The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1852-04-08

to inhict the punishment of solitary con1ne-
ment not exceeding thirty days, with irons
upon the hands and upon the ankles, and the
culprit restricted to diet of bread and water I
all this without even preserving record OF the
crime for which the punishment was inflicted,
or the evidence upon which the crime was as
certaned. This power, sir, | would not confer
upon anybody; not upon any ofhcer III the
, navy. however exalted his rank. Ii Is, IN my
Judgment, exceedingly important that the pun
ishments which are inflicted in the navy should
not be inflicted without regulations by law.
would give the commanding officer the power
to summon O summary court martlal-some-
times called capstan court martial to DE
composed of not less than three commissioned
officers recorder may be appointed by the
court or the commanding officer. But would
not give jurisdiction over crime that deserves
punishment Of solitary confinement to any
one man.
Mr.. Stuart called attention to the fact
which had entirely escaped thenotice OF the gen.
tleman who reported the bill from the House
Committee-that the punishments were not
confined to shipboard, but might be inflicted on
shore, where there could be no excuse for the
exercise of arbitrary power The enacting
clause provided that the commander OF any
vessel in the Navy, or of any shore station"
should have authority to punish, &c. Il
know" said Mr.. Stuart "it is the theory that
this arbitrary power is a good one, provided
YOU have always more than human wisdom to
exercise il but to take humanity as it is to
take man, liable to be swayed by his pas
sions. his emotions his likes and dislikes, and
confer upon him arbitrary power, and that, I'M
limited as some of the powers are, under this
bill never will vote for it.
The punishments defined in clauses second,
third, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, and tenth are
certainly too grave to be imposed by one man,
acting upon his own judgment, or at his own
pleasure, without check or accountability
Nor can we see how the suggestion OF Mr.
Nillson, of IA summary court martial to decide
upon their infection could, if carried into eff
feet, initiate against the efficiency of the disci-
pline. Such tribunal might secure the sailor
against the vindictiveness of a commander but
would scarcely impair his legitimate authority.
An attempt is made in the bill to try the
virtue of rewards to a limited extent. sailor,
who at the expiration of two years service,
receives good conduct" discharge, and
within three months thereafter re-cnters the
navy, shall be entitled to a bonus of three
months pay in advance, in addition to the
usual wages and if during a service Of twen-
ty years he has received uniformly good
conduct" discharges, he shall be entitled to
admission to, and provision in the Naval Asy-
lum for life, with half the monthly wages of
his last enlistment Directing, as we dc, to
last provision may be voted down. The other
provision is pretty good one, and would doubt
less be found to work favoraby
But there are two measures, whose adoption,
it seems to us, would do more for the character
and efficiency of the Navy than all that this
bill proposes we mean, first, an increase of
the wages of the sailors, to at least the maxi
mum paid in our mercantile marine secondly,
opening to them the door for promotion to the
rank Of officers.
a month in our mercantile marine from six
teen to eighteen. The best men. of course, en-
ter the merchant service the worst the naval.
But the pay in our Navy is in advance of that
in the naval service of other countries Hence,
while American sailors are attracted to our
merchant vessels, foreign sailors crowd our
Navy. An American who can command eigh-
teen dollars in merchantmen, where he is
sure to be well treated can have no motive to
engage on board a man.of-war, at twelve dol
lars with certain prospect Of being treated
more like n brute than man. An increase
of wages from twelve to twenty dollars a
month would give to the Navy the choice of
the best seamen attract to it Americans,
devoted to the honor of its flag; elevate the
standard of seamanship, and the character of
the sailor; render discipline easy, and remove
all preext for degrading punishments. Dis
charge from such service for bad conduct,
would be punishment to be dreaded not a
relief to be sought and such discharges might
be yentured upon without danger to the eff
cheney of the service, as the high wages paid
would always command substitutes. That s
most niggardly, vllanous economy which
drives American citizens from our Navy, peo-
plies it with desperadoes,, and commits the
keeping of our flag to foreigners. The pro-
posed increase of wages would augment the
aggregate pay Of our seamen from sixty to
eighty thousand dollars year-a small sum
to pay for intelligence, patriotism, discipline,
and efficiency in our Navy, and for the comfort
and elevation of class of men, upon whom
hereafter the country must depend, to make
good its resistance to foreign aggression, and
It's Intervention in behalf of the Laws of Ma
tons. We pay great deal more for the sup
port of supcrnumerary officers, of no conceiva-
Die usc, without a murmur
Having secured good crews the way should
be opened to the meritorious for promotion.
The Navy, under its present regulations, is any
thing but Democratic institution One class
is perpetually degraded, another class perpetu-
ally elevated; and between them great gulf
Is fixed across which no one can pass The
veteran American, who may have served his
country for a score of years with signal fdel-
ity and in that time have acquired every
qualification for command, finds himself under
the orders of a youth fresh from the Naval
School at Annapolis to whose privileges he had
been admitted through favortism Rank. in
stead OF beng the reward of service or merit,
~ A maj tarH ruf a. g., \