Problems of the Pacific 



3 J 7 



the eastern coast of Asia, where the 

 trade of the Orient must always center, 

 and in this belief I find myself fully sup- 

 ported by the practical opinion and ex- 

 perience of distinguished officers of the 

 American and British navies whom I 

 have consulted and by men who have 

 had long experience in the commerce of 

 that great ocean. These advantages to 

 which I allude are found in the great 

 and permanent currents of air and water 

 which flow westwardly across the Pa- 

 cific in the vicinity of the Equator, turn- 

 ing northwardly along the coast of Asia, 

 and, following the Japan coast, again 

 move toward the east across the north 

 Pacific and down the western coast of 

 North America to the point of begin- 

 ning. In the map herewith presented 

 are shown the ocean currents and the 

 currents of air, the direction of the 

 movement in each case being shown 

 by arrows. It will be seen that the 

 equatorial current begins its westward 

 movement at the very point in which 

 vessels from an isthmian canal would 

 enter the Pacific, and moves steadily 

 westward to the vicinity of the Philip- 

 pines, then, turning northward along 

 the east coast of China and Japan, is 

 deflected to the east, flows eastwardly 

 across the north Pacific to the American 

 coast, and then moves down the western 

 coast of the United States to the point 

 of beginning. The air currents, while 

 their exact location is somewhat affected 

 by the changes of the seasons, follow 

 practical^ 7 the same lines and are equally 

 certain and reliable. The rate of speed 

 at which this ocean current flows in its 

 great circular movement across the Pa- 

 cific and returns is probably on an aver- 

 age about one mile per hour, or 24 

 miles per day, while the rate of the 

 movement of the air currents is of course 

 much more rapid. While there is a 

 general belief that vessels propelled by 

 steam are little affected by favorable or 

 adverse winds, a series of experiments 

 recently made by German navigators 



and scientists shows that even with high- 

 power steam vessels of modern type a 

 difference of from 50 to 100 miles per day 

 is realized in traveling with or against 

 winds of any considerable power. 



These facts, it seems to me, justify 

 me in the assertion which I have made 

 and now repeat, that this steady, per- 

 manent flow of air and water — a flow 

 which will never cease so long as the 

 earth revolves toward the east and the 

 great bodies of land and water retain 

 their present relative positions — must 

 always give to the North American con- 

 tinent a marked advantage in the com- 

 merce of the Pacific. Its vessels from 

 the eastern coast, entering this great 

 whirlpool of the Pacific at the Isthmus, 

 will move westward, aided by air and 

 water currents, past our Hawaiian Isl- 

 ands, Wake Island, and Guam to the 

 Philippines ; thence northward to those 

 two great trade centers, Shanghai and 

 Yokohama, and thence, still following 

 these currents, will move to the east 

 along that shortest route known as the 

 "great circle," in the north Pacific, 

 touch at our own western ports for 

 transshipment of fast freights for the 

 East, and then, still following the ocean 

 current down our Pacific coast, will 

 reach the entrance to the Isthmian 

 canal, having been aided by favorable 

 currents of air and water in the entire 

 circular tour of 18,000 miles. The en- 

 tire feasibility of this plan is found in 

 the fact that, while the actual sailing 

 distance from the western end of the 

 proposed Nicaraguan canal to Manila 

 via Hawaii and Guam is 9,000 miles, 

 the return trip from Manila via Shang- 

 hai, Yokohama, and San Francisco to 

 Brito is but 9,500 miles, with the ad- 

 vantages of favorable wind and current 

 in practically every mile of the entire 

 distance. 



I close, then, by the assertion that at 

 least one of the great problems of the 

 Pacific, that of commerce, has been 

 solved, and solved in favor of the United 



