The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-01-12

VI oe,lsr man never hVed) II suffered L
go uupunished forsuch an act, he would, accord
| Wy, uanple the law and his superior officers un
der loot and bring irretrievable ruin upon tn.
whole service. A trial was granted without
ditncuity, and here is an extract from the finding
| OF the court
1.-The court, after mature dehberation, find
the accused, Lieutenant --, not guilty Of
the charges exhibited against him by Comman-
der -. Nor are the second specifications
PROVED, except such parts OF them only which
relate 70 his having written the several letters
appended to the proceedings; and they do there
lore honordbiy acquit him. And the court are
further OF opinion, that the charges and specif-
cations are FRIVOLOUS and vExATIoUs inasmucl
as alter having kept Lieutenant suspend
ed from duty for nearly three months and volun-
tary restoring him to duty, to bring these
charges against him for the offence, for which
ne hal already been TOO SEVERELY PUNISHED
ANA me court would respectfully call the atten-
ton 81 the Honorable Secretary of the Navy, tc
the very loose and irrelevant manner in which
the various specifications are drawn up; so that
4 has been with the greatest difficulty the cour
have been able to separate thesuperfous matter
with Which they are surrounded"
An officer, like Caesars wife, should not only
be free from guilt, but above the suspicion of il
Like hers, his character is tainted by the charge
And pSssen he ~ falsely accused, the simple find
ing OF not guilty does not wipe away the stain
Who OF your readers, Mr.. Editor, if falsely in
dicted for crime, and publicly arraIgned as cul-
prlt on the criminals bench, would consider the
cold verdict OF not guilty, enough to return his
good name to him as spotess and unsullied as
before Does your law overlook false imprson-
ment and malicious prosecution; and, in such a
~ -
ease, would II afford the citizen no redress p
When an officer is arraigned before a court
martial for neglect Of duty, and for conduct un-
becoming the character Of an officer and gen
tleman, it is prima facie evidence for it is a
court martial and not court of enquiry, that
he has laid himself liable to the charge, and
therefore in the minds Of the many, the stains
Of guilt are upon him. And the finding of not
guilty does not wipe them away. Is it nothing
to be falsely accused2 Was it nothing that this
officer, who had done no wrong, should have
been confined Tor months in floating cell and
in the language Of his judges, TOO SEVERELY
PUNISHED; and that, too, in advance, upon
charges which the court were constrained to
pronounce altogether f,,irolous and rerdtious?
Would not the laws of healthful code, faith
fully and impartally administered, require that
this Commander should have been arraigned in
turn, upon charges of cruelty and oppression,
and been made to answer before that very tribu-
nal for falsely and maliciously accusing brother
officer
The court-martial code in the Navy is SO
vague and imperfect in many respects, that en-
tire proceedings are by no means unfrequently
vltiated and set aside on account of iniormality
And in this way the guilty sometimes escape
Laws that are defective, or only partially ad-
ministered, beget offenders and those that are
unwlse in their provisions create abuses. And,
that we may still further illustrate the necessity
there is for revising the present Naval code, turn
we now from the dead letter Of the law, and I'M
punished crime to point out abuses that are prac-
tlsed according to law II is lawful in the Navy
TO receive on board, and to carry from place to
place in our men-of-war, gold, silver jewels,
and the like; and it is also lawful for the Com
manders to charge and receive as pay, a per
centage for thus lending to the property of the
citizen, for merchantmen can transport 1t as
well, the security afforded by the national cha
racter of public vessels. The merchants of the
Spanish American republics, make their remit
tances to this country and to England mostly in
bullion. Owing to the unstable condition of the
governments under which they live, the private
property, both Of residents and citizens, often
becomes unsafe in its place of deposit on shore.
Hence, plate and bullion find their way, in large
amounts, on board of the public vessels sent 10
cruise in the waters of those countries. For thus
receiving this property in a secure place OF de
post, per centage of one or two dollars in the
hundred is levied upon it, as the Captains per
quisite. Ships Of war are maintained at the
public expense, and for the general welfare
They are sent abroad to maintain that respect
among others which is due TO their nation; TO
promote the interests of commerce and to give
protection to the rights and property of the citi-
zen engaged in his lawful pursuits. II, then, in
conformity with any one of these objects, the
officer be required TO receive on board the public
armed vessel, the property OF the citizen, when
presented in the shape of gold and silver, It Is
his dntu to receive it, and to afford it all the Sc
curity his vessel can give. And those whole
some principles Of the law which requires hun
to give convoy and protection to the private pro-
perry of the citizen, in the form OF ships and
their cargoes, and forbids him TO charge or re-
ceve any thing whatever for so doing, obtain
with as much force in this case in that. II is
as much his duty to protect the property Of the
citizen in the one shape as in the other. He is
employed by government TO do his Duty and TO
it alone he should look for compensation. II the
perouiste be allowed on the grounds, that TO re-
ceive and transport specie In man-of-war be
extra service for the Captain, II is also extra SER
vice for the other officers and the crew by whom
the labor is performed-and they, too, should be
entitled to extra compensation. If the service
be attended with any dangers hardships or pr-
vaions, as il frequently is, all are alike exposed to
them-and the laws which govern in the case OF
salvage, and in the distribution of prize-money,
ought also to obtain here.
But as unjust as the present law is, its unjus-
tice is nothing in comparison with the abuses to
which it gives rise, and the evils which it entails
upon the Navy. Pefquisites of office, in most
cases, tend to abuse-and in this the allure
ments held out TO the officer, by the prospect of
private gain, often lead him from the direct path
of duty into abuses, of the nature and extent of
which none but those who have cruised in the
Pacific and have seen for themselves, can form
proper conceptions. Money for transportation
may be sometimes offered at the North, when
duty, the interest of government, and the wei
fare Of its citizens all require the nresence Of