MAGNITUDE OF IMPORTS 3 



Moreover, the prime business of the Navy is to fight, 

 and the intensification of the attack upon our commerce 

 that we may reasonably anticipate in any future war, 

 would necessitate such a withdrawal of our ships in 

 order to guard the trade routes as would dangerously 

 weaken the offensive powers of the Navy. Thus the 

 great dependence of the country upon foreign food 

 supplies renders us liable to internal disturbances 

 created by high prices even when starvation is out of 

 the question ; it adds to naval expenditure because of 

 the prime necessity of securing the entry of shipping, 

 and therefore embarrasses and weakens the action of 

 the Navy at a time when its whole strength ought to be 

 free to concentrate against the enemy. 



Weighty as are these considerations, even more 

 serious is the financial instability that is created in war 

 time by our absolute dependence upon a large volume 

 of imports. The nation's position as regards imports 

 may be summarized as follows : 



TABLE I. 



(Statistical Abstract for 1913) 



