Page 169 - The interest of America in sea power, present and future

150 The Future in Relation to

prestige which at last awoke the country to the
high efficiency of the petty force we called our
navy, and showed what the sea might be to us,
never was blood spilled more uselessly than in
the frigate and sloop actions of that day. They
presented no analogy to the outpost and recon-
noissance fighting, to the detached services, that
are not only inevitable but invaluable, in main-
taining the morale of a military organization in
campaign. They were simply scattered efforts,
without relation either to one another or to any
main body whatsoever, capable of affecting
seriously the issues of war, or, indeed, to any
plan of operations worthy of the name.
Not very long after the War of 181 2, within
the space of two administrations, there came
another incident, epoch-making in the history
of our external policy, and of vital bearing on
the navy, in the enunciation of the Monroe
doctrine. That pronouncement has been curi-
ously warped at times from its original scope
and purpose. In its name have been put forth
theories so much at odds with the relations of
states, as hitherto understood, that, if they be
maintained seriously, it is desirable in the in-
terests of exact definition that their supporters