Template:478-479 - Revision history

Ken Conklin at 20:18, 24 December 2005

2005-12-24T20:18:28Z

Jere Krischel at 04:37, 9 December 2005

2005-12-09T04:37:35Z

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intermediate links; nor is there any good reason why she should not
have them, except the superior, more urgent, more vital necessities of
another people—our own. Of these links the Hawaiian group possesses
unique importance, not from its intrinsic commercial value, but
from its favorable posi ;on for maratime and military control.
The military or strategic value of a naval position depends upon
its situation, upon its strength, and upon its resources. Of the three,
the first is of most consequence, because it results from the nature of
things; whereas the two latter, when deficient, can be artificially supplied,
in whole or in part. Fortifications remedy the weakness of a
position, foresight accumulates beforehand the resources which nature
does not yield on the spot; but it is not within the power of man to
change the geographical situation of a point which lies outside the
limit of strategic effect. It is instructive, and yet apparent to the
most superficial reading, to notice how the first Napoleon, in commenting
upon a region likely to be the scene of war, begins by considering
the most conspicuous natural features, and then enumerates the commanding
positions, their distances from each other, the relative directions,
or,' as the sea phrase is, their "bearings," and the particular
facilities each offers for operations of war. This furnishes the ground
plan, the skeleton, detached from confusing secondary considerations,
and from which a clear estimate of the decisive points can be made.
The number of such points varies greatly, according to the character
of the region. In" a mountainous, broken country they may be very
many; whereas in a plain devoid of natural obstacles there may be
few or more save those created by man. If few, the value of each is
necessarily greater than if many, and if there be but one its importance
is not only unique, but extreme, measured only by the size of the field
over which its unshared influence extends.
The sea, until it approaches the land, realizes the ideal of a vast
plain, unbroken by obstacles. On the sea, says an eminent French
tactician, there is no field of battle; meaning that there is none of the
natural conditions which determine, and often fetter, the movements
of the general. But upon a plain, however flat and monotonous,
causes, possibly slight, determine the concentration of population into
town and villages, and the necessary communications between the
centers create roads. Where the latter converge, or cross, tenure
confers command, depending for importance upon the number of
routes thus meeting and upon their individual value. It is just so at
sea. While in itself the ocean opposes no obstacle to a vessel taking
any one of the numerous routes that can be traced upon the surface of
the globe between two points, conditions of distance or convenience,
of traffic or of wind, do prescribe certain usual courses. Where these
pass near an ocean position, still more where they use it, it has an
influence over them, and where several routes cross near by that
influence becomes very great—is commanding.
Let us now apply these considerations to the Hawaiian group. To
anyone viewing a map that shows the full extent of the Pacific Ocean,
with its shores on either side, two circumstances will be strikingly and
immediately apparent. He will see at a glance that the Sandwich
Islands stand by themselves, in a state of comparative isolation, amid
a vast expanse of sea; and, again, that they form the center of a large
circle whose radius is approximately, and very closely, the distance
from Honolulu to San Francisco. The circumference of this circle, if
the trouble is taken to describe it with compass upon the map, will be
seen, on the west and south, to pass through the outer fringe of the

