KEY PORTS OF CENTRAL EUROPE

Evening Star, Issue 17954, 27 April 1922, Page 12

KEY PORTS OF CENTRAL EUROPE

RAILWAY TO SERVE NINE NATIONS. A MIGHTY PEACEMAKER. Danzig, Odessa, and Finnic, respectively of Poland, the Ukraine, and Italy, now important but not vital, save to their own people, are likely to become, and, indeed, should become, the key ports of Central Europe (writes Count Jean do Strci leski in an American journal), i Men's minds, so long turned to destruction, now are turning, as they should, to construction, and the plan of a railway which will servo nine nations and affect directly a population of 292 million people, i almost' three times as many as there are , in the United States, Jong ago presented . to the leading statesmen of tho vast sec- ; tion involved, is_ beginning to got grave consideration. If it is carried out, the ( act will mark a great social ami poll- ■ tical as well as economical advance, for j this triangular railway will be the_ first ever planned and built in Europe designed ■ from the start purely with non-military ( benefits in mind. T he Eastern log of the ( triangle, beginning in North Poland at its . great 3 port of Danzig, will then clip across ( that little point .j East Prussia which j extends to the south-west, thence ran for j a great distance through the richest por- , tion of the heart of Poland, then across ( tho Ukraine, passing thro ugh nnu of the j richest grain-producing sections in the , world, and, at Odessa-, reach the Black , Sea. i THROUGH WEALTHY LANDS. ’ Thus will have been established tho first, great sea-to-sea link of a vast trans- 1 portntion system certain to revolutionise upward one of the most potentially wealthy sections of the. earth, which long has been held in commercial, social, and economic 1 bondage by the tact that politics, rather < than good sense, have ruled that part I of the world. The next leg of the triangle, ( running a little south of west after pass- < ing out of the Ukraine, will cross ; Rumania, one of the world's naturally s richest articles of territory, entering r Jugo-iSlavin barely .south of the Hungarian i boundary, and crossing this new State to t the recently very violently disputed port 1 of Finnic, thus, in turn, serving four ( nations—the Ukraine, Rumania, Jugo- \ Slavic. nut! Italy. Having thus offered < to tremendously rich and productive tend- I iory outlets to two seas, the railway will t begin upon its third and last angle, run- ; iiing east of nc-rih up to Dant/.ig, crossing a point, of Italy, splendidly li.-eeting c Austria, serving the very heart of Gzcchu- i Slovakia, giving transportation to that t much-discussed Upper Silc.-ia which was in I .such bitter dispute between Poland and c Germany, and of winch the greater part - was given to tho former country, am! then c re-entering Poland, to terminate at the J starting point of the first angle of tho * unite--Dantzig. A VAST UNDERTAKING. Not since the days of the planning of the great American transcnnlmenial railways lias any railway project offered so many ad vantages In so large a population, ami there is this difference : when the American transcontinental lines were, built tho population was almost entirely pro- E spectivc. while in the territories which ( t will be tapped by this tremendous cuter- •- prise the population already is on de- j r veloped agricultural lands, engaged, m j i many towns, in prosperous manufacturing, I J and available, as soon as (he road is j I built, for the development- of the- great j r mineral wealth existing in the- vat ions re- 11: gions, but- hitherto unavailable because of [c transport at ion influenced in its routing |f far more by polities (ban 1-y economic i i conditions. The vast moss of the oppor- | .1 trinity is indicated by the fact that the j 1 population which would be directly K affected in a favorable manner would be \ almost three times that of the United |\ States, or about- 295 millions, while the|r area immediately given across to is ns j t great- as that 1,024,167 square miles—an i 1 area about- four limes as great as that of I j tho largest American State, Texas. Tim IJ total track length of the proposed railway | t will bo 3,500 kilometres, nr about 2,250 | ( miles, almost comparable to tho distance ] between New York and Salt Lake City in { tho United .‘dates. HELPING ON THE PEACE, } But the railway will have a mean ing 1 infinitely greater than commercial profit. J It will not bo conferences or resulting'* treaties which will assure tho future pcaco * of Europe. Wo arc only now beginning c to comprehend the great fact that pence is c far more a matter of economics than of politics. This railway, offering outlets 1 to three seas and tapping wonderfully ' rich territory in eight nations, will bring ( to tho populations of those- countries pros- c perity in which each participates and v which therefore will be without jealousies. .1 Thus it will stimulate the processes of , t co-operation, which breed friendship, i rather than those of rivalry, which breed t hatred, I MUST WIPE BOUNDARIES AWAY. Hero in Central Europe much must be. done. Tho boundary lines, laid down at the Paris Conference with an in-definite care and regard only for politics, are ; : grotesque. There were few homogeneous j , 'boundaries before the war; and now there are practically none. Boundaries? They |; must bo disregarded hero as they arc- dis- ; regarded between New York and Pcnnsyl- [ vania and California and Nevada, The countries here are like houses without doors, with nations asking their neighbors j for tho privilege of crossing their territory before they can get to the fresh air—which, in commerce, is the sea. Such a slate of mind, also, is grotesque. It is tho thought that this great railway will do away with it which makes me especially impressed by I •* intelligent project, I WHAT IT WOULD COST. I Tho cost of tho construction of this j | Whole enterprise, its full inauguration, t - will bo about 350,000,000 dollars, about the same as the cost of ten days of America’s war effort. The mere exist- - enco of the railway in a functioning condition will triple the production of raw , materials through this vast rich section. ! Tho rich food countries which, function- ( 1 ing, easily will decrease food costs, and . better economic and social conditions . throughout Europe will bo for tho first limo really in position to function. With prosperity in them increasing intelligence j also will improve, and out of “darkest 1 Europe” will emerge light, and possibly leadership. The mineral riches which . now are absolutely denied to tho world, • but which will bo made available by this railway, arc of a value literally beyond belief. Besides coal they include salt. 1 sulphur, mineral wax, lead, zinc, phosphates, and tho finest of sand for glassmaking. Greatest of ali, of course, are tho vast stores of petroleum. These arc known to be sufficient to go far toward relief of to-day's world-shortage. They are among the "richest in flic world, and are very little appreciated. But the mineral riches to bo laid available to the world by this great Central European triangle of railways fade into insignificance when compared to the agricultural , possibilities which will bo laid open to development. NO ENGINEERING DIFFICULTIES.' Unlike tho mineral resources, these ' cannot bo exhausted, no matter how in- 1 tensively they may bo “worked.” They , include all grain and vegetable crops and live stock, fox the agricultural lands, I now practically closed by lack of trims- ' portation, are fertile and tho grazing ; lands are rich. Nowhere at any point , : on tho proposed railway lino are any in- ’ , superable engineering difficulties. It will - probably bo decided that tho cost of building tho road will bo apportioned between focal and outside capital. _ Various plans are now under consideration. Tho nations involved easily can take up onehalf of tho stock necessary for tho production of tho capital. I personally presented tho matter to President Masaryk, and found him most enthusiastic. At Warsaw tho Jugoslav delegation aro as favorably inclined. The Vice-Minister of ■ Foreign Affairs in France, M. Do Peroti j do la Boca, formerly Secretary to the j French Embassy in Washington,"is deeply , j impressed. -

