December 1914
"A powerful Navy we have always regarded as our proper and natural means of defense; and it has always
been of defense that we have thought, never of aggression or of conquest. But who shall tell us now what
sort of Navy to build? We shall take leave to be strong upon the seas, in the future as in the past; and
there will be no thought of offense or provocation in that. Our ships are our natural bulwarks."
