"But I am not one of those who think that the priceless freedom of our country can be saved without sacrifice. It cannot, That has not been the way whereby during a million years humanity has. slowly. and painfully tolled upwards to a Better and more humane civilization, Earlier in his Colonel Stimson, examining "the strategic conditions which must govern our defence against an admittedly serious danger, albeit it is only temporary, "The people of the United States have been greatly blessed by the geographical conditions of their hom: land, Two broad oceans lie east and west of us, while north and south of us are only friendly nations of whose intentions and power we have no fear. Thus, the instinct of our) people in regard to their ocean de~ fence is a sound instinct, "There is a great possibility of protection in the fact that we have the Atlantic Ocean between us and Europe and the Pacific Ocean between us and Asia. So long as these oceans are under our own or friendly control, these broad waters constitute an inseparable barrier to any armies which may be built up by would be aggressor governments, But that condition of friendly: ¢ontrol is imperative, If it should bbe lost, the oceans overnight would become easy channels for a path of} attack against us, The development fof modern air-power greatly intensifes this necessity of friendly control of the oceans. It now makes neces~ sary for us {o command not only the reaches of the oceans adjacent to our own shores but the entire reach of the oceans surrounding the western continent; for if hostile nations possessing powerful armies and air~ power can once make a landing on the shores of our weaker neighbour nations, either north or south of us, our immunity is gone. It would then become a comparatively simple matter for them to establish air bases within striking distance of the great Industrial cities which now fill our country. And the only way'we could prevent this would be the intolerable method of ourselves maintaining armies large enough to command the Jareas of our continent for thousands Jof miles beyond our own borders, Same System "Such a condition would transform the good-neighbour ly relations which now prevail throughout the American Republics into the same abhorrent system of forceful domination which "In short, to the nations of America friendly eéntrol of the surrounding oceans is a condition of the reign of freedom and mutual independence which now prevails on that continent.
"For over' 100 years, control of the Atlantic Ocean had been exercised by the Brilish Fleet, By the Washington 'Treaty of 1922, Great Britain voluntarily consented' to parity be-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.