The daily worker., 1924-09-24
WILBUR PULLED
BONER IN WEST
WITH WAR TALK
Cal Finds No Hope in
California Vote
lspeeIaI to The oaIIy workerl

/ navy, MS own SSleCLtOng WllpuT(
has lined up with Fall and Dem
oy, demanding that the oil be-
pumped from the naval reserves.
Whether he has been recalled
to Washington and muzzled
solely because of his Japanese
war speeches, or whether this
disclosure of a plot to repudiate
the work of the Senate and
House in restoring the oil re-
serves, safe in the ground, to
the navy department, is one Of,
the things that has alarmed his
cautious chief, is a question:
which the White House does
not choose to answer. I
The fact is that the head OF tha
navy department, after visiting the
Elk Hills naval lands in company with
oil company spokesmen and Admirali
Rousseau, government receiver forl
the contested property, on Sept 10.
made speech to the Petroleum Club
of the town of Taft, California. In
that speech he praised the patriotisml
of the oil company men, ridiculed the,
attacks made upon them, and de-
clare6 that it was as essential thatl
the oil fuel for the navy be above /
ground ready for immediate use in
war, as that the ore for the makingi
of guns be not lying in the ground
when the crisis arrived. High-salariedl
representatives of Standard Oil, the
Honolulu Oil Co, the Doheny inter-
ests and other oil concerns cheered(
loudly. Wilbur then repeated the
hints he had given in his San Franz
cisco speech on Sept 5th, that war
with Japan was always possibility
and that he was getting the navy
ready to defend the Pacific coast.
The Bakersfield Echo, which cir<
culates thruout the Doheny kingdom
of Kern county, hailed this pledge Of
oil-pumping. on the part Of Coolidge's
naval secretary, as a most reassuringi
utterance. It spoke of the "threaten-i
ed" leases of Doheny and Standard.
Oil in the California fields, as though
Wilbur had brnshed aside the action
Of congress and the suits brought ss.s-
the federal courts by the federal gov
ernment to cancel these leases and
punish the crime which brought about
their signing. The administration had
lined up with Doheny and Sinclair and
DENLY and Fall; the reserves would
be pumped out. and all this nonsense
about naval oil reserves would be a.
vaudeville joke. The policy of the
navy for all the years since conserva-
tion began would be scrapped. Hur-
.rah for Doheny and Rockefeller and
Wilbur!i
Coolidge Canned in California. n
But alas, in the same mail with the,
newspaper clipping bearing this songl
of jubilation from the oil fields, came
a report from Gus J. Karger, veteran
standpat correspondent in Washing,
ton for the Cincinnati Times-Star.
which is owned by Charles p. Taft
brother of Bill Taft Gus has been
touring the west, seeking to find en-
agement. He had reached San Fran
cisco, had talked to the Crockers and
Wilburs and the smaller fry, and hadI
sadly conveyed to news that the Cool
idge managers in California concede
that LaFollette would carry the state,
if the election were held at this time
Pushing Towards War;
In his San Francisco speech, VIII
bur remarked that "The navy is of
particular importance to the Pacific
coast not only because Of the belief,
that the last acts of the drama OF
civilization will not ocur in and around
the Pacific ocean, but because Of the
economic significance of the basing OF
the fleet upon the Pacific coast" He
did not say when the last acts" were
due but his hearers could almost
hear the guns roar-and see the sup.
ply contracts signed
Then. after defense of the anti
Japanese immigration law, this del
icately diplomatic statesman closed
with the words 1T has been a great
personal satisfaction for me to come
down the coast with $4,000 sailors
wearing the American uniform in
ships adequate for their own protec.
tion and for the protection OF our
coasts, both east and west. from the
aggression of any people Influenced,
as all people may be, by some ex-
tension of the mob spirit, some out
burst OF passion, or some real or
fancied insult. There is nothing Sc
cooling to hot temper as a piece
OF cold Steel There Is nothing so
conducive to calm and cool delibera.
tion as the contemplation OF adequate
means Of defense OF our opponent"
California is rather strong for
world peace. II does not think there
is immediate necessity for handling
the oil regorvaq IN nohanv xxyttk..