of the armed fleet and general lack of interest in it are strictly
logical consequences. When for any reason sea trade is again found to
pay, a large enough shipping interest will reappear to compel the
revival of the war fleet. It is possible that when a canal route
through the Central-American Isthmus is seen to be a near certainty,
the aggressive impulse may he strong enough to lead to the same
result. This is doubtful, however, because a peaceful, gain-loving
nation is not far-sighted, and far-sightedness is needed for adequate
military preparation, especially in these days.

As a nation, with its unarmed and armed shipping, launches forth from
its own shores, the need is soon felt of points upon which the ships
can rely for peaceful trading, for refuge and supplies. In the present
day friendly, though foreign, ports are to be found all over the world
and their shelter is enough while peace prevails. It was not always
so, nor does peace always endure, though the United States have been
favored by so long a continuance of it. In earlier times the merchant
seaman, seeking for trade in new and unexplored regions, made his
gains at risk of life and liberty from suspicious or hostile nations,
and was under great delays in collecting a full and profitable
freight. He therefore intuitively sought at the far end of his trade
route one or more stations, to be given to him by force or favor,
where he could fix himself or his agents in reasonable security, where
his ships could lie in safety, and where the merchantable products of
the land could be continually collecting, awaiting the arrival of the
home fleet, which should carry them to the mother-country. As there
was immense gain, as well as much risk, in these early voyages, such
establishments naturally multiplied and grew until they became
colonies whose ultimate development and success depended upon the
genius and policy of the nation from which they sprang, and form a