BRITISH TRADE PROSPECTS 
that New Guinea lies directly on the trade route be- 
tween Sydney and the great commercial centres of 
China and Japan. We might have had a magnificent 
coaling station on the east coast of the island, in 
the Dampier Strait, but for the action of Lord Derby, 
when he permitted the Germans to extend their 
possessions so as to occupy almost a quarter of 
the eastern peninsula of the island. As matters 
stand now, a coaling station could only be estab- 
lished at such a point on the south-eastern coast 
that vessels coming and going from Sydney would 
have to double the south-east cape, thus making an 
awkward and almost impossible détour in these days 
when time is more than ever the essence of every ship- 
ping contract. 
343 
