The Atlantic System: The Story of Anglo-American Control of the Seas by Forrest Davis (review)

REvir. ffvs ov BOOKS 209 forthcomingin peacetime. Asidefrom internationalregulations,both studies describegovernmental conservation policiesand procedures within the regions undersurvey. In a numberof chapterson industrialorganization,Mr. Gregoryand Miss Barnesturn to the question of monopolistic tendencies in the fishingindustry. Suchfactorsasthe tendencyto integrationbetweenthe stages of processing and marketing,andlessened possibilities ofexpansion in theindustryasawhole,promise a h•ghe r degreeof centrahzat•on m thefuture. Otheraspects of thefisheries which receive their attentionincludea description ofbiological factors,fishingtechniques, andprocessing methods; anaccount ofmethods ofmarketing, advertising anddistribution ,and of regulations for the protectionof consumers; an analysisof prices, profits,and costsin the industry;a study of the positionof labour,and a short chapter on foreigntrade in cannedsalmon. There is a brief treatment of the problems of the halibutindustry,and an excellentdiscussion of the placeof the fisheries in theAlaskaneconomy.Whilethevolumeishighlyinformativethroughout , its greatvirtue liesin the objectivityof its analysis. TheBritishColumbia Fisheries isa straightforward factualaccount of developmentsin thisregion. In additionto the material on conservation (Fraserriver sockeye salmon, andhalibut)andfisheryregulations, thereisa competent chapteron thecontentious subjectoftreatiesandtariffsastheyaffectthe BritishColumbiafisheries . There are statisticalchapters on capitaland the expansion of the salmon fisheries beforeand after 1900. The historicalmaterial is supplemented in the foreword,whichnotessignificant contrasts with the Atlantic fisheries, and some interrelationsof fisheriesand fur trade. There isa concisetreatment of the halibut, herring,pilchard,and otherfisheries, and a concluding chapteron whalingand sealing. Thevolumemayhavebeenintended asa supplement to theNorthPacific Fisheries, but it isin itselfa usefulandimportantcontributionin a long-neglected field of study. W. T. E,•Sr•,RBRO0•( Berkeley, California. The Atlantic System: The Story ofAnglo-American Control ofthe Seas. ByFORREST DAWS. New York: Reynal and Hitchcock [Toronto: McClelland and Stewart]. 1941. Pp. xvi, 363. ($3.75) MR. ForrestDavis is a journalistin a hurry. His bookattemptsto depictthe historyof Anglo-American relationsfrom the ninetiesof the last century to the present. But the "storyof Anglo-American controlof the seas"canbe covered only in part by the title "The Atlantic System." Eventsin the Caribbeanand NorthSeamaytakeshelter underthisUmbrella.Butfromtheturnofthecentury the future of China and Australasiawere factorsin the rise of Anglo-American friendship;fromthe Spanish War and the establishment by the United Statesof an easternempireto the WashingtonConference and Pearl Harbour, the Pacific areaand EastAsialoomedlarge. There has,it is true, beenthe morepersistent threat of Germany. But if shedominatesEuropeshecan commandSuez; alone or throughhersatellites shemightmenace the New World fromtheOrientaswell as the Occident. In the survival of Western societythe link betweenthe distribution of Europe'sland-power andthe fate of English-speaking sea-power knocks the bottomout of Mr. Davis'sformula. It comes fromHenry Adams. But Adams wrote also of an "American system"--which, curiouslyenough,would be less 210 T•v. C^•^D•^• I-I•sToR•c^x. REWEW one-sidedthan the phraseMr. Davis adoptsand broaderthan the limits to which in the main he restricts himself. Smoothly contrived, this treatise is not adequateas a popular guide to the political relationsof the English-speaking peoples. It has too many gaps. No real consideration is givento Britain'scaseduringthe isthmiancanalcontrover•sy or to .Canada'sover the Alaskan boundary. And by slurringover the Alaskan settlementthe author managesto portray Arthur Balfour as onewhosecontributionto Anglo-American friendship wasalwaysindecisive. Surprisingly, onthe other hand, SenatorLodge,in this Republicannarrative, developsunsuspected virtues. Yet over these Canadianand Central Americanproblems;as in the later Wilsonian period, few did more to bedevil the causeMr• Davis has at heart. About that the authoris silent. On the coercionof Venezuelaby Britain and Germany,heis in error so ffir as Anglo-American relationswereconcerned. His accountof TheodoreRoosevelt's part in the world crisisof 1905-6ignoresa gooddealof theinformationnowfully available. And theseare all major topics. What Mr. Davis hashimselfobserved(his two chapterson the war and aftermath of 1914-18)iswell done. His view of Wilsonis provocative. But the liberal interventionistyieldsto the pre-Willkie Republicanin his attitude towardwar debtsandreparations. Asforpost-warFrance,Russia,andtheliberatedcountries of Europe, they do not seriouslyfigurein his exclusivelymaritime calculations. Nor doesair power,eitherby itselfor asan aspectof landpower. As a substitutefor references Mr. Davis offersa long,paddedbibliography. What hewantsknownashischiefdebtsareacknowledged in a special note. But doesit suffice? Nowheredoeshe includethe great, labyrinthinecollectionof BritishDocuments ontheOriginsoftheWar, 1898-1914 aseditedby Messrs. Gooch and Temperley. Yet he movesthroughits mazeswith immenseaplomb and withaneconomy ofeffortwhichtheprofessional student mightenvy. Asa matter of fact, the headingof hisfourthchapter("EnglandQuitsthe AmericanSeas") isadapted--though hedoesnotsayso--fromthesedocuments; andindeedmuch in thehardcoreof his book--while incomplete, haphazard, and confused--seems to bebased onthem. It isall ratherbewildering:At anyrate,nohint isfurnished that theprecise relevance...