system of archipelagoes which, from Australia and New Zealand, extend
to the northeast toward the American continent. Within the circle a
few scattered islets, bare and unimportant, seem only to emphasize the
failure of nature to bridge the interval separating Hawaii from her
peers of the Southern Pacific. Of these, however, it may be noted that
some, like Fanning and Christmas islands, have within a few years
been taken into British possession. The distance from San Francisco
to Honolulu, 2,100 miles, easy steaming distance, is substantially the
same as that from Honolulu to the Gilbert, Marshall, Samoan, Society,
and Marquesas groups, all under European control, except Samoa, in
which we have a part influence.
To have a central position such as this, and to be alone, having no
rival and admitting no alternative throughout an extensive tract, are
conditions that at once fix the attention of the strategist—it may be
added, of the statesmen of commerce likewise. But to this striking
combination is to be added the remarkable relations borne by these
singularly placed islands to the greater commercial routes traversing
this vast expanse known to us as the Pacific, not only, however, to
those now actually in use, important as they are, but also to those that
must necessarily be called into being by that future to which the
Hawaiian incident compels our too unwilling attention. Oircum
stances, as was before tritely remarked, create centers, between which
communication necessarily follows, and in the vista of the future all,
however dimly, discern a new and great center that must greatly
modify existing sea routes, as well as bring new ones into existence.
Whether the canal of the Central American isthmus be eventually at
Panama or at Nicaragua matters little to the question now in hand,
although, in common with most Americans who have thought upon
the subject, I believe it will surely be at the latter point. Whichever
it be, the convergence there of so many ships from the Atlantic and
the Pacific will constitute a center of commerce, interoceanic and
inferior to few, if to any, in the world; one whose approaches will be
jealously watched and whose relations to the other centers of the
Pacific by the lines joining it to them must be carefully examined.
Such study of the commercial routes and their relations to the Hawaiian
Islands, taken together with the other strategic considerations previously
set forth, completes the synopsis of facts which determine the
value of the group for conferring either commercial or naval control.
Eeferring again to the map, it will be seen that while the shortest
routes from the isthmus to Australia and New Zealand, as well as
those to South America, go well clear of any probable connection with
or interference from Hawaii, those directed toward China and Japan
pass either through the group or in close proximity to it. Vessels
from Central America bound to the ports of Northern America come,
of course, within the influence of our own coast. These circumstances
and the existing recognized distribution of political power in the
Pacific point naturally to an international acquiescence in certain
defined spheres of influence for our own country and for others, such
as has already been reached between Great Britain, Germany, and
Holland in the Southwestern Pacific, to avoid conflict there between
their respective claims. Though artificial in form, such a recognition
would, in the case here suggested, depend upon perfectly natural as
well as indisputable conditions. The United States is by far the
greatest in numbers, interests, and power of the communities bordering
upon the North Pacific; and the relations of the Hawaiian Islands
to her naturally would be, and actually are, more numerous and more

