The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-05-05

I For many years the poiicy of increased construction of naval craft looked toward
 the time when strong fleet in the Pa
 cific should give the same assurance on
 that coast as the Atlantic fleet gave to l the eastern coast. Manifestly this as-
 surance could not be granted until the | Panama canal was opened and the navy
 was big enough to organize two powerful
 fleets so constituted that. by means of
 the canal, they could be united in a
 few days.
 PROTECTS BOTH COASTS . The large increase in the number of de- stroyers (we will soon have 300 of the
 largest and best in exstence) and the completion and commissioning of new
 dreadnaughts and other craft have made
 possible what the protection of our 1 coasts has long demanded-the mainte- nance of powerful divisions of the Amer | ican fleet in both the Atlantic and the
 Pacific. The wisdom of this policy has l been questioned by those who have not
 taken the pains to understand the plans and organization and by some officers
 who think Jersey City is the western i frontier of the United States.
 ! If the Panama canal had not been com
 pleted this new organization could not have been adopted wisely. It was nanny ! for the purpose of making easy and quick pa ssage through the canal that the peo- ple were willing to invest so much money 1 in building the canal In fact, the real reason the canal was built when 1t was can be traced to the voyage or the ore gon around South America in 1885 That | lone trip. watched with almost feverish interest. fixed the determination to con- struct an isthman canal. It's building had heen thwarted time and again by ln- fluential men interested in transcohtl- mental railroads. They thought It's con l-str1ction would so decrease tner lreisne 1 rates more and more as big merchaht marine is maintained but the puslness ol our country expands so rapidly that there l is an abundance of freight Tor poth raii and water transportation companies.
 NO TOLL, ON NAVAL VESSELS k If was because the canal was built l largely for naval purposes that Presl- l dent Wilson upheld me in my conten- ton with the Secretary of War that
 no toll should be charged for naval
 vessels going through the canal. l The creation of a strong Paciflc 1 fleet was the result of long consid- | eration and study. Long before the l World war when Rear Admiral Canl- 1 eron McRae Winslow was made fuil
 admiral and placed in command or l Pacific fleet, then small and contain ! | him to make study of the needs or 1 the Pacific. Other officers were like | wise instructed to make similar l studies.
 k As a result, in 1914-15y I had decided | to organize a powerful Pacific fleet, which could be united with. the At | lantic fleet within few days notlce. 1 The World war postponed it's creation. When the time came, the expansion in
 Lo1 q we were able to constitute two fleets,
 each having 1S5 ships; aggregating for | eachi 525 900 tons, or 100000 more ton- maze in each fleet than composed the l whole fleet which "Fighting Bob
 Evans took around the world on that
 famous voyage ordered by President l Roosevelt.
 WARNING TO THE WORLD
 With the completion of the ships | authorized in the three-year pro- I gramme our navy will have strength
 unequaled by any other nation; and l the fleet when combined, will be an
 armada which will compel respect,
 and, I trust be warning to any na- l tion not to emulate Germany's greed
 for world conquest
 | The decision of the navy departm ment l to organize and establish new Pacific 1 fleet of strength equal to the Allan i tic fleet is based on sound reasons,
 both strategical and administrative. l The results of having the entire navy
 organized in two grand fleets the Att l lantic and the Pacific, will undoubt- | edly greatly improve the efficiency of 1 that navy as a whole, due to the fact that more war problem exercises on a | large scale can be carried out during I 8 yeats. work and these exercises can also be conducted on the two oceans l which are on the shores of the Upited
 States. In addition the spirit of compe-
 tition in the results to be obtained in 1 target practice. engineering records
 and other various forms of fleet ex-
 ercises and training will undoubtedly ] produce a fine effect on the morale.