The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-09-03
ARMY AND navy DISCUSSED BY Roosevelt /
Colonel Says Europe Still Wonders Over Cruise Of Our
BattIeship Feet-Must Fortify the Panama Canal


the Culebrn cut. which have been
considering. and the great dam at Ca
tun. The latter b TO imprison the
waters Of the Chagres and other
streams into u lake with an area Of
1874 square miles. This work II ad.
vancing steadily and just as success.
fully as TIN work on the culebra cut
The water which IL ultimately to
Ill the lock Ii now towing through the
concrete spillway In the center OF the
dam. the Chagres having been divert
ed from its bed and placed under COM
plete control The construction OF the
dam has advanced sufsiciently to con-
vince the engineers In charge Of the
work OF its absolute stability and i'm
pervtousness. The concrete work on
the lock Is advancing SO rapidly that
the drst double set at Gatun will be
completed this coming November, and
the engineer n charge has announced
that all the concrete In all the locks
will be in place two years hence.
The date Of nnal completion and
formal opening Of the canal to the
commerce OF the world will be deter
mined by the time consumed in plac-
ing the great steel gates. emergency
dams and all appliances for operating
the docks. But those in charge Of the
work announce without hesitation that
everything will be finished well in ad-
vance Of Jan. 1. 1915.
Stupsndous Achievement.
This is stupendous record Of
achievement. AS a people We are
rather fond Of criticising ourselves
and sometimes with very great jus
tice. but even the most pessimistic crit
ic should sometimes think Of what Is to
our credit. Among our assets Of the
past ten years will be placed the ex-
traordinary ability. integrity aud sue
cess with which we have handled all
the problems inherited as the result of
the Spanish war. the way we have
handled ourselves in the Philippines. In
Cuba. in Porto Rico. in San Domingo
and In Panama.
The cruise OF the battle neet around
the world was striking proof that we
had made good with the navy, and
what we have done Mt Panama repre-
sents the accomplishment Of one Of the
great feats Of the ages. It is 4 feat
which reflects the highest honor upon
our country. and our gratitude IL due
to every man who has taken an hon
orable part in any capacity In bring
ing about its performance.
Fortify the Canal.
We now have a further duty to per
form in connection with 1t. and that II
to fortify 1t. We are in honor bound
to fortify it ourselves. and only by 30
doing can we effectively guarantee its
neutrality and. moreover. effectively
guarantee that 1t shall not be used
against US.
The chief material advantage-cer,
tainly one OF the chief material advan
tages-which We shall gain by its con-
struction Is the way in which it will
for defensive purposes double the pow
er Of the United States navy.
To refuse to fortify it and. above all
to consider for a moment such an act
Of utter weakness and folly as to in
vite other nations to step In and guar
antee the neutrality OF this purely
American work land thereby really to
make 1t certain that In the event Of
war we should ind the canal used
against us. AZ our fleets would be for
hidden to pass through It or else our
opponents fleets permitted tor would
be to incur. and quite rightfully. the
contempt Of the world 1t would mean
the complete abandonment Of the Mon
roe doctrine. 1t would be a wicked
blow to our prestige on the Pacific.
and. moreover. 1t would be in its es-
sence treason to the destiny Of the re-
pnhlic