The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-08-18

Giblartar of the East-fortified against
 attack and sheltering . naval base up-
 on which will rest the far-fung battle
 line assuring American marine su- premacy in the Pacific Ocean.
 There was time when the most common objection to the retention of
 the Philippines by the United States
 was expressed in the sentence: we
 couldn't defend them In case of war. ["
 Nowadays one hears. in the Orient at least. the remark. The Americans must
 keep the Philippines as Q military base
 to protect its interests in Asiatic wa-
 ters." This also implies the growing
 conviction that the United States has
 other and greater interests in Asiatic
 waters. and in the Pacific Ocean. than the Philippine Islands. In other words,
 the Philippines mo longer present an army problem of defense, but a navy problem of offense."
 That military episram. lately used by e well-informed writer on Pacific affairs. is subject to the qualification that a naval base at Manila, however
 well fortified against attack by sea, must depend upon the army for protec- ton from an invading land force. The Island of Luzon Is almost as large as England and an invasion might easily be accomplished.
 Atantld ASats Withth hiNh ID AStotON the naval station of Cavite, which some day will be equipped as a great naval base. should be equipped. Is al- ready well fortifeds The fort on the Island of Corregidor, e huge rock in the middle of the narrow entrance to the wide bay, is not completed, but 1t is even now one of the most formid- able defenses in the Orient. The de- tails of its construction and armament H~,st 1t is already known as 'the American Gibraltar of the Pacific"
 The Pacific ocean is becoming more and more important every year, and the American people are beginning to realize that the Pacific is as much an American ocean as the Atlantic. In one way, the Pacific is much more American than the other sea. There are many great powers whose domin- ions touch upon the Atlantic-there are only three who have possessions in the Pacific. One of these is Japan, whose entire dominion Is washed about by that ocean. Another in Russia. having only frost-bound Siberian har- bors. but despite defeat and reversal. still hungry for warm water Pacific port. The third is the United States of America. The Pacific Ocean washes its western seaboard, section of in- creasing prosperity and importance. It laps the shores of Alaska, which has proved to be well worth defending. It contains the island paradise of Hawaii. the naval and cable bases at Guam, the Midways and Samoa. And, 1000 miles away, the Pacific Ocean waterways lead to the Philippine Islands.
 Whether or not the Americans will some day surrender those islands to their own inhabitants. there Is no con- siderable body of Americans who would permit them to be taken away by another power. Nor will they be sold. The proposition to sell the never countenanced or by anybody in authority. is impossible for two sufficient reasons. Such a sale would amount to breach of faith with the Filipinos which would forever besmirch the honor of the United States. And. again. there is but one prospective purchaser-Japan. The Filipinos are a Christian people and the Japanese are not. The Christians of the United States would never con- sent to the sale of a Christian commu- nity to a Pagan power.
 It is impossible to consider the po- sition of the United States in the Pa cific except in relation to the other Pa-' cific powers. For many years to come Russia will be, for obvious reasons, quite out of the reckoning. This leaves Japan and the United States as rivals for the control of the great ocean, the two nations possessing the greatest advantages in the compe- tition for the rapidly increasing trade ,f awakening China. Without intend-
 Ing to excite feeling or appear in the role of an alarmist, 1t must be admit- ted that if there is any war in the Pa- cific in which the United States Is . party, it probably will be a war with Japan.
 The Filipinos as a class shudder when he possibility of Japanese domination s mentioned. The discussion of such a late has done much to solidify pro- American sentiment in the islands. But of course there is a minority. and there Is a small party in the Philippines which pretends to hope for a transfer of the sovereignty of the islands to Japan, either by war or by diplomacy. Japan apparently has no present de- sire to secure the Philippines upon any terms, having It's hands full in Korea and Manchuria.
 Yet the Japanese is a wise individ- lal and he looks ahead. Within the past few months several Japanese men nave been apprehended in the work of making maps of the Island of Luzon. They are presumed to be Japanese army officers. So many stories of "Japanese spies" have been told that many persons greet all such state nents with an incredulous smile, yet often they are true. For obvious req sons the military authorities do not make exposures of these facts, and they only come to the public through
 Yet there is nothing in this 10 indicate that the Japanese military have anything to do with t.. Japan produces free-lances and soldiers of fortune as well as other perhaps.
 In the event of a war between the United States and Japan. a conflict which is highly improbable in the near future, the Philippines will be either the greatest strength or the greatest weakness of the American arms. If the plans for defense are carried for ward with dispatch, If there is na- val base here which will give fleet all the advantages which 1t could have at San Francisco, and if the fleet main tained in the Pacific is of sufficient should not be. in a mili- tary sense, as close to Japan as Ja- pan is close to the Philippines.
 If, on the other hand, the plans for defense are permitted to drag along, If the naval base here Is not adequate ly equipped, and if the Pacific fleet is not fully as strong as that of the pos- sible antagonist-then an invasion of the Philippines might be expected, and a long land warfare on the other side of the world might be precipitated.
 Tn view of the liberalitY with which the United States is spending money In fortifying Manila Bay. 1t is difficult to conceive of the possibility of re-. progressive American policy which, would leave the other measures of de.