NAVAL DEFENSE There has never been a time since Cain slew Abel when men have not been compelled to devote a considerable part of their energies to self-defense.

In the early ages, before large organizations existed or the mechanic arts had made much progress, defense was mostly defense of life itself.

As time went on, and people amassed goods and chattels, and organized in groups and tribes, it came to include the defense of property--not only the property of individuals, but also of the tribe and the land it occupied.

Still later, defense carne to include good name or reputation, when it was realized that the reputation, even of an organization, could not be destroyed without doing it an injury.
At the present day, owing to the complexity of nations and other organizations, and to the long time during which many of them have existed, the question of defense has become extremely difficult.

The places in which defense has been brought to its highest excellence are the large cities of the civilized countries; for there we see that defense of the life, property, and reputation of every individual has been carefully provided for.