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Show 'CONGRESS ACTS NOT TO b OFFEND JAPAN InlDl&the joint army m board suggested that tLx, av? States should construct 6(1 air and submarine ha.. maiot island of Guam. on the The proposal was Japan and disregarded iST by gress. In 1922, the disari, Cn-treaty Cn-treaty forbade the develop Guam into a base but ev6 ,0' the treaty expired, upon the aSt ciation of Japan, congress rem, ed unwilling to "irritate" j?"" and little more than drelwT commercial facilities was taken. 'Mr- It is interesting to recall . the Hepburn board of J a. cials, in 1938, concluded that S Guam fortified, "hostile operZ against the Philippines would T. precarious undertaking." The board reported that Guam if developed as a base, would 2' pede extensive hostile naval otw! ations, greatly simplifying ,,. problem in the Par East and . ducing "to its simplest terms n,, defense of Hawaii and the Unite States continental coast." The navy board made the spec! fic recommendation for hastening construction of new air and sub-marine sub-marine bases in outlying p0ase. sions "at the earliest practicable date." Among the places listed were three points in Alaska, Wake and Guam. 1 In the light of what has hap. pened in the Pacific during the present war, the American people can profit considerably by reflect, ing that the recommendations nf the naval and military authorities authori-ties of the country were more accurate, ac-curate, in so far as the security of this country is concerned, than the peace-prophecies of the members mem-bers of congress, "who were afraid to offend Japan." |