THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1910. THE FUTURE CONTROL OF THE PACIFIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14304, 25 February 1910, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1910. THE FUTURE CONTROL OF THE PACIFIC.

World politics have changed in inany material. aspects since 1879, .when the genius of Ferdinand de Lesseps first shaped out the project of cutting a canal across the 50 miles which separate the Atlantic and Pacific .Oceans, and as 10 years had already, elapsed since his successful effort in relation to the Suez Canal had been completed there did not seem to be any doubt as to the possibility vof '' the hew undertaking. However, the ; difficulties : met with from the start,. partly from climatic causes, partly by geological formation, and partly by political disturbances, were so great that not only did de Lesseps himself never live to see it completed, but his very country had to abandon the task, after the disrepute into which it had fallen in connection with the campaign of bribery ; and corruption in which half France was mixed up (including Wilson, the son-in-law of the then President), and which brought in its train the sentence of imprisonment for, fraud on de Lesseps himself. After many vicissitudes, the United States acquired the property in 1904 for 40,000,000 dollars, paying another 10,000,000 dollars for a zone of land for the ; construction and operation of the canal, of the width of 10 miles, to the Panama Republic (whose independence was also incidentally guaranteed), and from that time on further millions have been sunk and much progress has been made, notwithstanding the besetting difficulties, and at last we are apparently within appreciable distance of com-. pletion. The question which is becoming of more and more, interest is as to how far the opening *of the canal will affect the general position of the Powers in the Pacific, either from a warlike or strategic point of view, or commercially. .

At the time of dc Lesseps England, and England alone,,was absolute mistress of the Pacific, and she maintained in these waters a fleet which, if insignificant lis, modern navies go, was at least amply sufficient to deal single-handed with any then maritime Power bordering on its shores. Since that time three great naval Powers -have arisen, and unfortunately they all propose to claim a position in the Pacific which will be quite incompatible: with any pretensions on the part of Great Britain to remain even the dominant Power, let alone the absolute mistress of the ocean. It behoves us, therefore, situated as we are with an extensive and largely undefended coastline and more or less ■ isolated from the Mother Country, to consider the present position, and the influence the States N> will shortly be able to exercise by the opening up of their new line of communication from the At-

lantic. Outside of -Great; ; Britain, there ; are . really only four great Powers interested, viz., the United States, Japan, Germany, and Prance. Though the latter is now endeavouring to evolve a new navy, she has fallen a long way behind in the race, and one must look for the real struggle for the mastery of this ocean as one which will* take place between the other Powers. Japan has a large population, increasing at such a rate as to necessitate finding fresh outlets ; so has Germany. - These two Powers, though strongly antagonistic to each other, are at one with each other as regards their relations to the States, who offend the Eastern nation by "barring its coloured emigrants,.: and the Western by its support of the Monroe doctrine, which has closed, temporarily at least, all the tempting spots in Southern America and adjoining islands, by guaranteeing them against German ambition. This has not prevented Germany acquiring what she has been able to in the Pacific, notably Samoa, New"Guinea, and the Solomons, and-; establishing there heavily fortified naval bases, and, from all accounts, nothing is being spared to make these stations unassailable France is, of course, already at Noumea and Tahiti, with interests also in the New Hebrides. * The United States, in addition to its own Pacific littoral; and its possessions in the Sandwich Islands .and Samoa, has acquired Port A neon, in the Panama Republic, and administers it with her own officials, and it is, we think, the States who will, after the opening of the; canal, share with England the duty of controlling these waters. We are at present, through treaty and other obligations, on satisfactory terms with Japan, and our many tie 3 with the States make us unlikely | to ever come to blows with them, so that it is perhaps to our interest l to view not only without alarm, but I even" with satisfaction, the arrival j in this ocean of an English-speaking Power, strong enough: to hold her ; own with any possible marauder of the seas. -~-•''...

From a commercial point of view there can, of. course, be nothing but content on the part of this country at the establishing of a short, direct route ito the large markets of America and the world, and Auckland in particular, as the probable port of call for Panama steamers, may look • forward in a sanguine spirit to the effect this will ; have upon her development. *At present any trading intercourse between Australasia and the wealthy eastern States of America is carried on under the most disadvantageous conditions, the long delay and: infrequent service of ships via Cape Horn being ; only ; some- vof ■ the drawbacks. When the canal' is completed ,we shall bo brought to 1 a five or; six-week journey for our goods, either import or export, and as the distance between the oceans is only, 46 ■'■: miles (little, more ' than half of the Suez cutting) there is no reason to apprehend that much delay will occur in the covering ;' of that section of the route. There; is -no possible doubt, whatever opinions may be held in ■Wellington, that we may r look. forward to a great increase of the business now done between the States and ourselves as a corrollary to the opening of; the new waterway, and, with the Hawaii and Samoan groups of islands as a kind of link in the chain, we prognosticate an unassailable English-speaking domination of this portion ; of the Pacific within the next few years, which by its very strength will make 'for lasting peace at this end of the world.