Transcriber's Note:
Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has been preserved.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.For a complete list, please see the end of this document.
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The original intention, with which the leading articles of the presentcollection were undertaken, was to elicit some of the lessonsderivable from the war between the United States and Spain; but in theprocess of conception and of treatment there was imparted to them thefurther purpose of presenting, in a form as little technical and asmuch popular as is consistent with seriousness of treatment, some ofthe elementary conceptions of warfare in general and of naval warfarein particular. The importance of popular understanding in such mattersis twofold. It promotes interest and induces intelligent pressure uponthe representatives of the people, to provide during peace theorganization of force demanded by the conditions of the nation; and italso tends to avert the unintelligent pressure which, when war exists,is apt to assume [vi]the form of unreasoning and unreasonable panic. As aBritish admiral said two hundred years ago, "It is better to bealarmed now, as I am, than next summer when the French fleet may be inthe Channel." Indifference in times of quiet leads directly toperturbation in emergency; for when emergency comes, indifference isfound to have resulted in ignorance, and fear is never so overpoweringas when, through want of comprehension, there is no check upon theluxuriance of the imagination.
It is, of course, vain to expect that the great majority of men shouldattain even an elementary knowledge of what constitutes the strengthor weakness of a military situation; but it does not seem extravagantto hope that the individuals, who will interest themselves thus far,may be numerous enough, and so distributed throughout a country, as toconstitute rallying points fo