rse of action
will be hastily decided on, not in the reasoned-out belief that
it can accomplish much, but with the feeling that action of any
kind will relieve the nervous tension of the public by giving an
outlet for mental and physical exertion and will, besides, lend
itself to self-encouragement, and create a feeling that proper
and effective measures are being taken.

Such conditions, though on a much smaller scale, are familiar to
naval officers and are suggested by the supposititious order "somebody
do something"; and we frequently see people placed in situations in
which they do not know what to do, and so they do--not nothing,
but anything; though it would often be wiser to do nothing than
to do the thing they do do. Many of the inane remarks that people
make are due to their finding themselves in situations in which
they do not know what to say, but in which they feel impelled to
say "something."

Now what kind of "something" would be done under the stimulus of
the outbreak of a war for which a country had not laid its plans?
Can any worse situation be imagined--except the situation that
would follow when the enemy arrived? The parable of the wise and
foolish virgins suggests the situation, both in the foolishness of
the unpreparedness and in the despair when the consequent disaster
is seen approaching.

In nearly all navies and armies, until the recent enormous increase
in all kinds of material took place, the work of getting a navy
ready for war in personnel and material was comparatively simple.
This does not mean that it was easier then than now; because the
facilities for construction, transportation, communication, and
accounting were much less than now; but it does mean that the actual
number of articles to be handled was much less, and the number
of kinds of articles was also much less; and it also means that
the various mechanical improvements, while they have facilitated
construction, transportation, communication, and accounting, have
done so for every nation; so that none of the competing navies
have had their labors expedited or made less. On the contrary,
the very means devised and developed for expediting work is of
the nature of an instrument; and in order to use that instrument
successfully, one has to study it and practise with it; so that
the necessity for studying and practising with the instrument has
added a new and difficult procedure to those before existing.

Fifty years ago the