832.3421/48
The Ambassador in Brazil (Morgan) to
the Acting Secretary of State
Rio de
Janeiro, May 9,
1919.
[Received June
5.]
No. 1494
Sir: The two enclosures to this despatch
contain a translation of the portion of the Annual Message to Congress,
delivered on May 3rd, of the Acting-President of Brazil,16 relative to
the construction of a new naval base and the summary of an interview on
that subject which the Minister of Marine gave a representative of the
Jornal do Brazil subsequent to the
publication of the said message.
These two extracts indicate that the construction of the arsenal is one
in which the Government is deeply interested. This is relative to the
proposal of Vickers-Armstrong, a translation of which was forwarded to
the Department in my despatch No. 1324 of July 22nd, 1918, and which the
Department subsequently informed me had been handed to the Bethlehem
Steel Company for study.
[Page 215]
If American corporations intend to take part in this construction they
should lose no time in giving the matter their earnest attention. The
presence in Brazil of Mr. William S. Barclay, the representative of the
Federation of British Industries, is undoubtedly connected with the
Vickers-Armstrong proposition from which we may expect to hear again at
any moment.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure
1—Translation]
Extract from the Annual Message of President
Pessoa to Congress, May 3, 1919
It is impossible to have an efficient marine without properly
equipped and situated naval bases. Our resources do not permit us to
solve this problem entirely but we should not delay in erecting the
first of such naval bases—which should be the most important of a
series—possessing a capacity to meet the requirements of our fleet,
in any emergency, in order to avoid the necessity of our applying to
foreign establishments for help. We shall not require large sums of
money for this purpose for we should give to our Arsenal an
industrial character and adopt therein a financial system whereby a
moderate interest on the capital would guarantee the sums spent on
erection; the shops ought to be self supporting when not in actual
operation for the Navy. It would be wise, also, that facilities
should be given to the Arsenal to produce iron and steel, thus
placing the producing and consuming plant side by side.
The expense of this undertaking will bring in as good returns as any
of the public works. Our Arsenal would be in a position, in war
time, to supply us with the entire necessities for our naval
defense; in peace time its activities would be directed toward the
greater progress of the country, by the construction of merchant
ships, locomotives, rails, etc., thus reducing expenses in order to
effect the payment of the guaranteed interest above mentioned.
Military defense would thus be allied to economic defense, war
industries to pacific enterprises—and this problem would be solved
in a manner which would correspond to the present necessities of the
world situation and to our actual financial situation. The yearly
expense would not greatly exceed the sum which we expend at present
on our naval installations.
Great discussion has arisen over the locality of this base, the
general idea in naval circles being that it should be away from Rio
de Janeiro. In the beginning of the year the Minister of Marine,
desiring to find out the opinions of the admirals on this point, in
order to obtain fop the government the advice of experts, called
[Page 216]
a meeting of the Council
of the Admiralty. At this session [over] which he presided, it was
unanimously decided that this naval base should not be constructed
in the port of Rio de Janeiro; a large majority voted for its
construction in the Ilha Grande bay.
There are many reasons, besides military ones, why this situation
should be adopted. There are many waterfalls on the island which
could be made to supply power sufficient for the entire plant; we
would thus not have to depend on foreign coal. Another advantage
lies in the fact that it is connected by railways under construction
(and other[s] authorized but not actually under construction) with
the regions producing iron and manganese—which facilitates the plan
of operating referred to above.
It has been exclusively owing to the reduced appropriations of the
budget that our equipment has become as inadequate as it is; perhaps
it would be more correct to attribute this inadequacy to the lack of
proper shops and yards which would permit us to turn to better
account the sums voted to the Navy.
As long as we leave this problem—of the construction of naval
bases—unsolved, and do not make a start in this direction by
building the first of a series of arsenals, the efficiency of our
fleet will be materially impaired.
[Enclosure
2—Translation]
Interview with the Brazilian Minister of
Marine (Alencar) published in the “Jornal do Brazil,” May 6, 1919
We are absolutely dependent upon other countries for equipping our
naval defense and are less advanced in this respect than were the
Portuguese settlers in colonial times. These possessed Naval bases
at different points along the coast. There were Navy Yards in Para,
Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and Santos which were prepared to make
the needed repairs. Today, we have a more up-to-date fleet, but we
lack the necessary equipment for its upkeep. It is essential that we
possess the means to manufacture readily any piece of machinery or
make any repair that a “dreadnought” may need.
It is with this in mind that we are formulating plans for
establishing five Naval bases along the coast. We are in sore need
of such bases. The Naval Staff are carefully studying the grounds
before determining upon the sites. Rio de Janeiro, it is agreed,
shall not be included among these bases, for in time of war the
enemy could there cripple the fleet as well as control the port and
seize the seat of Government. Although this will be an undertaking
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of magnitude, it does
not necessarily involve the expenditure of large sums by the
Government. The latter will simply assist private capital to
establish these bases. With a guarantee of a certain dividend upon
the amounts invested, it should not be difficult to interest men of
wealth and ability. These concerns would have the privilege of
engaging in the exploitation of ores and the construction of
merchant ships, or of following any other industrial pursuit. Thus
in time of war, the necessary equipment for the maintenance of the
fleet would be available while in time of peace these bases would
serve their purpose economically.
These naval bases will be under the direct supervision of the
Government with the proviso that they may be taken over later if so
desired.
This plan will mean economic and industrial progress in the country
and provide for the construction of a merchant fleet, of locomotives
and everything which pertains to iron and steel. Some of us may
object on the ground that we have no coal, but such conclusions do
not appear logical for we have iron and manganese ore, and we simply
need to import coal to transform these raw products into
manufactured articles.
