Evening star., 1938-10-30

The American Navy has been awakened
with abrupt and startling suddenness to
the dour possibility that it may have to
fight heavily Warmed enemies at the same
time on two wide fronts-the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans.
While this possibility always has been
taken into account in the plans Of the
Navy General Board, which must foresee
all contingencies, never until recently had
it seemed very real. Indeed the fact that
since World War days the fighting strength
of the United States Navy has been con-
centrated almost entirely in the Pacific,
with only few light cruisers. destroyers
and submarines scattered along the Allan
tic seaboard. shows the trend Of American
naval thought.
But the growing power Of the Fascist
bloc" dramatized by its recent diplomatic
victory over the democratic states in the
Czechoslovakian crisis. and the current
menace to the British Empire at three vital
points on its life line" have completely
revolutionized Americas naval thinking.
With British sea power supreme, it was
unthinkable that any European state would
attempt colonial expansion in Latin Amer
lea in violation Of the Monroe Doctrine.
For the British have had the same interest
in an open door" in Latin America that we
have had there. But now, with British
power threatened dangerously in many
Monroe Doctrine against Fascist expansion
becomes almost exclusively an American
naval responsibility. This, of course, is quite
aside from our problem of protecting
American citizens and interests in other
parts of the world and our emotional COM
mitments to democratic institutions.
Therefore it is considered almost certain
that when the Presidents aides have COM
pleted their current study of Americas
armament needs and drafted legislation to
be submitted to Congress in January this
will be found to include naval authorize
tions and appropriations considerably in
excess of those which were planned even
two months ago.
Navy Second to None"
An American Navy second to none
perhaps even an American Navy superior
to all"-is the dominant note in Washing
tons thought on sea power today. And this
thesis is finding unprecedented support
throughout the country.
Although 1t is too early to predict the
exact scope Of Americas immediate build
ing program. informed sources expect that
Congress will be asked to appropriate for
at least large part of the battleships
2 cruisers, 81 destroyers and 9 submarines
authorized under the Vincent -Trammel
act for which no funds have been pro-
vided. 1t is likely, too, that authorizations
ships, particularly destroyers and destroy
er leaders.
The imminence of American naval ex-
pansion makes several questions timely:
What are this countrys naval responsible
tiles? Where does the United States Navy
stand today with reference to potential
enemies? What is our capacity for expan-
sion?
No country, even Great Britain, has q
more far-hung naval front to protect than
the United States. In the Pacific the de-
fensive front-our line of naval protection
against Observation-Disclosures thousands Of
miles in a great triangle from Alaska to
Honolulu-the apex-back to the north coast
of South America. Protection Of American
territory and citizens extends our naval re-
sponsibilities even further west-to the
Philippines and the China coast.
In the Atlantic area, the zone of Amer
ican naval protection has been thought Of
previously as stretching from Maine
through the Caribbean to the north coast
of South America, with particular en-
phasis on protection of our Eastern indus
trial cities and the Panama Canal. How
ever, need for upholding the Monroe Doc
trine by force would vastly expand our re-