THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1914. PERSIA AND THE EMPIRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15649, 1 July 1914, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1914. PERSIA AND THE EMPIRE.

The appeal of Persia to Britain against Russian aggressions on her northern frontier has a direct connection with the British Admiralty's arrangements to control rich oil wells in that country. By becoming the largest shareholder in the AngloPersian Oil Company, Britain has secured control of valuable oil producing property which alone will supply the navy for many years. This is an enterprise of great Imperial importance, because so comparatively little oil country has yet been discovered within the Empire; Trinidad and Egypt have proved unable to meet naval demands. As the Persian wells can be defended with comparative ease and tKe supplies need pass through no foreign territory, the Admiralty's action has considerable strategic value. It has created resentment in Russia, which no doubt desired to possess the wells herself. The ground of criticism is that the .agreement between the British Government and tlo oil com pany ie a breach of the letter and spirit of the An.ilo-liussian Convention and a serious danger to Russia, inasmuch as the scope of the agreement extends into the northern sphere of influence which was assigned to the Tsar. It is in this northern sphere of influence that complaints are now made of Russian aggression.

This clash of interests is an example of how a living Empire, whether it be British or Russian, German or American, constantly tends to expand under the pressure of its own inexorable necessities. It may be taken for granted that further territorial expansion is the last desire of the Asquith Government.

The traditional British Liberal policy has been to avoid foreign and colonial responsibility as far. as possible. It was quite in line with this policy that Mr. Gla3stono should have abandoned a portion of South Africa to the Dutch; it-is typical of tho whole history of the British Empire that we should have had to conquer the very territory Mr. Gladstone abandoned. The British Government avoided responsibility in Egypt as long as possible, but tho pressure of practical politics has forced us to make our occupation of that, country as effective as. it is in India, and largely because of India. British colonisation in New Zealand and Australia, together with British occupation of India, has necessitated the possession of numerous intermediate fortresses, ports and coaling stations. More for military and commercial purposes than for settlement do we hold the Bermudas, Gibraltar, Malta, Aden, Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, Labuan, Hongkong. These are all links in the chain of Empire on the eastern route; on other routes we have for purposes of defence and trade seized such points as Ascension, St. Helena, the Mauritius, and the Seychelles, the Falklands, Tristan da Cunha, and the groups of the Racine. The British went to India to trade and remained as ruler*. We considered India, not Persia, but in course of time we were forced to take an interest in Persia, because behind it is the Russian Empire, as restless as, and more ruthless than, our own. Persia was made a "buffer" state. Then oil becomes'the modern fufei, oil wells arc discovered in.the country, and we have a new interest in the land of the Shah. We acquire the oil wells, forced by the simple and obvious necessities of the case, but prepared for whatever adventure to which the enterprise may lead knowing that in the past such enterprises have constantly had unexpectedly important results. We purchase or we annex bare rocks in the ocean, not because we may hope to grow food on them, but because we,require them for telegraph stations. The Russian Empire affords a parallel instance of almost? automatic'growth. Originally a kingdom of the plains, it has spread towards the oceans, to the Baltic, to tho Black Sea, and to the Pacific. It has been prevented reaching the North Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean oniy by tho interposition of superior force. Sometimes in self-preservation, sometimes for military, and* sometimes for commercial reasons, wars have been waged, but the borders of Russia have constantly widened.

Expansion is such a normal manifestation of national life that it is questionable if an Empire which has ceased to expand can live long. Even the short history of white colonisation in New Zealand is one of continual expansion. The British settlers were compelled to assert their supremacy in both islands, and within recent years we have found it advisable to assume control of the Cook Islands. We were not particularly anxious to do so, but we could not afford to take the risk of their passing into the possession of a possible enemy, The United States refrained from intervention in Mexico till the chaos of that country became such a reproach to civilisation that Mr. Wilson was compelled to take action; that action will probably lead sooner or later to permanent occupation. The same forces drove the United States to end Spanish misrule in Cuba and in the Philippines, so that against her intention America has become a world Power. Thus do vigorous Empires tend continually to grow. The first object may be trade or it may be settlement, but the maintenance of existing territorial rights and the protection of growing commerce lead to conquests that were never dreamt of. It is well for humanity that this is so. Empires necessarily stand for the highest civilisation and the highest organisation of their day, and their expansion oft carries civilisation and organisation. where formerly there was savagery and chaos. To say tha£ the British Empire has grown unceasingly is but another way of saying that barbarism has been rolled further back, and that orderly government has been established where formerly strife and anarchy were unfettered.