BAGHDAD RAILWAY

the baghdad railway was, as originally set on foot, a predominantly german enter- prise for the construction of rail communications from the bosporos to baghdad. its military and economic importance to turkey, its position as the keystone of german policies in the ottoman empire, its strategic menace to british and russian interests in the near east and its potentialities for undermining french influence in anatolia and syria, all combined to make it one of the outstanding problems of world politics in the zoth century. handicapped from the start by financial difficulties, the ger- man promoters sought to internationalise the railway. an at- tempt to interest french and british capital in 1903 was only partly successful. the british govt. refused to sanction par- ticipation in the project; but, in spite of opposition by their gov- ernment, french bankers subscribed almost 30% of the shares. subsequently the diplomatic resistance of the entente powers returned perennially to plague the ottoman govt. and the german concessionnaires. on the other hand, the steady progress in construction and the unexpected success of the sections actually placed in operation led british, french and russian diplomacy to the conclusion that a policy of obstruction would prove bar- ren. in 1908 the respective national policies toward the bagh- dad railway were reconsidered, and an honest effort was made in the convention of june 2 to reconcile the divergent interests involved. diplomatic moves.—anglo-turkish negotiations of 1910-1 ran aground on the rocks of loans and increased customs duties. but the heretofore solid front of entente diplomacy was broken 305 in nov. 1910, when, by the potsdam agreement, russia agreed to abandon her objections to the baghdad railway in return for german recognition of the russian sphere of interest in per- sia. the ottoman govt. then prepared the way for an under- standing with great britain and france by granting several valuable economic concessions in anatolia and syria to na- tionals of those powers. the balkan wars interrupted the course of the negotiations, but in feb. 1914, a secret franco-german convention settled all outstanding differences between french and german capitalists and between their respective govern- ments. most significant of all, however, were the far-reaching agree- ments of 1913-4 between the british, german and ottoman governments. turkey arranged a revision of the baghdad railway concession to conform with existing british economic and strategic interests in mesopotamia and the persian gulf; great britain consented to an increase in the ottoman customs duties. after very extensive negotiations between german and british business men having interests in the near east, an anglo- german convention! was initialled at the forcign office, london, june 15 1914. this document marked a complete rapproche- ment on a question which had been a sore point in anglo-german relations for more than a decade. according to its provisions “two english members acceptable to his britannic majesty's government ” were to be elected to the board of directors of the baghdad railway company; the terminus of the line was to be basra instead of kuwait on the persian gulf; and a policy of mutual diplomatic helpfulness was to be pursued as concerned the economic development of mesopotamian resources (includ- ing oil-fields). just before the outbreak of the world war the diplomatic problems connected with the baghdad railway had been all but settled. control of the baghdad railway by germans was one of the principal factors in enlisting turkey in the war on the side of the central powers. once in the war the turks, with german assist- ance, effectively used the baghdad line in defence of the darda- nelles and mesopotamia, as well as in two attempted invasions of egypt. when the germans lost and the ottoman empire was disintegrated the dream of “berlin to baghdad” became but a memory. all german rights in turkish railways were abro- gated by the treaty of versailles (1919); the german govt. ex- propriated and delivered to the reparations commission sub- stantially all the holdings of its nationals in the baghdad railway company. in the unratified treaty of sevres (1920) turkey was obliged to confirm the confiscation of german rail- ways in the former ottoman empire and to agree to any disposi- tion which the allies might choose to make of them. but the turkish nationalists rejected the treaty of sevres, and the treaty of lausanne (1923) did not provide for the liqui- dation of former german railway concessions. the greater portion of the railway remained in the possession of, and was operated by, the turkish state. the mesopotamian and syrian sections of the line were handed over to the control respectively of the kingdom of ‘iraq and the french administration at beirut. to confound confusion, on sept. 25 1918 the german owners of the baghdad railway had granted to the anatolian railway co. an option on all their shares in the former company. ques- tions of compensation to the shareholders (among whom is the reparations commission) had not been decided early in 1926. consiruction.