of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 487

Do we need proof? Well, proof is there to behold. France had a military
tradition; she had her Napoleon. She had brave soldiers; she had her Maginot
Line. But her soldiers died or fled, her leaders betrayed her, her defenses
cracked. We know why now. She lacked that inner coordination—she was
not strong at the core.

And conversely—there is England. She had no Panzer divisions—no
Luftwaffe. She was outnumbered, out-maneuvered, out-produced. But in her
she had the saving quality, of oneness. She stood up against such an onslaught
as the world had never known. She is free today because of strength at the
core. We shall be free and forever unbeatable so long, and only so long, as we
have that unbroken line of strength that gives unity and cohesion to the
national effort.

It is no mere whim or arbitrary policy that has made the expression
"Freedom of the Seas" an American watchword. If you seek the reason for
it, take a look at our coastlines. We front the two great oceans. That long
line of seacoast has meant commerce to us. It has meant the outlet for our
booming industries, for our abounding farmlands, for our cattle ranges, our
forests—for the skyscraper businesses, our banking houses—for the greatest
and smallest of home enterprises. That seacoast with its teeming shipyards,
its warehouses and grain elevators, has meant exactly the difference to America;
between mere subsistence and the high standard of living enjoyed from coast
to coast, from border to border. It is an economic fact that our foreign trade
has supplied us with the wherewithal to be the best-housed, the best-educated,
Nation with the highest standard of living on this earth.

That has been the privilege of being virtually a continent as well as being
a Nation. But with privilege there always goes responsibility. It is to our in-
terests to keep these harbors open to the sea. It behooves us to guard every
beach and estuary along that coastline. Therefore, we have established a far-
flung bulwark in the American Navy. We have built a bristling fence to ward
off intruders in time of war. "Freedom of the Seas" means that our vessels and
the vessels of friendly nations shall be able to go and come into and out of our
harbors without interference.

It means more than that. In time of war, "Freedom of the Seas" means
that no marauder shall molest the well-charted and historical paths across the
oceans. It means that the American flag shall be a passport—a symbol of safe
conduct wherever commerce demands that we go.

It would be a grotesque folly to show the world that we use this Navy
only for ornamental purposes. It was created and built up for the express
purpose that it is being employed today. When one travels thru the Bad Lands,
one does not insure his safety by going unarmed. The bandits respect nothing
except a readiness and an ability on the traveller's part to look after himself.
So it is today, upon the high seas. Let the bandits keep a distance—or beware..

In our striving towards national unity, you and the other members of your
great organizations throughout the Country can perform a patriotic achieve-
ment of the highest order. Certainly, never was a goal more worth the reach-
ing; never a Country more worthy of the ultimate effort of every one of its
citizens.