In such a demand for our fleets to " cuddle
" our coast and soothe the fears of our old women of both sexes lies a very real danger, and we are sorry indeed to see it encouraged by Mr. Haldane. We dare not let the Fleet be the nurse of the Army. The Fleet must go where the higher strategy at the beginning of a war demands that it should go, and nowhere else. This is very unlikely to be our own coast-line. Though we yield to none in our belief that our Navy must be our first line of defence, and that unless we keep the command of the sea we are undone, we hold it to be vital that the male population of this country shall be trained to the defence of their liberties and homes. The result will be not only to set the Fleet free for its supreme function of securing the command of the sea by the destruction of the enemy's Fleet (which work, and not coast defence while the Territorial Force is maturing, is its duty), but also to free us from unworthy panic, and to give the manhood of the nation their full rights of citizenship,—the ability to bear arms in their own defence. Our advice to our countrymen is : "Make your Fleet supreme, teach your young men to defend their homes, and refuse to rely upon. a syllogism for the safety of the nation and of the Empire."
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