The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-01-23
BOUND TO FORTIFY.

The people Of the United States. be
yond question, VIC think, support Pres
ident Taft in his determination to for
tlfy the Isthmian Canal This fortify
ing is not alone a question of security
and precaution as against war be-
tween this country and any power of
Importance. but it is absolutely neces.
sary on account Of the uncertain gov
crnment and untrustworthy temper of
the people of the Isthmus. If the
United States would not occupy the
Canal Zone in force and with ample
fortification and protective military
works, the canal would be at the mercy
of rabbe of impulsive barbarians
near at hand, who would be liable to
do hundred million dollars worth of
damage in few days. And, certainly,
in case OF war with first-class power
the United States should not hold itself
under the slightest obligati To fur
ther the military plans of that power
by shipping its vessels through the
Canal. And it should be in a position
10 protect itself against any effort to
force a passage
Much is said about the possibility Of
rendering the Canal immune from at
tack by agreement with the chief pow
crs of the world. Experience has
shown, however, that agreements of that
kind amount to nothing in a crisis, If
the United States were at war with
any important power, with Japan or
with Germany, for instance, and its
foe should attack the Canal, force the
passage, or destroy the locks, not one
of the nations guaranteeing immunity
to the Canal would lift a finger against
the outrage. Treaties of immunity and
of protection are all well enough as
long as nothing is done that calls for
action by the guarantors. But as soon
as their action is needed, it fails. Not
one of them would go to war on the
part of the United States to make good
her guarantee of immunity for the Ca
nal. And since history has plainly
shown that this is invariably true, it
would be idle to place any reliance
upon such guarantee of immunity, even
if we should humiliate ourselves to
seek it.
President Taft is entirely right IN
his determination to have the Canal
made impregnablo by scientific, mill
tary defensive works. Those works
should be put up on the most ample
scale, sufficient to render an attack
upon the Canal absolutely futile And
when the works are up, they should be
fully manned all the time. a woeful
FAULT IN our present coast fortifcation
Is that, although we have fair start
1T defensive fortifcation on our prin-
'lpal harbors, we have neither the men
nor the modern guns sufficient to rem
Ter these Notifications the protection
which they ought TO be. Fortfications
that call for 5000 men, and are manned
oy but 1900, amount to little. The forts !
hat we have at San Francisco, for in.
stance, are manned by about one fourth
If the force required to operate the
guns and do good defensive work. And
30 Il is all along the line We have
some Notifications, but we have not the |
guns nor the men to occupy them
1T IS to be hoped that President Taft |
Will not only get an appropriation for |
the Canal, but that he Will |
get authority TO enroll the necessary !
military force TO make those fortifca.
ions available and effective in the full
st sense.