Problems of the Pacific 



3 1 



put together ; Third. That we own the 

 chief way stations of commerce on that 

 ocean, the island ports of call which are 

 important in an ocean of such vast dis- 

 tances ; Fourth. That we control the 

 best and nearly the only practicable 

 route on which to lay submarine cables 

 across the ocean — an important factor in 

 a consideration of its commercial possi- 

 bilities ; Fifth. That at Manila we have 

 an extremely valuable distributing point 

 for commerce for all parts of the Orient ; 

 and Sixth. That nature has given to the 

 North American continent great and 

 remarkable advantages for commerce 

 across this ocean — advantages which 

 must continue to exist as long as the 

 continent and the ocean continue in 

 their present relation. 



In support of the first of these prop- 

 ositions I present a map showing the 

 coast line of the principal nations having 

 a frontage upon and harbors in the Pa- 

 cific. It will be seen that our Pacific 

 coast line is not only much longer than 

 that of any other nation, but that in 

 its relation to the great producing land 

 masses of the Temperate Zone it far ex- 

 ceeds that of any other single country. 

 A statement kindly furnished me by 

 the Coast and Geodetic Survey shows 

 that the national frontage upon the Pa- 

 cific, considering only the number of 

 nautical miles to be protected, patrolled, 

 or lighted, is : United States, 12,425 

 miles ; United Kingdom, 9,975 miles ; 

 Russia, 6,260; Japan, 4,590; China, 

 3,130; Netherlands, with her numer- 

 ous long and narrow islands, 10,860 ; 

 Mexico, 3,280 ; Chile, 2,460, and Peru, 

 1,530 miles. This magnificent Pacific 

 frontage of the United States stretches, 

 with but a comparatively small inter- 

 ruption, from Mexico to the northern- 

 most boundary of the Pacific, thence 

 by the Aleutian Islands almost to the 

 northern limits of Japan, while just 

 south of Japan's possessions our Phil- 

 ippine Islands again stretch for more 

 than a thousand miles along the Asiatic 



coast. Add to these our island posses- 

 sions in the midst of the Pacific, con- 

 taining, as they do, the best island har- 

 bors of the entire ocean, and it will be 

 seen that we are justified in the state- 

 ment that the United States possesses 

 more coast line and better harbor facil- 

 ities than any other nation fronting on 

 the Pacific. 



The second proposition — that we have 

 better railroad facilities for transporting 

 commerce to and from the water' s edge — 

 it is hardly necessary to discuss, but it 

 can be better realized by a momentary 

 study of a map showing the railroad 

 lines stretching inland from the eastern 

 and western coasts of the Pacific. Rus- 

 sia has a single great railroad line pen- 

 etrating the interior from the Pacific 

 coast, but it traverses a country still 

 undeveloped and with a comparative^ 

 small population ; and while our nearer 

 neighbor, Canada, has a single trans- 

 continental line, the United States has 

 six distinct lines connecting the Pacific 

 with the magnificent system of railway 

 lines in the Mississippi valley and the 

 Atlantic seaboard. In the other coun- 

 tries fronting upon the Pacific the rail- 

 roads leading inland from the ocean are 

 so few and short that they are scarcel}' 

 to be considered in comparison with our 

 magnificent railway system, whose lines 

 aggregate 200,000 miles, or eight times 

 the circumference of the earth at the 

 Equator. 



My next proposition, as to our advan- 

 tages in the Pacific, is that we own its 

 chief way stations of commerce, the 

 principal islands and harbors in the 

 great midocean. In a comparatively 

 narrow ocean, like the Atlantic, this is 

 of less importance, but in an enormous 

 body of water, stretching half-way round 

 the globe, on which vessels must sail 

 for weeks in passing from one shore to 

 the other, the value of islands midway, 

 and especially along natural routes of 

 commerce, is ver) r great. As harbors of 

 refuge, ports for repairs, coaling, water 



