the near future need guarding.