Page 71 - The Interest of America in Sea Power Present and Future

52 Hawaii and our Future Sea Power.

temporarily opposed and baffled, is sure at last,
like the blind forces of nature, to overwhelm all
that stand in the way of its necessary prog-
ress. So the Isthmian Canal is an inevitable
part in the future of the United States;
yet one that cannot be separated from other
necessary incidents of a policy dependent
upon it, whose details cannot be foreseen ex-
actly. But because the precise steps that here-
after may be opportune or necessary cannot
yet be foretold certainly, is not a reason the
less, but a reason the more, for establishing a
principle of action which may serve to guide as
opportunities arise. Let us start from the
fundamental truth, warranted by history, that
the control of the seas, and especially along the
great lines drawn by national interest or national
commerce, is the chief among the merely
material elements in the power and prosperity
of nations. It is so because the sea is the
world's great medium of circulation. From
this necessarily follows the principle that, as
subsidiary to such control, it is imperative to
take possession, when it can be done righteously,
of' such maritime positions as contribute to
secure command. If this principle be adopted,