Page:The empire and the century.djvu/778

stantinople is unquestionably in present circumstances very great The fact that she obtained the Baghdad concession is a proof of it But it is based mainly upon the all-powerful favour of the Sultan, whom the Emperor William II. has spared no efforts to conciliate. Turkey trembles before the Sultan, and hates him. Even Abdul Hamid cannot live for ever; and when he disappears the reaction which is bound to follow will seriously affect Germany's position, for by the very methods she has used to ingratiate herself at Yeldiz Kiosk, she has incurred the distrust and animosity of all the best elements in Turkey. British influence, on the other hand, which outside Yeldiz Kiosk is still considerable, will then revive, and it would be no small boon for Germany, when that hour comes, to have British interests tied up with German interests in one of the biggest ventures into which William II. has launched her. It does not, however, follow that, because there were overwhelming objections to the terms upon which Germany invited British cooperation two years ago, we must play dog-in-the-manger, and set our face at all costs against the construction of the line. What we have to guard against is that a line debouching on to the Persian Gulf shall not assume the character of a Manchurian or even of a Shantung Railway, with a Port Arthur or a Kiao-chau as a terminus. The most effectual guarantee against such a contingency, and one to which Germany's consent should be readily given if she is really innocent of any political arriere-pensée, is that the eastern section of the great trunk railway—say from the Gulf to Baghdad, together with the proposed branch on to the Persian frontier—should be built, administered, and worked by this country. It is a demand we are fully entitled to make, for the valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates has been opened up exclusively by British enterprise. Its foreign trade is almost entirely in British hands, and we hold, and intend to retain, the command of the seas which give access to it. Sir William Willcocks, who has recently investigated the subject on the