The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-02-09

Islands, Magdalena Bay, in Mexico, and Esquimault, the fortified port of British Columbia. Thus-geogra- phically at least-our power over these shores is predominating for two-thirds of the width of that great ocean.
 ''Now, if you plot on chart the principal strategic positions in giV- en war area and draw lines connecting them, the position lying nearest to the common intersection of these lines is predominating, as the centre Of communications fof that area. "On this basis, as the chart shows, Hawaii is the strategic focus Of the eastern half of the North Pacific Ocean. This maanst that 8 fleet based |ythere can strike with equal ease, in offence or defence, at all points on the great arc of coast line from kis- ka to Panama. Hawaii thus domip- ates the whole strategic front formed by the shores of the eastern half of 1 the North Pacific Ocean.
 ] Similarly, the strategic lines of the western half of the North Pacific all itersect near our possession, Guam in I the Ladrone group, which is thus the l strategic focus of that half of the ocean-and hence a menace In war to i every position there, from 'Japan's northernmost one at Yetorofu and that of Russia at Vladivostok, down the Chinese coast to Singapore, in the Straits Settlements. We'll within the
 circle of Guam's protective area lie the Philippines, indefensible of themselves. i And, also, we'll within it's reach, stands that-now closing-'Open Door in China.
 1 "Steaming at 12 knots an hour from Panama it would take a fleet 16 days to- reach Honolulu, 23 to Guam and B to Manila. So, no fleet stationed on our western coast in war could pro- tect the Philippines and that Open Door, For their defence-and, to some extent, that of Alaska 2,000 miles from San Francisco-we must rely on our island bases, Guam and Hawaii. a
 Now consider the relation of these bases to- the defence of our western coast. For that coast, Guam and Ha- waii, if made ocean fortresses, would ! be our Malta and Gibraltar against aggression by any enemy sailing from the Far East. If, in war, we had strong fleets ba-ed there, no enemy i from Asiatic waters would dare to pass Guam without masking or re- ducing it and destroying or dispersing it's fleet. And, later. he would have a similar victory to win off Hawaii be- fore the Pacific coast would meet the shock of war
 And this. is not all From the southwestern extremity of Alaska stretches the long trail of the Aleu- tian Islands, the southern boundary of l Bering Sea. These islands overlap the Alaskan coast to some extent, their dangerous rocks guarding it like a fog enshrouded barrier Now, in Un- alaska, one of these mist yelled is-
 lands. there is an ice-free port. Dutch Harbor, which from it's location and it's great natural strength seems to have been designed as Alaska's chal- Elenging outpost-a sub-Arctic Gibral-
 tar, from which watching fleet could guard with ease the main channels of approach to that territory
 I And, further, this harbor, if devel-
 oped, would be a most effective aux Hilary to our chain of bases, stretch ling like the piers of a colossal bridge from Panama through Hawaii to Guam. The reason is that Dutch Harbor Honolulu and San Francisco are the vertices of an equilateraI tri- angle, each of whose sides is 2,OOo miles long-which is about the radius of action of fleet in war. This means that if either of the three were threat ened supporting forces from the other two b>uld reach it simultaneously and make united attack. And, finally, with Dutch Harbor fortified and an adequate naval force there and at Honolulu, the HawiianUnalaslxa line would form an ocean wall. 2,Oo0 miles long. through which the enemy, fanked on both sides, would have to break before it could approach -Four coast.
 There is still another considera-
 tion which makes our strategic con-
 trol of the North Pacific most fm- I portant in war. It has been reported that German crops in the last harvest were reduced by thirty-five per cent
 owing to the tremendous demand for .nitrates for use in explosives ! 'The same conditions would exist