Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



211 



DOES RUSSIA WANT NORWAY ? 



In the Contemporary Review Mr. V. Whitford suggests 

 th.it England, at present moved merely with altruistic 

 indignation in its support of J'inland against Russian 

 o|)pression. has lx>tter reason than she knows. For 

 the attack on Finland, he says, is simply a stalking 

 horse for an attack on Sweden and Norwav. Besides 

 her general desire for imperial e.xpansion. Russia desires 

 a port on the Atlantic. For some three hundred miles 

 Russia is only separated from the ocean by a narrow- 

 strip of Norwegian territory. The acquisition of the 

 Lapland Railway would give Russia a vast line of 

 railway joining the Atlantic to the Pacific. Lapland 

 has in it vast mineral resources, iron ore sometimes 

 containing as much as 70 per cent, of iron. General 

 Kuropatkin reported in 1900. when .Minister of War, 

 that to ensure Russian safety from an attack by 

 Sweden (I) it was necessary to promote the early uni- 

 fication of Finland and Russia. Russian officers are 

 especially encouraged to learn Swedish. Why, asks the 

 writer, if Russia does not contemplate a war with 

 Sweden ? The writer concludes thus peremptorily : — 



In view of the evidence coming from so many different 

 (jiiarlers, from Sweden, from Norway, from Kussia, from 

 h'inlanJ, froiii Great Britain, from pur.sonal utterances in the 

 I'rcss, from leading articles, from the news cohiiiins, from 

 uHicial report'! of persons in authority, from the strategic 

 character of the new railways in Finland, and the creation and 

 development of Sweden's northern defences, in view of the fact 

 that >uch evidence could easily he multiplied, but for the fear 

 of wearying the reader, the conclusion seems fairly clear that 

 at least one of the reasons for the Kussianisation of Finland is 

 Russia's desire to facilitate an attack on the Scandinavian 

 i:ountries. No official denial can weigh for a moment against 

 ihe overwlielming evidence of Russia's intentions. It is time 

 Ihat Great Biilain took heed of them. It is the duty of our 

 iliplomatists to secure without delay the cessation for ever of 

 Russia's present policy in Finland, which is only the first step 

 lowards the Ku!5ianir>ation of the whole Scandinavian 

 I'cniiisula. 



rni: KixciDOM of pearls. 



Under the alxjvc title M. Lt'onard Rosenthal con- 

 tributes an interesting article on pearls and pearl- 

 fishing to La Rei'iie of July 15. 



Til KIR A.NTIQUITV AND SCARCITN. 



Pearls, he remarks, were known and much appre- 

 ■iated by the most ancient peoples — Egyptians, IJaby- 

 ionians, Assyrians. Chinese ; and they are frequenti\- 

 ■nentioned in the I'.ible. The East has always been 

 lond of them, and no tale of the Thou.sand and One 

 S'ights can be considered complete without some 

 reference to them. Certain countries, like Spain, 

 Poland, and (lart of Eastern Russia, have always had 

 in affection for them. It wa.s in the reign of Henri II. 

 ihat they m.i<le their appearance in Frame, but it was 

 iome years later before they were worn except bv 

 K-Tsons of (luality. During the la.st twenty years pearls 

 lave become very fashionable in France, England, and 

 Italy, and gradually the fiushion is spreading throughout 

 Europe and .\mcrica. At the same time the price of 



pearls has been rising, and while the fisheries have not 

 sufficed to satisfy the demand, there has been a 

 diligent hunt all over the world for old pearls. Even 

 these old pearls arc disappearing from the markets, 

 and the new pearls obtained in the fisheries art 

 becoming scarcer and very small in size. In the Persitin 

 (Julf, only forty pearls over 25 grains in weight were 

 found in 191 1, a relatively good year. 



THE FISHERIES. 



The chief of the pearl fisheries is that in the Persian 

 Gulf, which produces annually pearls to the value of 

 forty to si.\ty million francs. All the rest put together, 

 including Tahiti, .\ustralia, Panama, California, and 

 many others, scarcely reach this figure, the best yield- 

 ing pearls to the value of only two to five million 

 francs annualh'. With the price of pearls so high, and 

 ever rising, one is not unnaturally tempted to believe 

 that the pearl-fishers must be rich men. Alas ! we are 

 soon undeceived by the writer, who gives us a sad 

 picture of the misery of these people. In the Persian 

 Gulf the pearl region extends for 150-200 miles along 

 the coast of Arabia, a region which, from one end to 

 the other, is nothing but a \ast desert. The people 

 engaged in the industry number 60,000 to 80,000 

 natives. At the beginning of the warm season an Arab 

 captain may be seen provisioning his boat with rice, 

 dried dates, cofifee. and sugar. A rich Arab will supply 

 the goods on payment of 30 to 40 per cent., reserving 

 to himself the right to purchase pearls on the most 

 favourable conditions on the return of the fishers. It 

 is here that the troubles of the fishers begin, and that 

 the interest to pay is accumulated when there is a bad 

 harvest, 



DANCERS OF THE INDUSTRY. 



The divers, whose equipment, by the way, is most 

 primitive, remain under the water at every plunge 

 two to three minutes. When they return to the surface 

 their appearance is described as most pitiful. Most ol 

 them feel suffocated. Quite a number have been 

 rendered deaf, and it is seldom that they can continue 

 at the work more than five years. When a diver ceases 

 to make any sign with his rope it is probable that he 

 has been bitten by a fish or has been seized with an 

 attack of syncope. His comrades at once ru.sh to his 

 rescue. Tlie evening is spent in opening the shells to 

 discover what sort of luck the fishers have had, and 

 when a beautiful pearl is found the joyful news is 

 made known to the other boats by pistol-shots. During 

 the fourteen hours of the day that the men are at 

 work coffee is the only form of sustenance partaken of. 

 liefore retiring to rest they eat rice and dried dates. 



On his return to the village the captain sells the 

 pearls to the man who supplied the provisions for the 

 boat. 'I'he latter then lakes them to the great pearl 

 market on the Gull or to Bombay. Ivventually a very 

 large proportion of the pearls of the world find their 

 way to Paris. The writer speaks of one French merchant 

 who buys them direct from the Gulf or liomba) to the 

 value of nearly 30,000,000 francs. 



