Word: guam
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Geographic nub of the system of 23 new or expanded bases in the Pacific outlined by the Navy is the Island of Guam. A glance at the geography of the Pacific (see map} is enough to tell anyone why that 210-square-mile, mountainous wart on the Pacific may one day be a spot as important as Gibraltar. After the war Japan was given a mandate over the once German Caroline Islands. The Caroline Islands lie across the U. S. route to the Philippines, and Guam lies across the Japanese route to the Carolines. In 1922 the Washington Naval...
...strong U. S. base at Guam as proposed by the Navy Department in the report drafted by Rear Admiral Arthur J. Hepburn would place a standing force of U. S. planes, submarines and perhaps capital ships where they would be within practical fighting distance of 1) the Carolines, 2) the Philippines, 3) Japan-all well within an effective 1,500 mile radius of action. It would also make possible cooperation with Britain's air and seapower at Singapore in case Japanese tried to seize the Philippines and go on toward British and Dutch possessions in the East Indies...
...Tokyo last week a Japanese naval spokesman barked: ". . . Placing a gun against a neighbor's door. . . . Nothing but advanced bases for long distance attack upon Japan." In Washington Congressmen, including Idaho's Senator William E. Borah, grumbled their doubts, signaled tough going for the Guam plans...
Franklin Roosevelt quickly disowned personal responsibility for a fortified Guam. He simply conferred with Chairman Vinson of the House Naval Affairs Committee, let that gentleman introduce a bill authorizing $5,000,000 to dredge the harbor at Apra, make the island usable for planes. His real purpose was clarified by his secretariat, which approvingly referred to Columnist Walter Lippmann: "Congress should authorize the fortification of Guam, and then the State Department should invite the Japanese to discuss the question." (A U. S. threat to fortify Guam helped to win Japan's agreement to the 5-5-3 naval ratio...
...whole Hepburn base program would cost perhaps $1,500,000,000, and Franklin Roosevelt's allotment of $44,000,000 would only start it. But the Guam base was enough to excite Congressmen and some officials of the State Department, who feared that it might irritate belligerent Japan...