The Nome daily nugget., 1908-01-13
AN OCEAN WAR.

Should hostilities be declared be- tween the United States and Japan the war will be almost altogether one of battleships and cruisers.
 There may be seizure of ,be Philip pines or the Hawaiian Islands pre- ceded by a land as we'll as by sea fight but even those places must be held by the power which is strongest ahoat
 Looking over the lists of the fleets of the two countries now, when the war scare has arisen once more, they seem to be pretty well matched as far as numbers go.
 The United States leads we'll in first class battleships, having 2S to the Japanese IS, but in second class bat telships the Orientals are much ahead, having eight vessels to our one.
 These figures show, of course, % to 26 in favor of the '. s.
 Japan again leads in cruisers of all classes She has 42. the United States has 34
 In coast defense vessels this country leads by one
 In sea- going gun boats America has a big advantage. The figures are 31 to 1S
 destroyers the yellow are away on top. Japan has 43 destroyers. The United States has l6. While the United States has only II torpedo boats. Japan has S7
 In all other vessels, such as auxiliary and hospital ships, the two countries are about equal. but they do not count.
 The United States fleet is manned by 32,211 men. the Japanese navy has 3O49O
 In the lists of fleets of the world, America comes third, Japan fifth. Ger many is sandwiched between the two. but the two slices of bread and the Dutch cheese are of about equal thick ness
 Therefore. the Occidental power ano the Oriental power which are now forging their armor for the fray are equally matched both as to ships and to sea fighters.
 The Spaniards easily went down be- fore the American guns. The Russian fleet crumblod before the dragon fire of the Japs In the concluding match of the series who will win?
 The United States, is the answer if no great power of Europe harasses the eastern coast of this continent while the sons of Columbia are struggling on the Pacific against the new people of the Orient
 Of course those Japanese have brought war down to d science. Mod elled on German methods, the Jap army and navy now excel their masters. But on the sea. Americans have their first big licking to get, and it is to be hoped 1t will not come from the little chaps who are now carrying chips around on their shoulders.
 Anyhow, let it be supposed that the United States lost the big sea fight, through the incompetency of some po- litcal idiot who got his job by pull, yet Japan would not be entirely victor. If she seized the Pacific islands of the U S.. she must have a bigger navy than the U. $. to hold them. This she can never hope for. This country can build and continue to build and spend, without feeling the loss. an amount of money which Japan can never control.
 The ships are equal the guns are probably equal the resources of the [. s. are superior: every white man, for the honor of his race, hopes his blood is redder than the Oriental. that his heart is bigger in proportion to the relative physiques and that in the great struggle the representatives of his kind will maintain the supremacy which the sons of white fathers have held since the beginning.