On behalf of the British Navy, it is my duty to return you thanks for the manner in which you have drunk the health of the Senior Service. The business of the Admiralty differs from the business of many great public departments in one important aspect. In many offices of State there is a great succession of interesting and important questions which are detached from one another, but at the Admiralty everything contributes and converges on one single object, namely, the development of the maximum war power at a given moment and at a particular point. Upon that precise object are directed all the science our age can boast, all the wealth of our country, all the resources of our civilization, all the patience, study, devotion to duty, and the sacrifice of personal interests which our naval officers and men supply, all the glories of our history in the past – everything is directed upon this one particular point and object, namely, the manifestation at some special place during the compass of a few minutes of shattering, blasting, overpowering force.
This may not, perhaps, seem a very amiable topic to which civilized men should devote many hours of their lives, but yet I venture to think that in the world in which we live and in the circumstances amid which we find ourselves, the study of absolute force for its own sake is not perhaps altogether unworthy of those who are called upon to take a share in the counsels of a free people. For what lies on the other side? What lies behind this development of the force of war power? Why, Mr President and gentlemen, behind it lie all our right and claims for our great position in the world. Behind it lies all our power to put our own distinctive and characteristic mark upon the unfolding civilization of mankind; for under the shelter of this manifestation we may agree or quarrel as we please, we may carry on our own party politics in perfect security. So long as that quality of our civilization, so long as the patriotism and organization of our country are sufficiently high to enable us to produce the maximum of force at a particular point, there is no reason why we should not hand on undiminished to those who come after us the great estate we have received from those who have gone before.
I would not dwell even for a few moments upon wicked topics without saying that there is a great danger that the study of force and the development of force may lead men into the temptation of using the force they have themselves developed. There is a danger of men and of nations becoming fascinated with the terrible machinery they have themselves called into being, and I think when we refer to it, it is also right for us to remember that if ever we do get engaged in war, or if any of the great civilized and scientific nations of the world become engaged in war, they will all be heartily sick of it long before they have got to the end. For the rest, the best way to make war impossible is to make victory certain, and I am glad to be able to assure you that we see no difficulty in maintaining the main securities of the country, and in providing an effective margin for our security at all the decisive points, without adding very greatly to the generous provisions which Parliament has made in the past year, and which it will doubtless renew in the years that are to come. I thank you most sincerely, on behalf of the great Service it is my privilege to represent this evening, and for the gracious courtesy which has led you to bear it in mind.