The Penn's Grove record., 1911-05-05

level it is composed OF tldal mdrSHes'
~intersected every few hundred yards
by deep lagoons and tidal creeks, n
impossible by troops.
Now Orca Inlet is the tideWater
terminus of the Copper River n
North Western railroad-one OF the
acknowledgement properties. TINS
road is building now into the copper
territory, but a spur only 81 miles
long has been surveyed into the ka-
ITALIA coal fields, where, as the latest
report of the Geographical Survey
shows, there are close upon 5O,0O0,OoO
tons of coal of varying quality IN sight.
AS yet not an ounce OF this coal is
permitted to be mined under the
much Wanted conservation laws, n
the. railroad is run, and for that mat
ter the industries of Alaska get their
power from imported coal-much OF II
coming from the hated Japan and
ever from China. 1t must be rather
maddening to get fuel from mines hve
thousand miles away when you could
take a pick and a shovel out back OF
the barn and get enough coal In a day
to run the house a week. 1t must
add a little to the cost of railroading
to have to pay s11 or $12 a ton for
Japanese coal, when there is plenty
along the right of way that can De
mined for So a ton!
Chance for Foreign Foe.
Yet it was not of Alaska coal that
I was about to speak for the moment,
nor yet of the eccentricities and i'm
becilities of the conservation laws
that make the hapless Alaskan send to
japan or Australia for the fuel that Is
bedded thick in his own yard. What
is beginning to interest the Pacific
coast is the invitation which this
Orca Inlet offers to a foreign foe seek
ing a foothold on our coast.
California-and Hobson-have been
worrying sorely for many long months
lest the Japs seize Honolulu and make
1t the base for a descent upon our
Pacific coast. Latterly, since Taft
began playing horse with Mexico,
dread has been expressed lest the en-
terprising little men of Nippon might
seize some Mexican port like Magda-
lena Bay and make 1t the arsenal from
which to dispatch their fleets against
placid Pasadena or thriving San Fran
cisco. Now of a sudden the danger
point is shifted far to the north, to
Alaska. the part Of which in our
scheme of national defense has hardly
yet been debated.
But it is debatable. Here is this in
let of Orca. Seventy-two feet of water
is shown on the government by hydro
graphic maps. In n respect 1t Is an
American Port Arthur for its narrow
entrance makes it im%pregnable to ma
val attack from the sea. But 1t is
stronger than Port Arthur in other
ways because the towering mountains
and the tidal marshes that hem it In
make any attack from the landward
side utterly impracticable. II the
United States we're ~entrenched there
no power could dislodge us. But we
are not entrenched. There is no fort
no gun, no soldier, no ship of war fol-
the protection Of Orca inlet and the
town of Cordova.
Suppose an enemy with a fleet on
the Pacific should determine to attack
the United States on it's own coasts
We have always looked on Hawaii as
the first point Of attack and have forti
fed it heavily in anticipation of thai
event. But Hawaii has nothing to Of
fer the captor except a charming eli
mate, plenty Of tropical fruit and g
foothold on land. Napoleon once SAID
that an army travels on its belly. Il
nobody has said that battleships trave'
on their coal bunkers it is time to say
1t now. A Japanese fieet-for exam
| ple-steaming across the Pacific tt
our coast would be helpless for lacl
of coal on it's arrival. OF course il
would bring a fleet of GOLFERS from
which to refill its bunkers, but thai
auxiliary fleet, being necessarily slow
and without mean of self defense
would be a source of weakness, a flaw
in the perfect war machine.
~impregnabIe to Attack.
But suppose, instead Of botherine
with Hawaii the Asiatic foe. Chinese
Japanese, Russian, what you will
should sail direct for Orca inlet
Once inside it's unfortifed entrance
two battleships could hold it against
the world. There could be no attack
by land. Ten days would suffice tt
complete the railroad into the ex
haustless coal fields. The problem Of
bringing coal across the 5000 miles o.
Of tossing Pacific, each fleet of col
Tiers needing a %battleship squadron fol
slant. Six hundred miles nearer Sar
Francisco than is Honolulu, within
easy striking distance, 1000 miles
of Seattle, Tacoma, Portland and 9th
er Puget Sound points this land lock
ed harbor, never blocked by Ice, would
be the ideal base for offensive opera
lions against our coasts.
And as l have said before not 6
fort, not a gun, not a soldier protects
Orca Inlet.
Probably in the extra session there
will be introduced a measure to cor
rect this obvious error in our scheme
of national defense. The fertilization
of the entrance to the bay, and the
establishment of a naval station there
will undoubtedly be demanded. o
course Alaska is without votes in the
national congress, though she is no
without an able and a convincing
voice as long as Judge James Wicker
sham, its able delegate, holds his seat
But this matter is not one touching
Alaska seriously. 1t is the states o
Oregon, Washington and Californi,
that are most vitality concerned, ant
for that matter the integrity and dig
nifty of the United States as a Who'll,
are seriously involved.
LittIeton's New Political Theory.
Martin w. Littleton of New
York has evolved a new politica