UNITED STATES OF EUROPE. The establishment of this enterprise might bo tho first practical step toward tho formation of that United States of Europe which was first, predicted by Dr, Nicholas Murray Butler, of Columbia University, Now York, at tho timo of tho war’s beginning, as a probable eventual outcome of the war. A plan already has been worked out for a travelling . conference, including all the nations linked by the railway. It is suggested that each country should appoint three delegates ns members of a permanent economic conference, devised to work out in tho host manner economic co-operation between their nations. This conference, it is suggested, will change its seat every six months, tho list of locations including Warsaw, Budapest, Belgrade, Prague, Vienna, Kief, and so on. WORKING FOR INTERNATIONAL*’ CO-OPERATION. Through this constant conference all of tho countries will bo constantly informed as to the economic problems of the others, and will Ixr enabled to work together, instead of in opposition to one another, to the groat increase of efficiency and general prosperity. Thus for the first time in this part of the world business will bring its influence to bear on politics. Ami tho three seas will be as one—Black, Baltic, and Adriatic, Commerce will double on ouch of the three, and the commercial centre of Europe must he shifted automatically. Tins of itsclt will eliminate many potential' causes of wav. It is planned by special tariff acts so to regulate duties on goods carried by this railway that tariff harriers shall not be erected against anv through traffic, and probably the end will be, in the judgment of the experts, that a general reciprocity of trade will be established. At presort means of communication throughout this vast and vital country are deplorable. Communications between the three great seas are difficult. There- are no straight lines from any one to any other. LOOK FOR- AMERICAN SUPPORT. Onlv the railway rm solve these problems,' for there is not the slightest engineering possibility of canalisation. Austria will be, perhaps, the greatest beneficiary. Her geographical position is most difficult, making export business for her a problem which, under present prirenm- | stances, is unsolvable. Gzecho-Slovakia j can use. the ports of Bremen and Dautzig, but. as tilings arc, the slightest internal iminl misunderstanding would bottle her up. Germany could jeopardise her communications with the whole outside world. Hungary, without this railway, thouHi she' is potentially a great exI under of grains and cattle, could do nothing. The port of Fiumo is close to her geographically, but always may be shut awav by an artificial barrier. Everything | considered, it is safe to think" about this railway as the most important [project at the time, engaging the .ttention of any part of Europe. And, of course. American co-operation will need to he enlisted so, entirely from its commercial significance generally, the matter is also of importaneo to tho people of the United States.