578 Presidential Addresses 



far from being in any way a provocation to war, an 

 adequate and highly trained navy is the best guaran- 

 ty against war, the cheapest and most effective peace 

 insurance. The cost of building and maintaining 

 such a navy represents 'the very lightest premium 

 for insuring peace which this nation can possibly pay. 



Probably no other great nation in the world is so 

 anxious for peace as we are. There is not a single 

 civilized power which has anything whatever to fear 

 from aggressiveness on our part. All w 4 e want is 

 peace; and toward this end we wish to be able to 

 secure the same respect for our rights from others 

 which we are eager and anxious to extend to their 

 rights in return, to insure fair treatment to us com- 

 mercially, and to guarantee the safety of the Ameri- 

 can people. 



Our people intend to abide by the Monroe Doc- 

 trine and to insist upon it as the one sure means of 

 securing the peace of the Western Hemisphere. The 

 navy offers us the only means of making our in- 

 sistence upon the Monroe Doctrine anything but a 

 subject of derision to whatever nation chooses to 

 disregard it. We desire the peace which comes as 

 of right to the just man armed ; not the peace granted 

 on terms of ignominy to the craven and the weak- 

 ling. 



It is not possible to improvise a navy after war 

 breaks out. The ships must be built and the men 

 trained long in advance. Some auxiliary vessels can 

 be turned into makeshifts which will do in default of 

 any better for the minor work, and a proportion of 



