Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-25

rhilsdslphis Agrees Win Him That I
Should Have Fcrtyfoct Channel and
the Greatest Naval Station

ALL Cnat is neeueu W uVupie OH"
"A treble the business of this port and
to make the League Island Navy Yard
the greatest naval station on this hemi-
sphere is the determined purpose OF the
citizens of Philadelphia.
The natural advantages that this port
offers are appreciated by shipping men.
Before the war began Hog Island had
been selected by great shipping cor
poration as the site for big system OF
docks and railroad terminals, after look
ing over the whole Atlantic seaboard for
the most favorable location. The neces-
sitics of the war have compelled the
building of the Hog Island plant not
only as n terminal. but as a shipyard.
We lave its facilities now to supplement
those which the city itself is providing.
Tho Government has set aside S1O,OOO,OOO
for building drydocks here to accommo-
date the ships that will enter the port.
Every naval stratcgist who has ex-
pressed himself on the subject has agreed
that the League Island Navy Yard is
mos. admirably located for the develop
mcnt into the big naval base of the
nation on the Atlantic. 1t is far enough
from the sea to be safe from attack and
it is within tho limits of city from
which all the labor necessary can be
drawn.
Rear Admiral Hughes. the new COM
mandant at the yard, calls the attention
of the city to the great future which
awaits it. His belief in the advantages
of League Island is to be expected, be-
cause he is naval expert. What is
more interesting is his belief in the COM
mercia future of the city. He insists
that a thirty-tivc- foot channel is not deep
enough, but that forty-foot channel
should be demanded by the business men
because it is needed to accommodate the
biggest ships. He is urging US to go to
Washington and insist on the necessary
appropriation to secure that depth of
water from Frankford to the sea.
Every outsider who has studied the
subject agrees on what should be done
and on what can be done if we will do
our part. This newspaper is persuaded
that the business mon of the city are
determined to remove the blight from
which the port has been suffering for
years. Arrangements have already been
made for q campaign in favor Of the
forty-foot channel and a meeting of the
joint committees for the development of
the port is to be held next week to per-
feet the details
There never was a more oppo-tune
moment for carrying such an enterprise
to a successful conclusion than the pres
ent. The Government is in sympathy
with the project, for it is committed to
the Hog Island terminal, which cannot
be used to its full capacity without i'm
proving the river channel.
Philadelphia has had an object lesson
in the way to do big things in big way.
It has been exposed to the contagion of
the large view and it is not immune
Indeed. it has already become infected.
Unless all signs fail. when peace comes
we shall be found with well-organized
program for growth, based on the con-
viction that the nation needs another
great port on the Atlantic, not to rival
the port of New York, but to accommo-
date the business which New York is not
big enough to take care of. AS the
interior of the country develops, the
facilities for handling its exports and
imports must develop along with it,
unless there is to be stagnation Our
determination to serve the country and
thus to benefit ourselves is the force
which will finally overcome all difficulties
and bring about utilization of our un-
rivaled fresh-water harbor by the ship
ping Of the world
We have confidence in the outcome
because we have confidence in the energy
and initiative of Philadelphia.