Page 123 - The interest of America in sea power, present and future

104 The Isthmus and Sea Power.

miles distant from our nearest port, — the
mouth of the Mississippi, — they will see also
that the word " defence," already too narrowly
understood, has its application at points far
away from our own coast.
That the organization of military strength
involves provocation to war is a fallacy, which
the experience of each succeeding year now
refutes. The immense armaments- of Europe
are onerous ; but nevertheless, by the mutual
respect and caution they enforce, they present
a cheap alternative, certainly in misery, prob-
ably in money, to the frequent devastating
wars which preceded the era of general military
preparation. Our own impunity has resulted,
not from our weakness, but from the unimpor-
tance to our rivals of the points in dispute,
compared with their more immediate interests
at home. With the changes consequent upon
the canal, this indifference will diminish. We
also shall be entangled in the affairs of the
great family of nations, and shall have to ac-
cept the attendant burdens. Fortunately, as
regards other states, we are an island power,
and can find our best precedents in the history
of the people to whom the sea has been a
nursing mother.