146 Military Preparedness 



shipbuilder in whose yard the ship was constructed, 

 the skilled experts who planned her hull, engine, and 

 guns, and the skilled workmen who worked out 

 these plans, all alike are entitled to their share in the 

 credit of the great Manila victory. 



The majority of the men can never be known by 

 name, but the fact that they did well their part in 

 the deed is of vastly more importance than the ob 

 taining of any reward for it, whether by way of rec 

 ognition or otherwise ; and this fact will always re 

 main. Nevertheless, it is important for our own 

 future that, so far as possible, we should recognize 

 the men who did well. This is peculiarly important 

 in the case of Congress, whose action has been the 

 indispensable prerequisite for every effort to build 

 up the navy, as Congress provided the means for 

 each step. 



As there was always a division in Congress, while 

 in the popular mind the whole body is apt to be held 

 accountable for any deed, good or ill, done by the 

 majority, it is much to be wished, in the interest of 

 justice, that some special historian of the navy would 

 take out from the records the votes, and here and 

 there the speeches, for and against the successive 

 measures by which the navy was built up. Every 

 man who by vote and voice from time to time took 

 part in adding to our fleet, in buying the armor, in 

 preparing the gun-factories, in increasing the per- 



