fleet immeasurably greater than that of
an army, but it must always be so, from the very nature of things.
The speed of an army, _while exercising the functions of an army_,
and the power of a musket, while exercising its functions as a
weapon of one soldier, cannot change much from what they were when
Sherman went marching through Georgia. But, thanks to mechanical
science, there is no limit in sight to the power to which a fleet
may attain.

The power of a navy is of recent growth, but it is increasing and
is going to continue to increase. Every advance of civilization will
advance the navy. Every new discovery and invention will directly
or indirectly serve it. The navy, more than any other thing, will
give opportunity for mechanism and to mechanism. Far beyond any
possible imagination of to-day, it will become the highest expression
of the Genius of Mechanism, and the embodiment of its spirit.

The amount of money now being spent by the United States on its
navy is so great that the expenditure can be justified only on
the basis that great naval power is essential to the country.

Is it essential, and if so, why?

_Primary Use for a Navy_.--To answer this wisely, it may be well
to remind ourselves that the principal object of all the vocations
of men is directly or indirectly the acquiring of money. Money, of
course, is not wealth; but it is a thing which can be so easily
exchanged for wealth, that it is the thing which most people work
for. Of course, at bottom, the most important work is the getting
of food out of the ground; but inasmuch as people like to congregate
together in cities, the thing taken out of the ground in one place
must be transported to other places; and inasmuch as every person
wants every kind of thing that he can get, a tremendous system of
interchange, through the medium of money, has been brought about,
which is called "trade." For the protection of property and life, and
in order that trade may exist at all, an enormous amount of human
machinery is employed which we call "government." This government
is based on innumerable laws, but these laws would be of no avail
unless they were carried out; and every nation in the world has
found that employment of a great deal of force is necessary in
order that they shall be carried out. This force is mainly exercised
by the police of the cities; but many instances have occurred in
the history of every country where the authority of the police