The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1850-10-17
Flogging in the Navy.

FIOgSlng IN the Navy
During the debate which took place IN the
House OF Representatives, on the 2lst nlt.,
in reference to the abolition of this barber
Gus practice, among the many other ridicn-
!ous and contemplate reasons adduced by
the advocates Of the cats and colt, in favor
OF its continuance, one Mr.. Morse, of Lou
isiana, said that he was sin favor of fog
ging; the sailor could not do without il, and
every honest jack tar will tell you that he
likes good fiogging occasionally" We
readily and candidly confess, that we expe-
rienced deep sense of modification aud
shame or perusing the published report of
that debate. That any man should have the
unbushing hardihood to stand up on the
floor of our National Congress, and cooiiy
give utterance to such atrociously false,
and insuItinS declarations, and do so, too,
without being either rebuked or contradict
ed by single member present, is certainly
sufficient to make every humane and patri-
otic American citizen, blush for the honor
of his country. We should like to see Mr..
Morse come on TO this city and 60 down to
one of our sailor boarding houses in Wafer
or Cherry streets, aud there tell the "hon-
est Jack tars'' as he has been pleased to
style them, that they could not do without
fiogging and that they knew a good lash
ing occasionally was highly acceptable to
them. We feel very confident that the re-
ward which he would receive for his pains
would strongly remind him of the reception
which the London brewers and coal beavers
extended to his friend Hayuau. We can
ddiy confess that we have no patience
with such persons as this man Morse
Such sentiments as he uttered on the occa
sion referred TO are utterly unworthy of the
slightest respectful consideration. II he
meant to be either witty or funny, we can
assure him that be has only succeeded in
rendering himself ridiculous, and if he real
ly meant what he said, he richly deserves to
be kicked through Pennsylvania Avenue,
from the Capitol to the White House.
I hat free born American citizens should be
tied upon a grating, and flogged like dogs
in presence of their comrades till the blood
streamed down their lacerated backs to
crafty the peevish whim, or unjust malice
of every commissioned upstart, is an out
rage so disgnstingly at:rocious, that our on
ly surprise is that il should have been thus
long permitted to exist. To quietly submit
to such treatment, is to resign forever that
pride and sef-respect which alone renders
a man valuable to his friends or dangerous
10 incur the penalty of death. A great deal
has been said and written about the the
large majority Of our man-o'- wars men be-
ing foreigners, and numberless projects have
been submitted from time TO time for the
correction of the evil, but all TO no purpose
And we can assure all patriotic gentlemen
engaged in such enterprises, THAT their labors
will be worse than useless, until this dis
graceful and degrading practice OF fogging
is entirely and forever abolished. There
are al the present moment, a sufficient num-
Der Of Americans engaged in our merchant
service, and in various other pursuits in our
Atlantic cities alone, who have served a
three years term in the u. s. Navy, to
more than doubiy man every vessel owned
by our Government, but no inducement is
sufficient to again entice them on board q
man-of-war so long as the cats and colt re-
main in requisition. Thousands upon thou
sands of our young men recklessly enter the
service from a love Of novelty and adven-
} ture, without pausiDg to contemplate the
probable consequences of their folly, but
: the moment their term Of service expires
: they bid u lasting farewell to mode Of life
, against which they nurse in their hearts a
! bitter and implacable detes.a,ion. Nor j.
) this to be at all wondered at when we look
at the wanton brutality which is daily per
: petrated on beard our war vessels upoI
, those whom sheer ihoughtlessness, or Sc.
we're misfortune and pinching want have
: placed at the mercy Of the titled despots
4 with whom our United States ships arc Of
= fcsred. 1t is one thing to meet a naval Of
) ficer on shore, where he stands on an equa
9 footing with other citizens, and where any
{ impertineuce on his part would be likely to
Y ensure him sound kicking, and quite an
+; other, to see him on his quarter deck " bill,
: subject to his caprlcious brutality. II is this
afsctation Of the clever, agreeable, off hans
I fellow when on shore, that deceives 81
I many Of our citizens, and leads them to be
o lieve that the laudatory communication
e which SO frequently appear in the column,
4 Of our newspapers in reference to naval Of
4 fcers on our foreign stations. These ar,
i Almost invariably written by American ner
: chants and captains, who have received ia
j., vors at their hands. One instance Of th,
Q manner in which these things are gotten up
: and the justice with which they are rDefitet
: may be inferred from the following facts =
Captain Gregory who formerly commande,
the North Carolina, receiving ship in thi
8 port obtained while i'm that capacity, tn
: general reputation Of a most worthy AM
!, 4 humane man.. Whether or no be deserve,
: that character is not now our province Z
enquire, as II must be borne in mind, tina
n atrocities, which were perpetrated in for
4 .eign cline, or on the high seas would neve