The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1910-12-09

rlgnt arm Of the Pacific f,ee.
submits figures showing tha. ne
average yearly cost Of maints,.t the
g hremerton has been s46sO,a Dance
051,424. yard 81.
Great Future for Brem.r..
The report maps out an imn ".
future for Bremerton. The on1'
pant against it is its lack ., ' aal,
soao communication and its djsta ,all'
from any large supply Of laho r's,ance
ever, these are small items ona now
wise imperil the future greatness u 81 no u,
ne SOUND station. Secretary Msv =.
practically declares that follow;a sa'yer
opening Of the Panama Canal, tbs the
lion war fleet is likely at anv -. Nd
- We BASED IN the Pacific Ocean Thi e
diplomatic reference to the nos.,, ms
OF trouble with our ambitious oriOny
nelghbor is followed with a stron on'ai
ralgnment of the Mare Island vas, d.
San Francisco. "'u at
lnis yard is severely criticisod .
us lnaccessibility, both on account ~ =.
It's great distance from San Franoi.s W
and the shallowness of tho oha clSco
Inc muddy water of San Pablo d.
also is said to work havoc with n 10y
densers OF warships. WI
No battleship injured in action cor,,
De taken to Mare Island even for tsm a
porary repairs, nor could the ward ho
reached by a number of the beavv ,a'
tleshlps or heavy cruisers, even wbar
uninjured. "nel
Total Uselessness Indicated
AS $14,OOO,OOO already has boo,
spent on this yard, the secretsru
thinks that in order to avoid tot.'
loss, it would be wise to utilize il f0n
such vessels as can reach it and also
LOT such manufacturing and repair
work for larger vessels as can read.
ny be sent to the navy yard and "a.
turned to the vessels lying in San
Francisco Bay.
Looking to the future, he saws that
1t Will be necessary to establish
docking and repair station for battle.
ships on San Francisco Bay in some
locality yet to be selected and mean.
while the fleet must depend upon
Puget Sound, although there should
be more than one yard available if
the Dattleship fleet is to be based in
the Pacific Ocean.
Pearl Harbor will be made the prin.
cipal insular defense base in the Pa.
cific Ocean; Olongapo, in the Philip
pines, is to be small repair station
and the station at Cavite is to be dis.
posed of, it's tools being transported
to Olongapo.
Favors Abandoning Yards.
The Importance of the communica.
ton expressed regarding Bremerton
can best be appreciated, in view Of
the secretary's drastic action in rec.
ommending abolition of eight other
yards at other ports.
He favors giving up and disposing
of the naval stations at New Orleans,
Pensacola, San Juan, Port Royal, New
London, Sacketts Harbor, Culebra and
Cavite. He finds that the average
yearly cost of maintaining these sta
tons for the past five years has been
$1,672,675, while very little useful
work has been performed therein
In making these recommendations,
the secretary says he is following dl-
rectly along progressive plans that
have been adopted in commercial and
manufacturing consultations in this
country, that is of dismantling unnec-
essary and Anticipated plants and dis
continuing their existence, where II
has been demonstrated that it is un'
profitable to continue them at cost
not commensurate with their product.
He points out that the United states
has twice as many navy YARDS as
Great Britain, which has navy a.
least double the size of ours. Touch.
ing the New Orleans yard, it IS sala
that it's position, 100 miles up tne
Mississippi River, is such that in tlme
of war no large vessels should De sew
there on account of the danger OF INC
passes being blocked. The Pensaco,a
navy yard is condemned as imposslDio
of fertilization and as strategicaily un'
necessary.