Page 167 - The interest of America in sea power, present and future

148 The Future in Relation to

alternative rather than fight, or even than
create a force which might entail war, although
more probably it would have prevented it. But
would it be more prudent now to ignore the
fact that we are no longer — however much we
may regret — in a position of insignificance
it
or isolation, political or geographical, in any
way resembling the times of Jefferson, and that
from the changed conditions may result to us
a dilemma similar to that which confronted him
and his supporters ? Not only have we grown,
— that is a detail, — but the face of the world
is changed, economically and politically. The
sea, now as always the great means of commu-
nication between nations, is traversed with a
rapidity and a certainty that have minimized
distances. Events which under former condi-
tions would have been distant and of small
concern, now happen at our doors and closely
affect us. Proximity, as has been noted, is a
fruitful source of political friction, but proximity
is the characteristic of the age. The world has
grown smaller. Positions formerly distant have
become to us of vital importance from their
nearness. But, while distances have shortened,
they remain for us water distances, and, how-