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'TAE Marine REVIEW | 29 rapid industrial development. The ever-increasing pro- cession of ships through it, tells the story of our expand- ing production, growing trade and increasing industrial importance. "The scepter of commercial power is speedily passing into American control. If we are but true to the vast opportunities which lie at our hands, the United States MISS BETTY POR. will become the acknowledged leader in the commerce of the world. The conquest will be achieved by the men of trade and not by the men of war. It will come by a so-t of irresistible law of commercial gravity. It will come because of our increased productive capacity; be- cause of our superior ability to supply the needs of others; because of the illimitable resources of our farms, mines, and. factories; because of multiplied methods and en- larged facilities of cheap transpo:tation from the centers of production down. to the seaboard. We.take pride in our commerce. because it' tends to lift the country to a higher and _ better. level. . It tends to equalize conditions. It enlarges the opportunities of labor and capital and gives our people more homes and fills them with more-of the comforts of life. It brings communities and trade cen- ters together in common interest. aes Ciyizavon follows in its pathway. "While we are a commercial people, we are not -sub- servient to commercialism. We seek to expand com- merce, as a means, not as an end. We seek its conquests that we may minister to those high aspirations which are the birthright of the Anglo-Saxon race. It is a well- recognized maxim of trade that commerce will follow the lines of least resistance. The great lakes afford cheap transportation for the vast commerce tributary thereto. The control by the government of the Sault Ste. Marie canal, its enlargement and improvement, has resulted in stimulating traffic. It insures just and reason- able transportation charges over a vast area, and will become, as the density of our population incrases, and as trade expands, of incalculable importance in the future. The United States has been liberal in advancing the in- terests of commerce. She has been generous in the im- provement of rivers and harbors to the end that they should be adequate to meet our advancing national needs. She has appropriated liberally for canals. The Sault Ste. Marie canal is not the only evidence of this fact. Her most important work in promoting the expansion of our commerce is upon the Isthmus of Panama. The enter- prise there is of vast magnitude--one which has defeated all efforts hitherto. It is undertaken upon broad lines, for it will welcome impartially the commerce of the world. What others have been many years endeavoring to ac- complish, we shall not do in a day. Much money, time and patience will be required to complete the work. But it will be built, for the United States has ae its powerful hand to the task. "It is.a-gratifying fact that the enormous commerce of thes United States upon the great lakes j is carried in Ameri- can. ships.. The -vessels- which- pass through. this canal carrying our products, bear the flag of the United: States, They were.built- in our' shipyards and -are "manned by American seamen. When we come to commerce upon _the high seas, we largely give over its carriage to ships built abroad and sailed by alien owners. A large part of the commodities which pass through this canal to the Atlantic seaboard for transshipment to foreign countries, is transferred from these' American owned and American operated ships to vessels of foreign ownership and for- eign register. This would seem to be incompatible with ADMIRAL PETER WHITE'S FLAGSHIP MARIGOLD. a wise national policy. The United States makes for peace. Through the timely intercession of President Roosevelt, one of the bloodiest wars in history is about to close. The commissioners of the belligerent powers will assemble in a few days under the protection of the Ameri- can flag, to delibérate with each other. We trust that their great mission may be successful; that they may be able to restore peace and disband the great armies con- fronting each other in the Orient. We are assembled under happy auspices. All our people are' engaged to the utmost in promoting the manifold arts of peace. They are busy in trade and commerce, science and educa- tion, agriculture and manufacture. They are active in charity and philanthropy, seeking to make the day in which we live the most luminous in the history of man- kind." Addresses were then made by Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux, solicitor general of Canada, and the Hon. Raoul Dan- deran, secretary of the Dominion senate. Both empha-