Even.the remote possibility of British defeat in the European war adds daily to the strategical importance of Canada's Pacific coast, since there Canada borders upon the all-important Puget Sound approach to Northwestern United States. From Canada's western coast, moreover, extend immensely important cables and steamship lines, all vital (o the commerce and security of British domains in the south Pacific.
The European war startled Congress into swift action for the defence of Alaska, where any military or naval establishments would simultaneously contribute to naval defence of north-western America. The Great Circle route across the Pacific is roughly parallel to the Aleutian islands, The European war revealed the possibility of air-bombing operations against naval units far at sea. Ultimately, aeroplanes based on vari ous Hawaiian islands, Alaska, and Puget Sound could "screen" a large part of the north-eastern Pacific, greatly increasing the hazards to any naval power that might attempt to invade that region.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.