PREFACEIt is no unmixed evil that the feeling of confidence in the limitless extent of the country's resources and in its economic self-sufficiency should lately have been shaken. So long as an apparently boundless horizon extended before us, we moved on a plane different from the rest, of the world and indifferent thereto. To-day, when for the first time we are beginning to understand that our natural resources are limited, that the end of the nation's possibilities for internal development is almost within sight, and that its capacity of consumption has been unable to keep pace with its production, the necessity of providing foreign markets for our industry is increasingly felt. Accompanying this has come the realization of the need for a navy sufficiently powerful to protect our over-sea227118About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the difficult to read text. Read books online for free at www.forgottenbooks.org --This text refers to the Paperback edition.