The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-01-07
REoRGANIzINa rnE NAyY

1 nEOhdANiLlNd InE NhN1s
Those who dread new remedies, must abide oil
| evils. "-Bacon
To Mr.. t. WHITE,
Editor Of the Southern Literary Messsngev
This number exposes some Of the evils ant
abuses incident TO the system by which tn
Navy is at present conducted; it proposes re
medy for them, and suggests plan Tor reor
ganizing and putting the Navy on proper foot
ing Though addressed to you, the attention Q
the Committees on Naval Affairs in Congress u
invited to il and each member Of those com
mittees is respectfully requested to consider thu
following remarks and statements 10 be address
ed personally and individually TO himself
When the Frigates of 1898 had been built
and legislation had commenced with regard to Q
Navy in time Of peace, one Of the first enact
ments of Congress, was 10 fix by law the maxi
mum number of men and boys TO be employed
in the Naval Service Of the United States. in
the reduction, which, in 1901, succeeded the
French war, the rank Of Commander was aDo-
lished, and the number Of Captains, Lieutenants
and Midshipmen was made by statute 10 con.
sist of one hundred and ffty-nine of the last,
thirty-six of the second, and twelve OF the hrst
The exigencies Of the service, during the Tri-
poitan war, soon convinced the government q
the necessity there was for multiplying grades,
even in so small a Navy as we then had and
the grade of Commander was re-establlshed.
The honors of this new grade served both as
reward and incentive to the young officers be-
fore Tripoli The feats OF gallantry there en-
acted tell of the noble impulse which was then
given TO our youthful Navy. In 1906, the Pre-
sident was authorized TO employ as many OF the
public armed vessels as he should deem neces-
sary and expedient but the number of officers
and men was limited by law. BY the act which
gave this authority, the number Of Lieutenants
was doubled--one was added to the list OF Cap
tans-and nine were included in the list OF
Commanders AS late as 1909, the number OF
men and boys, to be employed in the Navy, was
limited to 1925. But the storm which had been
SO long brewing on the political horizon, burst
ing soon after in war with England. virtually
removed all restrictions of the kind; and the
power to employ was limited only by the num-
Der and capacity of the ships to receive. Since
that time, the force Of vessels in commission,
their number, and the number Of men and Of
fcers to be employed in the service, have been
left entirely to Executive discretion. And, as
may be supposed, subsequent history shows that,
in the course of policy pursued with regard to
the NAVY, those entrusted with the management
of its affairs have neither been governed by any
fixed principles, nor regulated according TO any
certain laws. But, on the contrary, its condl-
ton, as well with regard TO material as to per
sonal, has been exceedingly changeful-the num-
ton of American commerce being considerably
less than five hundred, or but little more than
one gun for every hundred millions Of property
they are intended TO protect; and nearly one
fourth of these is in one ship. The number OF
officers in service has sometimes waxed, and
sometimes waned, assuming as many phases by
the rate of promotion, as there have been indl-
viduals placed at the head of the Navy; for each
one has been free to take his own course, and to
pursue his own policy and plans with regard to
il: Thus, in 1925, we find the President recon-
mending TO the Senate for promotion to the rank
Of Lieutenant seventy dd Midshipmen, in a
single batch, when, during the three preceding
years, he had advised but a single appointment
into this grade Indeed, rs many, if not more,
Lieutenants were added to the service in this
one wear, land they had served as Midshpmen
in the war Of 1872 and are still Lieutenants,)
than had been made during the ten years that
preceded In 1928, under another President,
one hundred and fifteen Mdshipmen were ap-
pointed And in 1880, when the appointing
power had again passed into other hands, war
rants to Midshipmen were issued SO sparlngly
that, when the day of examination came, it
appeared there were only five Mdshipmen to
present themselves, whose appointments bore
the date Of this year. In 1885, the Navy De-
partment issued warrants to seventy eight Pass
ed Midshipmen and, in the two years that fol-
lowed, to not Notwithstanding that this list
had been considerably diminished in the interim
by promotion, death, and designations. In 1886,
but FIVE officers received Lieutenant's commits
sions-aDd the next year, the Senate were called
on to confirm the nomination of forty nine. BY
the Register of 1927, il appears that from 1917
to 1925, only one Captain had been appointed in
the Navy; whereas, in the last mentioned year,
nine officers received the commissions of that
rank. The list of officers received no accession
to its numbe in 1880; in 1882 and '36, but one;
and in 1887, TEN. During the years 1929 and
80 three, and in the next, fifteen Lieutenants
were appointed Commanders. During the three
years that followed, but one was appointed in
each wear; while in 1887, the number Of pro-
motions to the rank Of Commander amounted to
twenty.
II is in vain that we may look to the exigen-
cies Of the public service for the cause Of such
unequal rates of promotion, or OF such fiuctua-
tions in the Navy. The history of the last TWEEN
ty or twenty five wears does not show that any
large fleets have been suddenly or Unexpectedly
fitted out to call for such sudden and unequal ac-
cessons of numbers, first to one grade Of officers
and then to another. Neither does the policy
of the nation at large, with regard to the Navy,
appear so vacillating and undetermined, as to
require promotion to be checked for years-again
to 90 rapidly on.-then stop-and again move on
at such unequal PAGES The explanation is TO
be found elsewhere, and the remedy in law
which shall fix and regulate the number of Off
GERS of each grade in the service Referring
again to statistics-for facts are worth a great
deal-those that are furnished by the Navy Re-
gister will show, that of the three Presidents
who have come into and gone out Of power since
the war, each one has given sufficient testimony
by his acts to warrant the assertion, that when
he came into Office he thought the Navy, as II
then existed ample for all the wants and pur-
poses of the nation. Whereas, facts collected
from the same source will also show that each
of the three, assisted by the lights of experience
acquired in the chair Of state--necessarily in
volving more intimate acquaintance with the
affairs Of the Navy and a more practical know