The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-28

But can 1t be so defended?"
 Tt can be-"
 "How?'
 By sea it can be defended by seaeoast batteries against bombardment and naval attacks. By land it must be defended by Notifications on land in the vicinity Of the locks and dams. There must also be other defenses against landing parties"
 What do such defenses mean2" asked.
 They mean forts on the islands and on the mainland at the Pacific terminus, and they mean Notifications at the en- frances at the Atlantic. They also mean Notifications along the line of the canal at certain points. We have planned such fortifications and are already building them"
 The Cost of Certifying
 But will not these defenses add greatly to the cost of the canal?'
 Nothing like as much as one would suppose,n replied Colonel Goethals. One reason for this Is that the character of the modern battleship is such that the i number Of guns on shore to keep off a fleet can be reduced to a minimum. No naval attack will be attempted on any fortified position until after the suprem- aey of the rival navy at sea has been settled, Moreover, the loss of single battleshlp would destroy the balance of power and involve the risk of losing fleet. Now, one of our shots could destroy a ship, and under such conditions tho fleets would be very chary of com ing near them. The navies realize this danger and for that reason the Jap. anese fleet kept pretty well out from Port Arthur Indeed, as 1t is now the navies of the great powers are so evenly ball anced that none would risk the destruc- ton of a part of it's force at sea by at tacking Notifications on land, and assum- ling that one fleet had been destroyed, the enormous cost of a battleship would keep an enemy from risking it in an unequal fight with land defenses'' What will our fortifications cost?'
 "They will cost infinitely less than
 would have been spent had we tried to 1 increase our fleet and depend upon 1t alone to defend the canal Every add- tional battleship, of the type now needed, l costs not les sthan slo,oo0,000 to build and
 there Is in addition to that an ever | increasing maintenance charge. Whenk all | these seacoast defenses are completed and l those of the land added the expense al- l together will not equal that of the two l battleships, and the fortificatons will be far more permanent than the ships. l Those who opposed the Notifications claimed that the defense could be accom- 1 pished by the navy in case of necessity. 1 Tn that event we should have to have standing fleet for this purpose alone" The Permanent Force and the Cost
 How many men will it take to run
 the canal after 1t is completed, Colonel | Goethals?"
 T estimate the number at 2o00, but this l does not include the possible sanitation | and civil administration of the zone. It
 does not include the military forces to fortify the canal. and it is based upon the supposition that the zone will be depopulated."
 What will 1t cost to run the eanal?" aThe total expenses of the canal proper, no. including it's defense, which belongs
 to the military establishment should not exceed $4o00,0OO a year.
 "But will the income be as large as that2'
 q think so" said Colonel Goethals. "It | will be if we fix the proper tolls. think we should fix them as high as the traffic will bear, and if we do that we | shall have plenty to run the canal and still leave surplus. As to the shipping which will go through. by estimates made few years ago by our engineers, there should be at least 7000000 tons per an nun. Now, we can safely make our toll Sl per ton. This would give sufficient to pay all the expenses and still leave a | surplus.