The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1905-02-18

MAJ August 4, 1IOA NEW
~ style), the Rock Of Gibral-
tar was captured by Great
vi Britain, and 1t has re-
@u manned In her possession
from that day to this. Among the
many possessions scattered all over the
globe that are comprised in the Brit
fish Empire to-day there Is none that
the nation holds with greater tenacity
for reasons both of sentiment and of
material interest and none that 1t
would lose with more poignant shame
and sorrow that the redoubtabie strong
hold we took from Spain ut the Begin
ming of the reign of Queen Anne.
The fact that throughout the eight
eenth century. whtH go many con
quests in both hemspheres changed
hands backward and forward In sue
cessive wars and under successive
treaties. Gibraltar remained permn-
nently in the keeping of England.
might seem to prove that British senti-
ment with regard to 1t wns from the
hrst the same as 1t is to-day. But this
IL far from having been the case. For.
| although at the end of 200 yenrs of
our possession of the fortress. at Il
time when the imperial instinct Of
Englishmen has become more con-
| sciOusly developed and more deeply III.
grained than ever before. and ut the
same time more intelIigently apprecia-
tive of the true meaning of sea power
and alive to the strategical require
ments of its maintenance. the retention
of the key of the Mediterranean hns
become an essential article of our no.
litlcal creed, 1t was considerable
| time before the immense value of the
| acquisition was fully rallied by Brit
ish statesmen.
1t seems strange enough to us to re-
member that King George L. and his
Ministers were ready to give up Gl-
braltar merely to secure Spain's nc.
quiescence in the arrangement by
which the Quadruple Alliance was
| anxious to make some pettifogglng
notifications in the shuttle of terri
tories effected by the treaty of Utrecht.
but 1t is still more extraordinary that
so clear-sighted, patriotic and high
spirited an empire builder MS Lord
Chatham himself should have made IL
similar offer as an inducement to
Spain to help us to recover MInorca-
and this, moreover, at time when the
fortress has been In our hands for
more than half century and its vital
Importance to our growing maritime
supremacy had already been alum
dainty proved in the naval wars of the
period. Happily the Spanlards were
as blind as ourselves to the supreme
Importance of the position command
Ing the road from the Atlantic to the
Mediterranean.
The truth is. as readers OF Mahan
Importance o. sea power and the ma
ture of the foundations on which 1t ia
based were very imperfectly grasped
even by England III the seventeenth
and the first half of the eighteenth GEN.
fury and scarcely at all by any other
European power. Occasionally at In
tervals some statesmen like Colbert
In France. or Alberoni in Spain, had
more than an inkllng Of the truth,
but no nation except England made
deliberate and sustained efforts with n
view " uCNchophACut' INSH
England did so rather by instinct than
by insight.
OF this blindness to the true prin-
ciples Of maritime policy the taking of
Gibraltar and its history during the
following three-quarters of century
afford striking illustration. Just as
the vast Importance of its acquisition
was at the time moderated both by
England and Spain. 80 its actual cap
ture by the former was an afterthought
and Ut may almost be said, an acci-
dent. It became British possession in
the hrst instance because at time
when we happened to be Mt war with
one Of the rival claimants to the Span
ish throne our admiral in the Medit-
teranean happened to have no parti-
cular objective in view, and, having
failed in his only enterprise of that
year. was unwilling to return home
with fine feet that had done nothing
for the honor of the flag. So he thought
he might MS well make an attack OIL
Gibraltar as do anything else. New
ertheless, his action has to be reck-
oned among the notable deeds that
won the empire" and one that on its
bi-centennary deserves to be held In
remembrance.
Griiled Lion Steaks.