The Northern Advocate Dally THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1937. BRITAIN’S LIFE LINES

Northern Advocate, 1 April 1937, Page 4

The Northern Advocate Dally

THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1937. BRITAIN’S LIFE LINES

Registered for transmission through the poet as a Newspaper.

The arrival at Auckland of the Pan-American Airways Clipper, which flew from San Francisco in flying time of just over two days, gives particular interest to the subject of Britain’s naval and mercantile marine routes and bases, for the advent of great airplanes has altered the general outlook of nations. This matter is discussed very fully in the latest number of u Current History.” It is recalled that in June, 1936, Sir Samuel Hoare, First Lord of the British Admiralty, said of the British, Empire;• “We are an Imperial , and an-oceanic rather that a Continental Power. ” This statement embodies no new and startling conception, but it provides an ultimate explanation of a foreign policy which often seems to be devoid of all consistency. Consider, says the writer, the : position of Great Britain. One could fit the whole island into one of the American Great Lakes with room to spare. True, there is a substantial and concentrated population of 46,000,000 souls, but, apart from coal, natural resources are negligible. Yet, thanks to strategically placed dominions and colonies, this small island has become a dominating Great Power. The Atlantic is guarded by British territories; tlie Indian Ocean is, for purposes of naval strategy, virtually a British domain; the Mediterranean shortcut between the two is studded with British bases, and its two entrances are commanded by British forts; to the East, Singapore controls the door to the Pacific. Only the Arctic Ocean, under Russian control. breaks the British purchase on the strategic seaways; and this body of ice and water cannot yet be considered significant. Great Britain assures herself that therest of the world will supply her

with what she herself lacks — wheat/from Canada and Australia, petroleum - from- Iraq, iron from the United States, cotton from Egypt, rubber from Malaya, to name but a few essential commodities. So the problem is twofold: that of maintain-j ing satisfactory political relation-, ships with her far-flung invest-; 'ments and sources of supplies, j and that of keeping control of j the routes to them. For these j routes are her “life-lines” in fact 1 as well as in name. After discussing the sea routes in detail, the writer refers to Britain’s air routes, which are becoming h> : creasingly important as a complejinent to those air routes. He says that although commercial airlines have made use of foreign territories, there is available a more politically secure air route to the East. Gibraltar and Malta are the first two stops; next there are air bases in Egypt, Palestine, and Transjordania; then follow Bagdad, Basra, and the Bahrein islands in the Persian Gulf. Kar achi, Delhi, and Calcutta are the next steps on the route, to Singap i|brh r rwhence jplknes set; (pit rfot Australia or Hongkong, which n being developed as a focus of eastern and western air routes. 'Two ’other routes complete the Imperial chain. The African route is served by an unbroken line of British territory from Egypt to the Union of South Africa. Across the Atlantic) there are two routes; the northern one, via Ireland and Newfoundland is available for the short summer season; to the south, there is an alternative way, involving the Azores and Bermuda, which can be used during the foggy period of the year. The Pan-American Clipper’s flight has brought home to New Zealand a ■ better appreciation of what Britain’s air'services will mean in the ■ future.