THE PANAMA CANAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13482, 8 May 1907, Page 4

THE PANAMA CANAL.

POSITION OF THE FRENCH COLONIES. - .

"A MAGNIFICENT GIFT."

I An interesting article on; the relationship of the Panama Canal to the French colo-' nies, and possessions 'in Asia,;; West Indies, Africa, and Oceania, appears in a recent . number of La Caladonie (Noumea), over the signature of Albert- Corbie. v Tho article has some interest for New Zealand, inasmuch as this colony generally and the port of Auckland., in .particular, cannot ; but be influenced, and that beneficially, by the opening of the Panama Canal, ' and a i free translation of the article in question is here made for the New Zealand Herald. . _ The writer attempts to answer a statement made by Mr. Andre Sayons, secretary of the Federation des Industries et des Commercants Francais, to the effect that the canal would serve the strategic purposes of . the United ■■ States rather than meet the requirements of international ; commerce, because its accomplishment would enable the Americans to more expeditiously assemble their whole fleet in the event of possible conflict with Japan. M. Corbie does not deal with the strategic importance of tbe canal, but he joins issue with -M. Sayon with regard to his minimis- 5 ing the commercial importance of the "undertaking. It is clear to .M. ; Corbie that the canal will interest European nations • in the highest; degree, .and. that France will be especially interested from the point of view of . both commerce and military necessity. It will interest Europe, because the nations will be able to more rapidly, communicate with the great ports of the Pacific. England will benefit greatly especially in regard to her multifarious relations > with i Vancouver,. the busy and flourishing port of British Columbia. The piercing of the isthmus of Central America means nothing less than the birth, of the economic life of the Pacific, for the Panama Canal will gain all that the, Suez Canal will lose,'and as a consequence the Pacific coast of the entire American Con-> tinent will develop . with great rapidity. The older ports will be enlarged, and new cities will spring up, strengthened and enriched by, the, traffic crossing the Atlantic and turning towards the Pacific, Asia, and Australasia, without' let or hindrance, i In this sudden revolution, the role of j France appears to be strongly and clearly defined .in a marked degree. France will have advantage of the particular benefits of the undertaking almost equal to those | obtained by the, great American republic.; J For, France, the writer opines, the •; open- I ing of the canal will have three : conse- ■ ■ ■ - *i' : . -. quences, which will assume historic importance: The canal will give full play to: the aspirations; of the colonies it will ensure their enrichment from • an economic; point of view;." and from a strategic point of view it will facilitate the defence of all the colonies. "'' j ■:;/ 'FRANCE IN THE ATLANTIC. '■ ■ '"• M. Corbie then points out the position which France , occupies in : the Antilles, which possessions are some five days' steam from the mouth of the canal at Colon, nearer, indeed, than is American territory. "In Guadeloupe, Martinique, and the point J d'appui of Guyana, wo occupy," he says,! " a situation which is extremely powerful, Let us add to that the strategical utility of, the Port of Dakar and we shall be rendered masters of the Atlantic in respect to ensufing the regularity of our communications; with; the Antilles. , ;>; From the : point of ■ view, Fort-de-France and Poirit-a-? Pitre ";; will - become ports, of call preferable": to Santiago-de-Cuba and ' Port-au-Prince, ! which are situated too high up in the Gulf j of Mexico, and they will profit to great ad/ vantage by all the Africo-European traffic'] by the canal, and will thus hold the key i to the markets of the Pacific. '"";'' The writer then shows that France, being mistress of the Central and South Atlantic by the possession of Senegal, Guyana, and' the Antilles, each the point of a triangle, must become mistress of the navigation of j the South Pacific. Australia faces the; American Continent with Sydney, Melbourne, and Tasmania, also New Zealand. In order to reach San Francisco, Panama, or Valparaiso, that is to say, the three]' American commercial capitals of North, Cen-J tral, and South America, the immensity, of j the Pacific has to be crossed. There is no land ;of continental area between! Australasia and America, but the world, of < the Pacific is made tip of islands and groups of islands, and among them are New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Wallis, Society, Marquesas, and other islands innumerable, and all French. M. :de Lesseps had already de- ■ signated Tahiti ■as; a. port of , call for the Trans-Pacific A- navigation, and . the port of Papeete might, relatively speaking, become the Singapore or Hongkong of the South Seas. It were needless to recall the envy that the position of these islands had awakened among • some of the most farseeing of the nations; but while there was; yet time it was most important that steps .should be taken to repair the errors that had been made from: ignorance and hesitation. It was most important for France that she should favourably regard, her possessions in Oceania. ; These possessions, M. Corbie believes, place France in the position of natural intermediaries in Americo-Australian relations. • . ■.

