S2 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



of foreign navies, our sea-power was threatened, as now, in conse- 

 quence of the increase of foreign universities, our brain-power is 

 threatened. 



The nation slowly woke up to find that its enormous commerce was 

 no longer insured at sea, that in relation to foreign navies our own 

 had been suffered to dwindle to such an extent that it was no longer 

 capable of doing the duty which the nation expected of it even in time 

 of peace. At first, this revelation was received with a shrug of in- 

 credulity, and the peace-at-any-price party denied that anything was 

 needed; but a great teacher arose;* as the facts were inquired into the 

 suspicion changed into an alarm ; men of all parties saw that something 

 must be done. Later, the nation was thoroughly aroused, and with 

 universal agreement the principle was laid down that, cost what it 

 might to enforce our sea-power, our Navy must be made and maintained 

 of a strength greater than those of any two possibly contending powers. 

 After establishing this principle, the next thing to do was to give 

 effect to it. What did the nation do after full discussion and inquiry? 

 A bill was brought in in 1888, and a sum of 21,500,000/. was voted in 

 order, during the next five years, to inaugurate a large ship-building 

 program, so that Britain and Britain's commerce might be guarded on 

 the high seas in any event. 



Since then we have spent 120,000,000/. on new ships, and this year 

 we spend still more millions on still more new ships. If these prove 

 insufficient to safeguard our sea-power, there is no doubt that the 

 nation will increase them, and I have not heard that anybody has sug- 

 gested an appeal to private effort. 



How, then, do we stand with regard to universities, recognizing 

 them as the chief producers of brain-power and therefore the equivalents 

 of battleships in relation to sea-power? Do their numbers come up to 

 the standard established by the Admiralty principle to which I have 

 referred? Let us attempt to get a rough-and-ready estimate of our 

 •educational position by counting universities as the Admiralty counts 

 battleships. I say rough and ready because we have other helps to 

 greater brain-power to consider besides universities, as the Admiralty 

 has other ships to consider besides ironclads. 



In the first place, let us inquire if they are equal in number to those 

 of any two nations commercially competing with us. 



In the United Kingdom, we had until quite recently thirteen. 

 Of these, one is only three years old as a teaching university and an- 

 other is still merely an examining board. 



* Captain Mahan, of the U. S. Navy, whose book, ' On the Influence of Sea- 

 power on History,' has suggested the title of my address. 



t Tiiese are Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Victoria, Wales, Birmingham, 

 Xiondon, St. Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dublin and Royal Uni- 

 Tersity. 



