The New York herald., 1871-02-03

French people.
Assimiiated Rnnk-Thc Right TO Com
mand.
The war now going on between the line and
staff officers Of the navy, which, we under
stand, is to be decided by the passage or
defeat of the bill now before Congress, has as
sumed no Insignificant proportions; and it is
drawing the attention Of civilians to the mat
ter, who have petitioned Congress to pass no
bill that may interfere with proper discipline
in our navy, without due and most careful
consideration. Unfortunately for the line
officers, none but seamen, and those familiar
with nautical affairs, can understand their
true position and what it is they claim. Laws
for the establishment Of rank and so-called
better government Of the navy are made by
men many of whom have never been on
board a ship, and who scare ely know which
end Of ship goes first; who have no know
ledge of discipline, and who have not the
ability to define the difference of duty between
first lieutenant and ships cook, or sail
ing master and a master-at-arms. Unfortu-
nately for the navy, q majority Of men utterly
ignorant Of naval affairs control matters re-
lating to that most important arm of our
public service; and it is by the votes Of such
mon that the staff officers hope to carry their
point of obtaining the assimilated rank that
will at the same time give them the right to
command; and the latter is the bone of con-
tentisn, the point which the line officer very
properly objects to submitting to.
The line officers offer no objection to staff
officers having all the rank, all the pay,
all the honors, all the gold lace, all
the buttons, all ''the pomp and circum-
stance of glorious war; in fact, every
thing they want but the right to com
mand, and this they cannot concede. Their
friends in Congress are the men who UNDER
stand the situation, who know how important
discipline is on board man-of-war, and who
see how detrimental it will be to the naval SER
vice to pass any bill that will give surgeon,
a paymaster or an engineer precedence over
the senior line officer Of ship, no matter what
the latter's lineal rank may be. In the House
the staff have carried their point, but there is
hope that in the Senate enough will be found
to prevent the passage of bill that will tend
to njure SO much the na0rdle of our naval ser
vice. 1t is to be regretted that knowledge of
the actual duty of line officer of the navy is
SO very limited. Were it properly understood
the present difficulty would not last long; iu-
deed, it never would have occurred The first
lieutenant Of ship, or the executive officer, is q
position OF vast responsibility, and, under the
commander, supreme control and charge of
every person and thing on board rests with him;
and the position can only be filed by an officer
OF the line. He must know the coming and
going Of every one, what there is and what
there is not on board, the condition of hull,
spars. rigging, ordnance, in fact everything
he is held accountable for; and censure for
deficiency or want of care and forethought
naturally falls upon his shoulders. He
is a sort of ships husband; he must be on
board when the commander is ashore. aud.
to use a common expression, he has dogs
life of it, and is a man to whom little is given
and from whom much is expected. And vet
the surgeon or paymaster or engineer, whose
duties are confined to one department alone.
will, if this bill passes and they have supe
rior assimilated rank, take precedence over a
first lieutenant, and come and go and do as
they please, virtually ignoring the presence
of the officer, who, by every right except this
law, commands and controls, under the cap
tain, all and everything On board the vessel.
Such condition of things on board a mau-of-
war is simply ridiculous, and if carried out
will result in the destruction of discipline and
in turning the wsll-ordered vessels of our navy
into so many bear gardens.
We are a people fond of boasting Of our
strength on land and sea- We consider our.
selves able to cope with England or any other
first class naval power-that our navy can
do everything and our army but little less
and yet the public is moi aware of the la
mentable fact that, so far as our marine
is concerned, We are scarcely fourth rate;
but little if any better or stronger than at the
commencement OF the rebellion, and entirely
unable to guard our own coast, much less care
Tor our commerce and interests In foreign