La Junta tribune., 1908-10-03
WORLD CRUISE OF
OUR BATTlE.SH|PS
A Significant History Making Move
msnt by the United States.
Pacific Ocean Saved to America By
Robust Policy Of Republican
Party.


can warships Is one Of the most inter-
esting, important and far reaching per-
formances OF any administration since
the Civil War. History rides upon the
PROV OF the fiagships OF this feet.
Eighty-five millions of people have for
months been attempting to interpret
the movement and solve the problem
our government is attempting to prop
erly adjust by this clrcumnavigation Of
the globe. When President Roosevelt
first announced that the fleet Of battle
ships was to make the long journey
from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean,
the Democrats turned prophets of evil
and predicted many disastrous things
would follow as consequence Of this
unprecedented move.
Armsdn and World Cruise.
The armada took Its departure from
Hampton Roads. Dee. 16, 1907, and
after wholly successfnlvoyage around
the Horn, OF about twelve thousand
miles. 1t dropped anchor In San Fran
cisco Harbor May 6, 1908. The ships
that form the four divisions Of the fleet
In this record-making cruise nre: The
Connecticut. Louisiana. Maine, Mis-
souri,, Georgia, New Jersey, Rhode ISL
and. Virginia. Alabama, Illinois, kear-
sarge, Kentucky, Ohio. Minnesota, Kan
sas and Vermont. To which were add
ed the Nebraska and the Wisconsin, al
ready in Puget Sound. thus making n
fleet of eighteen hrst-class modern
battleships in perfect condition.
There were already In the Pacific
and Oriental waters the fine armored
cruisers West Virginia, Colorado, Ma
ryland and Pennsylvania. Their two
sister ships, the California ana South
Dakota, were also on the Pacific, and
the powerful Washington and Tennes-
see went from the Atlantic to join the
armada, thus making eight armored
cruisers to be added to the eighteen
battleshIps In addition there were In
the Pacific several protected cruisers,
gunboats and other lesser craft. All
told there were ten hundred and fifty
officers and nineteen thousand five hun
dred men.
| In due time the main fleet of war
ships resumed Its western course ana
Will touch at the leading ports OF China
and Australia, passing on cast by way
| OF the west, and coming finally to Nal
tn and Gibraltar, where 1t will coal
and ultimately return to Its starting
point Mt Hampton Roads, some time
early next February.
In this expedition the Republican
marty has a policy which projects itself
far into the future, but 1t is an entire
misunderstanding Of the whole scheme
to suppose that 1t is aimed narrowly
or definitely Mt any single power. 1t Is
one of those robust constructive poll
cies Of the party gaIged on world lines
It is more OF notification than a
threat, to all existing governments.
| welding North and south America
The eyes OF the world have followed
our fleet with absorbing interest. One
of the great advantages gained by this
cruise is the cordial welcome and close
acquaintance which II has evoked from
the governments and peoples of the
chief republics of Latin America. To
the BrazIlians, the Argentines, the Chi
lians and the Peruvinns. the mighty re-
public Of the north had been merely a
name or a dim figure. powerful and
honored perhaps, but not actually
known. For years there had been lit,
tie or no visible evidence Of the wealth
or authority of the United States, in
the chief South American ports. But
they were all visited by swift and
stately liners, flying the flags of the
maritime powers Of Europe.
At every South American port the
fleet, our navy, our government, our In
stitutions, our people. our aims. our
| Industries, our trade-every conceivable
| thing that il ours. have been discussed
as they never were before, and thai
without suspicion Of our, political and
diplomatic intentions. One business
| house In New York states that Its
South American correspondence has In
creased fourfold since the feet visited
| Rio Janeiro. In this case 1t seems tina,
trade may follow the battleships.
| President Roosevelt Explains Move.
| Aent.
In q statement in a speech he made
In st. Louis. President Roosevelt tool
the public into his confidence to de
gree when he said: California, Ore
gon and Washington have q coast line
which il our coast line Just as emphat
ically N the coast line of New York and
Maine. of Louisiana and Texas. OuI
feet is going to Its own home waters
III ths Pacific and after stay there 4
will return to its own home water
in tho Atlantic. The best place for ths
psvai cnicer to learn his duties u nt
sea, BY performing them, and only b,
actually putting through = voyage o.
this nature, . voyage longer than an,