—by the outbreak of the world war the railway reached from konia to the foot of the taurus mountains, and in ‘iraq the section baghdad to samarra had been completed. during the war construction was actively pushed forward in the direction of mosul. the taurus and amanus tunnel systems were completed in 1918, and by the end of the war the line was laid from konia to nisibin. it connected with the syrian system at muslimiya north of aleppo, a connection completed in time to enable the troops of lord allenby to enter asia minor in 1918 by rail. by 1924 a temporary bridge had been built across the euphrates at jerablus, a branch constructed from derbesive 1see the political science quarterly, vol. 38, pp. 24-44 (1923) and the parliamentary debates reported in hansard. 206 to mardin, and the line was open for traffic as far as nisibin. in ‘traq the british had extended the line from baghdad to samarra as far as qal’a sharqat, and had linked up baghdad with the port of basra on the persian gulf. in ‘iraq, in t926, further con- struction depended largely upon the outcome of the proposal to move the line to the more fertile and higher regions on the other side of the river tigris. (see asia minorr; persian gulf.) brbliography.— ti, m. earle, turkey, the great powers, and the baghdad ratlway (new york and london, 1923). (e. m. e. ) bahamas (see 3.207), a british west indian colony; area, 4,404 sq. m.; population, 54,886 (1924). on sept. 27 1915 the legislature voted £5,000 to defray the cost of a war contingent. in 1916 the war contingent bill was passed for the mainte- nance at effective strength of a contingent of 2co men for the british west indies regiment. the first draft left nassau on sept. 90 1915. the colony contributed liberally to the various patriotic war funds. at first the effect of the world war was scarcely felt. though labourers in inagua and long cay suffered from the cessation of the stevedore trade, the demand for sisal and sponges was enhanced. when, however, the united states entered the war, the tourist business was adversely affected, but during the post-war period it more than recovered lost ground. in 1913 a contract was entered into with the peninsular and occidental steamship co. and the florida east coast hotel co. for mail, passenger and freight steamship communication be- tween florida and nassau during the winter, and for the pro- vision of a first-class hotel in nassau for five years at £5,000 a year. their steamer ‘‘ miami” having run ashore, the contract was cancelled by the government in 1915. a temporary service between mayport (jacksonville) and nassau was then arranged. in 1914, by act of the legislature, a development board was established to develop the tourist trade, and in 1921 a contract was signed with the munson line for a weekly passenger and freight service from and to new york during the winter, and a fortnightly service during the summer. production.—the cultivation of tomatoes, an industry which has greatly developed since 1918, is making considerable prog- ress; in 1924 exports were valued at £37,381. pineapples are also cultivated and a fair export trade in canned pineapples has grownup. the extensive areas covered with pine forests are only partially exploited. the board of agriculture, which ceased to exist in 1910, was re-established in 1912 on broader lines. with the advice of the marine products board the sponge industry is being pursued more scientifically; exports in 1924 were valued at £131,618. finance and trade-—revenue rose from {£84,386 in ror1o-1 to the record figure of £852,573 in 1922-3. in 1923-4 it was £553,375. the expenditure in 1910-1 was £85,315; in 1922- 35 £377,164 and in 1923-4, £452,044. the reason for the increase in revenue is to be found in the expansion in the imports of spirits resulting indirectly from the 18th amendment to the constitu- tion of the united states in rg19. the public debt, on march 31 1924, amounted to £20,219. the value of imports of wines, spirits and liqueurs rose from £7,237 in 1918 to {1,088,000 in 1923. in roro imports coming from the united states were valued at £220,621; from the united kingdom at £81,266; and from canada at £12,728. in 1924 the figures were: united states, £748,000; great britain, £507,000; and canada, £173,000. the total value of the oversea trade during 1924 was £2,210,000, con- sisting of imports valued at £1,584,000 and exports at £626,000, domestic exports were worth £274,327. canadian agreementthe bahamas, which had not taken part