Future Of Cocos-Keeling

Atoll

THE statement in the “PIM” of Jan uary, that the international air companies seeking a new route be tween the South Pacific and Europe, might possibly make use of the Indian Ocean—East Africa route, and that in consequence Britain might seek to get a closer hold over the atoll of Cocos-Keel ing, in the Indian Ocean, was picked up by one of the international press agencies m January and distributed acrossl the world. It aroused a good deal of inter esting comment.

It was ascertained that the present owner of Cocos-Keeling Island, John Glumes Ross V, was then in Singapore and that he had recently been in consul tation there with his solicitor from Lon don (Mr. Hardy Bentley) and representa tives of the British Government. Mr Ross, however, denied the report that he has any intention of selling Cocos-Keel mg atoll to the British Government. He said that the consultations in Singapore were connected with the damage that had been done to the atoll by the Japanese during the war Rnd connected also with the fact that there had been a British garrison there and an airfield had been constructed.