The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-07
MIR. ROBSON ON :. NAVALDEFENSE Alabamian Pleads For More Battleships, SEES WAR CLOUDS DRIFTING Points Out Precarious Condition of
 Our National Defense. Says rAat the Dapsers of Beias Un- prepared Are Becoming Greater
 ana Greater With Each
 succeeding Year. !.
SEES WAR CLOUDS DRIFTING


 washinwtom ,rii s.-Pointing out what he declared to be the precarious condition of the nationai oelsnse Va ana the Pacific Oceans. Mir. Robson or Alabama. In the House of Representa- tives today made an earnest plea TOT two battleships of 25.o0o tons displace- rnent. in addition to the two author ized by the naval appropriation bill.
 He said that conservative estimate would Indicate that for the minimum basis of security and safety in the Pa cific ocean, the United States should iay down at least four big ships year for many years to come until Japan comedies to us what Is inevitable .--the American control of the sea around which our possessions are scat tered." AS a minimum for the At lantic Ocean the government should lay down six battleships q year, he said. Heretofore, said MT. Hobson. the weak ness of America in the matter, of na- tional defense had not been fatal to its growth and development. because the oceans constituted a great barrier between America and the armies of the world.
 Now, however. said he. sthe oceans have been bridged and the armies of the world have been brought to our doors. and along with the armies of
 
 the armies of the ancient nations of Asia"
 He said that where America former iy lived more or less in isolation. she Is now exciting the jealousy of other great nations in threatening their su- premacy In commerce, industry and finance. In addition. he declared, that recent events have thrown us into the political vortex of the world, and that ths dangers of being unprepared are becoming greater and greater with each succeeding year.
 After calling attention to America's lack of a merchant marine, which could De used as auxiliaries in time of war. and of transports necessary for prop eriy conducting war operations. Mir. Hobson said:
 No stsndine Army. we have a1naost no standing army and could not prevent the seizure by q foreign power of a harbor on our shores or near our shores. to be- used aA naval base: whereas it would be ytaetically impossible for America to secure naval base for operations in European waters. Forts. mines tor pedoes, torpedo boats and submarines are valuable accessories. but such de- lenses have never stopped a determined commander of a great fleet. They did not stop Nelson ct Copenhagen, nor Farragut at Mobile Bay. nor Dewey at Manila. Such defenses never determine the issues of a war and have no weight in deterring an enemy from seeking war. The forts that we have are woefuily unnamed, whereas the troops needed for other landward de- fense could not be mobilized within the time necessary"
 The possibility of q conflict with Ja- pan was discussed at length by Mir. Hobson. He said 1t was but perfect ly natural for Japan to aspire to donI- nate the commerce of China, the conn merce of Asia and of the Pacific Ocean. And he added. 1t was perfect ly natural for Japan to seek to control the policies of China and to attain su- premacy in the Pacific Ocean, and to lead the yellow race toward a recoT- mixed supremacy in the world
 With regard to the great nations of the white race, Mir. Hobson said:
 Tt is. of course. clear to the Jana nese statesmen that America is the one great nation standing athwart of the realization of these ambitions. Ii is true that America only asks a fair chance and no favor--simply the open door policy in China-but this policy goes counter to Japanese ambitions."
 The United States, said Mir Hobson. must accept Japan's protestations of friendship, and we should most cor dially reciprocate. friendly feelings. and should realize that if any breach should come between the two countries 1t would be our fault, on account of being so defenceless, and not the fault of Japan.
 Jap War Preparations.
 Pursuing his analysis of the condi- tions in the Pacific. Mir. Hobson de- clared that I've cannot ignore the fact the Japan has undertaken stupendous war preparations, preparations which have doubled the national debt of Ja- pan since the war with Russia was over. It Is estimated that she has be- tween 100000 and 100000 men under arms, yet there Is no menace from the armies of Siberia or the armies of Chi na or the armies of Europe. No na- ton since the world began has ever maintained such an army, under such conditions. except as a preparation for an early campaign of aggression"
 Continuing, MT. Hobson said that notwithstanding the fact that i've bat tleships of the Russian navy had been added to the Japanese navy. and aI- though the Russian fleet had vanished from the Pacific Ocean. and there was no fleet of any size of any Euronean nation in that ocean and no fleet of any European nation that was avail able to be sent away from Europe into those regions. yet Japan has launched upon stupendous program of naval expansion. Some. he said. had imar- ined that Japans warIike prepara- tions were intended for China, but he declared no one could conceive how a great new navy would be needed whereas there Is scarcely a Chinese. gunboat. The United States, he said could not ignore the fact that warlike activities have been going on in Japan lat feVerish rate" since the war with Russia. He said Japan had made great purchases of war material abroad. He pointed particularly to the fact that America had supplied T50.000 rife bar rels although our own troops have not yet been supplied with new rifles."
 Naval Bases Established.
 Neither could the United States tg nore the fact. he maintained. that two naval bases had been established in Formosa and the Pescadores Islands, down near Luzon, and that as soldiers were discharged at Hiroshima they emigrated to Hawaii.
 Mfr. Hobson charged that Japanese spies have been diligent and active throuEhout the Philippines, in our out