The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-05-31

VA"V 00AilAhHy Will BCll commune 10 De repre-
sented at the Vatican by an ambassador, and
not by consul
The Hydrography or tho North Paci-
hc-How to Obtain tho Sovereignty
OF tho Seas.
One OF the most important subjects now ex-
citing the interest of scientific and commercial
men is the early and active prosecution of our
national marine surveys and explorations In
his last annual report the Secretary of the Navy
earnestly and ably called the attention Of Con-
gress to the necessity of such researches as
practical requirement of our navy and mercan-
tile marine. 'While every great maritime ma
ton" he says, sis yearly prosecuting the sur
vey of unexplored or insufficiently determined
avenues to commerce the United States has
remained idle, and taking advantage of the
work Of other nations, has by no means returned
them an equivalent" He takes occasion, also,
to urge that ''means ct least be furnished for
the prosecution of more general surveys, par
ticularly in tho Pacific Ocean and the waters
most traversed by our commercial marine
The HERALD has within the last year many
times anticipated the Secretary, because, as
the great representative of the people, who are
generally far in advance of their rulers, the
HERALD speaks for the people. It would be
matter of surprise to us that the Secretary Of
the Navy, having it in his power to order every
government vessel to make constant explora-
tions and surveys, should appeal to Congress-
if we did not know that the results of such SUR
veys, in the present fragmentary and ill-equip-
pedcondition of the photographic Office, would
be of no use to the nation. There are many i'm
perative reasons for the immediate and extensive
prosecution Of these researches and also for the
corresponding equipment of the photographic
Office to use and utilize them for the public
good. Our knowledge Of many parts of the
Atlantic is very imperfect, and exposes our trade
to many perils and definitions. The best
routes for crossing the Equator are still very
much in dispute; and especially is the naviga-
ton Of Cape Horn and of the hurricane-rav-
aged islands of the West Indies not only i'm
perfectly known by the best photographers,
but the knowledge we already have is most
scantily disseminated.
But in the Pacific the case is infinitely
worse In this broad and great expanse Of
waters there are thousands of discoveries yet
awaiting the explorers zeal and sagacity. In
the North Pacific, where the English naviga-
tors have recently made but few Investigations,
there are countless reefs, shoals and islands,
to say nothing of smaller rocks and the con-
stantly multiplying coral formations, which as
yet are not charted, and on which every year
numbers Of lives and ships are lost. Geolo-
gists find numerous striking evidences that
this whole oceanic region is one Of upheaval,
and that beneath it the volcanic forces may at
dry moment throw up above the waters their
pyramidal masses las the island of Sabrina,
which rose in the year 1910, in q single night,
400 feet above the surface of the North At
lantic) and thus obstruct the highways of
commerce with new and unknown perils. In
deed, the very character of the North Pacific,
so exposed to incessant changes from subma-
rine volcanoes, would suggest the ne
of photographic survey continually upon
its waters, even if they were already perfectly
charted So far, however, from this being the
case, with the exception of the added results of
Admiral Rogers expedition, made nearly
twenty years ago, the cartography Of this
ocean has not materially progressed since the
beginning of this century. The brilliant
labors of the Japan expedition, under Commo-
dore Perry, gave us the discovery and early
limits of the Kuro Siwo, or japanese Gulf
Stream; but they were never followed up. We
are now greatly and specially interested to
know, for the benefit of our Arctic whaling
fleet, the entire movement of this immense
ocean current of warm water into the Polar
basin, and to trace the branches of the stream
which are DETECTED by the Aleutian Islands
and Alaska over upon our northwestern
coasts, conspiring with other causes to give
their abnormally mild and delicious climates.
1t would be matter of profound interest to
science to verify the reports of numerous pavi-
gators of the annual freezing over or gorging
with icebergs of the entire channel Of Bshring
Strait, by which the whole volume Of the Kuro
| Siwo is arrested in winter and thrown over
upon the shores of British Columbia and
Washington Territory. But the greatest ad-
vantage arising from such photographic sur
veys as we plead for is connected with our
newly opening and rapidly expanded relations
with the Japanese and the Eastern nations
generally. With fostering care Of our COM
merce and navigation in the North Pacific we
may soon come in for goodly share of the
enormous commerce of the East, of which Eng
land has for so many years been the allowed
monopolist and aggrandizer
We cannot close this article without urging
the great good sense and comprehensive states
manship of the official suggestion which has
recently been advanced by Commodore Daniel
Ammen, the distinguished Chief of the Bureau