Page 176 - The interest of America in sea power, present and future

American Naval Power. 157

times to steps justified rather by expediency
— the choice of the lesser evil— than by in-
controvertible right. But if we have interests
beyond sea which a navy may have to protect,
it plainly follows that the navy has more to do,
even in war, than to defend the coast ; and it
must be added as a received military axiom
that war, however defensive in moral character,
must be waged aggressively if it is to hope for
success.
For national security, the correlative of a
national principle firmly held and distinctly
avowed is, not only the will, but the power to
enforce it. The clear expression of national
purpose, accompanied by evident and adequate
means to carry it into effect, is the surest safe-
guard against war, provided always that the
national contention is maintained with a can-
did and courteous consideration of the rights
and susceptibilities of other states. On the
other hand, no condition is more hazardous
than that of a dormant popular feeling, liable
to be roused into action by a moment of
passion, such as that which swept over the
North when the flag was fired upon at Sumter,
but behind which lies no organized power for