The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-12-21
Barometer Readings.

ed, Is not the effective unit In the gov
ernmental scheme which it should be;
but the fault Is not hard to trace
There are today at Washington &C.
cumulated appropriations intended
Tor the development Of this property
amounting In the aggregate to some
thing like sixty thousand dollars, and
these funds, 1t must be remembered,
are available at any time that their
expenditure is authorized. Very nat
ural1y, then. this authorization should
be secured. In the navy departments
estimate of money which will be need
ed for the fiscal year Of 1911-1912 not
one cent has been apporttcned to the
navy yards Of the south, though you
viii note that there has been no fail
ure to provide In this respect for the
yards Of New England. :,
II the government Of the United
States will spend six or seven million
dollars-and this is no large amount
In the way Of such expenditures-on
It's plant here. It will have in its pos
session one Of the most magnificent
institutions Of its kind in the world.
approximately two million dollars of
this should be used during the first
year, nearly all of 1t for the construc-
n,
while the remainder should be so d.
vided as to extend over period Of,
say, four years, at which time the
Psnama canal will have been comp1et-
ed. At present, as you of course
know, the local yard is unable to pro-
cure even the most ordinary improve
ments, q two thousand dollar appro-
priation for an elevator having been
invalidated by Mr.. Meyers recon-
mendation, and no improvements of
any description are being allowed.
Pensacola is making no fight on Key
West, but If Pensacola is an fmprac-
ticable base what must be said Of
Key West, which is-Or will be-
reached by q railroad traversing its
precarious way over a succession of
reefs: railroad which could be and
would be destroyed by the enemy in
time of war; which could not be tenn
porarily repaired for quick service.
and which would of necessity render
Key West useless as a feeder for eth
er a naval or a military base. Key
West hasn't even an harhor worthy
the name.
OF Guantanamo 7 know nothing be-
yond the fact that it is a foreign port.
SO to speak, comparatively remote.
and would be reached only by route
extending oversee Mr.. Meyer is pos
sibly endowed with some peculiar gift
OF clairvoyance which enables him to
understand certain remarkable advan-
tages possessed by Guantanamo, but
the feeble minds of the remainder of
us fail to grasp them. II the United
States is TO honor Guantanamo in 50
singular a manner-this place which
IL nd
about the same distance from the At.
lantic entrance to the Panama canal
why stops SO near home? Perhaps
Great Britain might be induced to
sell US her far.famcd Gibraltar.
Interesting Contrast.
Pensacolas proximity to bounteous
supply of coal and iron, the cheap la
Dor obtainable and the fact that work
men may pursue their labors the year
round at this port--these facts show
an interesting contrast to conditions
at navy yards more favored by the
honorable secretary OF that branch of
the government which looks after
such matters; at New York, for in.
stance, where the battleship Florida,
named for this state, is being built,
and for the building Of which Mr.
Meyer found himself compelled to i'm
plore an additional appropriation of
seven hundred thousand dollars in Or
der that she may be completed. How
much additional money would have
been necessary had she been built at
one OF his much-beloved New England
yards is a thought for serious coniec-
ture.
The Pensacola navy yarI is situat.
ed in the center of the gulf coast
country. and 1t must be taken into
consideration that the matter Of its
preservation concerns not Pensacola
alone. II It is closed the entire south
ern coast will be woefuIly unprotect-
ed from an invading enemy. The
valley of the Mississippi and its
tributaries and the states of the union
bordering thereon are entitled to