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base from Formosa north. The possession of Midway Island and Guam, therefore, would give uninterrupted cable communication from Midway to Japan and the whole Japanese base by way of both Guam and Yap, and at the same time would sever communication over our cables from Honolulu west to Guam and the Philippines. While the importance of cables may be somewhat curtailed due to the development of the radio telegraph, they are still a much surer and more secret means of communication. Several of the small islands and reefs between Midway and Niihau Island are not only suitable for the installation of observation posts and radio stations but also for landing fields and emergency airdromes. The distance of Midway Island from Yokohama and the Japanese base is some twenty-three hundred miles, or a couple of hundred miles more distant than Honolulu is from San Francisco. The difference in time being eight days by seacraft from Yokohama to Midway against seven days from San Francisco to Honolulu. The distance from Midway to the Aleutian Islands of Alaska is about thirteen hundred miles or four days by seacraft, thirteen hours by air.

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