in the canada-west indies conference of 1912, sent 4 repre- sentative to ottawa in 1920 and were signatories to the trade agreement of june 18 of that year, increasing voluntarily the agreed preference from ro to 25%. under the agreement canada provided a three-weekly steamship service between canada, the bahamas, jamaica and british honduras, the ba- hamas agreeing to contribute 25% with a maximum of £3,000 towards any deficiency in the w orking (see west indies). the bahamas were represented again at the conference of 1925 and were signatories to the trade agreement of july 8 of that year. bahamas—bainville | under this agreement such produce of the bahamas as is dutiable in canada receives a preference of 50% of the duties, with a spe- cific preference of one half cent per pound on canned pineapples, while bahamas sponges of marine production are admitted free of duty, foreign sponges paying an ad valorem duty of 174%. the government of canada undertook to provide, within rs months after ratification, a fortnightly mail, passenger and freight service between st. lawrence ports in summer and other canadian ports in winter, calling at bermuda, the bahamas and jamaica fortnightly. the government of the bahamas under- took to contribute £2,000 per annum towards such services when established. public works.—the revival of the tourist trade after 1918 re- sulted in increased attention being paid to public works. in 1923 the main channel and mooring basin of nassau harbour were dredged clear of sand by an american company and a govern- ment dredger then commenced work on the remaining rock. in 1925 schemes were under consideration for the construction of a wharf, a new hotel and a new abattoir. steps were also taken to improve the roads and repair the sea wall. <a radio telegraph service, installed by the anglo-french wireless telegraph co., was completed i in 1923. (see west indies.) (a. e. a) bahia or sao salvador (sce 3.210).—during the years 1900 to 1920 the population of bahia increased about 38%; since 1920 this increase amounted to 13%. official estimates place the population (1926) at 320,000. bahia has made marked progress in extending new strects, in laying miles of new sewer- age and in providing sanitation and improved health conditions; a more adequate water supply system is under construction; various civic improvements are announced, while there is un- precedented activity in the construction of ‘residence and busi- ness property. the use of automobiles, motor-trucks and trac- tors in the country is rapidly growing, as mule carts and horse- drawn vehicles are disappearing from the streets. port improvements, begun in 1909, have made fair progress, and, when completed, will represent an outlay of about $20,000,- ooo. ships now dock, instead of anchoring in the bay, and the cargo is transferred in modern ways to and from well-equipped marine warehouses. during the five years, 1920-5, exports of cacao, hides, tobaeco, coffee, sugar and hard woods ranged from 100,000 to 150,000 tons annually. diamonds also were ex- ported. imports of manufactured goods ranged from 60,000 to ror,ooo tons yearly. about roo industrial plants are engaged in manufacture, but higher class goods and implements are imported. the tmproved financial condition of the state of bahia reacts favourably on the city’s progress. (w. a. r.) bahrein (see 3.212), an archipelago off the hasa coast, is a british protectorate which for more than 50 vears up to 1922 had been under the rule of sheikh ‘isa ibn khalifa. in that year, owing to the extreme old age of the ruling sheikh and the preva- lence of intrigues among his sons, the british authorities induced him to abdicate in favour of his son, ‘abdullah. outwardly inde- pendent, the administration of the islands is, for all practical purposes, controlled by the british political agent stationed at the port of manama. bahrein is the centre of the valuable pearling industry of the persian gulf, and before the war ranked next to kuwait as a clearing station for central arabian trade. (see persian gulf.) bainville, jacques (1879- _+), french historian and jour- nalist, was born at vincennes, near paris, feb. 9 1879. his first literary work was a life of louis il. of bavaria (1900), written while travelling in germany. he then devoted himself to eriti- cism, and published many articles, as yet uncollected. but his path in life was already marked out. he came under the influ- ence of maurras, joined the royalist party, and, at the time of the dreyfus case, became in 1899 one of the original editors of the monthly review, action francaise. this review in 1906 be- came a daily paper, of which jacques bainville was appointed foreign editor. from that time he devoted his energies to his short daily articles, which were clear, well-written, intelligent and full of