Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-24
SINGAPORE BASE
STILL mud FLAT"
Huge Floating Dry Dock Only
Sign of Station That Will
Guard Pacific.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

special DlSpalCn 10 Inc star.
SINGAPORE, August 24-In the
motion pictures they call it the city, of
sin" In the world of politics, of ship
ping and or high finance it is called
the 'crosS roads Of the world" for
Singapore is all things to all people:
In few places is there such amazing d1-
verSity of races, of business interests
and of occupations. In no place Is there
such a concentration of factors hav-
ing so vital bearing on the welfare of
the world at large.
East meets West in Singapore They
come together with a clash that is
gratifyingly sharp to the traveller who
has been trying to sense the diStinc-
lions between the two halves of the
world. One can sit on a terrace
few miles out of the city itself and,
in the cool of the evening, watch the
ships coming and going through the
narrow straits between Singapore and
the islands that fringe it; for at Sing
apor, the eastern entrance to the Pa
cific, as at Panama, its western coun-
terpart, ships must pass through mar
row place.
The streets of Singapore with their
big foreign banks and shops, their hus-
ting groups of European and American
business men, and their wild medley
of OrientalS, from the Chinese coolie to
the black Tamil of Southern India, have
often been described and can never be
forgotten when once seen.
British Build Naval Base.
From the standpoint of commerce
alone, Singapore is vital place to all
the world, place to be kept, as 1t now
is, in the hands of people like the Brit
ish, who appreciate its value and I'M
derstand its care and management. But
from yet another standpoint Singapore
will soon be a unique and startegic
center I refer to the Singapore naval
base, now in process of construction
and which is sure to have decisive
effect for peace or war.
AT this very minute the Singapore
naval base is an active factor in world
politics. 1t may become an issue in
British nolitics. where it has already
frequently entered the arena, because
of its immense cost. estimated at some
where between S165, 900 and $780,
100000, and because England, like the
United States, has so-called pacif1stS
who cannot understand that armament
peaceful mission.
In the strategy of the Pacific, where
the next decisive world drama may be
staged. the Singapore base Is OF even
greater actual moment. AS things now
stand, the British fleet cannot property
base farther east than Bombay, thus
limiting its scope of action. When the
Singapore base is finished this massive
fleet can base there and extend its
radius of effective action to the Far
East and Australia. In other words,
any peoples having designs on Australia
and Australians think there are sew
eral-muSt act pretty soon If they are
going to act at all, for in 10 years, 1t
is estimated, the base will be complete,
and then no one can touch that corner
of the British Empire. For this reason
the Singapore base is of vita concern
to the overpopulated countries OF the
Far East. All plans, political and mill
tary, must be made and are being made
with that in view.
Visitor Welcomed to Base.
Knowing the British gift for doing
things in style, with plenty of uniforms
and brass buttons, your correspondent
expected large granite gateway, carved
with the royal coat of arms, and In
front of 1t some smart sentrieS march
ing to and fro. It seemed that that
was the least they could do in such an
impressive and important place. But,
as it turned out, 1 hardly realized
was at the naval base when I finally
arrived. A small white wooden sign
with the legend H. M. Naval Base"
was all the notification there was. There
were no massive barriers-just an iron
railing, with an Indian standing at
the door, his hands in the pockets
of his raincoat.
Driving in, clerk told me what
there was to see. There were only
some shops Cfor repairing the great
ships, the great floating dry dock and
then the quarters Of the naval engi-
neers Did l want to take a look at
the floating dock? Then I had better
walk to the end Of that rotting wooden
pier, a hundred yards away, where I
could see it ALL
Sees Great Dry Dock.
I walked to the end of the rotting
wooden pier, fearing that might at
any moment go through, and there
saw the placid bit of water, as I'M
touched and primitive as anything
could be, and floating on its surface in
the glow of the sunset the immense
dry dock, as grim an emblem of mod |
ern science as could be imagined. A
fish tipped out of the water-that was
the only sound. The floating dry dock, |
which is big enough to accommodate a
battleship, reared its monumental gray |
sides to heaven and seemed strangely |
out Of place. |
It was hard to conceive of anything |!
as important and at the same time as
unostentatious. In an entirely differ |
ent way from what one expects, one |
leaves the naval base strangely and i
strongly impressed, for the eyes Of the |
leaders of the world are on that appar- |
emily clustered and forgotten spot, and |
what happens there may some day be
Of vital concern to every one of us.