The Press. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27,1912. WALFISCH BAY.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14289, 27 February 1912, Page 6

The Press. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27,1912. WALFISCH BAY.

In view of tho persistent rumours which associate tho cession of Walfisoh Bay with tho projected Anglo-Gorman entente, it is worth while recalling how that possession first passed undor tho British flag, and, incidentally, how Germany laid tho foundations of her Colonial Empire. Situated almost on tho Tropic of Capricorn, Walfisch Bay is in the very middle of tho German South-West African coast-lino, and with tho possible exception of Angra Pcquena or Liidoritz Bay, some 200 or 300 mijos further south, ia tho only passable harbour in the whole 800 miles. Most peoplo havo a vague impression that it was seized by England in a dog-in-the-manger spirit, to render difficult German-colonial expansion History does not support this view. As far back as tho year 179G, tho' wholo coast from the mouth of *.ho Orange river to Capo Frio, whero Portuguese Went Africa be_ins, was taken possession of in tho namo of King George III.; hut when, in 1867. almost a century later, tho Governor o f Cape Colony suggested the advisability of making a definite annexation, the Home Government refused to listen to his suggestion. Two years later (1869) German missionaries in Namaqua and LDamaraJand asked for 'British protection, and urged tho British authorities to annex Walfis»b Bay, if they shrank from administering tho whole vast tract of territory. Nino years later (1878) Walfisch Bay was actually annexed,'and placed under the jurisdiction of Capo Colony. Tho position then was that though England held very fow actual stations ou the coast, sho exercised a general supervision over the interests of'tho traders, who frequented it, and extended such trading rights as she had secured from tho natives, and such protection as her warships afforded, impartially to both. English and Gorman subjects.

In 1883 a German trader, Herr Liideritz, bought from the Hottentots 150 square miles of land at Angra Pequena. Bismarck advised our Foreign Office of the purchase, and asked whother England was in a position to protect the new trading-station. Lord Granville replied, that the Queen's authority had only been proclaimed at certain points of the coast, but added ■ that no foreign Power could claim I territory between Cape Frio and the Orange River," without infringing England's legitimate rights. He then suggested to the jCape Government the advisability of annexing Angra Pequena in the belief that this was what Bismark desired. But that astute politician had quite other aims, and protesting that the action of tho English Government was unfriendly, he asserted that Germany had a right to protect Herr Ltiderita. Finding that this alleged right was not disputed,' Bismarck despatched a German ship-of-war, and brushing all English claims contemptuously aside, calmly annexed the whole coast from the Orange River to Cape Friol Those were the days of Mr Gladstone's second Administration when the interest of the, Home Government in the growth or fortunes of Britain beyond the seas was, to say the least, languid, and, in the words of the Right Hon, James Bryce, "in "1884 after a long correspondence, not " creditable to the foresight or prompti- " tude of the late Lord Derby, who " was then Colonial Secretary, the pro- " teetorate of Germany was formally "recognised. Yet in spito of "their exceedingly pacific atti"tude, Bismarck denounced the "British Cabinet as jealous " intriguers a_ainst German colonial "enterprise," and went far to sow the seeds of that international suspicion and distrust which has borne, and is still bearing, such bitter fruits. Walfisch Bay, and a few islands off the coast, wero retained by the British, and still form part of tho South African Union. Obviously, as the cables say, tho cession of Walfisch Bay is primarily a question for tho Union Parliament to deal with. Owing to the action of a northerly current, the bay is gradually silting up, and to convert it into "a large seaport and naval base," such as the Gorman newspapers speak of, would entail elaborate and costly engineering works. But the parallel case of Heligoland, which wo ceded to Germany in 1890, shows how little that far-eighted Power shrinks from expense or difficulty when sho has a naval or military end to serve.