34 Presidential Addresses 



kept to the highest point of efficiency both in per 

 sonnel and material. Above all, it can not be too 

 often repeated to those representatives of the nation 

 in whose hands the practical application of the prin 

 ciple lies, that in modern naval war the chief factor 

 in achieving triumph is what has been done in the 

 way of thorough preparation and training before 

 the beginning of the war. It is what has been done 

 before the outbreak of war that counts most. After 

 the outbreak, all that can be done is to use to best ad 

 vantage the great war engines, and the seamanship, 

 marksmanship, and general practical efficiency which 

 have already been provided by the forethought of 

 the national legislature and by the administrative 

 ability, through a course of years, of the Navy De 

 partment. A battleship can not be improvised. It 

 takes years to build. And we must learn that it 

 is exactly as true that the skill of the officers and men 

 in handling a battleship aright can likewise never be 

 improvised ; that it must spring from use and actual 

 sea service, and from the most careful, zealous, and 

 systematic training. You to whom I am about to 

 give these diplomas now join the ranks of the of 

 ficers of the United States Navy. You enter a glo 

 rious service, proud of its memories of renown. You 

 must keep ever in your minds the thought of the 

 supreme hour which may come when what you do 

 will forever add to or detract from that renown. 

 Some of you will have to do your part in helping con 

 struct the ships and the guns which you use. You 

 need to bend every energy toward making these 



