Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-09-14

81 Il?
'x= = BY *
EDWIN BALMER
cspyrishs. 1916. ~ the Chicago
Tribune
CHAPTER VII.

oT4HE CHIEF OF stan nusne0 utIIe
under his tan and his hand OH
the table twitched "What IL
your alternative proposal?' he
questioned the secretary Of the navy.
ITO defend the whole seaboard!'
"You mean to offer battle with the
enemy at sear'
The secretary Of the navy hammered
the table. " mean to fight for the
whole nation, II We lose every ship.
before would consent to cowardly
locking our dreadnaughts into sound
for the protection Of one group Of
states"
The chief Of sta6 turned from the
secretary Of war to the admiral beside
him.
"The superiority Of the enemy at
sea as reported by the Salem Is con.
servatively put at twenty-five to four.
teen against Us, u It notT' he ques,
toned.
Poe nodded. "Conservatively-and
:. we are able to assemble all our
arst line ships in time"
And that superiority Is absolutely
decisiye7'' The president inquired.
"a superiority Of 10 per cent has
usually proved absolutely decisive, sir.
The secretary Of the interior rose to
his feet. II recognize that this Is no
time tor sectional differences, but the
president has authorized me to advise
you Of the claims Of the part Of tho
country from which come and which
has appealed 30 me to represent 1t In
his council The citizens Of the Pa
cific coast states, alarmed by activ-
tiles on the other shore Of the Pacific.
have become convinced during the day
that as soon rs We Become involved
the eastern section Japan means to
love against California as she moved
%ainst Tsingtau when Germany was
rolyed. I have been receiving de-
knds from the governors of all the
western states, mayors Of cities
p prominent individuals to urge you,
std send our entire force Of first line;
tps through the Panama canal at
c. for the protection Of our western
the1 st
an9 You have Just heard that the pre-
Bnderance Of power in the Atlantic
in the hands Of the enemy. At best
bur navy may succeed In the Atlantic
In altering ths landing point Of the
enemy. In the Pacific II win be de.
cisive in protecting US from aggres,
sion. Further. unless adequate naval
protection is furnished the western
~ oh
to act for their own protection. That
means, gentlemen, that the western
ytates will not send troops to the aid
81 the east. The state of Texas al
ready has been obliged to station its
troops on the Mexican border to take
the place Of the regulars now with
drawn
The Californian sat down. The sec
rotary TO the president, who had en-
tered the room tho moment before,
advanced to the head Of the council
table and laid report before the
president and above It q telegram In
code with tho translation Of the code
words written in pencil below the
message. The president read the tee
gram, 1erked back. and then, con-
trolling himself, looked along the ia
BILE.
: THE question AZ to whether We are
to send our feet to the Pacific or keep
It in the Atlantic has been removed
from the field Of our discussion, gen.
tlemen. General Goethals has just tele-
graphed that the Gatum dam was de-
stroyed m hour ago by series of
charges Of high explosives. For six
months at least the Panama canal is
closed!"
'Then the feet must go around the
Horn to the Paci3cw
I'VE must offer battle at once in the
Atlanticr
I'VE must
For a few moments, as he read over
the brief report brought him by his
secretary, the president permitted the
storm OF debate to rage about him.
Then he silenced It gravely and said:
Gentlemen. the disposition of the
enemy's forces as just now brought to
me makes it impera tive that whatever
action we take should be ordered
without moments further delay, and