small expense of completely fencing in both boundaries of the channel with electrically lighted spar buoys at intervals as short as the length of the smallest craft using it. If, with such a channel, the occasional fogs and occasional winds in this locality would materially interfere with its use by capital ships, then, unquestionably, serious consideration should be given to the abandonment of practically all of our existing naval stations. In this connection attention should be invited to the fact that there are relatively fewer fog days in the year in San Pablo Bay than in the lower bay and that the velocities of currents in San Pablo Bay are in general less than in the lower bay. It is admitted that any ships entering the Golden Gate would have to traverse the San Pablo Bay fogs in addition to the lower-bay fogs; nevertheless it must be an advantage to have fewer fog days in the anchorage immediately off the docking depot. There are winds in San Pablo Bay, but they are the same afternoon trades that are to be found in every locality on the bay. There are swift currents off the proposed docking depot water front, but they are not, as seems to be generally supposed, the swift currents of Carquinez Straits gorge, and, so far as observations taken during the past year permit us to judge, they do not materially exceed the current velocities off Hunters Point or between San Francisco and Goat Island. On the other hand, the Carquinez Straits site is the only site on San Francisco Bay which is afforded even a moderate protection from the southeast gales which have been so often destructive to shipping in the lower bay. I would like to state this, that I have spent a great deal of time personally at every site on the bay and feel that I am competent to express an opinion concerning prevailing and casual wind contingents. Labor conditions at Mare Island are considered by every industrial officer who has been on duty at that station during the past few years as approaching the ideal, in that the yard activities constitute the only labor employing establishment within the district. Labor depends upon the yard, and once it invests its earnings in homes it is prone to become permanently domiciled. The yard now draws labor from three thriving towns, and with the establishment of the Carquinez Straits depot it will unquestionably attract, by means of a direct 7-minute ferry, additional labor from the Contra Costa side. It will be free from the unsettled labor conditions of the larger cities on the lower bay and will then, as now, benefit by the wonderful community spirit of its employees. It would seem unnecessary to comment upon the railroad situation, but in order to make this statement complete I will invite your attention to the fact that the natural entrance to the bay district for northern and central transcontinental lines is through the Carquinez Canyon, and the two southern transcontinental lines have physical connections which give them also a terminal route through this canyon. With the causeway connection in commission, it will be seen that the Mare Island yard and the Carquinez Straits docking depot will have an all-land connection to every transcontinental railroad in the United States. In conclusion I desire to state most emphatically that I am in no sense an advocate for the Mare Island yard. I have no interest in presenting the Carquinez Bay project other than my interest in the Naval Service and in the Government, and, as a matter of fact, it is my justifiable ambition as district public works officer to build the base wherever it may be located. I am already on record with the department as desiring above all things a naval base on the Pacific in the shortest possible time and to the effect that, while I see no reason to change my opinions as submitted in my report of July, 1919, I would be only too glad to concur in any final decision which may be rendered by competent authority in order to get the base. With the shifting of the probable theater of war from the Atlantic to the Pacific, it must be apparent, first, that we want such a base badly; and, second, that we want it in the shortest possible time. I might add, from the standpoint of the taxpayer, that we want it at the least possible expense. None of these considerations would justify the selection of an unsuitable site from a military standpoint, but, granted that military requirements are satisfied by the site Í propose, as I sincerely believe them to be, I would surely be derelict in my duty as an officer and a public servant were I to fail to point out the very appreciable saving to the Government in time and in money attainable by the adoption of the Carquinez Straits site for the proposed naval base of the Pacific. I have in this statement attempted to outline briefly and in a very general manner the project I propose. I am now prepared to answer to the best of my ability any questions you may wish to put to me and to go into all engineering and cost features with such detail as you may deem advisable. As you are doubtless aware, I have had at my disposal neither the funds nor the authority for the preparation of design drawings or the inauguration of actual construction estimates, of quantities or costs, but I believe I am able to give you such preliminary data as may be reasonably expected at this stage of your work, |