SCIENTIFIC NATIONAL DEFENCE 131 



had visions of bombs, literally bolts from the blue, bursting on 

 his devoted head in the middle of the night. Clearly he should 

 awake and work to make up lost ground ; but he trembled to 

 think what it would mean to him if war broke out while he was 

 still unprepared. It was this that taught him, more than any- 

 thing else, that, during all these years of sleep, the business of 

 war, like everything else, had progressed and become more 

 scientific; and that the conduct of war, which he had fondly 

 believed to be an art to be left to the genius of the artist who 

 should appear when the occasion arose, had become a science in 

 which forethought and preparation would play a dominant, 

 possibly a decisive part. 



But what was he to do ? He knew nothing of the subject, 

 not even the rudiments of it. Who was he to believe ? Was 

 Lord Roberts right; or were the politicians right? What did 

 the General Staff, or those responsible for it, really think ? What 

 did the Naval General Staff think? After all, these were 

 probably the men who knew most about it ; and it struck him, 

 for the first time, as an absurdity that the men who knew most 

 about so vital a matter as national defence should be the only 

 men who were not allowed to express any opinions. 



He must find time to study the matter for himself; but how 

 should he begin ? To maintain forces, aerial, sea, and land, 

 superior to those of any possible combination of enemies 

 would necessitate taxation which he, for one, was by no means 

 prepared to pay. It was also a counsel of perfection unless 

 the nation possessed resources, both in men and money, far 

 superior to anything which other nations enjoyed, and also 

 unless the men of the nation were prepared to pay a tax of 

 one, two, or three years' personal service as well as a mere 

 money tax. That the navy and the aerial force should be 

 stronger than those of any possible enemy, or even probable 

 combination of enemies, he was quite prepared to admit. But 

 why should the army be stronger than that of a possible 

 opponent? He considered and discussed this question; and 

 finally concluded that it was necessary to maintain an army of 

 such size and efficiency as would enable it to safeguard the 

 over-sea possessions and home territory in all eventualities and 

 assure allies in the event of European complications. 



He had hesitated to admit this last ; but he had now learned 

 that Great Britain had, in the past, been constantly obliged to 



