Excerpt from The Monthly Nautical Magazine and Quarterly Commercial Review, Vol. 1: October, 1854 March, 1855 It becomes an interesting question to every American mind whether the mechanical and commercial genius of the United States, which has nothing to fear when the terms are equal, but which now are, as they have long been, fearfully against us - as is but too clearly manifest in the workings of our warping ton nage laws - shall, for the future, be able to contend successfully, as heretofore, with a wealthy commercial power, now thoroughly aroused to the vital importance of preserving a position on the sea, which is essential to the independence of an insular nation ality, of the htat class in the scale of nations, and which can only be done by possessing a large maritime population, which can be insured only by maintaining an immense mercantile navy; which, again, as has been proved by the nautical contest with this country, must ever be completely dependent on the qualities of the ships that compose it. But a more deeply interesting question will agitate the tran quillity of every American bosom, whether we are willing to permit any obstacle, of whatever name, to interpose even doubt ful barriers to any enterprise whatever, undertaken by American navigators upon the face of the deep. To both of these ques tions the ship-builders of the United States are expected to fur nish answers in the work of their hands and heads. It is in order to enable them to insure a favorable solution to these problems, which are fairly before us for future demonstration, by furnishing the basis for advancing to a more elevated position for commanding the future excellences of our commercial fleets, with the desire that our prosperous country shall continue to stand unrivalled in shipping in the waters of the globe, that this Press is dedicated to the maritime interests of the United States. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.