But no nation, however desirous of peace, can hope to escape
occasional collisions with other powers, and the soundest dictates of
policy require that we should place ourselves in a condition to assert
our rights if a resort to force should ever become necessary. Our local
situation, our long line of seacoast, indented by numerous bays, with
deep rivers opening into the interior, as well as our extended and still
increasing commerce, point to the Navy as our natural means of defense.
It will in the end be found to be the cheapest and most effectual, and
now is the time, in a season of peace and with an overflowing revenue,
that we can year after year add to its strength without increasing the
burdens of the people. It is your true policy, for your Navy will not
only protect your rich and flourishing commerce in distant seas, but
will enable you to reach and annoy the enemy and will give to defense
its greatest efficiency by meeting danger at a distance from home. It
is impossible by any line of fortifications to guard every point from
attack against a hostile force advancing from the ocean and selecting
its object, but they are indispensable to protect cities from
bombardment, dockyards and naval arsenals from destruction, to give
shelter to merchant vessels in time of war and to single ships or
weaker squadrons when pressed by superior force.
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