dness is simple, and needs merely to be approached
with calm nerves and an open mind.

Inasmuch as the psychic element in defense is the strongest single
element, it is apparent that if the decision is reached to prepare
an effectual defense the nation must be absolutely united, and
must appreciate at its full value the debilitating influence of
opposition to the measure; for, no matter how much money a nation
may expend, no matter how many lives it may sacrifice, its defense
cannot have an efficiency proportional to the effort if a considerable
number of its citizens are permitted to oppose it.

In our own country there has been so much talking and writing recently
about defense, that there is danger of the question coming to be
considered academic; though no question is more practical, no question
is more urgent.

_Defense must defend_.

CHAPTER VI

NAVAL POLICY

Every country that has a satisfactory navy has acquired it as the
result of a far-seeing naval policy, not of opportunism or of chance.
The country has first studied the question thoroughly, then decided
what it ought to do, then decided how to do it.

Naval policy has to deal with three elements: material, personnel,
and operations, which, though separate, are mutually dependent. A
clear comprehension of their actual relations and relative weights
can be obtained only by thorough study; but without that comprehension
no wise naval policy can be formulated, and therefore no satisfactory
navy can be established.

The most obvious thing about a navy is its material: the ponderous
battleships, the picturesque destroyers, the submarines, the intricate
engines of multifarious types, the radio, the signal-flags, the
torpedo that costs $8,000, the gun that can sink a ship 10 miles
away.

The United States navy ever since its beginning in 1775 has excelled
in its material; the ships have always been good, and in many cases
they have surpassed those of similar kind in other navies. This
has been due to the strong common sense of the American people,
their engineering skill, and their inventive genius. The first
war-ship to move under steam was the American ship _Demologos_,
sometimes called the _Fulton the First_, constructed in 1813; the
first electric torpedoes were American; the first submarine to do
effective work in war was American; the first turret ship, the
_Monitor_, was American; the first warship to use a screw propeller
was the _Princet