strong sea power—a widespread, healthy commerce and a powerful Navy. Only by military command of the sea, by prolonged control of the strategic centres of commerce, can such an attack be fatal. Such control can only be wrung from a powerful navy by fighting it and overcoming it.' It will be noted that though the number of British merchant ships had more than doubled between the first and last of the two wars that we have been considering, the estimated captures were reduced from 10 to 2½ per cent.
Position of British merchant shipping in 1896. The British merchant navy holds a higher position to-day than it has ever done before relatively to the merchant navies of other countries. The aggregate merchant tonnage of the British Empire amounts to 10,512,272 tons, made up as follows:—
| The United Kingdom | 8,956,181 |
| Canada | 951,210 |
| Australasia | 359,614 |
| British India | 65,140 |
| Other British Possessions | 180,127 |
|
1,556,091 |
|
10,512,272 |
The aggregate tonnage of the merchant navies of all other countries amounts to 8,449,000; or, if we include vessels employed on lakes and rivers in the United
States, to 10,305,000. Taking steamships alone, which are generally considered to possess three times the carrying efficiency of sailing ships, 6,377,000 tons are under the British, 3,624,000 tons are under foreign42
