Evening star., 1941-02-16
Guum-" -"AchiIIes' Heel"

which to construct passive defenSeS"
at Guam, our small island outpost in
| the North Pacific, serves to empha-
size anew the helpless position of this
Strategically important bit of Ameri-
can soil, surrounded as it is by Japa-
neSe inundated islands which are
thought to be heavily fortified. Guam
today is almost as helpless as it was
on the June morning in 1898, when
the United States cruiser Charleston
slipped into harbor, fired several
shots that were mistaken for Salutes
by the surprised inhabitants and
seized the island from Spain. The
SpaniardS at Guam did not know
that the United States was at war
with Spain, that Admiral Dewey had
won a signal victory at Manila only
a short time before The capture of
Guam was part of "mopping up"
expedition designed to consolidate
our gains in the Pacific.
If Guam was important then to the
strengthening of Americas Far East
ern position, it is more than ever
important in this era of japanese
aggression Once a water caSk re-
filling station for sailing vessels, the
island has become a vital refueling
spot for ships and trans-Pacific sea-
planes It lies on a direct line be-
tween Hawaii and the Philippines
and is less than 1900 miles from
Toxic. 1t is this proximity to Japan
that has aroused intense opposition
in Japan to previous American pro-
posalS for Notifications or for harbor
improvements at the island. Fears
that any military or naval develop
mentS at Guam might provoke Japan
to declare war on the United States
have thWarted congressional ap-
proval of the Navy's efforts in the
past even to obtain funds for so
innocuouS an undertaking as build
ing a breakWater or dredging coral
from the harbor.
Yet Japan has not hesitated to
strengthen her lines far out in the
Pacific whenever an opportunity pre-
sented itself 1t is interesting to
reflect upon the procedure by which
she came into possession of the
MarianaS, Caroline and Marshall
archipelagoeS during the first World
War and upon her record of manda-
tory control over them since that
conflict. When Japan took over GUS
tody of the islands in 1914, the
United States was assured that jap
anese occupancy was a temporary
expedient, scheduled to end with the
war. But militariStic factions in
Japan had other ideas, and they
began to express them in no uncer-
tain terms as the war progressed. At
the peace conference Japan made
outright demand for the Marianas,
Caroline and Marshall islands and
got although President Wilson
tried to exclude the international
cable crossroads on the island of Yap
Under the League of Nations man
date, Japan was required to refrain
from establishing military or naval
facilities of any kind on them More
over. she was required to submit to
the League annual reports contain
ing full information" regarding de-
velOpmentS on the islands. The most
recent report, for 1898, significantly
omitted an assurance, contained in
all earlier reports, that no fortitica-
tions were being built on the islands;
and it disclosed that extensive harbor
and dock works were under conStruc-
ton at Saipon, less than 200 miles
north of Guam. These projects OBJ
viously were being undertaken at the
very time that Japan was objecting
to similar harbor improvements at
Guam.
The Hepburn Board in 1888 recog-
nized the strategic location of Guam
in the broad scheme of our Pacific
defenses and recommended extensive
fortification of the island, at a cost
in excess of $1O0,O0O000. When Con-
greSS baked at such an "affront" to
Japan, the Navy substituted a plan
calling principally for erection of a
breakwater and removal of coral
reefs from the harbor, so that naval
and commercial seaplanes could land
safely. Naval experts declare the
island is an important listening
post" and aerial scouting base. But
for the past two years the Navy has
been unable to secure congressional
approval of this plan. Now the plan,
with amendments, has been pre-
Sented to Congress again. In addi-
ton to the harbor works, it is pro-
posed to build bombproof shelters of
purely defensive nature. Similar
passive defenSeS" are asked for
American Samoa, far to the South.
In the light of the developing Far
Eastern crisis, it is more than ever
imperative that these reasonable and
proper defensive measures be insti-
tuted without further delay. Con-
gress surely will not permit this
Achilles heel' in our Pacific defense
zone to remain vulnerable in the face
of such an ominous threat as the
aXis-supported new order in Asia"
The assistant director of traffic