Problems of the Pacific 



3°5 



consumer on the other side of the globe, 

 is at a great advantage over that which 

 must send its products two or three thou- 

 sand miles by rail, before placing them 

 upon the vessel which conveys them to 

 the consumer. 



Our present all-water routes from the 

 eastern coast to the Orient are 12,500 

 miles via the Suez Canal, 15,000 miles 

 via Cape of Good Hope, and over 16,000 

 miles via Cape Horn and the Pacific ; 

 or one-half the distance round the globe 

 if via the Suez, and two-thirds the dis- 

 tance around the globe if via Cape Horn. 

 Nevertheless, about two-thirds of our 

 commerce with Asia and Oceania still 

 goes across the Atlantic Ocean, rather 

 than undergo the expense of rail trans- 

 portation to the waters of the Pacific 

 on our own western coast. The disad- 



vantage under which we thus labor in 

 an attempt to compete with our Euro- 

 pean rivals for the trade with the Orient 

 is shown in the fact that while the dis- 

 tance traversed by a vessel passing from 

 New York to Shanghai is from 1 2 , 500 to 

 16,000 miles, the distance from London 

 to Shanghai is but about 10,500 miles, 

 an advantage to the British merchant of 

 from 2,000 to 5,000 miles, according to 

 the route of the vessels from New York. 

 In spite, however, of the disadvan- 

 tage under which our merchants labor 

 in their attempts to cultivate commer- 

 cial relations with the Orient, our actual 

 commerce with the islands and countries 

 of the great Pacific has grown rapidly 

 in recent years, and more rapidly than 

 that of any other nation. Our imports 

 from Asia and Oceania increased from 



Map No. 1. Principal Productions of the Countries Fronting on the Pacific 



(see page 307) 