striking phrases that soon became proverbial, such as that on the treaty of versailles, “ trop doux pour ce qu’il a de bakelite—baker, g. i. dur, trop dur pour ce qu’il a de doux.” his activities as a political journalist were interrupted by a visit to russia during the world war, and by the publication of various works, which aroused great interest, not only among his conservative followers, but also among critics in general. jacques bainville was the first w riter in france to deal with the political philosophy of the war. this he did in l’histoire de deux peuples (1918), a work in which the influence of maurras is modified by that of thiers and albert sorel. the struggle between france and germany is traced back to the far-off racial antagonisms from which it sprang, and one seems to be reading the documents of an endless lawsuit between the two peoples. the book is breathless and a little superficial, but clearly and brilliantly written. after the conclusion of peace he published les consequences politiques de la patx (1920), a reply to the well- known work of mr. maynard keynes. the title itself of this book reflects the spirit of the action francaise, with its motto of ‘‘ politics first,’ and is an indication of how widely bain- ville’s views differ from those of the cambridge economist. bainville’s most celebrated work is his ljistoire de france in one volume (1923), which is a model of clearness, intelligence and grace of style. the doctrines of the action frangaise in favour of the monarchical system are prominent, but they are considerably modified, and the dominating theme of the book is the continuity of political tradition in france. the author is not a trained historian, and a certain number of errors have crept in, but they are of minor importance. jacques bainville also be- came editor of la revue universelle, a fortnightly review with a considerable popularity. (a. ti.) bakelite, the trade name for a new plastic which during the years 1910-25 has found increasing applications for varied pur- poses, ranging from radio, wireless telegraphy and other electrical devices to gears, grindstones, aeroplane propellers, self-lubricat- ing bearings, jewellery and ornamental articles. appearance and characteristics.—it has the general appearance of the natural resins; yet its extreme hardness, exceptional strength, infusibility, insolubility and general chemical inertness are properties lacking in the natural resins, of which amber, a fossil resin, is one of the hardest. unmixed with other sub- stances it is very transparent and of an,amberlike colour which can be changed by the addition of suitable dyes. it can be pro- duced colourless and transparent. uses in industry —f¥or important technical uses it is mixed with fibrous materials, thus acquiring an opaque reddish-brown colour which is sometimes changed to black or other colours by means of dyes or pigments. it possesses neither the elasticity nor flexibility of rubber or celluloid but is rather rigid. but this rigidity and its faculty to withstand temperatures at which rub- ber, celluloid, and natural resins liquefy or are destroyed, to- gether with its adaptability for being moulded rapidly, and with extreme accuracy, to various shapes, have made possible endless applications in industry. in the manufacture of ornamental articles, its greater strength and brilliancy than amber are advan- tagcous. for electrical insulation it withstands increases of tem- perature which would be fatal to rubber or resinous compounds, even if the latter had as great a tensile strength; hence its numer- ous uses for wireless telegraphy, radiophones, telephones, electric lampsockets, generators, motors and other electrical equipment. it is used for mechanical devices where strength, resistance to moisture, oil and solvents, or increases of temperature are cssen- tial requirements. paper or woven fabric impregnated with it and then hardened in a hot, hydraulic press gives shects, rods and tubes which have found extensive uses, ¢.g., for electrical insulat- ors, silent transmission gears and aeroplane propellers. in both the latter applications its greater strength and resistivity to moisture make it preferable to rawhide gears or wooden pro- pellers. by mixing it with emery or graphite such divergent uses as grinding wheels and self-lubricating bearings have been brought about. transparent bakelite laboratory apparatus per- mits handling hydrofluoric acid. history —the creation of a super-resin by chemical synthesis has been the result of efforts extending over half acentury. more ) called: 4" 307 than 50 years ago adolph bayer and others, while engaged in the study of crystalline bodies engendered by the inter-action of aldehydes upon phenols, noticed in some cases the formation of resinous-looking substances. but they were entirely