WHY THE KAISER MUST HAVE HIS BAGDAD.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 10 February 1908, Page 1

WHY THE KAISER MUST HAVE HIS BAGDAD.

Writing on the Kaiser's visit to England, the editor of tho "Revue de Paris" assumes that the question of the Bagdad railway must have been one of the chief topics discussed at Windsor. For seventeen years this question has dominated the relations between London and Berlin, and the construction of the railway has always been one of the cherished objects of the Kaiser's ambition Now that the marshalsbip of the world is no longer in his hands he is more than ever in need of a victory, and Al. Berard suggests that neither Englanr nor Europe will gain by not recognising the fact. He points out a method bj which he believes the conflicting interests of England and Germany might be reconciled. He would allow the (Jermans to build the railway as far as Bassorah, an arrangament which would not hinder British boats ascending the Tigris as far as Bagdad. As compensation for the German railway on the Euphrates, the English should ask for an an extension of the privileges of thf Lynch Company on the Tigris, and they would find that neither their political influence at Bagdad nor their commercial advantages would be reduced in any way. Thus the Tigris would be British and the Euphrates German : as far as Bassorah an equal division of influence would give each Power her place.