808 KEPORT— 1900. 



Alexandria, afterwards at Constantinople and the Italian ' factory ' stations of the 

 Eastern Mediterranean. Barbarous upheavals in Central Asia interrupted the 

 current at times, but only as temporary dams. Then came Vasco da Gama's 

 voyage round the Cape and its sequels — the diversion of the rich merchandise of 

 the Orient from the Italian ports and from the Eastern Mediterranean to the sea- 

 coast cities of the Atlantic. Out of the relentless scramble of the Atlantic nations 

 for this, the grandest of the trader's prizes, the English came out bloodily trium- 

 phant, and the British have remained the dominant shippers ever since. But when 

 the Suez Canal was trenched through, a geographical reversal followed : the mer- 

 chant's chief path may be said to have left the Cape circuit and to have regained 

 the old line, with immensely added facilities, to debouch upon the Eastern 

 Mediterranean. "Why has it not a fleeted us more profoundly ? Are not geo- 

 graphical canons outraged by the great steamers passing by the French and Italian 

 ports to find distributing centres in these islands ? I think that theoretically it is 

 so, even admitting that the foreign harbours are more difficult than ours. Practi- 

 cally only a few industries have suffered ; the volume of our trade has increased 

 greatly, and it still remains easily pre-eminent. One of the chief explana- 

 tions I believe to be this : Geographical considerations were defeated, for the 

 time at any rate, by the excellence of our bauliing system when the Suez Canal 

 was opened. The wealth of the country, then as now, instead of being separated and 

 divided into isolated patches, was accumulated in the hands of bankers and was 

 readily and easily available for commercial enterprises. So the necessary steamers 

 — huge, and of special line — were built at once by our companies and launched into 

 the valuable Eastern trade before their rivals could begin to stir. This country had 

 the invaluable help of its monetary facilities. Wealthy slaipping corporations, once 

 fully organised and successful, have great power, by reason of tbeir reserves and 

 resources, to hustle and to ride ofi" the attacks of weaker and less experienced 

 competitors. Supposing this great change had but just occurred — our advantages, 

 though still distinct, would have been less remarkable. And in the future inter- 

 national trade jealousy will be keener and the competition even more severe. We 

 must not forget that our geographical position is no longer in our favour for steam- 

 ships plying from the East, and, as in the immediate past, we must throw away no 

 chances, but seek to make up for that admitted defect by foresight, by education, 

 by maintaining and constantly adding to our experience, and by defending and 

 supporting that admirable system — our national banking system — which has carried 

 us over seemingly insurmountable obstructions to brave trade triumphs. 



The general considerations which I have named might lead to the inference 

 that actual geographical disadvantages, in trade competition for instance, may 

 sometimes be conquered by man's resourcefulness and energy. Within obvious 

 limitations that is certainly true. At places, as we know, the borderland between 

 geography and many of the natural sciences is often vague and confusedly inter- 

 laced. So perhaps also with mechanical and economic science our boundaries at 

 certain spots overlap. Quick steamers, far-reaching telegraph lines, and the 

 piercing of isthmuses by ship-canals may at the first glance appear outside the 

 purview of the geographer. Yet from that particular aspect of geography which 

 I have already spoken of as the Science of Distances we perceive how relevant 

 they are, how worthy of study. Truly ours is a very catholic science, and we have 

 seen how even the comparative value of national banking systems may help to 

 explain seeming geographical inconsistencies, to reconcile facts with possibly un- 

 expected results, and to show how the human element modifies, perhaps", the 

 strictly logical conclusions of the geographer intent upon physical conditions 

 alone. It is for the statesman and the philosopher to speculate upon the character 

 and the permanency of such influences. Our success as an Empire will probably 

 depend for its continuance upon a high level of national sagacity, watchfulness, 

 and resource, to make up for certain disadvantages, as I think, of our geographical 

 position since the cutting of the Suez Canal ; and it will also depend upon the 

 comprehensive and intelligent study of all branches of geography, not the least 

 important of which to my view is the Science of Distances — the science of the mer- 

 chant, the statesman, and the strategist. 



