of the credit in the victory won on that first day of May. When you cheer for Dewey, when you think of Farragut, when you speak of the founders of the American Navy in the days of the Revolution, do not confine yourselves to cheers, do not confine yourselves to saying what a great man Washington was and how he was backed up by generals and statesmen of that day; but take example from what those men did, take warning from what their less wise fellows did, and prepare for victory in the only way in which victory can be prepared for, by preparing for it in advance. I spoke to you of the difficulties to be met with in getting the Navy built up. Among these difficulties is the fact that there are some very good people who, whenever you say that you want a good Navy, say that “this is a lamentable illustration of the jingo spirit, and that there is no reason why this country should ever have a war.” I know one excellent gentleman in Congress who said he preferred arbitration to battleships. So do I. But suppose the other man does not. I want to have the battleships as a provocative for arbitration so far as the other man is concerned. We have now got our Navy up to a good point. We have built and are building forty armored ships. For a year or two, or two or three years, to come, what we need to do is to provide for the personnel of those ships, and to secure the very highest standard of efficiency in handling them, singly and in squadrons; above all, for handling the great guns. So much for the Navy.