At the back of all American thought on naval questions
is the traditional doctrine that no Power has a right to interfere with neutral commerce. This doctrine is by no Means confined to the Big Navy party ; it is universal in America. The average Anierican says " We are quite ready to rule out war, but we will not tolerate any inter- ference with traffic on the high seas. If naval building is necessary for insisting upon that point, which we regard as entirely reasonable, build we must." This is a fact which must be squarely faced. Unless we understand the point and vigour of the American motive it is useless to attempt agreements in detail about naval limitation. In our opinion the whole situation has changed since the War. No one argued for upholding our undiluted naval rights at sea more earnestly than we did when Germany was tempting us to forswear them. She was really asking us to fight with our right hand tied to our side. Now, however, it is impossible for us to buy a naval supremacy such as we had then. We hope that the Government will discuss' this question with the United States, for it governs every other matter of dispute. * *
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