The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1921-11-09
VIVID EXAMPLE, VI ::
Or. NAVAL GROWTH
LOCKS OF THE PANAMA CANAL
ALREADY ALMOST TOO SMALL
FOR BIGGEST WARsAIPs.
ADVANCES OF EIGHT YEARS
Continuous and Rapid Development in
Il Size and Efficiency Of War Materiel
Has Bearing on the Conference on
Arnaments. sar ~ go.
ay EDWARD 3. CLARK.

.sa 6y ED"AHD 3. SLAnN.
WashingtOn.--It was only eight
years ago that the water from Gatun
lake was turned into the Culebra cut
NOW known us the Gaillard cut. The
lcanal then was opened for commerce
land for the passage Of battleshlps.
lit was thought ut that time, october,
1913, that the locks had been made
large enough to accommodate any war
vessel which was likely to be built
for a century to come. Yet today,
only eight years from the time of the
3Opening of the waterway, there are
ships Of the American navy which have
Ito "scrunch' in order to get through
THE Gatun, the Pedro Miguel and the
,MiraflOreS locks.
y, This fact has some bearing on the
conference for the limitation OF arma-
#iments and Far East problems. al
Though on the surface 1t may not seem
lin any way to be related to the prob
lens to be solved. / There may be Il
Limitation set on the NUMBER of ships
(which any nation may keep III COM
mission, and there may be ordered
la reduction in the number of vessels
lat present commissioned in the various
jnavies. but it is known, of course,
that every country will be allowed
Ito keep a navy Of sufficient size TO
tprOtect its various Interests.
Il OF course there will be navics in the
future just as there are navies today
;s, hrli
will he done at the conference to pre-
went improvements and enlargements
Iof the ships OF the present time when
vessel requirements are necessary ana
are authorized under the rules govern
ing limitation agreements.
{ 1t has been suggested from time to
time, more because Of the humor or
fancy than for any other reason. that
the nations Of the world go back to the
days of old wooden ships and smooth
bore guns in order to save money Tor
the taxpayers. The argument was that
III no nations had anything but wood
en- ships and smooth bOres they would
zlbe on the same war level as they are
\ when each possesses its steel-clads and,
its 16-inch rifles.
W. What Future Battles May Be.
OF course any, such, suggestion as
$this instantly wis repudiated,s but It,
4 is within the range Of remote posi-
Utilities tllat something may be. sug- i;
fgested ut the coming conference to
bring a pause TO the further develop
4ment Of destructive engines Of war
fare. Probably, Of course, this will.
mot be done, and If science and inven-.
.Itlon 20 forward as they have gone for-'
ward in the last so years, the day will
come when man cfnnot 60 to war on
sen or land without knowing that
sleither his army or his fleet, or the
army or the fleet Of the enemy is to
.Ibe annihilated. No one left to tell
(, the tale, may be the history OF some
great battle of the future.
! A few weeks ago 1900 marines Of
the United States navy engaged in
battle maneuvers at the Wilderness
!, where the Grant and Lee forces met
i flfty-odd years ago. Such has been
?; the Improvement, If you want to call
it Improvement in the machinery Of
/ war that il those 1000 marines, armed
as they were the other day and with
fall the modern machinery of warfare
at thejr command, had met in actual
!battle on the field force numerically
! equal TO the combined armies Of Grant
I and Lee, armed as those armies were
In 1864, the marines could have swept
I! the combined forces opposed to them
have lost q man. 70
T lin the Spanish war there was an
\ American. merchant vessel which had
been converted into Il cruiser. II
mounted four 5-incll guns. 1t was just
"a merchant vessel and yet alone ii
! could have destroyed in battle every
I llan-of-war which the North and the
i South together put on the Bseas in the
I days OF the Civil war, and could have
done it la single fight.
Z, One Of our newest and greatest bat
.5tleships today could destroy without
Il much of an effort the combined Ameri
1 can and Spanish fleets as they existed
in the days of the Spanish war; The
4BrOok1yG, the New York. the Oregon.
i tile Indiana. the Iowa, and all the
4 rest plus the steel clads of Cervera
4 would Lave been sent to the bottom
.after.a short. enga cement with one, cap.
.tital ship Of our present day navy.
I ignorance in Reds Attack. .-..'~-
In the attempt OF the Red element
Itof human society to assassinate the
I AMERICAN ambassador to France,
Myron L. Herrick, and in threats OF
violence to United States ambassadors
and consuls elsewhere, there is seen
new evidence Of the fact that certain
i foreigners still! are unable TO titferen.
tiate between the federal government
of the United States and the indtvidu-
3fal governments of the states.
Ambassador Herrick, directly or in
slirect!y, had as much to do in an Off.
y eial way viii, the trial and conviction
8Hof the two Italians who committed
murder in: Massachusetts as he had or
4 has had to DO with the market price