The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-01-15
THE QUARREL IN THE NAVY.


THE QUARREL IN THE NAVY.
Pye,,, the NJ Y. Tribune
If the dispute between the line and staff of
the navy concerned nnly the few hundred
gentlemen who officer our ships and naval
Itations. we should feel little disposition to
AXE part in IT, We believe. however, that it
ias now reached appoint which touches the
efficiency of the service and intimately affects
the whole country. An American vessel of
war, in the present state of things, must be
little better than a hell afoat, unless by good
fortune tho line and staff officers on board
happen to be men of snch Just temper, COM
mon sense, and mutual adaptability that by
their personal qualities they can neutralize
the misfortunes entailed by their false rela-
tions towards each other How often it
chances that all the officers of ship are such
parogons, our readers may guess for them
selves.
The complaint of the staff officers is not
mere sentimental grievance, or question OF
q gold stripe which can be settled by coaxing
them to 90 home and be quiet. Rank, with
Its accompanying pay, privileges, andhonors,
is serious matter to naval or military man,
the only material reward he can ever look to
after long life of toll When the war broke
out. and new grades were created in conse
quence of the enlarged size and expanded du-
ties Of the navy, all the line officers were pro-
NOTED one or two degrees. The act of Con-
press made no special mention of the staff,
but it was taken for granted that the purpose
was to advance them in proportion. So when
the captains we're promoted to be commo-
dores, the surgeons, engineers, and pay
masters, ranking with captains, were
assigned relative rank with commo-
dores, and SO on through the list That
Congress approved this Interpretation of the
law is evident from the fact that during eight
fha not unh itati iprrlu firpo nd
nominations made in accordance with it, and
not a whisper of illegality was heard. But as
soon as Vice-Admiral Porter, who is generally
regarded as the leader of the line in the pre-
sent quarrel, was placed in virtual charge of
the navy, it was discovered that all these pro-
motions were illegal. All the surgeons, engi-
peers, paymasters, and constructors were
consequently degraded, their pay being at
The same time of course reduced, SO that
now the highest grade a staff officer can
obtain is the assimilated rank of captain.
The senior staff officer on the active list has
been forty three years in the service, and has
held his present rank nearly thirty eight years,
No captain in the line and only eight of the
twenty-five commodores have been so long in
the service. But the question is not only
whether the staff shall have rank in proper
tion to the line, but whether they shall virtu-
ally have any rank at all. The line officers
now declare that they ought to take prece-
dence of the staff on all occasions, afoat and
ashore The spruce little midshipman Just
out of school must outrank the surgeon who
may have assisted in bringing him into the
world. Of course the executive officers in
charge of a ship must have authority over all
on board; nobody disputes that but relative
rank does not imply divided command, and
the staff do not ask that under any circum-
stances they shall exercise the powers which
properly belong to the line.
There are certain mysterious privileges of
the cabin and the mess table involved in this
controversy which we do not profess to under
stand and do not much care for. But it seems
to us that class of o1dccSs whose services
are highly important to the country are now
subjected to a contemptuous treatment which
would probably drive most of them out of the
service if they were not welded to it by long
custom, or were sure of immediate employ
ment in civil life. AS rule we don't believe
they are dangerous and violent men who need
to be kept under. We don't believe that
mutiny and general disorganization will be the
inevitable result of treating them civilly.
We believe that their manners and morals
will not corrupt the fighting officers who seem
so 10th to associate with them, and their
duties do not unfit them for the society of
gentlemen. line officer is educated from
boyhood for his special duties at the expense
of the country. But our surgeons, our engi-
neers, our paymasters, and our naval con-
struotors we must get ready-made. We cer-
tainly shall not get good ones unless we offer
them some indueement to serve us.
MR. SUMMERS FINANCIAL SCHEME.
From the NJ Y World
Mr.. Summers plan for refunding the ma
tional debt is not worth much discussion at
present; because, whatever its merits, it is
not Immediately practicable. Even if we
shared his sanguine estimate, and believed