Viewing page 17 of 203

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Regarding the North Pacific Ocean as a whole, we may consider it as a huge isosceles triangle, with its vertex on Bering Straits, one end of the base on the Panama Canal and the other end in the Philippines or the Coast of Asia directly opposite them. The sides of this great triangle are approximately 7500 miles in length, while the base measures about 11,000 miles, or about one-half the distance around the earth at that latitude. Along the eastern side of this Triangle we find the United States either in possession of, or completely dominating, the whole extent of territory (including that part of Canada fronting on the Pacific Ocean between Puget Sound and the Portland Canal, the southern border of Alaska, a distance of 700 miles. In any altercation arising between the United States and an Asiatic power, Canada would either openly side with the United States or run the risk of occupation.).

Freedom of maneuver of a military force is dependent on the length of the base. If we accept the definition of base as being the line which connects the military depots or magasines of a country, the United States has a base of 7500

-13-