Cut Bank pioneer press. [volume] (Cut Bank, Mont.) 1909-current, 1916-09-08
Interior Need; 5. Strong Navy
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Mississippi Valley Would Be Greatly En-
e dangered by Lack Of Protection With
- Powerful Fleets in Time of War.
sgAry.s4 BY HENRY WISE WOOD
Chairman Conference Committee on National Preparedness
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People living at some distance from the Atlantic A
or the Pacific, are prone to think of a navy as some n
thing far remote from ther- own wclbeng, whereas
there no ylageso far finland that is not now enjoying
some measure Of protection from our freedom of the
seas. And there is today no home under the flag that
does not now more than ever before need the protection umM|%MD% a
that a strong navy gives, Let no man forget that the AS
long peace during which this country has developed I IA
into the very garden of the earth would not have been U%5##K
possible without a navy f. &HE% W a.
The United States was formerly thought to have but two coast lines,
the Atlantic and the Pacific; but it is now realized that it has four, the At
lantc, the Pacific and both sides of the Mississippi river. The extent and
Importance of the two interior coast lines is thus concisey stated by the
editor of TIarpers Magazine:
"The basin Of the Mississippi is the body Of the nation. All the
other parts are but members, important in themselves, yet more i'm
2ortant in their relations to this. Exclusive of the lake basin and Of
100000 square miles in Texas and New Mexico, which in many as
poets form a part of it, this basin contains about 100000 square
miles. 1t would contain Austria four times, Germany or
Spain. five times, France six times, the British islands or Italy ten
times Conceptions formed from the river basins Of western Europe
are ruddy shocked when we consider the extent Of the valley of the
Mississippi; nor are those formed from the sterile basins Of the great
rivers Of Siberia, the lofty pahaus Of central Asia, or the mighty
sweep of the swampy Amazon more adequate. Latitude, elevation and
rainfall all combine to render every part Of the Mississippi valley
capable Of supporting a dense population. As a dwelling place for
civilized man, i til by far the first upon our globe"
But great as it is, the Mississippi is not sufficient unto itself for it
needs the world for a market. For its comfort and enrichment it exacta
from people beyond the seas a con-
n'Yef TortS MuSt pc Nept slant stream of gold or the equva-
Upen 10 WorN ifdoe lent in merchandise. Tt is, there
fore, s~elfevident that the prosperity Of both the town on the river and Of
the farmer many miles back in the country whose products are eventually
aohed to market on this waterway are dependent upon keeping all the
ports of this interior coastine Of the United States open, and in free com
munication with all the rest Of the world.
Any interruption of traffic on the river would be immediately felt BY
every man who has anything to sell. Prices would instantly drop, indus
tries would stop and hundreds of thousands would be thrown out OF EN-
ployment. The river is the main artery of the nation and as such it IS vita
to the commercial life of all the valley states. Figures do not reveal Q
picture the magnitude Of the commerce of the valley for the passage o
each ton of freight going up or down is a thread in the fabric of some il
dridual or some home, the elimination of one mans effort, the beginnina
of anothers enterprise, yet figures are the best vehicle at hand to briefly III
dictate the extent of its commerce.
For the years 1901 to 1913, inclusive, the combined exports and i'm
ro+, DoiDro alone the Ajsisinniy via the Gulf of Mexico, o and from for
eRn ports amounted to 81387,469 tons.
Now what would become of this huge export and import trade if
Gordon of steel ships were placed around the United States IS no" has been
placed around Germany? Whose business would remain mchangedf
Puayzaion and congestion would instantly follow, products OF the aeIds
and farms, and manufactured articles would pile up in the storehouses, and
the railroad lines to the east or west would be wholly inadequate to carry
the traffic even to such feeble remaining markets as might be discovered in
land, or might be reached stealthly over seas. Every lumberman, every
planter, every manufacturer every workman or laborer would Immediately
be affected. Just as Germany is being choked by the steel collar of Eng
lands fleet so would the commercial life of the valley be stranged by a
hostile fleet standing off the mouth Of the Mississippi river.
The national government is charged with the duty OF MAINTAINING d
navy not merely sufficient to keep the mouth Of the river open to peaceIW
commerce but sufficient also to see every cargo of cotton, OF rice, OF sugar,
of live stock or meat safely to its destination in any foreign port and to
see safely home again the money or the merchandise that is due the people
Of the Mississippi valley for what they have exported. The American navy
is a traffic policeman of the high seas whose duty 1t IS to see that trade
routes Ire kept open for American commerce.
The time when every father of a family kept a rifle over the fireplace
for the defense Of his home has passed away, but the need of vigilance and
So a. precaution never was greater than
MISSISSIPPI Valey pig today The Mississippi valley s of
Prize IN case OF wal strategic importance now just as it
was in the Civil war. Rich as it is in all that an army needs, does anyone
suppose that an intelligent foe would not strive nightly to occupy 1t both
for strategic reasons and for the suaenance of its armies?
- We ask for no Indifferent treatment to avert the danger u wal tan
reasonable men ask for to safeguard bodily, health. If a pestlence threat
Hed, should we be content with half measures? Common sense would a'
mand the raising of every barrier and the application Of every precautlon
that those whose business tt S to know could devise. And no aymen would
assume the responsibility of saying what was sufficient. Is not wal a dis
case? Years ace smallpox used to wipe out whole villages, but thanks t
the adequate precautions of medical science it is now practically unknown