of conception which should dominate all designs.

The movements, actual and projected, of the cruisers at this moment
have purposely been dwelt upon at some length. Such movements and the
management of them play a most important part in all campaigns, and it
is desirable that they should be understood, through illustration such
as this; because the provision for the service should be antecedently
thorough and consistent in plan and in execution, in order to
efficiency. Confusion of thought, and consequent confusion of object,
is fatal to any conception,--at least, to any military conception; it
is absolutely opposed to concentration, for it implies duality of
object. In the designing of a cruiser, as of any class of warship, the
first step, before which none should be taken, is to decide the
primary object to be realized,--what is this ship meant to do? To
this primary requirement every other feature should be subordinated.
Its primacy is not only one of time, but of importance also. The
recognition, in practice, of this requisite does not abolish nor
exclude the others by its predominance. It simply regulates their
development; for they not only must not militate against it, they must
minister to it. It is exactly as in a novel or in a work of art, for
every military conception, from the design of a ship up, should be a
work of art. Perfection does not exclude a multiplicity of detail, but
it does demand unity of motive, a single central idea, to which all
detail is strictly accessory, to emphasize or to enhance,--not to
distract. The cruiser requirements offer a concrete illustration of
the application of this thought. Rapidity of action is the primary
object. In it is involved both coal endurance and facility for
recoaling; for each economizes time, as speed does. Defensive
strength--of which subdivision of coal bunkers is an element--conduces
only secondarily to rapidity of movement, as does offensive power;
they must, therefore, be very strictly subordinated. They must not
detract from speed; yet so far as they do not injure that, they
should be developed, for by the power to repel an enemy--to avert
detention--they minister to rapidity. With the battleship, in this
contrary to the cruiser, offensive power is the dominant feature.
While, therefore, speed is desirable to it, excessive speed is not
admissible, if, as the author believes, it can be obtained only at
some sacrifice of offensive strength.

When Admira