A BACKGROUND OF THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 256, 27 July 1939, Page 7

A BACKGROUND OF THE NEWS

A Veteran Battleship 11.M.5. Warspite, tlie flagship of Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, Commander in Chief in the .Mediterranean, which is to visit Istanbul next month, is one of the Navy’s veteran battleships. Possessor, of; a name which has dis tinguished various British ships of the line from the time of Elizabeth, the Warspite was launched in 1913. She is a Queen Elizabeth class ship of 31,100 tons with a main armament of eight 15-inch guns. Commanded by Captain E. M. Phillpotts, she took part in the Battle of Jutland in the Fifth Battle Squadron, the other ships of the squadron in that action being the Barham, the Valiant and the Malaya. The Queen Elizabeth missed the action, being in dock. When the fleet was deploying at ‘■Windy Corner” the Warspite came under heavy concentrated lire and was severely damaged. Since the war, like the other ships of her class, she has been thoroughly modernized. Argentina And The Antarctic The claims which, it is reported, are to be made by the Argentine Government for ownel'sbip of approximately one-seventh of the Antarctic regions draw fresh attention to the question of the validity or otherwise of the ■’sector principle” of determining Antarctic ownership. Argentina is preparing to oppose certain of the United States claims which were made as a result of thq Byrd expeditions, and also to dispute Britain’s claims to the South Orkney Island, South Georgia, South Shetland Island, Grahamland, and all other islands in the vicinity of the Weddell Sea. The sector principle is one which has never been tested internationally for the reason that, so far, the conflict of claims concerning Antarctic territories has never come to a head. Apart from the various explorations, the position has remained a more or less academic one because no nation has attempted to exploit the territory. One of the present-day authorities on the position is Mr. Edward Shackleton, son of the famous explorer, who, in a review of the position written in 1937, pointed out that under the sector principle Britain' had succeeded in claiming no less than three-quarters of Antarctica, or nearly 4.000,000 square miles of ice-covered territory. The Sector Principle The device known as the sector principle lays if down that all lands south of certain inhabited areas are he.d to be the natural property of the Governments of those areas. There are three main Antarctic sectors. One is the Falkland Island > Dependency, under the administration of the British Colonial Oflic-e. Another is the Ross Sea Dependency, governed by New Zealand, and the third is the vast new area claimed by Australia in J 933 after Sir Douglas Mawson had taken possession of it under an Order in Council, which stated: ‘‘That part of his Majesty’s Dominions in the Antarctic Seas which comprises all the islands and terrilories, other than Adelie L:i.nd, which are situated south of the GO degree of south latitude ... is hereby placer! under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia.” Discovery And Possession B.ut it was also pointed out by Mr. Shackleton that discovery alone did not imply the right to political sovereignty. Official recognition from other governments is also necessary, and furthermore, such .political sove'reignty is only effective by the occupation and effective administration of the territory concerned. “As an instance of this,” he wrote, “in 1922 it was considered desirable to strengthen Camilla s claim to Ellesmere Laud —her most northerly Arctic territory. To this end a Royal Canadian Mounted Police station was established there; and Ellesmere Laud now enjoys the unusual distinction of being the only island in the world inhabited entirely by policemen. A post office was set up, and in 1931 “a census was taken of the non-existent population.” Clearly, if the same practice be followed, find tlie same principle recognized in the Antarctic, some form of settlement, l>e it ever so perfunctory, will have to lie carried out. by the contending nations before any .part of the vast white domain becomes universally recognized as part of a particular national domain. Rumania’s Barter Deal According to a message from Bucharest, Rumania has agreed to barter 50,000 railway wagon-loads of wheat, worth £3,500,000, for armaments from Germany and Italy. In view of the fact that Rumania’s principal danger of aggression comes from the axis Powers, and that it is principally because of the expansionist policies of these Powers that she is hastening to improve her defences, this deal is a .remarkable one. It is indicative, indeed, of the dispassionate nature of world trade in ariiiiiments. If tlie deal is carried through, then, In the event of a war with Rumania on the side of tlu democracies, she will oppose the might of the Reich with £3.500,000 worth of German ami Italian guns and bullets. Wheat is Rumania’s second largest crop. She produces more maize than anythirig else, but whereas her maize production is decreasing, her wheat harvests are growing larger. In 1937 the output of wheat was 3,700,000 tons, an increase of 200,000 tons on the previous year, whereas maize production fell by 2,000,000 tons to a total of 4.200.000 tons. Cereals are her largest exports with the exception of petroleum products, and Germany is the largest buyer of her products; Britain coming next and Italy fourth. Drainage In Iraq Iraq is a land of rich -productive pbs sibilities, but also a land of swamps It is not surprising therefore that ti British firm has secured a £900,000 con tract from the Iraq Government for the construction of works designed t< prevent the flooding of the rivei Euphrates. This, it is believed, wil convert thousands of water-logged acres into valuable agricultural areas. Already much of this sort of worl has been done. Canals have been cu complicated drainage systems openei and, in addition, much, of the land ri lieved of its surplus water by pumpim The Iraq Irrigation Depart mei operates several canal systems, an these are being extended all the tin). Wheat and barley are among the prii. cipal crops, but wool is also an im portant export. Another great sourc of Iraq riches, however, is Independen of floodings. That is the oil industry production in which is in the neighbourhood of 4,000,000 tons a year.