. THE British Empire is the result and embodiment of Sea Power. That is the dominant fact which will strike the future historian of our race, as it does the contemporary student. How is it that these little Islands in the North great political Parties have accepted the two-power standard for the Navy, in the full interpretation of the term, is a gratifying sign that the People which has been made, and which is fed and clothed by. Sea Power, is not likely to forget what they owe to it.

A brief reference to the main figures Sea have built up an Empire far flung across both hemispheres, whose vast ! extent dwarfs into insignificance the illustrative of our dependence on Sea Empires of the ancient world, whose ! Power will not be out of place, population of four hundred million souls The annual value of our sea-borne includes men of every race, colour and commerce in 1908 was £1,488,758,000.

religion, and whose wealth makes the With this we may compare the value of treasures of the Csesars seem paltry 1 ] The answer lies in the two words " Sea i Power." j This truth, realised long ago by far. i seeing minds like those of Bacon, Drake, j Hawke, Chatham and Nelson, has been analysed, illustrated and laid bare before all the world in the masterly works of the American naval writer, Admiral Mahan ; and the efforts of patriotic societies in Britain have been directed, with no small measure of success, to the sea-borne commerce of— Germany . . . £753,258,000 United States . £581,928,000 France . . . £359,347,000 The mercantile marine tonnage of the world is mainly held by the following four Powers, in the proportion shown by the figures :— British Empire .

United States .

Germany France .

Ships.

11,495 3,469 2,718 1,465 Tonnage.

19,012,294 5,058,678 4,333,186 1,882,280 But perhaps the most crucial fact is driving home the same truth to the minds and hearts of those for whom it is of the utmost importance, viz., the this: that while one hundred years ago people of Great Britain. The growing only 7 per cent, of our people depended interest manifested in the celebration of upon corn stuffs imported from abroad, Trafalgar Day is a proof that our fellow-countrymen are more and more alive to the vital significance of naval power; and the fact that both of the to-day 79 per cent, of our food supplies come from overseas. So that it is no exaggeration to say that, in Tennyson's words, "The Navy is our all in all," andthat if we lost the power to keep open the highways of the sea our people would rapidly be brought face to face with starvation, and with the inability to buy food, even at starvation prices, owing to the lack of raw material for our in- dustries, which provide employment and wages.

All this is an aspect of Sea Power which is fortunately coming to be known even to the unthinking multitude, not as subject of idle boasting, but rather as a reminder to the present generation of the great responsibilities which rest upon them and of the sacrifices which may legitimately be asked for from them, in order that the heritage of the past and the promise of the future may be safe in their hands.

But there is another aspect which should be observed and appreciated by all, and especially by the youthful Briton, for it would impress upon him, as much as the map of Empire and the lectures of the Navy League, both the fact of our dependence upon Sea Power and the vast debt which we owe to our Mercantile Marine, the ultimate founda- tion of that Power. Unfortunately the lesson is hidden away in a Government BlueBook which is issued year by year by the Board of Trade, and which bears the uninviting title, " Abstracts of Shipping Casualties, with Particulars of the Loss of Life." Hence it is a document quite unknown to the majority of the in- habitants of these Islands. Yet its pages will repay earnest study, and we propose briefly to examine them for the benefit of our readers.

It so happens that, this year, the Board of Trade have issued their Blue Book earlier than usual, so that we are fortunately able, at the beginning of the season of storms and gales, to summarise the facts for the year ending 30th June, 1910.

SHIPPING CASUALTIES.

Happily, the total number of shipping casualties on and close to our shores in that year shows a considerable decrease on the number in the previous year, viz., 3,284, as compared with 3,660. On the other hand, we have to lament the fact that there was an increase of 102 in the lives lost in connexion with these casualties, the total being 350 as com- pared with 248.

The number of cases of total loss and serious casualty happens to be exactly the same as that of the previous year, viz., 1,095, while the number of minor casualties showed a very substantial decrease. But the casualties attended by loss of life were 86 as compared with 81 in the previous year.

As usual, an enormous preponderance of the total casualties were sustained by British and Colonial vessels, viz., 2,922, as compared with 362 which befel foreign vessels. It is always interesting to note the distribution of the casualties on the coasts of the United Kingdom. The following are the figures, which do not include col- lisions :— East Coast of England— 600, an increase of 63 South Coast of England— 330, an increase of 5 West Coast of England and Scotland, and East Coast of Ireland— 808, an increase of 6 North Coast of Scotland— 124, a decrease of 32 East Coast of Scotland— 121, a decrease of 3 The remainder of the Irish Coast, etc.— 127, an increase of 2 41 Total increase Loss OF LIFE.

