The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1918. THE BAGHDAD SIDE-SHOW

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 16039, 25 January 1918, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1918. THE BAGHDAD SIDE-SHOW

Some people have never been able to understand why England troubled aboujfc Mesopotamia while there was so much to do nearer •home. The Mesopotamian campaign has cost a lot of money and a lot of men, and “the man in the street” does not see how this heavy expenditure can be, justified. Yet both directly and indirectly the campaign is of great importance to the Empire. In the first place one of Germany’s chief objects in making war was to secure for herself a road to the Far East, the Baghdad railway being an essential part of that road. Were she to win the war she 'would completely dominate Asia Minor and seriously threaten our Indian Empire, besides ruining our interests in Persia, which are by no means small. The Mesopotamian campaign has made India secure, has safeguarded British interests in Persia, and has. relieved the situation in the Balkans by holding,a large number of Turks and more than a few Germans who might otherwise have been, fighting against Roumania or Italy. ' It has also added greatly to British prestige and influence throughout the East, a matter that will prove of considerable moment when the war is over. The cost, too, is likely to be recovered indirectly by the splendid trading prospects that will he opened out. Mesopotamia has been strangled by the paralysing' hand of the. Turk, but new. conditions will rule in future. It is a fertile country with immense possibilities, which were briefly sketched some time ago by Sir Mark Sykes, M.P.," who ( is an authority on the subject. He foresees the growth of Baghdad into something like; a new. Hamburg^

The city stands at a junction of main routes and is the centre of a vei’y rich agricultural area. At that spot the Euphrates and Tigris approach each - other vei’y closely, two big rivers which, even under the primitive conditions of the present time, carry an enormous amount of traffic. Then there is the railway, which will bring the city into direct communication with the Mediterranean and possibly prove part of a new overland route to the East. Under Turkish rule, or misrule, tho country has become practically a desert, but prior to the Turkish conquest four hundred years ago it was in a very flourishing condition. Sir Mark Sykes says it is not to be expected that Mesopotamia ■ will in ten years under an enlightened rule become as great as iUwas a thousand years ago, but the Ambs are as susceptible to the influence of education as any people in the world, and contact with European civilisation will develop their intelligence and'resource. They will acquire European tastes and want to buy things. As Sir Mark puts it: “If the Arab in the fourth century liked Corinthian columns so much that he built them in the desert, there is every reason to believe that he will have similar ambitions again, now that he is to be a free man, able to respond to the high intellectual impulses which have always been a characteristic of his race.” The development of Baghdad has been

checked by bad sanitary conditions, causing frightful outbreaks of cholera, and by the artificial restrictions imposed by the Turks. Under better conditions the population would double itself In fifteen years—it was about 140,000 before the war. There are rich oilfields not far away; these and the agricultural development of the country should bring about enormous demands for machinery and other European manufactures. Thus the Mesopotamia campaign, which is regarded by many as a side-show that never should have been undertaken, is likely to have very"far-reaching results.