, 1888-07-19
10 commercial and property inter-

the commercial and property inter-
ests - defend hecome great.
"a naval station being beCided up
on and located, the consiC rat ons
are extended The effec. " ouli be
to hasten the occupation of he first
line. The naval force mai ltainad
may be relatively weak or sIfhcient
to prevail over that of the enemy in
the vicinity Of Washington sound.
If no naval force be maintained. hat
Of the enemy need be very LIT to
paralize the sga and codsiWIse coIn-
merce Of the region. As onr force
increases, that of the enemy must in
crease 80 maintain lte control, and he
will thus have less available ioIce to
onerate elsewhere: and acco, ding as
our strength approxifnates to that OF
tf,o enemy the second line becomes
of less relative importance, ard If
our force be freIctaIned at sufficient
strength the secoad line may net be
called into requisiti6h ss all, which
at first sight makes It's 1ct ap .tioD
under such circumstances unHsees-
sary. When ouI naval iorce GI.s!ly
prevails over that OF the eneIny fsap-
possd to be that of Great Br tian,,
possibly assisted by an ally, We may
assume that the enemy's force will
be partially destroyed, with bal
ance locked up II the fortified har--
bor of Esqui;nait. We WI then
have a certain excess which may be-
ueed elsewhere. That excess will be
the greater practically, according as
our harhof5 in those waters -!d the
naval station are made secure by the
local defenses Sho5id OCCASION
arise when all the naval force we
could assemble would be needed else
where for some desirable or needful
purpose, our interests, in tuose wa
ters would for the time be IL the con-
dition before mentioned when n0'
naval force is available, with the adj
dition that We now have naVy yard
to defend, and 1T is thus saen that
the second line remains very useful
complement 10 the defense.
Project for Il harbor of refuge in
Juan de Fuca strait and fc- forti-
fled anchorage ID the San Juan ar
chipeiago have been discussed.
1T is believed that the Conditions
of the present day are unfavorable to
any such fortified positions exterior
to Admirably met. The mercantile
mariue will not seek our ports in
that region unlee7 our nagal force
prevails, IN which case 1t wonld have
no need to seek harbor cf refuge.
Besides, with the exception of Port
Discovery, there IS no harbor OF the
strait of sufficient exteution inwardly
to shield vessels from the range OF
modern armamelts, and Nc attempt
would be made to reach PoIv DiScov-
cry from the sea, unless ths attail;-
ment of Admiralty inlet were equally
sure. AS to the fortified anchorage
in the archipelago, our feet wonIdl
have use of it only to refit or resupply,
or to eyade a superior force, III which
cases Admiralty inlet and the inter-
ior waters would serve better because
OF the secure and unattacksble COM
municaiions with the interior of the
Icountry. Under present eircum>
stances the folloing course sAould be
taken in reference to coast defeEse in
the northwest waters Of Washington
territory.
1 W 1AN LIZ b1O DSCOi1C l4teO OL
defense should be chosen; plans for
the works and for their accessories
should be prepared, and the ordnance
accumulated as soon as the conditions
at our more important ports permit.
This ordnance would be available
for the first line, if needed.
''(2) The region of the first line
should be studied, and the works
therefore planned.
'13l Discussion of. the naval station
and decision as to its location sneuld
be made.
90 When the ordnance Is prepsr-
ed, or about to be provided, the nav
al station located, or the ports be-
come of increased importance, then
the action corresponding 10 shess
conditions would be taken. Corr
OFegonian-