Another historic fact is the highly j favourable position which France occupies for extending her' influence over the two coasts of the American Continent; and the ! writer goes on to show that from the-Congo \ France faces the. Argentine and Brazil, ! from West Africa and Guyana she faces I Venezuela, and through the Antilles she ' faces Central America, and through St.'".! Pierre et Miquelon (Newfoundland), " and, j thanks to/ the survival of our language in Qtte-si bee and Louisiana, we face North America; , From, Tahiti and the other. French archi- I pelagoes in the Pacific, France faces Chili, j Peru,. Ecuador, Bolivia, Central America;;! ;and Mexico, and so it would seem that ■ j around the whole American Continent : there ,is thrown a net of which all . the i meshes are French. From Panama, having become a* centre ; ' of American ; activity * iit will be necessary in order to reach Asia and Australasia on the one hand to traverse the French territory of ; the Oceanian Ar-1 chipelago; and on the other to pass through i the French' Antilles to reach'. Europe and i Africa. ■■; The hope is expressed that the j French language, which already enjoys so ! great an influence .in ". Latin America, will j become indispensably necessary for every American trader. , '

THE DEFENCE OF INDO-CHINA. One of the consequences; and the most important and yet hitherto linforeseon consequence, of the opening of the Panama Canal will be the part it will play in the defence of : French Indo-China. It is necessary to look at this matter from two points o'f view: One, the possibility of a. Franco-English conflict; and the other*, a conflict between France and Japan. In the first place it would be impossible to guard against an invasion of French IndoChina by the Anglo-English, army marching through Burma; again, it would be necessary for the French fleet to pass through the Suez , Canal,' and before it reached that waterway to pass before the guns of Malta and Gibraltar. : According to the principle of internationalisation, France would be.free to send her fleet through the canal; but that would be impossible, because it would have to pass Pei'im, and cross the Indian Ocean. Djibutil would become useless. Then, supposing, by some miracle, the French fleet did reach the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal' what would be seen in the Straits of Malacca? the guns of Singapore! It will "be realised, then, how impossible it would be to reach Saigon, for even ;iu passing by Dakar and Southern Africa, a meeting of ; the French fleet with : the -British squadron on the South African; station would be inevitable.

.The Panama route.to' French Indo-China would be longer but surer; and there would be the protection by the substantial line of defences; formed by Senegal; Guyana, and the Antilles. The French fleet would then be; able to•; arrive '■ in the Pacific ahead of the British ) European (Channel) fleet. Once there France would be able to adopt any definite tactics she chose. 1 POSITION OF JAPAN. ! With regard' to Japan, it is probable I that at s , the very moment a" rupture between France and Japan occurred, the Japanese fleet would be in readiness for the French fleet, and waiting for it in the Straits of Malacca or the Sunda. Sea, having already landed a sufficient number of troops to crush the French garrisons'. But the day when the Panama Canal is opened will show that it will t not ; then": be so easy for Japan to do this. The Mikadonal squadron will vbe in a state "of uncertainty, not knowing when or where to expect the French, who will pass straight forward with all forces ready for the conflict, by way of Suez or, 'on : the other hand, pass by the Panama Canal into the Pacific there to' engage the enemy. And the eventualities : oi' war are - as innumerable as are the diversions possible. Looked at from the commercial point of view, ; French ; IndoChina will profit from the development of the American ports on the Pacific and from the expansion of the • French colonies in Oceania. ■ ■• - ' - -• ■' - "We can see that by this, admittedly incomplete, expose, - the Panama Canal will be not only to the advantage 'of' the. United States, but that it will mean the ; complete birth of the economic life of the Pacific; that it means the development of those French islands in Oceania which are.natural ports of call for two continents; that ;it is of .vital ■ importance to.; the .. existence : and wealth of the French" colonies in,' the Antilles ; and that for Indo-China -it means , commercial prosperity and its most assured defence." : » , '■ . ..> . ; .' ENGLAND'S . EFFACEMENT. It should ,be / noted that : the ; opening ,of the Canal will mark a. turning point, and, perhaps, the displacement of the maritime sovereignty and the effaeement of England at a time, not very far distant. " England is _ mistress of the Indian Ocean because she is mistress of the Suez Canal. But France is the gatekeeper of the Panama Canal. By the Dakar, Cayenne, Fort-de-France line she is already at home in the Atlantic, and by Tahiti and the Oceanian Archipelago she is at home in the Pacific. What a , sweet revenge for all past disasters! What a consoling remedy for certain wounds which are even yet not healed ? The opening of the Panama Canal offers to France a free hand in two oceans.": It is indeed t a magnificent gift."