The Prescott daily news., 1909-03-04

to exercise its proper ihhuence III oe- of ifs own trade interests in the ien. ,ntonance of traditional American iisi ',iav acoinst the colonization of Eu- ronoan monarchies in this hemisphere io s In tbe promotion of peace and in ,o+ional "i morality. I refer to the ost of maintaining proper army, a s.onor navy and suitable Notifications i.ann the mainland of the United ctotas and in its dependencies.
 The Army and Navy.
 ve should have an army so organ ,uod and so of1icered as to be capable in lime of emergency in cooperation ,r,tb the national militia and undeJ tho nrovisions of proper nationa' rolrnteer law rapidly to expand into force sufficient to resist all probable ,,vasion from abroad and to furnish a resnectable expeditionary force, if nee ossory in the maintenance of our tra d,tional American policy which bears tne name of President Monroe.
 Our forti cations are yet in state of only partial completeness, and the mmber of men to man them is fnsufh- cient In a few years, however, the usual annual appropriations for our coast defenses, both on the mainland and in the dependencies, will make them sufficient to resist all direct at tack and by that time we may hope that the men to man them will be pro- yided as necessary adjunct. The distance of our shores from Europe and Asia. of course, reduces the ne cessity for maintaining under arms a great army but it does not take away the requirement. of mere prudence, that we should have an army sutti- ciently large and so constituted as to form q nucleus out of which q suitable force can quickly grow.
 What has been said of the army may be affirmed in even more em- phatic way of the navy. A modern navy cannot be improvised. It must be built and in existence when the emergency arises which calls for its use and operation. My distinguished predecessor has in many speeches and messages set out with great force and striking language the necessity for maintaining strong navy commensu- rate with the coast line, the govern mental resources and the foreign trade of our nation. and I wish to reiterate all the reasons which he has presented in favor of the policy of maintaining a strong navy as the best conservator of our peace with other nations and the best means of securing respect for the assertion of our rights, the defense of our interests and the exercise of our influence in international matters
 Must Arm as Other Nations Do.
 Our International policy is always to promote peace. We shall enter into any war with full consciousness of the awful consequences that 1t always entails, whether successful or not, and we, of course, shall make every effort, consistent with national honor and the highest national interest. to avoid resort to arms. We favor every instru mentality, like that of The Hague tri- bunal and arbitration treaties made with view to its use in all interna- uona controversies, in order to main tain peace and to avoid war. But we should be blind to existing conditions and should allow ourselves to become foolish idealists if we did not realize mat, with all the nations of the world armed and prepared for war, we must De ourselves in similar condition in order to prevent other nations from taking advantage of us and of our in- ability to defend our interests and as sert our rights with strong hand. Ill the international controversies that are likely to arise in the orient, grow ihs out of the question of the opeh door and other issues, the ehited States can maintain her inter es's intact and can secure respect for her just demands She will not be que to do so, however, if it is under s'ood that she never intends to back ep Ter assertion of right and her de lenSe or her interest by anything but Aeie verbal protest and diplomatic Ao'e' For these reasons the expenses VI 'he army and navy and of coast de lenses should always be considered as s0n'ethlng which the government must pal TOT and they should not be cut off unough mere consideration of econ sny' Our government Is able to af-
 .u suitable army and suitable .'!, It may maintain them without ths s''sh'est danger to the republic or os 'ause of free institutions, and fear M additional taxation ought not to n"hse proper policy in thts rapard