The Pacific Monthly/Volume 14/The Momentous Struggle for Mastery of the Pacific

by Harvey Whitefield Scott

H. W. GOODE. President of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition.

THE MOMENTOUS STRUGGLE FOR MASTERY OF THE PACIFIC

By H. W. Scott

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Pacific Monthly presents in this contribution by Hon. H. W. Scott, editor of the Oregonian, the introductory article to the series on the "Coming Supremacy of the Pacific." The series will continue for six months and will be written by Wolf Von Schierbrand, Ph. D., author of "America, Asia and the Pacific," and other works treating the problems and possibilities of the Pacific seaboard. It has been deemed peculiarly fitting to begin the series at this time and to illustrate it in this number with Exposition views, inasmuch as the centennial we celebrate means not so much a retrospect as a forecast of greater things to come. The articles by Dr. Von Schierbrand will treat all of the important phases of the questions that have arisen as a consequence of the great awakening to western possibilities. The illustrations will be a feature, and, on the whole, the series will be of exceptional interest and value to all who wish to be in touch with a struggle for the mastery which promises to be one of the greatest in the history of mankind and which has already decided the fate of nations.

MASTERY of the Pacific is involved in the great drama now being played in the Orient. Japan, regarded hitherto as an insignificant, or at best, as a secondary power, resists Russia and has present triumph over her. This, however, if we may use military language, is but an affair of outposts. The actual struggle is yet to come. Among the contestants in this struggle — a struggle not necessarily of arms, but of com-

Looking toward the Band Stand from the Bridge of Nations,

Note. — The illustrations of the Exposition are from photographs taken by the Official Photographic Co. mercial rivalry — the United States will have place. We cannot escape the conditions. The actual prize is control or ascendancy in the commerce of the Pacific Ocean.

The movement westward, which began before the earliest written history, and has continued ever since, has now reached a stage upon which the West meets the East, and the East and the West are one. It has come about through extension of the domain of the United States to the shores of the Pacific, through extension of European influence into countries of the Orient and through various movements that have begun the development of commerce on the Pacific Ocean, on a scale large already, and destined to an infinite expansion. Our own interest in the Pacific, which started with the establishment of our cordon of states on this western verge of the continent, has been prodigiously increased and magnified by the acquisition of the Hawaiian and the Philippine Islands. The Spanish War of 1898 opened a door that never will be closed upon us ; and the present struggle between Japan and Russia is one in which we cannot but have deep concern, because it presages a future in which we must of necessity have a very important part. We

cannot escape this participation if we would.

Forces are now in motion which it is clear are to make the Pacific Ocean dur- ing the present century a sphere of ac- tivity similar to what the Atlantic was during the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- turies, and to what the Mediterranean was twenty or thirty centuries ago. Our own interests are deeply involved in the war between Russia and Japan; for this is but the initial stage of an international strug- gle to be vastly extended, if not with arms, certainlv through rivalries and with the weapons of industry and commerce. On that vast highway which the irony of his- tory has named the "Pacific" Ocean, there is now to be a struggle for commercial and political supremacy as important as any the world has ever seen. We our- selves are literally "in it," and could not retreat if we would. Such a nation as ours cannot play the part of a weakling; we shall not sit down in our back yard and let the world drift by. A nation great as ours must pay the penalty of its great- ness, in effort, money, bother and men.

The conditions will force rivalry between the United States and Russia. For Russia, we take it, though checked b Japan, cannot be forced back, perm a -

Tho California Building, showing two of the four Mission wings.

The Grand Stairway and Band Stand.

nently, from the shores of the Pacific. But Japan is figliting the preliminary bat- tle of all nations that want an equal chance on the Pacific; for Russia in con- I trol of China and Corea would be in posi- tion to close the door to all commerce not directed in the interest of her own policy.

Russia hitherto has been friendly with us, because the two great countries have not been in touch with each other. She could afford to be friendly with the United States so long as we were no world power, and so long, moreover, as we were on more or less strained terms with Great Britain, Russia's most powerful and dangerous rival during the whole course of the nine

Lakeview Terrace, A comer of the Agricultural Building- is seen at the extreme left, and next to it the European Exhibits Building. Fir-covered hills in the background.

Scene during the speech-making at the opening day ceremonies.

teenth century. But the march of events has now brought the United States face to face with Russia. Our position in the Orient and the development of our states

The Oregon Building. The simple beauty of this building makes it the most admired of all the State buildings. on the west coast of America make a new condition. Absorption of China and Corea by Russia would be the severest possible blow to the commercial progress of the United States. Were China advanced or "westernized," even to the extent that Japan is, the commerce of her hundreds of millions, left free, would be of immense value to us. But in the hands of Russia, or controlled by Russian influence, its benefits to us would be largely lost. This is the interpretation of Secretary Hay's contention for the integrity of the Chinese Empire. It explains, too, the British policy of the "open door." One of the objects of Russian statesmanship has been to keep the two great English-speaking nations apart, allied as they are for free and open commerce. Any approach to cordiality between the United States and England, on a common or similar policy, makes Russia therefore the rival if not the enemy of both.

Long time must elapse before consistent results can come out of this chaos of discordant interests. But the contest can have no interruption. From this point of view Japan is figliting not only hov own battle for her national preservation, but the battle of other nations, including our own, for the free development of Pacific commerce.

Again, the products and exports of Russia are mostly of a nature of which we ourselves have abundance, namely, cereals and other agricultural products, petroleum, timber and other heavy staples. Russia, therefore, in all or nearly all her exports, is one of our chief rivals. Naturally, therefore, if she can obtain the ascendancy she covets in tbe Orient she will close the door to us as far as she can.

But there awaits Pacific commerce a great future. Our rivals in it are many other nations besides Russia; namely. J^ngland, Germany, France, and Japan, and even Holland. It may not mean war. but it will mean, certainly, a strife for couimcrcial and even for political power. The most dangerous thing this country could do would be to allow itself to "drift" on its course of world politics. Under the present administration there is no danger of that. But our situation is such that we must at all times be alert and ready. Pacific Ocean commerce undoubtedly has an iimuense development before it. When

The New York Building — the scene of many notable receptions and banquets.

The Oriental Palace, showing- a corner of the Log Palace, and the flr-clad hills in the background.

the vast populations that border on this greatest of oceans shall have yielded to modern ideas and methods and have been shown how to do what they are capable of

A view of one of the Sunken Gardens in Columbia Court, showing two of E. C. Potter's famous

animal groups at center.

Indian Totem Poles and canoe, from Alaska, forming: a part of the United States Alaska exhibit.

— and this under the leadership of Japan, will be the greatest the world has known seconded by England, France and Ger- since the movement that followed the dif many, will be brought about — the result covery of America.

View overlooking Guild Lake, showing the United States Government Building in the center, the European Exhibits Building on the right, and the Oriental Palace on the left.