valueless, being no better than the worst of the natural resins and more expensive to produce. later, delaire, blumer, luft and others made repeated attempts to improve the quality of these syn- thetic resins (see syntuetic resins). their main efforts were directed toward the production of resins which could be sub- stituted for shellac, a fusible, soluble resin. thus originated several shellac substitutes, none of which on account of inferi- ority supplanted the natural product. story, by using practi- cally the same raw materials, produced an infusible product, but fatled to control the reaction so as to obtain a final product of the required qualities for useful purposes. a rather baffling situation arose from the fact that the same formaldehyde and the same phenols might produce, under apparently the same condi- tions, the most varying products, ranging from crystalline sub- stances, soluble in water, to fusible and soluble shellac substi- tutes, or, at times masses which refused to melt or dissolve. backeland’ s researches.—early in 1909 l. h. baekeland pub- lished the results of many years of research work on this subject. ife indicated well-defined methods for producing each variety of substances with absolute regularity. he announced the impor- tant technical effect of the action of ammonia or other bases in conjunction with phenol and formaldehyde, thus directing the chemical reaction toward the formation of infusible products. he also introduced the simultaneous action of heat and pressure for insuring the same effect. he thus succeeded in controlling a seemingly erratic chemical reaction, and rendered its technical utilisation possible. the in- fusible final product of maximum hardness he called “ c.”” but he was able to stop the reaction at an intermediate substance the latter has all the external properties of a natural resin. it is very brittle, softens and melts when heated, and many of the resin solvents affect it. but it 1s different from the natural resins in that on the application of a somewhat higher temperature it soon hardens and is transformed into “ c.” this change is due to a regroupment of the molecules, known as polymerisation (see 14.881). so the whole art of using these resinoids is to work them while they are still in the fusible, soluble “ a ” condition, which per- mits them to be dissolved or to be moulded while in the plastic state; then to apply enough heat to cause polymerisation into the final state “ c.”’ chemical investigation indicates that the final product is a complex solid solution of several different chemical individuals. bakelite is also known as phenol-resin, resinoid, redmanol, condensite, resinit, formite, amberite, sipilite, amberdeen, faturan, etc. bibliography.—l. h. backeland, ‘the chemical constitution of resinous phenolic condensation products’ reprinted from industrial and it ngineering chemisiry (june 1913); i. i]. baekeland and ei. l. bender, ‘“‘ phenol resins and resinoids ” reprinted from industrial and engineering aie (march 1925); john kimberly mumford, story of bukelite (1924). (l. h. b.* baker, george fisher (1840- ), american financier, was born at troy, n.y., march 27 1840. when he was eight years old his family removed to brooklyn, n.y., and later to williams- burg, new york. most of his boyhood was spent at dedham, massachusetts. after a brief period of schooling at williams- burg, n.y., he entered seward university, florida, n.y., from which he graduated at the age of sixteen. from 1858-65 he was a clerk in the state banking dept., his services being inter- rupted for six months at the outbreak of the civil war, when he acted as secretary to gov. e. d. morgan of new york. when the national banking system was created in 1863, baker inter- ested a friend, mr. thompsen, who established the first na- tional bank of new york city, giving baker a position as teller and offering him on credit all the stock he wanted. baker refused, however, to go into debt and bought only 30 shares with his savings. the bank at first grew slowly, dealing chiefly in government bonds; but when, in 1865, baker became cashier and active 308 head it began to expand rapidly, being admitted to the clearing house in 1868, baker was frequently consulted by the secre- tary of the treasury and in 1877 he became president of the bank, the policy of which he continued to direct with such success as to make it one of the strongest banking institutions in america. in 1882 he acquired the richmond and danville railroad which was the nucleus of a group reorganised as the southern railway. later he obtained control of the jersey central and the delaware, lackawanna and western, when these systems were in difficulty. in addition to the presidencies and directorships of numerous powerful corporations, he was president of the metropolitan opera house