The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1859-05-19
i,wn n. Ro>;o" Post.
n NAVY NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

such vast com,sr,cc extending to lh'
rrmoicst regions "f The globe! And ii,
little navy is 50 invinciblc scarcely ado
'na,c, perhaps, to the nations prctrn>ion'
but. oh, what an embodiment Of won
drrs omnprrsrnt, too, is our little navy
and 80 it should hc-inlccd, So it EnS
he. The nation expects it =. for does not
our commerce. Written every sea ---> >nrl
amazing respect to "our Nag from all tn,
powers of earth is guaranteed in the uLi
putty of our little ravy: Albeit, one hon
"rab'c gcnlirna" did LAY, ",hirds {"
the navy is useless, a,,k. the other neatly
ao;' but hes crratic in some respects. poor
man N"hoty attracts murl. in,"ranc. tn
what lie saws in reference tv the Navy or
the Army.
Wonderful little Navy SO loyal ! The
officers struyy': So patiently undcr try
ing advcrsilic,- ever maintaining It's dis
ni,v--ils efficiency. How could i, be 9th
rrwisc, indeed such incentives to their zral
for the service?
Now, in my cas-" at the age of sixty,
or lhcrea''out~, may attain the rank Of
commander II am "ny thirty eight,
a"w ;--sh"uld | live To he ninety shrlcs
OF lawrence and Decatur what pros.
lrct, indeed. Should l live only fifty wears
longer, may rrl,i:c, "a, last, in the attain
'.r"t OF that s"al OF my l'rcStni youthful!
ambition That exalted r">iiiol.--a Cap,aincy
in the nitcl States Navy
Physically strong anil healthy, now. why
should despair only wait Till I'll be
ninety, and--l'll BE- about! am good
practical navigator, now,--a good practical
s;ilor,-h that am not quite old enough,
qualified, now, to command men, an'l guns,
10 command Il ship, under any posi-
ble circumstances, i'll timo Of peace or
war.
True, our services, anil qualifications are,
alike, ignored hy Congrcss-,houyll not by
,ur country. True, The Government does
not afford lis Il decent maintenance how
can we expect it? We mus, have Cuba
and We have got to pay for it. We want a
laciiic Railroad.
Though tho nation is rich, the gov
ernmcnt Is poor and congressman must
live. besides, is it not enough, the glo,y in
anticipation Of being a captain at ninety
flow unreasonable it was in lis, the other
day-how prrlostcrous, under the cir
cumstanccs-to ask Tor the means to pre-,
serve us from penury The nation ncels
"nr scrvices-thc navy is indispensable to
the protection Of our commcrcc-and will
be, perhaps ut no distant day, to the pro-
lection of our vast extent Of coast Alas,
that should have been SO unpatriotic
then, rs to rcpine sometimes at the per-
rlcxities Of my situation that we should
have committed ourselves to the aLsur-
dity of cntrcating-oh, how fcrvently we
did it-of appealing to the politicians
sense Of justice, to his consciencc-yc
gods! and should we have sought blood
in turnip! To what purpose have we
cntteatcd? held ourselves in The attitude
Of miserable surpicants for justice at the
hands Of politicians suffered our friends
from all quarters to implorc for ua from
:hosc honorable bodies who lave the en-.
tire interests Of our great nation in their
llands-to imploro the action due from
thcm will, Il view to our relief tlom Il
condition Of absolute want. ALI, Why de-
mean ourselves in this ignoble posture of
bcsecchins? 1t Is worse than unavaling
they arc deaf to all entreatics for O iecls
III which they have SO little sympathy
as that whicl, involves only the comforts
or the dislrcsses Of navy officers and their
families. They arc utterly Indifferent TO
our necessities.
| was wroth now. felt it.
Already in the past eighteen months
my expenses have exceeded my pay to
she extent Of eight hundred dollars: 1t is
conrcdcd that am rigiily economical
that deny myself and family many of
the commoncSt comforts, and nearly every
social enjoyment in life. 1t is true that
part of this excess Of expenses was con.
scquent upon change Of domicile from
ono station to another, hundreds Of
miles apart; but it WAS unavoidable
and | am liable TO necessity for sucl,
change rs often rs once at least in every
two years.
Nothing is more pa!paLle than that
what was deemed adequate means of
support twenty years ago, falls far short
Of it in these times even Congress does
concede :his,-tl,cse Honorable Bodies
they did not fail to recognize tho cxpe
diency Of increasing their own pay,-but,
according to the spirit of the contract un.
der which, twenty years ago, engaged to
tlvota all nv lc, fo mn o,u,t .a.,,:.a