The Nome nugget., 1902-03-05
' Influence Of Sea Power Likely
 to Decline
IM THIS CENTURY
Capt. Siem Contends That the Build ing of Great BattIeships Is Use- less Waste of rioney-Thc Decline of American Merchant Marine.

Nahan's volumin0us pane9yric of the "Inhuence of Sea POwer." etc. may in the near future prove itself 10 have been an elaborate epitaph. It. l. be- ent time, the nation in the possession of the strongest navy has always had by far the advantage over other ua- ti0n, in the race for power but 1t Hp- pears to be with this like many other tn ngs just when they had been fully proven and were thoroughly understood tthe world would outgrow them. There are many indications today. and a number of reasons seem to converge, why sea power, as lhe 20th century prog gre>ses, will play less and less Of role n the stage of he worl aud why it's influence wyil decline more and more with the spreading Of civilization over the length and brea tn of the earth. A number of in fire ct anu ti.ec pr0of,, of which few will be a lvanced below, can be brought 0 bear on ,.ch an asstrtun.
 The naval budget of every nation making any pretense of being or be- com ng d Laval power i, beromine sirGm year to year more prohibltiHc. Nttiup trie, tc uutdo nat on in cnla'-s- ing and increasing their nav.eS, and if d stop k not soon called tinanc al ruin is bound to be tue result with mere than one nation. If it was not for the glam0r surrounling sea power, no peo- pie to ay would tolerate the eX0rhItant cost of the modern war vessels. steadily increasing in size. With their eXag- geraled, luXuriant and exotic growth, navies are tending more every day to become the toy of the nation, not it's tool. or all outlandish things. a mod ern tatt eNhi p Is. perhaps, the most eX- rpelsive and mUstus eltse uf mans CT, a. simple, il costs many millions to con struct, seems as easy to get out of repair as any clock or watch, can never to a certa nty be depended upon for an extended cruise, needs a coaling base within easy reach of its area of opera tions, and when it enters a fight one lu :ky chance shot of the enemy is very apt to pat it hors de combat at the start. In short, modern naval develop .mentlhas already overstep.J ped the limit of the rational.
 With the uncouth growth of battle ships and navies the science of ma tal warfare has declined more than Il lvanced. There has been no more display of strategy in the late sea fights than here isa display of science in Il l~c ,ent't.' b yXers. It was brute force pitted aga n,t brute force, and ques- tiOn of endurance and fUrtilude tO stand punishment. On the Yalno, hetweeh two well matched and equally intreli alversaries. 1t was the Japanese light and quick firing guns against the Chinese heavy gnne--ang> again-t tusks in catch as catch can. Dewey's Man la exploit would have been fool hardy and unsuccessful if Corregd, r an Cavte had been well fortified an manned with American gunners. Still. when he left Hons-Kong. MHnila wa the only place he could make C., tEni tI ct m across the Pacific, with no base of sup, pl,es nearer than the California coast, lbe enemy's port became his cnly and natural objective. Dewey is great; he was the r!ght man in the right place, because be dld quickly what he Knew he had 10 do. Hesitation and delher- atinn might have meant the spectacle of an American fleet dri ting fuelless around oE the 0 can, 4, % miles away from home. The unTurreen genera! unpreplredness of the Spaniards in Manila bay doe, not lessen Dewevs title to greatness, but tive ba lle of Manila bay did not have a single re- .deeminp feature. and was as brutal us the heating of small and unprrpared fellow by d strong and determined man.
 All around, the American people have cause t. congratulate themselves s,hat sampson happened to be ahsen' when Cervera con 'laded to break forth from Santiago with the Spanish fleet. .I,h; st ndious man mi u hl have tried tU fight modern sea fight acrording to old book rules and sprece tents, anu thereby interfered with quick and con ,certed action. Though it would have been hardly os ,ibe fer him to make total tia-co, the cost of the victory would undoubtedly lave teen very much sreater one. Old rcti 'annot e adapted to n.oderi attles1 ', and Schlsy's simple procedure oi up sips