Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1908-03-19

A strong faith that Congress will |
give Hawaii what she asks in the way |
of appropriations for Pearl Harbor
and for defenses was expressed by !.
Secretary Wood at the meeting of the
Chamber Of Commerce yesterday af. |
tefnoon. Here he submitted a lengthy
report outlining In detail the work
done by him during his trip to Wash.
lngton, parts of which follow:
4 On Monday, December 9th, pre-.
Bented my letter of Introduction from
Admiral Very to Captain Barnett, for.
merly secretary of the Naval Board. |
who had just been given the position
Of superintendent of the Naval oh. |
servatory. | found I'm Captain Bar
nett warm friend of Hawaii and a
jealous advocate of the early improve.
ment of Pearl Harbor
| The same afternoon, | met Captain
Pillsbury, the new secretary of tho
| Naval Board, at his Office In the Mills
building. One meeting led to another
the Captain being most anxious to full.
~ inform himself as to Pearl Harbor
and the Island of Oahu generally.
Upon assuming the duties of his
new office, do not think that Captain
Pillsbury was specially interested In
Hawaii, but being a close student of
what Army and Navy men now con.
slider one OF the gravest of problems
the defense of the Pacific-it was not
long before this able man became
deeply interested in the plans for
a.. 80 q
no member of the Naval Board took a
deeper interest in the matter The
rooms of the Naval Board were always
open to your representative, and
had the pleasure of meeting Admiral
Dewey and other prominent Naval Of.
ficers many times. The Admiral Is an
earnest advocate of the immediate i'm.
provement of Pearl Harbor, believing
the work to be of vital importance to
the nation.
At the frst convenient opportunity,
called upon Secretary Metcalf, who.
had been informed, was opposed to
Pearl Harbor legislation. Presenting
on an acquaintance of several years
standing, | told the Secretary the OBJ
ject of my mission and asked II the
work the Honolulu Chamber of Com
merce was doing would be considered
Objectionable by the Department. Mr..
idetcalf at once replied. mo, on the
contrary, we will welcome your as
I sistance, for in our opinion the i'm.
provements planned for Pearl Harbor
should be undertaken at once and
pushed to completion, not because
there is any likelihood OF war but be.
/ IN nf nff n
cific demands that the work be done.
Upon receipt of the cablegram from
President Morgan, stating that the
Chamber stood ready to make the Dor
ings necessary to determine the cost
of the improvement OF the entrance to
Pearl Harbor. l Immediately called
!. upon Admiral Dewey, who, after con
sultation with the members of the
Naval Board, expressed approval OF
the plan and commended in the warm
est terms of praise the action OF oul
Chamber of Commerce in offering &c
do what they could not attempt with
out special Act of Congress.
also took the cablegram to Gen
eral Mackenzie, Chief of Engineers
who expressed the greatest pleasure
possible at the offer. The information
was badly needed, he said, yet as was
the case with the Navy Department
there was no fund at his command Il
obtain II.
| do not believe that the Chamber
ever made better investment than
the expenditure at Pearl Harbor.
called, by appointment, upon Pres
ident Roosevelt, who expressed thu
greatest interest In Pearl Harbor mat
tiers, spoke of the many letters he ha'
received from different Chambers o
Commerce all over the country, urgini
favorable legislation and expressed hi
appreciation of what he termed tn
right conception of existing condition
shown. II was indeed this action q
friendly Chambers of Commerce tina
induced the President to write tina
n three and half page letter to differ
ent Senators and Congressman In RI
gard to the matter, one of the strong
est arguments in favor of the develoI
, ment of Pearl Harbor that has eve
> been written.
President Roosevelt said to a repr,
sentative of the San Diego Chambe
| of Commerce: Il am deeply intereste
| in San Diego harbor and favor its In
provement, but Pearl Harbor frs
and want to express to you my al
! probation of the broad spirit Ill
tplayed by the San Diego Chamber
/ Commerce In regard to the matter, O
Is evidenced by their letter OF recel
| date now on my desk"
! We also know that the Presiden
ilealizing keenly the defenseless cond
| dion nf tho Western Coast of the Uni
| ed States, the great need of providin
| for the protection of the Pacific e,
| trance to the Panama Canal, the sal
guarding of our commerce, which ca
only be assured by the establishmeI
! of an adequate Naval Station at Pea
Harbor and the rendering OF the
e, land of Oahu impregnable to attac
never loses an opportunity to spei
of these matters to visiting Senate
j and Congressman, and is apparent