The total loss of life was, as we have stated, 350. These losses were distri- buted on the coasts as follows :—• East Coast of England— 38, a decrease of 22 South Coast of England— 69, an increase of 42 West Coast of England and Scotland, and East Coast of Ireland— 141, an increase of 86 North Coast of Scotland— 20, an increase of 9 East Coast of Scotland— 12, an increase of 4 The remainder of the Irish Coast, and at Sea—• 70, a decrease of 17 102 Total increase Here, too, the great majority of the lives lost were British lives, although the proportion of foreign seamen and passengers who lost their lives was considerably above the average. There were 267 British and 83 foreign persons lost at sea, the majority of the latter being lost in the wrecks of the Febrero, which was stranded near the Runnel Stone, Cornwall, and the Clampa, which went ashore near Clonakilty Bay, Ireland.

It is with profound satisfaction that we are able to state that, in the same period which witnessed the loss of 350 lives, the Life-boats of the Institution saved 427, while 188 were saved by shore boats, which were rewarded by the Institution for their efforts.

If we take a wider survey, we find that between the year 1861 and the 30th June, 1910, there were 180,610 casualties to British, Colonial and foreign shipping on and near the coasts of the United Kingdom, and that 7,075 of these casualties were accompanied by loss of life, the total number of those perishing being 29,933. In the same period the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION gave rewards for the saving of 37,040 lives. In other words, while the sea took a toll of nearly 600 lives a year, the Institution has the profound satisfaction of knowing that an average of 700 lives a year are rescued through its instrumentality and its organization.

At the moment of writing, the total number of lives for the saving of which rewards have been granted by the In- stitution, since its foundation in 1824, is nearly 50,000—the population of a County Borough.

The point we wish to make in laying these figures before our readers is that, while we look to the Navy to defend our mercantile marine from attack in time of war, the Life-boat fleet provided by the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION may well claim that it is defending the mercantile marine, and especially the lives of the men who are bringing the food and raw material of our people to these shores, from the storms and tempests of that ocean which, in another direction, is our safe- guard against a foreign foe. Ifc may be well to remind our readers that, in the year 1909, 242,434 British and Asiatic seamen, all British subjects, were employed in the Mercantile Marine of the United Kingdom, while 106,039 were employed in the Oversea Do- minions, giving the prodigious total of 348,473 British seamen, nearly all of whom, at one time or another, are coming to or leaving these shores, carry- ing out a task which is national in as true a sense as that in which we use it when applied to the men of the Royal Navy.

The fact is that we have to pay for the privilege of being an Island Power in two ways. We have to maintain the greatest Navy that the world has ever seen and to sacrifice many millions a year to keeping its relative position of superiority to rival, and possibly hostile, powers. But—a point which is almost lost sight of by the average Briton— the fact that we are an Island, and at the same time a great industrial nation, also carries with it as a consequence the necessity that the vast majority of the food of our people and the raw material of our industry has to reach these shores by sea. Add to this that we are situated so far north that storms and gales are a normal feature of our winter, and that the predominance of our SeaPower is linked with an enormous mer- cantile marine, which crowds our shores with more shipping than is found in any other -waters, and our readers will appreciate the great debt which the British nation owes to the founders of the Life-Boat Institution and to the splendid men who man its boats, year in year out, in every part of the United Kingdom.

It is a trite saying that " Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war." But it may be doubted whether I there is any form of human activity which so constantly and so heroically exemplifies its truth as do the ser- vices of the thousands of seamen and fishermen who man the 283 Life-boats of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION.

Nearly 50,000 lives saved ! It is a fine record of service to humanity, the more so if we remember that nearly all of those rescued were men in the prime , of life and vigour, destined to do a man's work for the nation for many a year to come.

We think we have said enough to show that the Life-boat cause is one which makes a special appeal alike to the humanity and to the patriotism of those who are proud to call themselves Britons, whether they reside inland or on the coast. And we would remind the former that, though they may not be within sight of the sea, there are probably few of them who have not friends or relatives who, at one time or another, "go down to the sea in ships." We cannot all take a personal part in the noble act of life-saving, but we can all at least contribute to help those who make this splendid work part and parcel of their normal duty, and to assist the women and children who may be left without support through the heroic self- sacrifice of a husband, a father or a brother.