330 OUR HERITAGE THE SEA 



avowing their persistent friendliness to us and their 

 altruistic intentions towards Great Britain. Unfortun- 

 ately for these aims of theirs, the virulent German 

 press, directly representative of German feeling towards 

 Britain, cannot restrain itself, and so affords us a 

 splendid barometer whereby we may judge the con- 

 ditions of the German mental atmosphere as it affects us. 

 Again I say that I do not blame the Germans ; if they 

 succeed in their efforts to destroy Great Britain's place 

 among the nations, it will only be because Britons have 

 become unworthy to hold that place. As I write, 

 comes the news that German school-teachers instruct 

 their scholars to bring money for the purpose of 

 building ships to beat the British Navy ; this is 

 done by order, and is a lurid comment upon German 

 professions of amity. 



It may be here remarked that every effort on the 

 part of any nation to extend her commerce at sea 

 must of necessity affect Britain chiefly, since, at the 

 risk of repetition, it must be stated that Britain and 

 sea-supremacy are correlative terms one cannot exist 

 without the other. The United States have challenged 

 us in no uncertain terms, but unlike the Germans, who 

 plod steadily on towards a goal never lost sight of, the 

 Yankees have endeavoured to buy the supremacy of 

 the sea. There is no need to labour the point. The 

 experience of the International Shipping Combine, 

 directly aimed at the heart of Britain's shipping 

 trade, is an object-lesson in the futility of the methods 

 employed. There are many things that money cannot 

 buy, and it is evident that a command of the world's 

 shipping industry is one of them. I do not think we 

 have anything to fear from American competition at 



