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Show l' (j Pacific Coast Defense Weak; War Department Says Nothing BY GARDNER JACKSON Western Features Stuff Correspondent WASHINGTON, D. C, Feb. 10 War department officials to date continue silent regarding Pacific coast defenses, despite the steady pressure of congressmen and senators sena-tors from the region to get a statement state-ment of the department's attiude. This pressure has grealy increased since the Japanese-Chinese war became be-came so' threatening. The most officials of-ficials will say is that "they don't : need to worry on the Pacific coast, i The people there can be well pro- tected." Congressman Phil Swing of California Cali-fornia states that "so far as I know i nothing is being done about si h lengthening Ihe Pacific coast i defenses. Certainly I am for strengthening them and have been right along. I think we are confronted con-fronted with a serious situation at present out of which danger can arise." No War Scare "We ought to take calmly and quietly, without exciting anybody," he continues, "steps that are necessary neces-sary to protect our people with absolute certainty. I do not want " to be quoted in any way that can be interpreted as scare talk. That would be unpatriotic and would do harm. Besides, it is not the occasion oc-casion to talk that way. "The Pacific coast defenses have never been built up to the Atlantic coast defenses, and they should bo. ! We ask it now just as we asked it j last year and will ask it next." j "Popgun" Defenses Congressman Ralph Hon said I that "the Puget Sound defenses p could be cleaned out with a popgun." pop-gun." . He is pressing for action of some sort by the war department. War department officials admitted ad-mitted that they have had redoubled re-doubled demands for action, from the Pacific coast since the trouble : in China broke out. As a matter of i regular policy they, of course, re-! re-! fuse to divulge any plans they may have. They point to the approximately 6500 regular army men there are in the' artillery and infantry posts on the Pacific coast. This does not include the aviation service. They decline to reply to questions j as to the quality of the forts and j guns "on the coast. They enither af-! af-! firm 'nor deny that the guns and j other, implements of the defenses i are antiquated and inadequate, I |