Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1906-03-06
BETTER COAST
DEFENSE NEEDED
so SAYS PRESIDENT IN MES
SAGE TO CONGRESS
Protection Recommended for Manila
Bay, Pearl Harbor, San Juan,
Honolulu and Other Inn
portant Points
BY Associated Press.

BY Associated Press.
WASHINGTON, March 5.-President
Roosevelt sent a message to congress
today, accompanying plans for coast
defenses prepared by joint board of
army and navy officers, in which he
emphasized the necessity for further
defenseS and reviews the history of
the defensive works in this country.
The president calls special attention
to the recommendation of the board
that the entrance to Chesapeake bay
be added to the list of places in the
United States to be defended. He says
the insular possessions cannot be
longer neglected if the United States
desires to hold them.
Defenses are recommended for Ma
Mia bay Pearl harbor, Guantanamo,
Guam. San Juan and Honolulu, be-
cause of their strategic location. De-
lenses are recommended for the en-
frances to the Panama canal The
message says:
Coast Defenses in 1860
"Our coast defeuses as they exist
ed in 1860 were not surpassed in eff
fciency by those of any country, but
in few years the introduction of rif1ed
cannon and armor in the navies of the
world, against which the smooth bore
them obsolete.
For many years no attempt was
made to remedy the deficiencies of
these seacoast Qualifications. There
was 10 establishment in the country
equipped for the manufacture of high
power rif1ed guns. There was no def
mite adopted policy of coast defense,
and congress was reluctant to under
take a work, the cost of which could
koI -t1111 a
the details had not advanced-so far
as could be ascertained-beyond the
experimental stages"
Review Of "Gun Factory Board
The president gives a review of the
history and work of the gun foun-
dry board" and of 1.-THE Endicott board
which considered coast defenses, ana
dwells upon the value of the Endicott
boards report which "sets forth def
irite and ineligible plan or policy up
on which the very important work of
coast defense should proceed and when
is as applicable as when formulated.
improvements in the art of war,
however, have rendered some of the
plans of the board obsolete, and the
boards report omitted the cost of the
land that must be purchased for for
tifica tons and the cost of reserve am
munition. The president continues:
1.-The omissions in the estimates of
the Endicott board and the changes in
the details of its plans have caused
doubts in the minds of many as to the
money that will be needed to defend
completely our coasts by guns, mines
and their adjuncts.
New localities are pressing their
claims for defense. The insular pos
sessions cannot be held unless the prin
cipal ports. naval bases and coal sta
tions are fortified before the outbreak
of war.
What President Recommends
"These considerations have led me
to appoint a joint board of officers of
the army and navy 'to recommend the
armament, fixed and floating, mobile
torpedos, submarine mines and all
other defensive appliances that may be
necessary to complete the harbor de-
Tense with the most economical and
advantageous expenditures of money
1.-THE board was further instructed
ito extend it's examinations so as to in
clude estimates and recommendation
relative to the defenses of the insular
possessions. and to recommend the or
der in which the proposed defense
shall be completed, so that all of the
elements of harbor defense may be
properly and effectively Co-ordinated.'
naval bases at Guantanamo, Subig
bay and Pearl harbor the coaling sta
lions of Guam and San Juan, require
protection, and in addition defenses
are recommended for Manila bay and
Honolulu, because of the strategic i'm
portance of these localities.
"In the letter to the secretary Of
war will he found the sums already
appointed for defenses at some of these
ports or harbors, and the estimates are
for the completion of an adequate de-
Tense in each locality.
Complete System Needed
1.-THE necessity for a complete and
adequate system of coast defense is
greater today than twenty years ago,
for the increased wealth of the coun-
try offers more tempting inducements
to attack and a hostile fleet can reach
our coast in a much shorter period of
time. The fact that we now have a
navy does not in any wise diminish
the Importance of coast defenses; on
the contrary. that fact emphasizes their
value and necessity for their construc-
ton"
1T is an accepted naval maxim that
the navy can be used to strategic adj
vantage when acting on the defensive
and it can be free to so operate only
after our coast defense is really secure
and so recognized by the country. 1t
was due to the securely defended con-
diton of the Japanese ports that the
Japanese fleet was free to seek out and
watch its proper objective-the Rus
sian fleet, without fear of interruption
or recall to guard it's home ports against
raids by the Vladivostok squadron.
This, one of the most valuable lessons
of the late war in the east, is worthy