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-intermediate links; nor is there any good reason why she should not
+{{p|478}}
-system of archipelagoes which, from Australia and New Zealand, extend
+intermediate links; nor is there any good reason why she should not have them, except the superior, more urgent, more vital necessities of another people—our own. Of these links the Hawaiian group possesses unique importance, not from its intrinsic commercial value, but from its favorable posi ;on for maratime and military control.
 to the northeast toward the American continent. Within the circle a
-few scattered islets, bare and unimportant, seem only to emphasize the
+The military or strategic value of a naval position depends upon its situation, upon its strength, and upon its resources. Of the three, the first is of most consequence, because it results from the nature of things; whereas the two latter, when deficient, can be artificially supplied, in whole or in part. Fortifications remedy the weakness of a position, foresight accumulates beforehand the resources which nature does not yield on the spot; but it is not within the power of man to change the geographical situation of a point which lies outside the limit of strategic effect. It is instructive, and yet apparent to the most superficial reading, to notice how the first Napoleon, in commenting upon a region likely to be the scene of war, begins by considering the most conspicuous natural features, and then enumerates the commanding positions, their distances from each other, the relative directions, or, as the sea phrase is, their "bearings," and the particular facilities each offers for operations of war. This furnishes the ground plan, the skeleton, detached from confusing secondary considerations, and from which a clear estimate of the decisive points can be made. The number of such points varies greatly, according to the character of the region. In a mountainous, broken country they may be very many; whereas in a plain devoid of natural obstacles there may be few or more save those created by man. If few, the value of each is necessarily greater than if many, and if there be but one its importance is not only unique, but extreme, measured only by the size of the field over which its unshared influence extends.
 failure of nature to bridge the interval separating Hawaii from her
-peers of the Southern Pacific. Of these, however, it may be noted that
+The sea, until it approaches the land, realizes the ideal of a vast plain, unbroken by obstacles. On the sea, says an eminent French tactician, there is no field of battle; meaning that there is none of the natural conditions which determine, and often fetter, the movements of the general. But upon a plain, however flat and monotonous, causes, possibly slight, determine the concentration of population into town and villages, and the necessary communications between the centers create roads. Where the latter converge, or cross, tenure confers command, depending for importance upon the number of routes thus meeting and upon their individual value. It is just so at sea. While in itself the ocean opposes no obstacle to a vessel taking any one of the numerous routes that can be traced upon the surface of the globe between two points, conditions of distance or convenience, of traffic or of wind, do prescribe certain usual courses. Where these pass near an ocean position, still more where they use it, it has an influence over them, and where several routes cross near by that influence becomes very great—is commanding.
 some, like Fanning and Christmas islands, have within a few years
-been taken into British possession. The distance from San Francisco
+Let us now apply these considerations to the Hawaiian group. To anyone viewing a map that shows the full extent of the Pacific Ocean, with its shores on either side, two circumstances will be strikingly and immediately apparent. He will see at a glance that the Sandwich Islands stand by themselves, in a state of comparative isolation, amid a vast expanse of sea; and, again, that they form the center of a large circle whose radius is approximately, and very closely, the distance from Honolulu to San Francisco. The circumference of this circle, if the trouble is taken to describe it with compass upon the map, will be seen, on the west and south, to pass through the outer fringe of the
 to Honolulu, 2,100 miles, easy steaming distance, is substantially the
-same as that from Honolulu to the Gilbert, Marshall, Samoan, Society,
+{{p|479}}
 and Marquesas groups, all under European control, except Samoa, in
-which we have a part influence.
+system of archipelagoes which, from Australia and New Zealand, extend to the northeast toward the American continent. Within the circle a few scattered islets, bare and unimportant, seem only to emphasize the failure of nature to bridge the interval separating Hawaii from her peers of the Southern Pacific. Of these, however, it may be noted that some, like Fanning and Christmas islands, have within a few years been taken into British possession. The distance from San Francisco to Honolulu, 2,100 miles, easy steaming distance, is substantially the same as that from Honolulu to the Gilbert, Marshall, Samoan, Society, and Marquesas groups, all under European control, except Samoa, in which we have a part influence.
 To have a central position such as this, and to be alone, having no
-rival and admitting no alternative throughout an extensive tract, are
+To have a central position such as this, and to be alone, having no rival and admitting no alternative throughout an extensive tract, are conditions that at once fix the attention of the strategist—it may be added, of the statesmen of commerce likewise. But to this striking combination is to be added the remarkable relations borne by these singularly placed islands to the greater commercial routes traversing this vast expanse known to us as the Pacific, not only, however, to those now actually in use, important as they are, but also to those that must necessarily be called into being by that future to which the Hawaiian incident compels our too unwilling attention. Circumstances, as was before tritely remarked, create centers, between which communication necessarily follows, and in the vista of the future all, however dimly, discern a new and great center that must greatly modify existing sea routes, as well as bring new ones into existence. Whether the canal of the Central American isthmus be eventually at Panama or at Nicaragua matters little to the question now in hand, although, in common with most Americans who have thought upon the subject, I believe it will surely be at the latter point. Whichever it be, the convergence there of so many ships from the Atlantic and the Pacific will constitute a center of commerce, interoceanic and inferior to few, if to any, in the world; one whose approaches will be jealously watched and whose relations to the other centers of the Pacific by the lines joining it to them must be carefully examined. Such study of the commercial routes and their relations to the Hawaiian Islands, taken together with the other strategic considerations previously set forth, completes the synopsis of facts which determine the value of the group for conferring either commercial or naval control.
 conditions that at once fix the attention of the strategist—it may be
-added, of the statesmen of commerce likewise. But to this striking
+Referring again to the map, it will be seen that while the shortest routes from the isthmus to Australia and New Zealand, as well as those to South America, go well clear of any probable connection with or interference from Hawaii, those directed toward China and Japan pass either through the group or in close proximity to it. Vessels from Central America bound to the ports of Northern America come, of course, within the influence of our own coast. These circumstances and the existing recognized distribution of political power in the Pacific point naturally to an international acquiescence in certain defined spheres of influence for our own country and for others, such as has already been reached between Great Britain, Germany, and Holland in the Southwestern Pacific, to avoid conflict there between their respective claims. Though artificial in form, such a recognition would, in the case here suggested, depend upon perfectly natural as well as indisputable conditions. The United States is by far the greatest in numbers, interests, and power of the communities bordering upon the North Pacific; and the relations of the Hawaiian Islands to her naturally would be, and actually are, more numerous and more