Evening star., 1921-12-02
WEST COAST BASES
NEGLEcJED BY U. S.
Defenses on NtIantic Would,
Be in Excess of Any Par
ley Agreement.
NATION. FACES PROBLEM
Discussion IT Pacific Issue Will
Take Up Aggressive and De-
fensive Naval Positions.
Ry LEROY tn VERNON.
BY I.ER

When the question of naval bases
in the Pacific comes up Nor cons'uei"
ton by the conference IN the iihi'a
tion of armaments 1t wiHNbe found te
break into two parts. age anN
defensive bases. While tpah "e'
want TO know what the Uni,ed states
considers it's frontier in the :. fac liS
the Philippines on the m 1araI
what it's plan are for the m.
opment of naval bases at GUAM
Philippines and Hawaii, which m =,
have some bearing on the size on ~ ~,
adequate defensive naval armamS :"
for Japan. the important question ~
the people of the United States Is tin
matter of adequate, naval bases or
the Pacific coast mainland ABOUT
which there can be no matter OF ar
gument.
Too Many Bases on. Atlantic.
During the recent war American
naval bases on the Atlantic coast in
creased out of all proportion to the
needs of the Navy in time of peace
and in excess of any needs it might
have should the present conference
agree upon a limitation of naval arm
|. sments. During the same period naval
I defenses on the Pacific, never ade-
auate. were comparatively neglected
At the end of the war the naval fa-
cilities on the Atlantic coast were
TOUR times as great as those on the
Pacific. ample evidence in itself that
the Pacific yards and docking facili-
ties were not sufficient even for the
/ ordinary requirements of defense.
| When the Atlantic battleship fleet
was divided and half of the capital
ships sent TO the Pacific, the lack of
facilities even for this number of
~ srIlx lay ta1
At the present time the Navy has
two dockyards on the Pacific coast
capable of handling capital ships. one
at Bremerton. on Puget Sound. and one
at Mare Island, near San Francisco.
These yards are nearly 1000 miles
apart, with hardly a safe commercial
harbor between. to say nothing of a
yard in which temporary repairs
might be made. There are also two
smaller bases for destroyers and sub
marines. one at San Diego and the
other at San Pedro. both on the south
ern coast of California. The only
other naval station now owned by the
United States in the Pacific which is
capable of handling a capital ship in
dry dock is at Pearl harbor. in Hawaii,
2,100 miles from San Francisco.
Aim Mt Greater Efficiency.
1t is the expectation of naval experts
in attendance upon this conference
that smaller ~navies will make for
greater efficiency. Lord Fisher. one of
the most progressive of the recent
I naval leaders of England. said just
after the war that England could
scrap half her navy and still have a
better one than il she maintained the
whole, and this is the theory of the
experts relative to the navies which
this conference will agree upon. They
are to be purely defensive navies.
maintained in the highest state of
efficiency. but reduced to such a size
!. that aggression against another power
across wide oceans will be too hazard
mess. however, the necessity Of pro-
viding them with every facility for
defense is increased in proportion.
While Japan and the United States
may discuss the subject of the future
policy of the United States in the
Philippines, and Japan may question
the fertilization of Guam, regarded by
many Americans as an outpost of
Hawaii. there will hardly be any
question raised in the conference on
the subject of mainland defenses and
naval facilities. Japan is adequately
provided at home, but the United
States is not SO provided so far as
the Pacific coast is concerned
Changes Long Recommended.
For more than two years the Navy
Department has been urging upon
Congress the necessity of providing
these facilities. A board has reported
strongly recommending that the in
adequate Mare Island yard be sup
planted by a new yard at Alameda,
where narrow channels and shallow
waters do not hamper the movements
of capital ships. They would also en-
large the Bremerton yard and i'm
prove the smaller bases which are
new and not yet fully developed.
While the facilities on the Pacific
coast are such that it is possible to
make ordinary repairs, provided there
is ample time to make them. they are
not equipped for emergency purposes,
neither are they adequate to take
care of the whole American fleet if
it should ever be assembled on that
coast for defensive reasons. Thus far
the Navy has been discouraged in it's
endeavor to build up its Pacific coast
stations, both by Congress and by the
public but the fact remains that one
coast is entitled to as much protec-
tion as the other. and with a navy
reduced to defensive proportions this
fact will be a matter of greater i'm
portance, hereafter than it has ever
been before.