takes to itself
interests beyond the sea--of which Hawaii is an instance--it not only
adds to its liabilities, which is true, but incurs an unnecessary
exposure, to guard against which we need no less than the greatest
navy in the world.

It might be retorted that, willy-nilly, we already, by general
national consent, have accepted numerous external interests--embraced
under the Monroe doctrine; and that, as regards Hawaii, many even who
reject annexation admit that our interests will not tolerate any other
nation taking those islands. But how shall we enforce even that
limited amount of interest if any other power--Great Britain, Germany,
or Japan--decide to take, and the islanders acquiesce? In such cases
we should even be worse off, militarily, than with annexation
completed. Let us, however, put aside this argument--of the many
already existing external interests--and combat this allegation, that
an immense navy would be needed, by recurring to the true military
conception of defence already developed. The subject will thus tend to
unity of treatment, centring round that word "defence." Effective
defence does not consist primarily in power to protect, but in power
to injure. A man's defence against a snake, if cornered--if he must
have to do with it--is not to protect himself, but to kill the snake.
If a snake got into the room, as often happens in India, the position
should not be estimated by ability to get out of the room one's self,
but by power to get rid of the snake. In fact, a very interesting
illustration of the true theory of defence is found in a casual remark
in a natural history about snakes--that comparatively few are
dangerous to man, but that the whole family is protected by the fear
those few inspire. If attacked by a dog, safety is not sought chiefly
in the means of warding him off, but by showing him the means
possessed of hurting him, as by picking up a stone; and with a man,
where an appeal lies to the intelligence, the argument from power to
injure is peculiarly strong. If a burglar, thinking to enter a room,
knows that he may--or will--kill the occupant, but that the latter may
break his leg, he will not enter. The game would not be worth the
candle.

Apply this thought now to the United States and its naval needs. As
Great Britain is by very far the greatest naval power, let us take her
to be the supposed enemy. If we possessed the Hawaiian Islands, and
war unhappily broke out with Great