New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-10-24

strike to distance limited only by the fuel
Trey carry.
Halifax and Bermuda are the only nearby
strategic positions in foreign control which
are possible menace to our Atlantic Coast
These ports can be made naval bases of the
first rank, and, from either or both, continuous
naval operations against us would be possible,
the success Of which would depend en- the rea-
tive strength of the two fleets Minor strate-
gic positions, subject to seizure by superior
enemy under present conditions, are Province
town and Narragansett and Delaware bays.
In New York Harbor, with its unrivalled
facilities. and in Chesapeake Bay, with the
Notifications now projected, tie United States
has. or will have, northern and midcoast naval
bases unexcelled in position, strength and re-
sources South of the Chesapeake, however,
there is no Atlantic port which meets the de-
mands Of large feet. although the little bar
rem island of Key West would be OF great
value not only in the daily supply OF the ships
(as in the Civil War), but base for de-
stroyers ard submarines
As to the Gulf Coast: With the Strait OF
Florida guarded by an effective force at Key
fleet based on Guantanamo, in Cuba which
we control, the Gulf of Mexico becomes mill
tarily an inland sea which, with powerful
navy in the Atlantic and the Caribbean, is I'M
likely to meet the stress Of war.
WHERE OUR CHIEF DANGER LIES.
With reasonably powerful feet our At
lantic Coast would be, as a whole, easily
guarded from any enemy but England But
as naval str2tegists have pointed out unceas-
insy for years, our chief danger does not lie
there. but in the Caribbean Sea. Captain John
Hood U. S. NJ. says:
The most probable and almost certain naval
theatre OF action in any war that We may have
with European nation will be IN the Cario-
bean Sea or waters adjacent thereto, since 1t
is there we are weakest and most Vulnerable,
with our present long undefended line OF COM
municatons from Hatteras via the -Windward
md other passages 10 the Panama Canal.
at would be a bold nation that would make
direct frontal attack on our Atlantic sea
board, where we are strongest and whose ad-
iaeent waters are within the radius of our home
bases, unless or feet had been annihlated or
driven from the ocean,
a glance al trc map VIII SHOW Oui iSSpOi''-
bilities in this possible war area. The Carb-
bean Sea is bounded on the north by Cuba,
whose independence we are pledged to defend;
BY the island comprising the Haytian and
Do-ninican REPUBLICS, over which we now
else virtual protector ties, and by Porto Rico,
which we own Mexico and Central America
hound il on the west and these like the con-
tiuent TO the south, are covered by the Monroe
Doctrine. A thousand miles southwest OF
PORTO Rico lies Colon, the entrance to the
Panama Canal, which, as the gateway to the
Pacific and the Far E ST. will make OF the
Caribbean Sea new Mediterranean, with all
its sure rivalries in trade and war.
or these tro seas Admiral Mahan said:
Their CONSPICUOUS characteristics now are
their political and military importance Ill the
broadest sense as concerning not only the
countries that border them, but the world at
large"
For fifty years and more the history OF the
Caribbean has been marked by European IN
,,;eue Were it not for the European war we
stould now have active demonstration OF this
Influence in Hayti and Mexico especially. Win
his world problem looming large IN the near
future with that world pIize-the Panama
Ca7al--a, the chief stake, is it likely that
country m military and n-val sense so weak
,s ours will be allowed to hold for long its
present performance or Its coveted pos
sessions in this sunlit sea