The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-02-06

he reviewed Inc eHeCS OF Lnht rivalry III tuc pro-
digious strides which had been made in steam and
sailing vessels, and in the progress OF trade with all
parts Of the world He pointed out that they were
the only two great nations with really free insttu-
sake Of the interests Of humanity perpetual friend
ship should exist between them. Captain Caldwells
sentiments were much applauded.
Our Mediterranean Correspondence.
GIBRALTAR, Jan. 2, 1854.
The Condition of the Navy-N Necessity for Reform
in Mamy of its Branches-lnterest,ng Statistics
Concerning ITS OGcerj-Arguments in FAVOR of
Retired List, &C., &c.
American residents abroad learn through your pa
per- of late that the present Secretary OF the Navy
sabout to propose complete reform in sur little Navy,
and truly it is needed this. the nations right arm OF
defence should no longer remain parslyzed. To the
patient who has long been under the treatment Of
quack doctors, may the Navy be compared. Now It
should pass into the hands of the practical physician
and sklul surgeon-the former tofeel carefully its
pulse, and by acquaintance with tie internal disease
strive to restore health whilst the latter should cut
out or burn away the proud fesn, and, if possible,
set the many dslosated joints. It is known that
when all the muscles have an equal share of daily
exercise the human body is soonest brought to
part perform all the SERVICE that will thrive whilst
the residue is rendered little better than useless
Now, this is the case with the Navy. There are
certain portion Of the officers who SO seldom go to
sea, that should they be ordered tomorrow, they
would fain review the practical portion Of their pro.
fsssion. Why il this? mapy will undoubtedly ask.
The ans yer is, simply because the favored few have
passed 70 much time OF late on shore, and away
from active service, that they have lost sight Of
their profession altogether, Those who avoid
active service are the al most useless muscle Of
the service. Again. we find that another portion Of
the officers have been kept constantly on service;
consequently see how efficient and effective we find
these gentlemen. Still this cannot last long. To
perfect our naval system there must be division of
labor; justice must be done TO the mertorous officer,
and that is all that is asked for evidently then the
nation must first call upon our worthy Secretary of
the Navy to see that there is division of labor IL
IS fact ipdisputabe, that there are officers in the
service who have never known much more than
t1ree months out of three years at home, whist
n any Others are five years out OF six unemployed
his is certainly not just; aud the nation 10 us TO
MIR. Dobbn (who appears to have the interet of
the service at beart to do away with these abtse;
Mr. D,bbiD has shown himself above the controlling
Influences of the "old school" ard reforme., b,
abolishing the de'ested "whisker ORDER" Nos let
him prove himself radical indeed, by org oaliy in
his reforms. Let them be based upon fundamental
principles that will tend to renoyate the ravy
throughout. retired list is indispensable to attain
this object How often do we hear Of officers who
are usable to go to sea! Let them, If this b< the
case, retire upon suitable pay, and leave vacancies
for the euterprsing officer who now does the duty Of
the incumbent without the credit. Looking nov to
the different grades the list of captains How
many have we who could be called into immediate
service, and reflect credit upon the navy? O,t CT
sixty.eight but thrty.eight can be counted on Why
is thsf In answer: after many years OF serYce,
age has done its work. All the present captains
entered the service between che years 1898 and 1872
Their ages then averaged twenty-five to TWENTY-FIVE;
they have been IL service from fortytwo to fifty i've
years; hence they are now in age about from six.
ty.seven to seventy seven True, old age ia hotora.
BILE; but We ali know that beyond sixty mfr nities
creep rapidly upon u.s. and few men retain the ener-
gy OF mind and body that an active servant Of the
governn ens requires. This is the first call for re-
tired list. AID Will make an extra from thorough
reform bill which was offered last Congress-
!" prudent man intrusts not the ordinary afai.s
OF lie to agents whose powers the decline and
we find abundant evidence, even in the records of
our brief naval career, TO convince us that warfare
upon the great deep de nands all the energy power
and will that God confers upon man. Hull fought
his great action and conquered the Guerrero at .hr
tyeight years OF age; Paul Jones captured the Sera
ps, in one Of the most celebrated combats on record
at thirty tive; Decatur burnt the figate Philsdel.
phia at twenty sever, and captured the Macedonian
atthirty two; Perry conquered Lake Erie at wenty
eight; and McDonough on Lake Champlan at thirty
nine, and cambridge conquered the Java at thirty
one. The youngest conqueror was ven " seven and
the Oldest thirty nine aud thitythIee was the aver
age age
The list Of commanders numbers ninety seven, and
out Of these perhaps dfty are reslly available; the
others, owing to active service and hardships are
now unified for duty. Yet they still hold the places
that the active officers should have aud they pre-
vent the country from caliog upon them whose ser.
INDISPENSABLE. thar
son why the call for retire list is loudly heard
The present system of promoting by seniority Of
commission, without previous selection and care
full pruning Of the materials, based as il is upon
fiction that all officers are equally qualified for every
possible contingency OF the service, is the moral
Incubus which Is crashing il. 1t eifectuay excludes
energy, zeal, ability and daring from the noblest
enterprises and constitutes leng of service with
cut regard TO cd age and mental and physi: col ina
b y tie controlling elements in the selections Of
commander at present Regardless of that man
hood, those stern and striking Characteristic, viii
have distinguish theuccessful sallor-repavd-
less Of tn se peculiar quafcato essential TO the
successful issue OF those grea, trials TO which his
country calls him-our present system entails upon
the country the hazar1 of confdng to the hanis OF
ignorance and mbecifty tasks which the energy Of
youth and the greatest professional ability are barely
equal to. Look DOW to the grade OF euienants and
the flint thing that strikes the eye Is no less than Ave
names at the head of the list who have been sighted
for q number OF years. II they are n Il worthv of
officers, by icing these gentlemen upon retired list?
There Gre 32I ieutenans; the senior ones have been
thmyoue, and the nniors not less than fifteen wears
In the service Surprising their ages at the time of
entering the service sixteen they now respectively
forty seven and thirty one. Ii the former are TO be
promoted. 1t should be now, whist in the prime of
life. As for tie junior portion, unless retired list
be formed, who can see o chance for their promotion
under the age OF sixty fyeY In the grade o, lieue.
Dants there are about fifty Who from bodily inirmi
ties cannot be sent - sea. This being the case Why
should they not be placed upon retised list, and
let available officers take their psce-l This Is no
more team justice to their juniors Throughout the
Dsvy, and particularly among the senior officers.
there appears TO be feeling OF dread existing
TO Yards retired list Surely there is nothing dis
honorable in their eryiny their country from twenty
9yt 10 forty three years and then, when age over
lakes them, retiring upon its bounty The grade IL
nasters in tile line u promotion numbers fourteen
Prv, how can such q number perform TIE duties
6tyGvirg upon them? T'r, c,uno,, aid thsy DO