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Show MORE TH1 HALF OF WORLD AT Wl Magnitude of Struggle Now on in Europe Almost Be-yfcnd Be-yfcnd Conception TERRITORY AT STAKE Vast Districts in Africa May Be Transferred From Present Control IAWRE,CE ELSTON Stiff Oorrcuyoudent of the InUnia tlunal Ne 5 Service U Nl uk Me han one uif 1 1 u peo l art n r? g a nr o sprtftd ilk a Y pe b ad i v on ont or a ? Kf p I endous, itun t, a a p ar at first glance 5 i s w khow tt to ba u in 0 p cen of the a ad and si ft a i bllfhtl) pr ent of e wo 1 s o artt d re conce ed n the Kh re a e about 66 000 MO cub land area. T jx w e o a attn cr coo n r tt f f o than half The i of e wo d are p era n about the a opo on a e L J Ker a lx anac eatlmatea h d tt ii a on n 1912 at uO r e It warr na: powera u o u iv on u n II 440 0A0 poo p o side b n o e thn one half ISo Region Safe X h ro riu h of the irorld controlled he ur ), na ons, no grand dlvt a on of the ea th no continent and none of the great ixani Is without the very ea poaalblll of becoming a battle gro nd for conflict between the nationals of t e contending powers. Least of the com nents, Europe, since the time of Co umbua, has extended Its claims over the lands and populations everywhere until today its great roern menu overshadow the greater share of the worlds people aa well as the lands. The countries now d reel y Involved In the war hold these arras and popula lions Britldh eorplre IS 53 Til square mtlss 3&.XK000 people. Rurs-an empire, 8 1(7 667 square miles IM 2J 000 people. France and her colonies 471000 pq are miles 83 890 000 peop e, Ofrmin empire 1,143 868 square mDes 80 OoO 000 people. Be slum and the Congo Free State, 911 000 square miles, 28 000,600 peop e Austria Hungary 2 CI 099 square miles 81 840 000 people Servla, 38 661 square nines 4 000 000 people. Germany In Africa. Germany has secured & foothold In Africa, where she controls about 1 000, 000 square miles In the southern part of the continent, OerniAn Bast Africa and German West Africa. Between these two provinces which are about equal In size Ues the great South African British em pi re. With Germany entirely eliminated Africa, would be far on the way toward being an English and French continent. France at present holds more African territory than any other nation aggre gating more than 4 000 000 square ml es or a greater area than that of the Lnlted States with Alaska and the American Insu ar possessions Included. This French territory takes In most of the Sahara deert Algeria In the north and a vast frtllA area In the val eys of ths N le and the Niger Eirypt Is still nominally a dependency of the Turkish empire but for a prac tlcal purposes bo h Lpper Egypt and Txrwer Egypt are British possessions The Sudan provinces of Enarland now join the British terr torles In Fast Afrl a, wh ch Includes a frontage of about 400 miles on the Indian ocean Thus the route Is nearly all lh- Brit eh territory for the Cape to Cairo ral road Covet Congo Free State In the ve y heart of tropical Africa Hea the Congo Free Mate with near y 1 000 000 square m es nomlna y a Be g an dependency It touches Brit sh South Africa and also the Brit sh Sudan hod Ings It requires no bo d stretch of the Imagination to conceive that the present great war may change the map of Africa to a conalderab e extent. When the great powers sit down around the council table at the end of the confl ct, Eng and In return for her support of Be glum against the Germans might easily ask that the sovere gnty of the Congo Free State be Intrusted to her France might well be expected to as sent to th s because her African ho dings would likely be Conso ldated and const d erab y extended as the res t of her par t c patlon in the war With the Congo Free State In her possession Great Br t aln would then hold a great strip of Africa running a most due north and south from the Med terranean to the cape She would control the interior lake region of the dark continent, whose vast bodies of navigable fresh water are fair ly eomparab e to the great akes of the United States the Congo va ey the go d and d amend reefs of South Africa and practically every mile of the Immense and rich valley of the Nile. Might Expand Empire The Ooneo ldated British empire in Africa thus brought Into be ng wou d exceed the Brit sh hod ngs In any other continent, not excepting Austra la and the Dominion of Canada, On the other hand Bhould Germany be the d ota tor in the peace terms at the end of the great atrugg e, aha wou d un doubted y exact a large part of the French possess ons in Africa, Besides, the ho dings In the Saha a the Congo and the Nger va ey France owns the great is and of Madagascar It Is not mprobable that If Germany again as in 1871, were 1ft a pos t on to force terms on France sne wou d exact her "pound of flesh in choice b ts of French co on al possessions rather than In cash. Holland Is Factor One of the greatest co on z ng powers of the world Is Ho and whose empire In the east once Inc uded m ch of what s now B t sh Ind a Ho and Btl 1 owns Borneq wh ch s nearly as a ge in area as the Ge man empire tha Ce ebes Islands one h rd as arge as Borneo Cumat a wh ch Is near y as arge as France Java, which though o. y about as large as Iowa is one of the most 4ense y popu ated regions n the v.ord numbering something 1 ke 30 000 000 In hab tants Dutch Gu ana on the north coast of South Amer ca wh ch Is about the s ze of Java though having a much smal er popu at on and various is ands and groups of Is ands In the South seas Ho and Germany and Eng and are about equa pa ners In the ownersh p of New Gu nea the second argest Island n the v.o d v ng no th of Austra a Tog Ho and has not dec ared war the enumeration of her co on al posses s one s important in th s connect on for she has o de ed 1 e mob! zat on of her a my and t s hard to see how In the e en of a pro ongatlon of the b g war an European power with world In telle sts can keep out of It |