Page 93 - The Interest of America in Sea Power Present and Future

74 The Isthmus and Sea Power.

confronted by the full power of Spain, as yet
outwardly unshaken, in actual tenure of the
most important positions in the Caribbean and
the Spanish Main, and claiming the right to
exclude all others from that quarter of the
world. How brilliantly this claim was resisted
is well known; yet, had they been then in
fashion, there might have been urged, to turn
England from the path which has made her
what she is, the same arguments that now are
freely used to deter our own country from even
accepting such advantages as are ready to drop
into her lap. If it be true that Great Britain's
maritime policy now is imposed to some extent
by the present necessities of the little group of
islands which form the nucleus of her strength,
it is not true that any such necessities first
impelled her to claim her share of influence in
the world, her part in the great drama of
nations. Not for such reasons did she launch
out upon the career which is perhaps the
noblest yet run by any people. It then could
have been said to her, as it now is said to us,
Within
" Why go beyond your own borders ?
them you have what suffices for your needs
and those of your population. There are mani-