The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-04-23

part of any great war, / fervently pray
for Peace in our time, O Lord" But
we must face the ugly possibility with
what eGuanimity we may, that a cob
blestone or a knife in the hands of a
drunken hoodlum may in the twinkling
of an eye create an international COM
plication that the united efforts of all
the statesmen and diplomats of Amer
lea and Japan could not unravel
peaceably-
In the event of such an awful posi-
bility becoming an accomplished fact,
I, for one. do not for one moment
doubt or fear the issue, and when I
say this / have in mind the fact that
ship for ship, in preparedness and eff
ficiency. the Japanese Navy is perhaps
equal to any, and also the fact that
the well-nigh fanatic spirit of devotion
and self-sacrifice that animates the
japanese officers and men is such that
it is probable the world will never wit
ness the spectacle of a Japanese war
ship striking her colors to an enemy.
But | also know that in all the glo-
rious history of the English-speaking
people it has never failed that when
the time comes, the man comes with
it, and if we ever are in need of an
American or British naval officer to
match against the genius of d Togo or
even of greater than Togo, one will
be found to fill the bill.
The early history of the Japanese ma
ton runs along somewhat parallel
lines to the great maritime nations of
Europe, in that it was everrun by
fighting stock who invaded it by sea
and intermarried with the original in
,habitants, aud the Japanese in all
probability will play similar part in
the future of Asia to that played by
England. France or Holland in the
past of Europe.
A thousand years ago the savage sea
robbers known in history as the Morse
and Danish Vikings left their native
land and scattered through Europe.
They were disconnected at the increas-
ing power of their own chiefs ana
said, I'VE will call no man master.
Their chief characteristics were love
of plumber. love of the sea, and saw
age Impotence at all restraint. 1t is a
matter of history that ali of what IS
now England, Holland and Belgium
and a large part of France were COM
pIetely overrun and ruled by them, ana
that they intermarried with the inhao-
itants of those countries Each of these
nations has in it's day fought for, won
and for a time held the proud title OF
mistress of the seas.
The great duel between England
t1rnuph the
eighteenth century and into the nine
teenth, was q well-matched fight for
the championship between the TWO
greatest maritime nations at that time
known to history. That struggle was
decided in favor of Great Britain by
the genius OF Nelson, and since MS
time She has held first place among
the maritime powers of the earth. me
reason that the United states made 50
fine a showing on the sea in 17T6 ana
1912 is that there was a strong strain
of sea king blood in the early BRUSH,
Dutch and French settlers; in fact.
John Paul Jones, the first American
hdniral and the hero of one of the
most desperate single ship actions in
all history. was British by birth.
fighting stock. Russia was left out, or
got 50 little of it that it has had no
influence on her history. II is true
that Peter the Great had 4 clear con
'ception Of the value of Western civ
liza ton and maritime power and that
he fought for and won much OF the
seaboard that she now holds, but she
has never vet shown the qualities that
make a great maritime nation, viz:
aptitude for sea commerce and a nat
ural genius for naval warfare to e9-
able her to hold that commerce
against all rivals. And she never viii
h, great maritime nation unless the
RUSSIAN Navy is completely and ex-
Clusively controlled and differed by
and recruited from the Firms, who are
true seamen and have natural