The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1907-06-20
Fear to Send Ships to Pacific Ocean

lhe administration IS IN Sa,
state of perplexity regarding tn
naval situation on he Pacific coas
and IN the Far East The strategist
of the Navy Department are dividet
on the important question of whethe
or not additional warships shall b,
ordered to Pacific water. 1t is con
ceded that some battle ships are bad
ly needed in that quarter, and tn,
only reason they are not dispatched
at once is the fear that such actor
will have a disastrous influence OF
| the Japanese questions.
While the Washington officials ar,
doing everything in their power to
discourage the idea that there j:
likelihood of serious difficulty with
Japan, they are not blind to the fact
that the situation is fraught with
danger. This is frankly admitted ir
private conversation. The Progress
sives of Toxic are making all kinds
of trouble for the party in power, and
are losing no opportunity TO manu-
facture war sentiment.
Army and navy officers are igur-
ing on what would happen in the
event of war with Japan. Practically
all of them concede that at the first
blow the Philippines would fall into
the hands of the Japanese, which
would be followed by the losing OF
Guam, Hawaii and Alaska.
Consequently the desiriability OF
increasing the naval strength on the
Pacific coast and in the East is ad-
mitted by every one.
From what officials say it is be-
lieved that steps in this direction
would be taken at once but for the
fear of the effect of such action.
1t would stimulate war talk and
arouse the suspicious of the japanese
government and anger the Japanese
people
The weakness of the American ma
Wv in the Pacific will be realized
when it is stated that not single
battle ship, flying the stars and
stripes is to be found between San
Francisco and Manila. Three squad
rons are maintained, one in Chinese
waters,one in the Philippines and one
along the Pacific coast, but the most
powerful craft in the combined feet
is an armored cruiser OF less than
$4,000 tons.
A war with Japan would find the
United States at terrible disadvant-
age by reason of insufficient docking
facilities in the Pacific Our docks
are in a deplorablc condition and on
ly by the hardest kind of work dur
ing the next four or five years can
the department bolster up this great
weakness in the fleet
There is only one naval dock on
the Pacific coast large enough to
receive a modern battle ship. This is
at the naval station at Bremerton,
Wash. There are excellent work
shops at that station and other facll-
tiles for docking and repairing ves-
sells. The only other naval dock on
the coast is at the Mare Island N"yy
Yard Just below San Francisco. 1t is
tiny affair, however. only capable
of receiving small warships OF the
Philadelphia class. There are sever
al commercial docks on the coast
which the department hgures on util-
izing in the event of an emergency.
The situation in the Philippines is far
worse. At Olongapo, thirty miles dis
tant from Manila, there is a good
floating dock owned by this govern
ment. 1t is rendered practically use
less by the absence of machine shops
on shore, so that its use is limited
to scraping and painting vessels.