The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-05-08
WAT TERWAYS OF
 IMMENSE VALUE
 IN EVENT OF WAR

A
 The water ways are of value not only in time ofSpeace but in time Of war, and that an Inland waterway along the Atlantic coast as a, means Of national defense would be of even greater value than the Panama Canal, is the opin- ion expressed bysTheodore Justice, of Philadelphia, commissioner of FairL m nount Park
 How many of us realize.'' said Mr. Justice. ssthat but for the sinking of the battleship Maine. the Panama Canal would today not even have been begun2 When we+were suddenly fac ing war, we found our fleet divided, one part in the Atlantic, the other in the Pacific, and each division liable to being defeated in detail The long, hazardous trip of the Oregon around Cape Horn was a matter of intense anxiety and aroused the whole nation to the need of the Panam Canal as d means of national defense, so that. in case of need, we could utilize a1L our warships in one mighty feet and in either ocean.
 essIn my remarks before the conven- ton of the National Rivers aand Har- bors Congress in December last. I pointed out that the question whether the Panama Canal. which was wholly paid for by the United States and is. wholly within United States territory, is to be absolutely within United States control, had seemingly become. an international question, and created a. situation surcharged with danger, one that might lead to conflict with the whole world united against sus, and this conflict might come upon as sud- denly as did the sinking of the Maine. The danger which existed at that time has been multiplied a hundredfoId by the situation that now confronts us in Mexico.
 
 cities, New York. Philadelphfa. Balti- more, and even Washington, the cap ita1 of the nation. might be at the mercy of united European fleets, but this danger would be fully averted if the waterways that now connect New York harbor with the Delaware river and Chesapeake Bay were deepened sufficiently to allow the passage of torpedo boats. This inland waterway would be safe from batt1eship attack and would have all the advantages of a short inside line from which offen- sive warfare might be more safely car ried on. The benefits indicated for the section from New | ork to Chesa- peake Bay would be vastly exten ded and multiplied with the completion of the entire project. giving protected waterway the whole length of the At lantic coast
 ssThe broad, national value of such | q W d1eeENdy WouiQ De Tar STealeTS 10 the people of the United States than even that of the Panama Canal, con ceding, as I do, quite as much for the national value of the latter as is claim | ed by it's most sanguine advocates.
 Twill any broad-minded and pa triotic citizen of the United States not concede that matters of national de- fense should have precedence at all times over. the many other meritorous l projects, that have been proposed All of the later proposed plans contain great commercial value to the. nation, and I hope that within the course of a reasonable time all of them will be developed, but in the interest of the whole nation the greatest project of I-them all is the immediate preparation for national defense contained within the plans of the Atlantic Deeper Wat erways Association, extending all the way from Maine to Florida