The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1856-01-17

post Jao laws, in comprehensive sense embrace al re-
sacons. whether q civil criminal And thsre
WIN no 40: force suSS
he
as s ss' ne as
s s no question The general srps
e
s~ assrsSy ~ declared crime pun.Sass
act crime sssr.vstsd snormiiy, or punsSnen'
Ssa s
| mitted.
Then the Congress of the United States have autho
lied punishment to BE- inflicted upon these upon
evidence which could not have been received before this
act passed. The act comes within the condemnation
the constitution, and Is post t0co law Judge
| $3.50 =
Supreme Court have given the following
which it punishable when 4 WAS com
pTohbion, for The, are Il favor q he ciisns -
That the authority of Judge Story and Of the Supreme
Court OF the United States have one Other In Kents
| Commentaries vol 1, lecture 10, p. 409, he says -
In Fletcher Peck % @ x Z. .s thai
ann PasS:sssss !, :hss
SIevy and precision and extends laws passed
act ard saeeing person BY Of Of hat
penal and criminal proceedings which
/ rights retrcepectiveiy
Now sir le. il this is in the nature Of criminal
offence. II does to that can 10 held as nothing
else. The Secretary OF the Navy, have no doubt ~
exceedingly ingenious mani have not the hcnor Of his
in the letter which he addressed 10
the board he tried 70 satisfy them that they going
to compliment the naval officers and not to punish them
| He says
msspprehensiOn may exis. the minds Of some in
he reservsa st with full ssvs Of pay
ss;s s SssS
have become % 70 the daes
n.: g have ~ Sc
sure iurloasS when nan
he @ and not nays S
| the highest compassionate the reserved.
There is another class and the ingenuity Of the Score
tay attempt the actisn Of the
board a compliment to them. ! refer % those who
have been dropped entirely where their neciency hiss
accrued from matters in which they to blame and
tie list of crimes for which those gentlemen put
| trial rather extensive. There is among them one
which have never seen mentioned in any code, civil
military, or naval will tell you what that was. The
Secretary Of the Navy in his instructions the board
| says
In examining who incapable performing their
sa az b either ph
S a Of lind
vrong huned deba.ed render him unreliable
| he could hardly be ranked as the capable ofncer.
Then these put on trial for the crime of
having bunted sensibities-a term not very well de-
/ /
gentlemen without having been informed Of the nature
and character of the accusations brought against them
upon parte hearing without witnesses, fonnd
guilty of having blunted moral perceptions, they were
dropped from The Navy. There some pretence Of
guard the general character Of the law the that
regulations which the Secretary Of the Navy might pre-
scribe to them. The Secretary tells you how far his
gula'ions extended They went to the extent of taking
care that commanders had vote upon the captains
| and no lieutenants upon the commanders, and
no no midshipmen upon the hsatenants. Now
beard stood the They found sixty eight captains
the rolls and how OF them do suppose bunted
perceptions They got rid Of thirty ains out of
| sxtye ieht-one hat the whole number Among those
WHOM they selected for retirement was Commodore
him. because il furnishes good commentary upon the
proceedings Of he hoard Commodore Stewards fame is
to the period of the action Of This board he in posses
OF the highest honcrs OF the naval service and his
name was known and honored and revered and loved
wherever the history Of he American nsvy known.
They dropped him. and the President confirmed the action
Of the board and at the time published to the world
the fact that 1t not true. II only the
that the esigencies Of The service required and
other condition, that the President had the right to
approve the action of the board. And he told Com.
modore Stewart that he not fit to perform duty,
he stil kept him the list and he is there
| There were ninety-six commanders On the list
| when the board met, and they did not quite cut
off half Of them. They cut off the heads Of thirty MIN
they cut off enough carry four ths Of their mum
Der into the captains list There three hundred
snd tweny-sx ieutenanss of whom eighty four
there were fourteen and nine of them were disposed Of
Then they to another class, and according to the
information which have obtained from some gentlemen
| Of the navy with whom have had acquaintance,
of the most useful classes OF officers in the navy and
that is masters not in the line of oaon-masters
who have been selected from ,he sailors for their great
merit for their services AND charactermasters who
have sometimes in the past history of the navy been
YOU suppose the Naval Board did with the grade
tiers? They did find Of them good enough
navy; they legislaed them all out existence there is
single them lef: or the seventeen masters
not in the ne promotion one died. and the board killed
az the rest 50 That there no. solitary one LETT upon
into court to try officers for bluned moral percep-
tons, but they resolved themselves INTO congress to
determine by their action, that there necessity
for such grade Of officers not In the line Of
promotion and they have botted the whole of them out
OF existence As they came down in rank they to
grow wonderfully less ccuuspec.. Of one hundred and
ninety passed midshpmen they have only dropped four
teen. This lie . sad commentary upon the whole navy;
andf if it be true it shows that the less time has
been in the navy the better his character is and the
Out Of one hundred and ninety passed mdshpmsn they
dropped only but when they reached the grade
rupt that half Of them must be struck Oh do not be.
lieve in any such thing For the which have
stated osevs the Law to be an e post ase Cne' but
what Congress has right to do This removal of Off
GERS is not removal BY the President of the Unite
States; it is . removal by act of Congress. l beg
the attention Of any members Of the commi
tee who may be doing me the honor to listen
provides that all officers who shall be found BY the-ssd
board incapable of performing the duties Of their respec
i've omces RANKS or Rraoes, snail, sucQ hndfng be
proved BY the President be daopped from the rolls
placed in the order of their rank and seniority at the
time, upon list in the Navy Register be entitled the
reserved list" There is discretion left to the Presi
dent. He only to determine whether the finding Of
the board correct. They found that in
of bis being old the moral perceptions Of Com
modore Stewart had become bunted and
as those Of Of the gentlemen who had been attend
ing cotion parties at Washington for number win
tiers past What could the President dor The President
does not turn the officer OUT the law does it, Congress
does it, The officers If the finding approved by he
Presto ent to be dropped The President could
have approved the finding and s,l retaia man ia the
pavy but the two Houses of Congress undertook by this
law and b. it's operation per to turn these officers out
the finding Of the board its approval by the Presi
dent that turns them out. that be utterly
voio from the bcginnng and II this act with the consruc
en which has been given 10 H. could by any possibility
be submitted to that high tribunal which sits in the
chamber below us--the Supreme Court Of the United