The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-12-06

less ONES going there has h.,n waStsfiil
| a well a. unnecessary expenditure.
Some Of our navy wards now III exist
enCe. saws MIR MENtH. hay" not s,liii-
Gent water lnading Ia them To allow tn"
modern vessels Ia approach and liz at
the docks 4 nlmbr- al them have not
sufficient brrthlnE SPACE Tor the Ncss''ls,
and the limited sIaC" avallabl" pre-
Cludcs i's h..rng supplied III" SAYS
! that the wards AT Pensacola and New
Orleans arr rnt'rclv unnecessary for
the service at the fleet and recon-
mcu,ls that they h" gwen up. The
aVrraE" yearly cost OF maintaining
Pensacola has been s3tOOll OF New
Orleans iun miles mp the mississippi,
Sil2,9, altogether the cost Of land
buildings. machinery and maintenance
IN IN" case OF Pensacola has been $i2.-
?i7. Eil. and New Orleans 81, nI, la5.
Secretary MEYER would retain Kew
West a. base Of supply To the fleet in
III" Caribbean, and particularly as a
rendezvous for gunboats and torpedo
raft. For the naval has. he recon-
rnerlds Guantanamo kev West to b.
supplementary Ia il. 4 map accom-
panloS the report IL show how much
nearer Guantanamo il To the lsthm,is
Of Panama than k"y West. and that
there Is little difference IN distance
between New York and Guantanamo and
between New York and hoy West. OF
the strategic superiority Of Guantanamo
the Secretary SAYS:
The Guf coast and the southern Atlantic
coast are best defended hy the effective occupa-
tlon ~ the Guantanamo naval station In Cuba.
In the ~ ent OF hostililies the Atlantic side our
battle ncet will be based In the Caribbean sea.
and I'm that region Guantanamo Bay i the best
suited by sustegica ami local condi tons for
that purpose
As the lsthmian Canal is the key To
the defence of the United States as n
nation, since its lo-s would divide the
fleet, Secretary MEYERS case is proved
by his map of distances. The physical
adequacy of Guantanamo a. n naval
base is beyond all question.
the clamnr of the people of the Pacific
coast tn have "A battleship feet on that
sid" of IN" cont inent that il ought not
To be necessary To say. Owing to lack
of sufficient depth in the Mare Island
channel no big ships can get mp tn the
san Francisco Navy Yard Bre,nerton
on Puget Sound is the only Pacific coast
ward available. but Bremerton has no
rallrnad communication and no dry
dock Vet completed for modern battle
shi1s. Under the circumstances there
can b- no question that for the present
the battleshp fleet must stay on the
Atlantic side.
MIR. MEYER asks for an authorization
during I'll" coming fiscal year for the
OF two battls-ships Two
ships wear. he saws. is about IA little
a. will suffice 10 maintain our relative
position as a naval Power. Evidently
he would ask for third if he thought
the recommendation would b. needed
by Congress. for he observes that If
We are to maintain "A fleet of twenty
vessels Dreadnoughtsl in the first line
-a and this should be- regarded as a
there must be authorized.
in addition to two ships n wear. after
1912. sufficient number TO prevent the
first line from falling below twenty; in
other words. the withdrawal 81 obsolete
ships must Iva anticipated nv authority
for displao ements.
The truth il that the time is near at
hand when We must face the question
We shall create and keep up a
first class navy or retire from tho COM |
petition a. too costly 10 be endured and |
not really necessary for our preservation
as a nation.