Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 86.djvu/352

348 would have been a truer and more appropriate title. By whatever name we may choose to call it, the subject is one of tremendous importance—of such importance that, while I am glad to have the opportunity of presenting it, I hope and trust that it may be discussed in many other forms; that my very imperfect presentation may be supplemented and improved; and that these discussions may go on until we reach a real and practical remedy for the present deplorable conditions. One of the most notable of Sir Walter Raleigh's many notable aphorisms was his declaration, "Whosoever commands the sea commands trade. Whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself." That statement is as true to-day as it was when he made it. The converse of the proposition is equally true—that whosoever does not command the sea, trades at the pleasure of others and contributes to the wealth of others, who will in time command the world itself. Never has the world had such an object lesson in the value of "command of the sea" as is afforded to-day, when the industries and commerce of England continue in an almost normal way in the midst of a war for national existence, while Germany's commerce has been banished from the seas and her vessels are tied up in all the great ports of the world, her exporters are idle, her looms are silent and her people must economize in their use of foodstuffs to avoid the danger of ultimate starvation. You may say that this is a question of a navy rather than of commerce, but I would have you note that the two are inseparably related. An adequate navy must include colliers, transports, supply and hospital ships and scout cruisers, as well as battleships, torpedo boats and submarines. There must be ship-yards for construction and repair work, and there must be a reserve of men trained to the sea, to meet the added demands and losses of war, and unless there is a merchant marine you can not have these things. Ship-yards can not live on the construction of battleships alone. Confine them to that, and war will find you without ship-yards, without trained artisans, without an adequate supply of auxiliary ships, and without facilities for manning such ships as you might otherwise be able to put in commission. Leave out the question of national defense, and look merely at what our position would be if, instead of an undisputed mastery of the sea by England, there was an even distribution of sea-power and England, France, Germany and Austria were all preying upon each other's commerce, and goods could not be shipped with safety in the vessels of any of those nations. We produce about 43 per cent. of the world's pig iron, nearly 25 per cent. of its wheat, over 40 per cent. of its coal, over 70 per cent. of its corn, and 60 per cent. of its cotton. A great deal of our production of these articles we export—two thirds of our cotton and nearly a quarter of our wheat, not to speak of 32 million barrels of petroleum annually—and with