The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-01-12

Pay Of the Navy.
We rejoice 10 see sha. the friends OF this
noble branch OF the American service are again
making An eRor, to increase the miserab,y in
adeo nate nav of Officers of the Navy. Heaven
sused them in that work Of gratitude and JUS
tice. All the warlike fame that America poe.
sesxes In Europe she owes to her Navy. All the
security she can expect in future In her wars
with the Old World, depends upon her float
Ing ramparts of the deep. All the interests of
her commerce upon every sea are protected
by the eternal vigilance and energy OF her
ships-of-war. Yes the pay Of this branch of
the service is inferior 10 that Of the Army,
which has less arduous duties to perform and
fewer bardships and responsibilities.
This fragrant inequality and injustice should
At once be remedied. We do not underra;e the
services. the value and the courage Of the
Army Of the United States. But a standing
army Of much magnitude is against the policy
OF the American Republic, especially OF the
South, and hence our army has been princi-
pally looked TO, and has &C ted as anucleus for
volunteers and militia in case OF need, and as a
police against the Indian tribes, who are no"
fast disappearing. What there is OF 1t is cap
ital; its officers among the most intelligen,
and accomplished gen ilemen Of any prHfes
sion; its services in the field invaluable
Whilst it could never effect much in a great
war without vast accretion of volunteers
the latter could do nothing in n like war with
out the guiding science and military discipline
Of the Army. At the same time, it is impos-
sible. in the nature Of things that our Army
can figure on an arena OF such vastness
and world wide observation as the Navy
When JACKSON repu ised the British at New
Orleans and SCOTT taught them at Iundy's
Lane that the bayonet was an American as
much as a British weapon, that was no such
modification as their defeat upon that ele-
ment which they proudly claimed as exclu-
sively their own. They had been used TO occa
sional reverses on land. in the old world as wei.
as the new; they never prided themselves mucl
on their own military establishment which, a
the best, was thrown into the shade by the CO.
lossal proportions and unmatched martial spi-
rit OF their Gallo neighbors, but--the Navy
that was the apple OF their eye, and "Rul,
Britannia the an hem at which every way,
OF every sea lifted up its hands, ana which
Old Ocean echoed with deep toned thunder,
on every shore. When, therefore, the vessel
of the United States, ship TO ship and fleet t,
feet, defeated Great Britain in every contes
OF the war Of loi2, with but two exceptions
they achieved trium ph at which the Who'll.
world was as much amazed as Great Britain
herself II was not the result of accident ,
the victories were uniform they We're III,
result of a superior seamanship ard enter
prise, the germ of which was manifest in tn,
rly whale fisheries in the little Navy 0
the Revolution; in thtt brief war with
xph al nr' q
friga,e, captured two Frenchmen; and which
ha. been more fully developed in the vast com
mercial energy and maritime aptitude, which
have made the flags of the United States IA
miIiar TO the ends of the earth. 1t is hard To
understand why the compensation of such a
service as this should be less than that of tn.
Army. The duties OF its officers in
peace, are more onerous; their hardships ana
perils greater. In peace, and with the excei
ton of the Mexican war and Indian disturb
ances, we have had peace for nearly fifty
years, the officers of the army enjoy the
society of their families and friends, and. either
In garrisons or on leave of absence, have am
pie leisure for intellectual cultivation and
social enjoyment. But Peace brings no Pea e
10 the officers of the Navy Their whole lie
Is spent Ia wars with the waves and tempes g
and exposed to the rgors and diseases of
every cline, well as the peculiar perils OF
the deep. Each cruise of man of war occu-
pies three years, and, for all that time anaval
officer must be far from home and those 1t
loves; now, on the pes iientia! coast Of Africa :
now, under the burning and sickly sun of the
tropics, now, in mid winter, off the bleak
shores of North America, pacing AT midnight
the slippery deck Of the reeiing ship and hour
after hour, every day and every night. facing
the freezing winds. us he keeps guard over the
commercial interests of his country. We say
that such a vocation deserves at least an equal
reward. we think a much higher one, with
the other branch OF the service. Congress
cannot dc too much for the Navy. But if il
will do it simple and naked justice, the Navy
will be content. Certainly, with anything
less, II ought not to be content, and the coun-
try at large, which fully appreciates it's own
Interests, will not be.
HI.