stifiable, and under which
influence the exercise of power is a burden--and oftentimes a heavy
one. That men trained as military men are trained, should aspire to
power for power's own sake, is a little hard to understand--unless
it be confessed that the person desiring the power appreciates
its pleasing features more than its responsibilities, and regards
its duties more lightly than its glories. Few men, even those who
shoulder responsibility the most courageously, desire responsibility
for its own sake--and so the fact of a man ardently desiring "power"
seems a good reason for withholding power from him.

And what is "power," in the sense in which officials, both military
and civilian, use the word? Is it ability to do good service, or is
it ability to bestow favors in order that favors may be received,
to give orders to others coupled with authority to enforce obedience,
or to take revenge for injuries received or fancied? Of course,
"power" is ability to do all these things, good and bad. But if
a man desires power simply to do good service, and if he holds
a highly conscientious view of the accompanying duties and
responsibilities, will he crave "power" as much as some men seem
to do?

It seems fundamental, then, that any strategic plan for preparing
the Navy Department for war should be framed with a strong endeavor to
leave out the personal element, and should regard national usefulness
only. If this be done successfully, and if good selections be made
of the personnel to do it, it will be found that the members of
the personnel will think no more about their "power" than does an
officer of the deck while handling a battleship in fleet formation
during his four hours on the bridge.

In preparing the department for war, one would be in danger of
being overwhelmed by the enormousness and the complexity of the
task, unless he bore in mind continuously that _it is only when we
get into details that any matter becomes complex_; and therefore
that if we can get a clear idea of the whole subject, the principles
that underlie it, and the major divisions into which it naturally is
divided, we can then make those divisions and afterward subdivide
those divisions, and later divide the subdivisions; so that the
whole subject will seem to fall apart as a fowl does under the
hands of a skilful carver. The divisions and subdivisions of the
subject having been made, the remaining task, while onerous, will
be largely a matt