The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-05-05
THE PROBLEM OF OUR NAVY
Making the Navy an Economic Asset
By J0SEPWUS DANIELS, Secretary Of the Navy
n he Scientific American.
In the Scientific American.

mlnGS OF a people tnan the reineIu-
brance OF their past achievements
in arms. 1t is we'll that this is so,
for the inspiration of the past has en-
abled more than one tiny nation to
defy its enemies and preserve its ma
tional existence against all corners.
Yet We need to beware that this un-
dying recollection of ancient deeds OF
valor does not make US reckness. 1t
is also true that more than one ma
ton. remembering its dead heroes,
has beaten it's swords into plow-
shares and forgotten the cunning OF
war for the cunning OF trade, only
TO find that the deeds of gallant an
cestors will not prove effective in de-
Tense if we are not prepared. IT IS
well. | think, for our nation to bear
in mind. when the spirit of rs and
the memories of the minutemen of
Lexington arise strong within us, that
We may be, perhaps. over-prone to
feel that in our hour Of need there
will spring up heroic men like
our ancestors, will conquer because
they know not how to fail. Man
against man We will have nothing to
fear, but today it is not only man
against man. but machine against
machine as well. The man will al
ways be equal to the occasion. For
every crisis a man will arise. But
while the man is greater than the
ship, in our day the master man can
not win as aforetime unless we have
the best ships and the best guns.
1T is this feeling. in my judgment,
more than any other. that leads SO
many of our people to shut their
eyes to the cold facts and declare
that Il nation which in its infancy
humbled the pride OF England on the
sea has no need of floating fortresses
of steel to defend it in this, its high
noon-tide of mature greatness. That
such is the view Of no small portion
of our people cannot be denied. Con-
sress is peculiarly sensitive to what
tho voters think, and no Congress
would have cut our warship %cOnstruc-
ton to one battleship a year in the
face of the ambitious naval programs
of other powers had not a majority
of the congressman felt, at the time.
a the voters .back-hOme'' rested
secure in their dream that. in some
way or other, dreadnought or no
~dreadnought. this nation would find
some miraculous way Of defending
our shores against a powerful foe.
That a clearer vision came later. and
that the people have made it evident
TO Congress that a majority do not
so hold does not destroy the fact that
this misplaced confidence exists in nc
small degree, particularly in those
States far removed from our coasts
GlOrics OF the Past and Present
Necessities.
' speak with greater assurance OF
tins because the same feeling instinc.
lively prevades my own sub-consciOus.
ness. Over the mantel by my desl
hangs the sword of John Paul Jones
at tho other end IF tho ron" ~.
silver urn presented to the great Hull
AS ] look first on one and then tn,
other, all the cold facts, so ably pre-
scented TO me by the naval experts
men of the highest scientific know
ledge, who have spent their lives il
studying this subject-lOse, for tn
moment, their convincing power, an,
the feeling comes over me that witt
such men as naval captains a prob
able defeat upon the sea is foolish t
consider. 1t is only when l turf {
look directly across my desk at tn
model of the "Oklahoma'-so littl
like the white-sailed ships of the linz
80 scientifically grim and strong an
impregnable, the physical embodi
ment of the cold science OF today tina
aims entirely to eliminate the pei
sonal ~equation-that l again realiz
nat more than a glorious spirit
needed to win a modern fight at Sc;
although now and always initiativ,
JtSOGFCtlul1eSS ana courage are
trinity of determining factors in tn
crisis OF battle.
The stricken captain of the ne,
engagement will not die leanir
against the mainmast. with TT
shadow of the enemy's sails fallir
across the deck. rallying his men
rpel boarderS. He will perish he'll,
]essly. in spite of courage un~surpas
ed, in a coming tower built like
burslar-proof safe, from a shell fire
by an almost invisible enemy sevt
miles away, out OF a gun tina WI
pointed by strict mathematical rul
after the working out of an elabora
a~lgebraical equation.
| am mentally convinced, as a,
reasoning man who has studied Il
subject must be, that our : Ma
should be strengthened. / subscri
20 much OF the argument in the seri
of articles in this paper. to which
contribute this closing number: b
~ in SDite Of tho aArantoxo 81.