And State Papers 393 



That was but a century ago ; and now at the opening 

 of the 20th century the change is so vast that it is 

 wellnigh impossible for us to estimate its importance. 

 In the South Seas the great commonwealth of Aus 

 tralia has sprung into being. Japan, shaking off the 

 lethargy of centuries, has taken her rank among 

 civilized, modern powers. European nations have 

 seated themselves along the eastern coast of Asia, 

 while China by her misfortunes has given us an 

 object-lesson in the utter folly of attempting to ex 

 ist as a nation at all if both rich and defenceless. 



Meanwhile our own mighty Republic has stretched 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and now in Cali 

 fornia, Oregon, and Washington, in Alaska, Hawaii 

 and the Philippines, holds an extent of coast line 

 which makes it of necessity a power of the first class 

 in the Pacific. The extension in the area of our 

 domain has been immense, the extension in the area 

 of our influence even greater. America's geographi 

 cal position on the Pacific is such as to ensure our 

 peaceful domination of its waters in the future if 

 only we grasp with sufficient resolution the advan 

 tages of that position. We are taking long strides 

 in that direction; witness the cables we are laying 

 down, the steamship lines we are starting some of 

 them already containing steamships larger than any 

 freight carriers that have previously existed. We 

 have taken the first steps toward digging an Isth 

 mian canal, to be under our own control, a canal 

 which will make our Atlantic and Pacific coast lines 

 in effect continuous, which will be of incalculable 



