The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1934-01-11
with An Armed World And
Many Jealous Nations What Is
Key West As A Naval Unit
(By ALBERT C. RoBERTs)

Time and time again navy officers
| have tried to bare the condition OF
our armed forces when they have
either been courtmartialed or retir.
ed because they are hitch in the
administration. We can keep or
arguing and being pacifists but
when our destruction has been at
{ tanned it will be too late. The
administration in power now has
done more than the preceding
ones to strengthen our forces, for
some of the former ones have been
pretty destructive in being so paci.
fled as to listen to the prattle OF
| foreign nations and destroy oui
self respect by destroying oul
navies until we were almost a
peanut navy"
Works Miracles
Roosevelt has worked miracles
in the short time that he has been
| in office, for he is man with
such dynamic force that his mere
presence dominates the wills and
minds of others. Here is a mar
with no personal ambitions but t.
lift US out of the rut we were
heaved into. Come into a pori
where we have many naval de,
stroyers, you can see that many
of these ships are almost antiquat,
ed and far behind the. newer type:
that the other nations have beer
constructing.
81 firmly believe in peace, but
peace without honor and self re
spect is no peace at ALL" Theory
was all that could be heard at one
time when invasion by air squad
rons was talked about, well we car
see it is no longer, poison gas raid.
are no longer impossible. W.
should not depend 'on alliance,
alone, but be ready to defend oul
! ourselves. If we had had one oil
the most powerful navies at oul
command, do you think that some
of the smallest nations in Europe
even would have had the temerity
to declare that their debts to u
were not to be paid? 1t looks II
me Washington took it very light
/ ly and settled down to regular
routine, and congress had to fine
means to shift the burden on the
| public through different means Of
taxation. We may have powerful
'allies, but they are only ours al
long as it is advantageous to them
for the minute they see that W.
are weakening they will desert us
What happened during the Worlt
War? Did we not practically buy
Italy to come over with the Allies,
! She sold herself to the Allied ma
! tions.
/ Hard Feelings
Many nations today hold hare
feelings towards US, they woule
greatly consummate any plan thai
would enhance the quickening o.
our oblivion. Do not think tina
Japan bears any love for us, fol
/ we have done many things tha
have gained their hatred. What
about the European nations? They
! squabble at the League of Nations
and tell each other what they are
going to do regardless of the rest
and as for us the war debt has sui.
lied their honor and made then
virtual pirates of this modern day
and as far as we are concerned
we are alienated from them. j
would certainly please them to set
us embroiled in an armed conflic
with major power for they might
see a chance of saving their ma
1ional honor and share in the par
tition of our vast national wealth
| Roosevelt was very tactful wheI
he recognized Soviet Russia, fol
here is an alliance of consequence
If Japan should attack US in thu
Pacific, in just few hours Russis
would be able to begin a counter
defensive in the province of Man
, churia and rush some of her pow
erful air fleets to the island EN-
pire and with poison gas and in
cendiary bombs soon cripple them
Once a nation has been demoraliz
ed at home the troops at the from
soon suceumb. We are far acros
the Pacific and the Atlantic from
either continent and we do no
hear the continual undercurren
of political Vaccinations. Rumor
are being continually made tina
foreign aid is being given to on
Latin American neighbors in thei
/ upheavals, just so that disconten
win be sowed among them agains
US.
/ Should Open Yard
/ With all these conditions exist
ing and our part that we hav
played in the past. do not Sc
how government official eonl
say that we are not importan
enough 70 open the navy yard
Does he realize that the govern
ment spent a considerable sum O
money repairing the submarin
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