Show konug T 0 21 LW M r GALATA XA bra NCE again the eya of the chiv world are centered upon the channel of constantinople and on the thracian boszor us which forms the outlet to the waters of the black sea and which separates the continent of asia from that of europe the channel stretches from the black sea to the sea of mar mora more and where it runs into this land locked little body of water Const constanti antl nople lies upon an arm of this sea known as the golden horn on the eu side there Is scarcely a bit of water on the face of the earth whose name appears more frequently in the annals of human history than this narrow channel As the history of the world centers so largely along the banks of the river rhine since the days of caesar so it centered along the tor for some thousand ears before caesar caesars s day and so it has centered largely since then all around the black sea on the asiatic shores and on the european lie lin densely broad stretches of the most fertile land upon the globe immense rivers drain this territory keeping the black sea full and overflowing through gli the from the first dawn of 0 history a large population has always found homes on these fertile lands and as commerce developed its path ways multiplied along the sea coming down from these immense riv gra ers on the south lay the mediker fanean a large body of inland waters replenished by all the overflow of the black sea and multitudinous rivers from the nile to the rhone surround ed by broader and richer lands and as 8 commerce grew up aroun around arthe med its paths crossed those of th the e commerce of the or black sea and the became the con berting link between below the sea of marmora the outlet tor for the black sea waters Is the strait of the dar da canelles daa elles nelles shorter but broader than the important waterway important as this bit of 0 water was to the ancient world it Is much more so now and Is becoming increasingly so as the years pass with the devel ot of modern naval warfare the importance ot of constantinople rises to a predominance in european and abic affairs scarcely equaled by any other point on the shores of the two continents and if a great power ever gets possession ot of constantinople and controls the passage othe dardanelles Darda nelles and it will be very possible tor for it to dominate the fortunes ot of all europe at the mouth ot of the great rivers that empty into the will grow up immense cities affording opportunities port unities tor for the construction ot of a mercantile marine as well as one for naval warfare and with the passage between the mediterranean and the controlled by such a great power these fleets would be by the combined forces of the world it would not be a great under taking to the engineering enterprises of today ti t construct a bridge over the which would enable railroad trains to pass from to the other resulting in an exchange of commerce almost unimaginable in ex tent with the dardanelles Darda nelles fortified the sa soa of marmora and the golden horn would afford a rendezvous tor for merchant ships tor for a back country reaching up to vienna around the dan ubal provinces and into russia with asia 1 on the other side including the rich territories ot of palestine and on in to persia and the valley of the eu going on down in the path of alexander alexanders s conquests into india and to the banks ct cl the indus the nation which could make the best use of this strategic point would be russia and the muscovite has cov eted it tor for years but this ambi tion has been balked by the jealousies lealou of rival european powers the next nation that might make the greatest use of the position would be austria with its hungarian annex and a lation neither purely european nor purely asiatic germany ranks third in the possibilities presented tor for na lional commercial development by the possession of constantinople and the but there lies between ger many and the straits a vast population unsympathetic sympathetic nn because not teutonic hostile to germany germanys s aspirations great britain france and italy are ut terly out ot of the question as control ling constantinople and the but each of these nations would oppose the control ot of the advantageous point by any of the other three because ot of the powel th that atwould would grow out ot of such requisition what looks likely in the future from the JL present point ot of view is the organ A of a pan balkan of states after the fashion of the german empire consolidation Is the or der of our era from manufacturing plants and financial enterprises to na lional governments and racial ity the world owes the united states the lesson to be learned from the fed aeration of states germany has taken the lesson to heart and Is profiting by it this Is suggested as the outcome of the present war of the balkans population mixed the population of the states here under review Is very mixed its sen ben are neither asiatic nor european but a kind of mixture of both in this way the new federation would play an important part as a buffer be tween russia and western europe and also between the two continents continents the territory Is 1 agriculturally rich pos gesses great mineral deposits Is dot ted over with magnificent forests is cut by fine rivers and offers advantages for wonderful development in every respect tor for the up building of magnificent cities at many points with the the sea of mar mora and the dardanelles Darda nelles in posses sion of the confederation a fleet of 0 warships might be collected strong enough to bid def defiance laribe to halt half the world it if these teutonic empires should be brought together they will constitute a formidable menace to all of europe east and west of them so tar far english influence at vienna united with that of st petersburg has kept austria and germany apart but as the great game Is played out there Is no telling what combinations may be made which would send this power to sac a knight or a castle and that power to give up a bishop or a hand tul ful of pawns to protect the king AI al together it is one of the greatest games of war and diplomacy ever played by the nations of the world |