association. his benefactions included large gifts to the metropolitan museum of art, to the red cross and to universitics. conspicuous among the latter was one of $5,000,000 for the graduate school of business administration of harvard. baker, george pierce (1866- ), american educa- tionalist, was born at providence, r. l., april 4 1866. he grad- uated from harvard in 1887 and from 1905 to 1925 was professor of english there. his courses dealing with the theory of the drama were highly successful, and his famous laboratory, known as the “47 workshop,” afforded practical training for his students. in nov. 1924 he accepted an invitation from yale univer- sity to become head of the new department of dramatic art. his works include: the development of shakespeare as a drama- tist (1907); dramatic technique (1910); and modern american plays, collected and edited with introduction (1920). baker, newton diehl (1871- ), american lawyer, administrator and party leader, was born at martinsburg, w. va., dec. 3 1871. he was educated at johns hopkins (a.b. 1892) and at washington and lee (ll.b., 1894). in 1897 he began the practice of law in his native town, removing later to cleveland, ohio. here he soon distinguished himself as a lieu- tenant of mayor johnson in the latter’s long struggle for tax reform and three-cent fares. appointed city solicitor by the mayor in 1902, he held that office by election from 1904 to 1912 and that of mayor from 1912 to 1916. on the floor of the democratic national convention of 1912 he fought successfully to release the ohio delegation from the unit rule, thereby contributing 18 votes toward the nomination of wilson. as president-elect the latter offered him in 1913 the secretaryship of the interior, which he declined in order to push forward municipal reforms in cleveland. upon the resignation of garrison three years later, however, he was appointed secretary of war. although an avowed pacifist, immediately after the organisation of the 65th congress in 1917 he submitted a plan for universal military conscription, and remained at the head of the depart- ment of war throughout the whole period of the world war and to the retirement of wilson in 1921. administration policies regarding preparedness, conduct of the war and treatment of conscientious objectors became the subject of severe criticism, much of it for partisan ends. in reply to this, he maintained before the chamberlain senate committee early in 1918 that ‘“no army of similar size in the history of the world has ever been raised, equipped or trained so quickly.” aftcr 1¢21 he resumed the practice of law in cleveland. in the democratic convention of 1924 he made astrenuous but losing fight for a strong league of nations plank. (r. c. b.) bakst, leon (1866-1924), russian painter, passed his child- hood in st. petersburg. he attended the imperial academy of arts, but was obliged to leave after painting a too realistic ‘* pieta.”” as a member of the society of painters in water colours and as teacher to the children of the grand duke vlad- imir, he succeeded both as a court painter and in the fashionable world. under the influence of alexandre benois, he changed his artistic outlook and joined the group “ the world of art ” that was struggling for the recognition of modern art. he be- came secretary of the review edited by that group. from 1900 onwards he was scenic artist, first at the hermitage court the- atre and afterwards at the imperial theatres. he designed the scenery and accessories for the tragedies of sophocles in the spirit of the greek theatre and in the archaic style of the aegina baker, g. p.—balance of payments sculptures. he made a voyage to greece and crete of which he wrote an account, and his famous picture ‘‘ terror antiquus”’ expresses his vision of mythic greece. in 1906 he exhibited in the russian section of the salon d’au- tomne in paris. two years afterwards he achieved considerable fame as the chief painter of scencry for the russian ballets pro- duced by diaghilev. *‘ cleopatra,” “‘ scheherazade ” (1909) and *“daphnis and chloe” were among his most notable achieve- ments. ife returned to russia and founded a liberal school of painting. afterwards he settled in paris, where he designed the setting of the tragedies of d’annunzio and of a play of ver- haeren. he painted the scenery and designed the costumes for the “‘ sleeping princess,” the fairy ballet of tchaikovsky pro- duced in london in 1921. he also produced several plays at the paris opera, among them the “ bewitched night.” leon bakst revolutionised the application of the decorative arts of the the- atre and thus presented a unity of impression. the influence of his genius may also be seen in the costumes of the time. he died in paris dec. 27 1924. see andre levinson, the story of leon baksi’s life (london, 1921.) (a. le.)