Page 211 - The interest of America in sea power, present and future

192 Preparedness for Naval War.

with states of military antecedents, indisposed
by their interests to acquiesce in our position,
and still less willing to accept it under appear-
ance of threat What preparation is necessary
in case such a one is as determined to fight
against our demands as we to fight for them ?
Preparation for war, rightly understood, falls
under two heads, — preparation and prepared-
ness. The one is a question mainly of ma-
terial, and is constant in its action. The
second involves an idea of completeness.
When, at a particular moment, preparations
are completed, one is prepared — not other-
wise. There may have been made a great
deal of very necessary preparation for war
without being prepared. Every constituent of
preparation may be behindhand, or some ele-
ments may be perfectly ready, while others
are not. In neither case can a state be said
to be prepared.
In the matter of preparation for war, one
clear idea should be absorbed first by every
one who, recognizing that war is still a possi-
bility, desires to see his country ready. This
idea is that, however defensive in origin or
in political character a war may be, the