Arizona republican., 1910-12-05
NAVY YARDS
 TH|NNED OUT | Secretary Meyer Has His
 Way About Il HIS ANNUAL REPORT OUT
Recommends the Elimina- tion of the Useless and the Reduction of Those Not Favorably Situated. Program and Regulations

Washington, Dec. 4.-The results
 or careful, personal investigation
 by Secretary George von L. Meyer ot
 many Of the nevy yards and naval
 stations are apparent in certain
 sweeping recommendations for the
 abolition of some of these and the
 development of others, as set out in
 the Secretary's annual report just
 made public.
 Secretary Meyer recommends gfy-
 Ing up and dispOsing of the naval sta
 lions at New Orleans, Pensacola. San
 Juan, Port Royal, New London. Sack
 etts Harbor, Culebra and Cavite. He
 finds that the average yearly cost of
 maintaining these station for the past
 live years has been $1,672,675. while
 very little useful work has been per formed therein.
 In making these recommendation the secretary says he is following di- rectly along the progressive plans
 that have been adopted in our com mercial and manufacturing consoIi- datlons in this country, that is of dis
 mantlinS unnecessary and antiuuated plants and discontinuing their cxis- tence where it has been demonstrated that it is unprofitable to continue them at a cost not commensurated with their product
 The secretary discusses the strong points and shortcomings of the var ious yards at length and incidentally he points out that the United States has twice as many navy yards as Great Britain with a navy at least double the size or ours Touching the New Orleans yard, it is said that its position loo miles up the Mississippi river Is such that in time of war no large vessels should be sent on ac- count of the danger of the passes being blocked. The Pensacola raw yard Is condemned as impossible for fortiflcation and as strategically un- necessary. The secretary thinks that the Gulf and South Atlantic coasts can best be defended by an effe tive naval station at Guantanamo. Cuba. where the emergency docking and re- pair facilities should be provided at an expense of about S3OO.OO0 or S4OO,000 This would involve the transfer to GuantamO of the New Orleans floating dock and machine tools from the Algiers yard and from Pensacola. Key West alone of the Gulf naval stations should be main tained; not as a first-class station but for the supply and quick repair of small gun boats and torpedo craft operating in the Carribean Sea The secretary predicts that in time of war the cities of the gulf coast will be. from their natural security. the chief sources of supplies and material and ha ha troops will embark either for the 18th mus of Panama for further transit, or for service in the Carribean, as may be required
 Because the Portsmouth. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Norfolk yards have accessible dry docks of which we have too few, it is found impossible to give up any of them Port Royal has a dry dock unap- prOachable for battleships or even cruisers and the Charleston dock is likewise useless as the channel fills in at the rate of from three to four feet year On the Pacific coast Secre- tary Meyer finds the Bremerton yard at a disadvantage through it's lack of railroad communication and its dis tance from any large supply of labor. But its further development is re- garded as a necessity in view of the fact that the fleet at some time after the opening of the Panama canal may be based in the Pacific ocean.
 The Mare Island navy yard is very severely criticised for its inac- possibility, both on account of it's great distance from San Francisco and the shallowness of the channel The muddy water of the San Fable bay is also said to work havoc with the condensers of the warships. No battleship injured in action could be taken to Mare Island even for tem- porary repairs nor could the yard be reached by a number of the heavy battleships or heavy cruisers even when uninjured. But as S14000, 900 already has been spent on this yard, the Secretary thinks that in order to avoid a total loss it would be wise to utilize it for such vessels as can reach it and also for such manufac- turing and repair work as can readily be sent to the navy yard and to the vessels be sent to the navy yard and returned to the vessels lying in San Francisco bay. Looking to the future he says that it will be necessary to establish a dock ing and repair station for battleships on San Francisco bay in some locality yet to be selected and meanwhile the fleet must depend upon Puget Sound. although there should be more than one yard available if the battleship fleet is to be based in the Pacific ocean.
 Pearl Harbor will be made the principal insular defense base in the Pacific ocean; Olangapo, in the Phil ippines is to be a small repair station and the station at Cavite is to be disposed of. its tools being trans ported to OlongapO.
 Following the established policy in the matter of annual naval construc-