The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1921-07-15
IMP AIRING THE
c. G. EFFICIENCY
Incidentally -65 Local Men Will
Be Scattered North and
South -

Lie IoCCIlI government OIuCI
putting four Coast Guard Sta
tions on the North Carolina
coast on an inactive basis and re-
ducing the compliments Of II
other stations on this coast,
leaves the Seventh District U. S.
Coast Guard with an excess COM
plement of 65 enlisted men.
There are no vacancies in this
district for these men and it
means that just SO many men
will be transferred to other
Coast Guard Districts; probably
to the Ninth District on the Gulf
Coast or to the Tenth District on
the Great Lakes, where many
vacancies are said to exist.
The men will have no choice in the
matter. They are enlisted men, like
soldiers or sailors and they must go
where they are ordered The fact that
it pulls them up by the roots from
homes and neighborhood ties doesn't
concern those higher up. This is one
pitiful aspect of this Harding admin
istration economy measure. An admin
istration which does not hesitate to levy
a tax burden of $400,000,000 on the
country to build up a mighty display of
brute military strength. can't find two
or three millions dollars to keep a great
life saving service on an efficiency basis.
What is takes to build one modern bat
tleship which will be obsolete almost
before it is launched would run the en-
tire Coast Guard service for several
years.
But the efficiency of the Coast Guard
Service must be sadly impaired because
Congress can't find enough money to
run it. There arel thirteen Coast Guard
Districts, embracing 2S1 stations on the
Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific and Great Lakes
| coasts. Congress appropriated only So,
S56, 6,0S6.0O for this service in 1913 and
I it cost $S,069, ,327.25, leaving defici-
ency in that year of $2,214,241.25,
| which deficiency was made up by the
navy department. In 1919 Congress ap-
propriated 81, ,247, $500 for the Coast
Guard, and the deficiency that year was
| So, ,661 ,313.55. The figures for 1920 are
not available, but it is known that about
the same deficiency exists. At a sacri-
flee of the efficiency of the service, Con-
gress hopes to recover this deficiency.
1t doesn't seem to occur to any one at
Washington that a deficiency of two or
three millions annually could easily be
taken care of in the amount of ammuni-
ton wasted by a feet of battleships in
target practice.
How the reduction of the compile
ments of life saving stations works on
the North Carolina Coast may be real
lied by those who know the perils of
the four most dangerous points on the
Carolina Coast. Those great danger
points are Diamond Shoals, Hatteras
Inlet, Cape Lookout and Fort Macon.
The number of men at Diamond Shoals
and Hatteras stations have been reduced
from eleven to eight, which means that
with one man always on leave, there
are now only seven men left at each of
these stations; not enough in fact to-
properly handle life boat in storm.
At Cape Lookout the number of men
have been reduced from ten to nine; at
Z OEI SISAG hOh ASAC ~
do the work of ten.
At a meeting of the Board of Di-
rectors of the Elizabeth City Chamber
of Commerce Wednesday evening the
Secretary was instructed to send the
following letter to the Senators and
Representatives of North Carolina:
Dear Sir
The Elizabeth City Chamber Of Com
merce believing that the efficiency of
the Coast Guard Service has been i'm
paired to a deplorable extent by reduc-
ing the complement of the personnel
and placing several of the stations of
the Seventh District on inactive status,
urgently requests that you use your
great influence in behalf of the Service,
in order that a great injustice to the
maritime interests may be rectifed.
Very truly yours,
THE ELIZABETH CITY CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE.