Newton D. Baker to Woodrow Wilson

Among the very necessary things incident to the testing of artillery and artillery ammunition is a proving ground. For a great many years the Army has had its proving ground at Sandy Hook, sometimes shooting out to sea, and sometimes along the shore. The increased range of modern artillery has rendered the landward shooting at this place less and less possible, and the number of clear days upon which observations can be made with sufficient certainty to make it safe to shoot seaward there is so small that the necessary proving of large quantities of ordnance has become impracticable. An exhaustive search has been made up and down our Atlantic Coast for another ground. Altogether, the best place found is Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay, some twenty miles below Baltimore. Kent Island is oblong, about fifteen miles in length, giving an opportunity for land shooting and observation of the effect of shells. The island is inhabited by about two thousand people, most of them tenant farmers, and while the land is fairly good agricultural land, it is of relatively low price because of its inaccessibility. When the Ordnance Department decided to move from Sandy Hook, the investigations of its experts centered upon Kent Island, and a large number of options were taken on land there, developing the fact that by far the greater majority of the people on the island were willing if not anxious to sell and move to the mainland nearby. When it was discovered, however, that the Government was the prospective purchaser, a very great deal of sentiment was worked up against the project on the ground that it was requiring a simple and somewhat Arcadian people to move from an island where their ancesters for several generations had lived. Undoubtedly, some of this sentiment is genuine, but it is quite certain that much of it has been created recently. I was at first much moved by it, and caused independent investigations to be made, all of which led me to the belief that Kent Island is not only ideally situated, but that the hardship to the resident population would be slight in comparison with any other available area. The need for such a proving ground has meanwhile grown until it is now absolutely necessary, and among the purposes for which General Crozier desired an allotment from your emergency fund was the purchase of a proving ground. I feel disposed to authorize the acceptance of the options already secured and appropriate steps to secure the rest of the island. In view, however, of the fact that some sentiment has been created on this subject, I think I ought to lay it before you so that whatever criticism there is will not come unawares. I think all of the Baltimore papers have been discussing this subject and are in agreement that Kent Island is an appropriate place. For the most part, the Maryland Delegation have felt that the Government ought to take this island, but they have not been very outspoken in their approval of it. The only objection is the one of sentiment, and if I knew where to find any area similarly safe for the purpose, I would not make this recommendation.

If you desire any fuller statement of facts about the situation, I have a very voluminous record which I can abstract for you. My judgment is that if you authorize us to go ahead we can sustain any action taken, first, on the ground of its urgent necessity; second, on the ground of its obvious superiority and availability, and, third, on the ground that the disturbance of sentiment is not greater than would probably be necessary in any like area.