The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-04-07
WASHINGTON.

WASHINGTON, April 0. 1873.
The Secretary OF the Navy Creates q
Naval Torpedo Hero.
The Secretary OF the Navy has lamented for
many months that he was without fitting subject
for his Sophomore pen. Lieutenant Commander
William X. Wheeler, whs Is noted in the Naval
Register for 1873 as ranking eightyseventh on the
list OF lieutenant commanders mailing from New
York. and assigned to special duty at the torpedo
station in Newport. comes to the relief
OF the Secretary and gives him q
theme, which has been duly accepted and
promulgated. Lieutenant Commander Wheeler is
gentleman and a scholar" as the world ex-
presses it, and is well known among mis- peers as
an "oIficer and a gentleman" in the navy. AS in
the army, II Is first necessary that man should
be an ofllcer as wen as gentleman, distinction
insisted upon In the regulations of all well-con-
Quoted monarchies. Farther along in life the OIL
Ger learns that 1t Is not becoming in an 'Oficer
and gentleman" to perform mental duties or manual
labor in the presence OF his sub0rdinates. This,
to be sure is an old-fashi0ned regulation, like the
navigation laws IN force, enacted at the beginning
OF the Republic, which only provide for sailing
ships 1t was never expected there would be any
thing for an officer OF the navy to do but COM
mank Jack Tars on old fashioned .brOad Sides"
have not, and Lieutenant Commander Wheeler,
who was TO be instructed in the art OF handling
torpedoes, not only demurred but positively re-
fused to perform the manual labor required OF
him in handling and placing torpedoes, manning
boats for that purpose, &c. &c. Having
received fair education at Annapolis, although
the Secretary OF the Navy was not at the head OF
the Department when he graduated, he could not
understand why 1t would be ''breach OF good
order and naval discipline to perform manual
labor in the presence OF the Jolly Jack Tars when
by Secretary R0beson's ORDER it would be meri-
torious and confer honor upon his country he did
1T In the presence Of his equals and superlors in rank
This was Comm ander Wneelers whole offence, and
the Secretary Of the Navy from the swamps OF New
Jersey, finds in it grave in fact serious-vola-
ton of the rules OF the Navy Department, which
might tend to impair its eficiency-that is, the De-
partment, no allusion being made to the navy
proper. The fact is, the order OF Secretary Robe
son provokes only laughter and derisi0n in naval
circles In this city. 1t is not six weeks since the
Attorney General not only decided case of prom
inent naval officer in his favor upon the very point
involved in Lieutenant Commander Wheelers
case, but that decision carried with IL thousands
OF dollars as prize money which Treasury officials
and naval solicitors had decided he was not enti-
tied to- and that decision based upon the rules
OF the navy that no officer, however low his grade,
Is obliged to disregard the spirit the cOnstruc-
tion OF the rules OF the navy, no matter how high
the rank OF the o1icer commanding 1t was also
further held that. If that officer had
yielded under protest, he would have forfeited
all claim to share in the prize which
belonged to him, under the orders under which
he acted. The facts in Commander Wheelers case
are as iOllows:-The torpedo service is something
new to the regular navy, and from time to time
officers are sent to Newport to be instructed IN
the science OF torpedo practice. Before the rebel
lion the fact tuat man was an officer Of the army
or navy was sufficient to entrust him with the best
secrets Of the government, but now 1t Is not
enough that one should be educated at West
Point or Annapolis; he must take an
additional oath OF loyalty that he will not tell to
anybody how the torpedo service is conducted at
Willett's Point or New York. Now, a part of the
secrecy was divulged by Commander Wheeler
when he protested against rolling wheelbarrows,
carrying burdens, packing boxes and pulling oars
1t has never been a pleasant duty for officers,
and they have on several occasions objected to
the manual labor and asserted that there
could be no secret motive In rolling
wheelbarrow or carrying burdens on
their backs. Lieutenant Commander Wheeler
undertook to test the legality OF the proceeding
and declined to perform the manuel labor, rather
said he was not going to do 1t any longer. The
consequence was that he was reported to the Navy
Department and charges were made out by Gen
eral Bolles, Naval Solicitor General and Judge Adj
vocate of the Department. Bolles acted as Judge
Advocate during the trial and returned to
Washington and revised the proceedings.
Disobedience TO orders was not proven,
but INSTRUMENTATION was, inasmuch as
Wheeler did not perform the duty assigned
m hn nj w,
services to the country during the war entitle
them to some weight is that the most that can be
imputed to Wheeler Is an error OF judgment, and a
premature reprimand has been expended on an
occasion when a little kindly advice would have
answered all the purpose. AS to the legal opinions
| expounded by the Secretary they only revive
the old saying that among constitutional law
| sailors he Is great constitutional lawyer Com
mander Wheeler did not, 1t is maintained by old
| naval 0fncers. commit any breach 0! good order
1t is the secretary, they say-who by his disserta
tl0n has done more TO nure the service-that Is to
blame. II he had censured the Court, instead or
| their prisoner, he would only have done what the
| record OF the War Department shows-"for the
| sake OF good order and military discipne"-itS
| Secretary has been compelled to do many times.
| The British-American Mixed Commits
sion.
| The British and American Mixed Commission
| have adversely decided what are known as the
Calcutta cases." growing out Of the detention Of
United states vessels, under the proclamation OF
| the queen, during the late rebellion, preventing
| them sailing from British East India ports with
cargoes of saltpetre. The Commission will adjourn
about the 1st OF May till the I'd OF June, when they
| will meet at Newport Rhode Island, Mr.. Cox, the
Secretary, having recently returned from that city,
| where he engaged rooms for the transaction OF
| their business. or the 407 cases. 271 have been
| adjudcated or all the cases only nineteen were
American. The entire business will be disposed
L nj wit m
| OF the kind with such mixed commissions
NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.