The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1907-07-19
WASHINGTON LETTER.

The report that the government has
been considering the purchase of Mag
dalena Bay on the southern section of
lower California for a naval station in
the Pacific continues to receive credence,
and it is believed that certain overtures
have been made to Mexico on that SUBJ
ject. The necessity of such naval base
is obvious to anyone who will study the
problem that the English have so success.
fully solved with regard to Suez. When
the Panama Canal is finished we will
stand in the same relation to the Pacific
that England does to the Eastern Hen1is-
phere. Great Britain controls Gibraltar,
Alden and Maltaesa as approaches to the
Suez Canal, and it easily appears to be
the part of prudence on our part to guard
the western end of the Panama Canal.
On the east it is already protected by our
control in the West Indies, but it is i'm
portant that on the west we should have
within striking distance at least one
great naval base. Probably it would be
better to have two, one of which might
be near the northern part of South
America, but so far none has been sug-
gested that would better fill the general
necessity than the one proposed at Mag
dalena Bay. The sending of the fleet
to the Pacific which is now an accepted
fact and no longer denied by the officials
of the navy, will make apparent the
immediate need of an accessible harbor
of the first rank for a powerful fleet
which can protect the Pacific litoral and
which later would be used to guard the
Western entrance to the canal. 1t is lu-
gubrious fact that all possessions whether
private or governmental can only be re-
tanned and cared for at an expense in
time and money and annoyance that
generally far exceeds their value. The
.aunty adoption of the Philippines and
Hawaii made necessary the Panama
Canal, while now the Panama Canal has
added another reason why we shall
double our Navy, aud buy in other pos
sessions to guard those we already have.
Statesmen are already suggesting that
we sell the Philippines for anything we
can get for them, but responsibilities
once assumed are not so lightly disposed
of. There are already predictions that
we have so complicated our international
standing that we shall not be either safe
or digni6ed until we control Cape Horn
and the Straits of Magellan just as
England is powerful at the southern
extremity of Africa, and so the acquisi-
ton of Magdalena Bay will probably be
only another step toward extending our
empire to the four corners of the globe.
Xxx
1t is not only in building and equip
ping powerful battleships that the Navy
of the United States is to- be strength
ened. Information of an improved
curriculum to be introduced at the Naval
Academy at Annapolis cutting ont Bellies
lettres and much that is merely erudite
in the course, and substituting therefor
more physics, mechanics and especially
a thorough electrical course, points to the
greater efficiency of the men who will in
the future command our ships at sea.
Heretofore the cadets at Annapolis have
received an education in which strength
and utility have in degree been sac
ri6ced to elegance. The new impulse
doubtless comes from the President him
self, whose insistence upon better gun
practice and whose iteration of the fact
that the shots that hit are the shots that
count, Wilt be well remembered. The
is also taking steps to
shelve or retire the older Naval officers.
The traditions of Farragut and Porter or
Perry and Decatur are good for inspir-
alton but the conditions of Naval war
fare have even more completely changed
than those on land. Young, vigorous,
ambitious men are to be placed in COM
mand of the ships and in this respect our
Navy is to be brought nearer to the
models of England, Germany and Japan.
~
The impression that the Presidents sal
airy is too small and that the dignity of
the Office demands salary that will bear
comparison with that of the rulers of
European countries, is so generally pre-
valent that it scarcely needs discussion,
but when the actual amount that he re-
ceives is placed beside the expenditures
of the White House it will be seen that it
is really pin money allowance for him
while in fact all of his expenses are paid,
and literally too. For instance, the re-
port of the Superintendent of Public
Buildings and Grounds just published
contains the following items: The SAL