422 The National Geographic Magazine 



"In certain great natural conditions, 

 which are as unchangeable as the oceans 

 and the continents and the revolution 

 of the earth itself, nature has given to 

 the United States marked advantages 

 regarding the movement of vessels be- 

 tween her western shores and the east- 

 ern coast of Asia, where the trade of 

 the Orient must always enter, and in 

 this belief I find myself fully supported 

 by the practical opinion and experience 

 of distinguished officers of the American 

 and British navies 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 Pacific 

 in the vicinity of the equator, turning 

 northwardly alongthe 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 beginning. 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 Philippines, then, turn- 

 ing northward along the 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 practically the 

 same lines and are equally certain and 

 reliable. 



The rate of speed at which this ocean 

 current flows in its great circular move- 

 ment across the Pacific and return is 

 probably on an average of about one 

 mile per hour, or 24 miles per day, while 



the rate of the movement of the air cur- 

 rents is, of course, much more rapid. 

 While there is a general belief that ves- 

 sels propelled by steam are little affected 

 by favorable or adverse winds, a series 

 of experiments recently made by Ger- 

 man 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 consider- 

 able power. These facts, it seems to 

 me, justify me in the assertion which 

 I made, and now repeat, that this steady, 

 permanent 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 the Pacific at 

 the Isthmus, will move westward, aided 

 by air and water currents, past our Ha- 

 waiian Islands, Wake Island, and Guam 

 to the Philippines ; thence northward to 

 those two great trade centers, Shanghai 

 and Yokohama, and thence, still follow- 

 ing these currents, will move to the 

 east along that shortest route known as 

 the ' great circle,' in the north Pacific, 

 touch at our western ports for trans- 

 shipment of freights for the Bast, 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 feasibility of this 

 plan is found in the fact that, while the 

 actual sailing distance from the western 

 end of the proposed Isthmian Canal to 

 Manila via Hawaii and Guam is 9,500 

 miles, the return trip from Manila via 

 Shanghai, Yokohama, and San Fran- 

 cisco to the canal is but 10,000 miles, 

 with the advantages of favorable wind 

 and current in practically every mile of 

 the entire distance." 



