A Forgotten Maxim 281 



and yet to decline to take measures to show that 

 ours is not mere lip loyalty. We had far better 

 submit to interference by foreign powers with the 

 affairs of this continent than to announce that we 

 will not tolerate such interference, and yet refuse to 

 make ready the means by which alone we can prevent 

 it. In public as in private life, a bold front tends 

 to ensure peace and not strife. If we possess a for- 

 midable navy, small is the chance indeed that we 

 shall ever be dragged into a war to uphold the Mon- 

 roe Doctrine. If we do not possess such a navy, 

 war may be forced on us at any time. 



It is certain, then, that we need a first-class navy. 

 It is equally certain that this should not be merely a 

 navy for defence. Our chief harbors should, of 

 course, be fortified and put in condition to resist the 

 attack of an enemy's fleet; and one of our prime 

 needs is an ample force of torpedo-boats to use pri- 

 marily for coast defence. But in war the mere de- 

 fensive never pays, and can never result in anything 

 but disaster. It is not enough to parry a blow. 

 The surest way to prevent its repetition is to return 

 it. No master of the prize ring ever fought his way 

 to supremacy by mere dexterity in avoiding punish- 

 ment. He had to win by inflicting punishment. If 

 the enemy is given the choice of time and place to 

 attack, sooner or later he will do irreparable damage, 

 and if he is at any point beaten back, why, after all, 

 it is merely a repulse, and there are no means of fol- 

 lowing it up and making it a rout. We can not rely 

 upon coast protection alone. Forts and heavy land 



