The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-04-16
Representative Britten Congress
sionaI Investigation En- Route To
Philippines, Says Hawaii Should
Be Greatest Naval Station
DREADNoU6HT FLEET
NEEDED IN PACIFIC
Guam and Oahu Are First and
Second Defense, Respectively,
of America n Western Ocean,
And Cannot Be Neglected
anon weanesday AavertIser.l

(From Wednesday Advertiser.)
ssIf we ever have war, Il win be
with an Asiatic power Guam win be
our first line Of defense; Hawaii the,
secondhand strongest. We need a
strong naval base here; dry docks,
coaling stntions, and all We should
have more ships Of war At Honolulu,
for We may expect great naval action
hare II war comes
These are statements made by Re.
preventative Frederick A. Brittsn Of
The Ninth Illinois District, Chicago.
He "a passenger in the army transport
Sherman. bound for the Philippines
with him Is Mrs. Britten..
Representative George W. Edmonds
Of the Fourth District Of Pennsylvania
and Mrs. Edmonda also are In the
sherman. They reside in Philadelphia.
MI. Edmonds Is a member Of the mer-
chant marine committee Of the house:
Mr.. Britten member Of the naval
Affairs committee.
Nj. Britten fayors smphatically
keeping the dreadnonght fleet on the
Pafi6c Coast. 1t soon will come
through the Panama canal TO visit the
Panama Pacific Exposition.
War Situation u Acute "
sfTh6 situation with reference to the
European war Is more acute than most
persons think, - he said. The fleet
was kept On the Atlantis Coast because
Of that and not because Of . slide in
the Panama Canal. ~ n
q Il there any prospect Of il remain.
ing on the Pacific when once heref'
lie was asked. Z. !.
M Bfitten thought that the Euro
pean war would necessitate the fleet
returning to the Atlantic. Not until
peace has been restored, he thought,
could the dreadnonehi8 take up per
manent station on the West Coast,
~ am from Chicago, but certainly
feel the inportanee Of having the
Pacific protected. The navy Is the
riRht,nrm Of the national defense; the
army Is secondary in Importance. Yet
there may lie difficulty. California,
Which moahs most Of the cost, has only
elet1n representatives in the Houses
Not York state alone has forty-three.
IN merchants Of the East wish the
fleet to remain there; local pride also
win fight to keep IT'D
SUB idnoushts Needed
II first speaking Of increasing the
nata standing Of Honolulu, Mr.. Brit
tenlshad referred particularly TO des-
tfo1ers.
Would yop limit the ships Of war
stationed here to destroyers and sub
marlhesfD the reporter questioned.
"No, sir,p he replied. 81 believe
We should have superdreadnoughts a.
ssFrom where would You draw the de-.
stroyers to bring here--from San
Eyes; from San Diego and from the
Panama canal. We have q biz feet
there. They are needed more here. 4
cat the last session of congress we
appropriated for sixteen submarines
half Of which are to be stationed In the
Pacihe Honolulu should receive its
share.
.spearl Harbor should be made our
strongest Pacific naval base. We need
dsdrydock there badly and everything
10 make our base strong. It should re-
NNtfN NEEt WI hNt4vMu W TINT CAus
The two representatives will 20 to
Manila and then 10 China and Japan,
netnrnine on the July or August trans
port Mr.. Edmonds particularly will
study the Japanese plans Of subsidizing
their merchant vessels.
WIN Study Hawaii situation
on the return, Mr.. Britten expects to
confer with Admiral Moore and other
naval officers on keeping larger feet
here. The two will spend three or four
weeks here then, which viii give them
a wider opportunity 10 study the stu
ation, see Pearl Tiarbor and confer with
naval officers
Mr. Edmonds thought this trip bet.
ter than coming with the larger con,
efgssional party, which Il due May 8.
tsWhen one comes on such trip az
that he sees only what his hosts wish