A hopeful view of the future of Turkey’s economic position may be entertained by remembering that the land is still unexploited and that the resources of its soil and subsoil await the handling of western energy. It is expected that as fine a cereal crop as can be obtained anywhere in the world will be raised in the region between Eskishehir, Angora and Konia. Five million dollars spent by Germans on irrigation at Chumra in the vicinity of the last-named city has proved conclusively that a thriving agricultural industry can be established on the interior plateau of Asia Minor. The Cilician plain, where cotton and cereals are cultivated, contains vast tracts of swamp land which can be reclaimed. Here, too, irrigation would greatly improve cotton culture. Many of these rich soils are parts of Turkish crownlands which have been estimated by some to amount to one-tenth of the entire area of Turkey. The lands owned by the Evkaf, or Ministry of Religious Foundations, also cover vast areas. Estates held under either of these forms of tenure can be rendered highly productive under western management. The southernmost end of the Bagdad line taps rich oil fields which are situated in the area of transition between the plateau of Iran and the Mesopotamian depression. The railroad traverses the western end of this oil basin. Its eastern section in Persia has been developed since 1908 by British firms. The international control of Turkish railroads reflects the transitional character of the land over which they are built. Ownership in Turkish lines is of practically no value to so backward a people as the Turks have proved themselves to be. It is of vital importance to the industrial communities of the countries which hold the extremities of the roads of which the Turkish system is but a link. Germany, Austria and France at the western extremity of the transcontinental line, Great Britain in India at its eastern end, have interests which affect a large proportion of their population. In the west the great through line starts in some of the busiest industrial centers of the world. In the east it taps coveted markets. The attention of European manufacturers is directed towards densely populated India or China simply because profitable trade is found where numbers exist. A comprehensive glance at the spheres of foreign influence in Turkey shows that the most satisfactory evidence of the control of geography over the development of railway zones and spheres of foreign influence in Asia Minor is obtained by mere reference to the regions in which adverse geographical conditions prevail. The Italian and Russian spheres are both characterized by physical and climatic conditions which have stood in the way of human development. The map reveals the absence of railways in both.