Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-02-23

ue Nm Hst kast. Il,
4 = : eonundrum how any man OF
fS5 - energy can stay in the mill. /
. naval service OF the unioeo
Il dine Of peace. It is delight
~ l5oce q rest for men who love their
- end Who have no ambition to be
SS;1(6l. Bot It Is not easy to lead q
I7SSiful and busy life in the army or navy,
- few there be who DO it. Some
1900 it. Some men can find work to
- cveeywhere and will hustle about
under circumstances most discouraging
3 activity. Commander Gorringe
oeetns TO be one Of this kind
aftsr spending score OF years
ln the naval service and finding
- rslief from its stagnant life in
~ axpedition after the obelisk, he has
nmoned courage to get out and enter
snpon an active business career. 1t is not
4 mstter Of wonder that Commander
Gcrringe devoted 80 much time and trou
rs to bringing over from Egypt that
vretched obelisk. To commander in
rs navy without command it would
sbe ! rod.send to 60 anywhere after any
thina. We are only thankful that there
Was IN obelisk to bring; otherwise
Commander Gorringe might have per-
suaded Vanderbilt to order home
cargo Of Egyptian mummies or pyr-
amids or mud. any Of which would
have been still worse gift than the
.ufly obelisk. We congratulate ourselves
that Gorringe and Vanderbilt have now
found better use for their energy and
cash. It is better business to build
useful ships than to carry around the
world useless stones.
Commander Gorringe says that since
he has resigned his commission he
has been overwhelmed with remonstran.
ces from his fellow officers. They beg
hlm not to do it. They cannot under
stand why he does do it. The average
officer is quite unable to comprehend the
state of mind which would induce any
human being to sever himself from the
life Of ease and pleasant association, with
guaranteed bread and butter, to be found
5 in the army and navy. Very good men
are in the service kept in it by the
force of habit. Probably they think
that they are earning their wages,
though they do not have a chance to do
much of anything. Their wages are
low enough considering the style in
which they need to live. The good men
in the army or navy could earn great
deal more out of it and yet they stay,
though they can hardly persuade them
selves that their faculties are not rust
+ ing. They stay because they have not
courage to 60, and leave their sure sub
sistence and their associates, their con-
firmed habits and social atmosphere.
The men in the service who are not
worth much have very good reason for
staying in it, and as they are not fools
they .yiil stay there until they are in
]. vi.ed out.
- They ought to be weeded out and the
GOOD men kept; instead of the natural
process being the other way. Good Off.
: cars, like Commander Gorringe, some
times get surfeit of doing nothing and
20. To keep them they only need to be
given active duty and such duty it is
our interest to give to all officers. We
need more ships in the navy and more
men in the army or fewer officers. 1t
is an offense to the sight to see generals
and colonels in command of cOrporal's
guard as can be seen any day at a
United States fort. 1t is an insult tC
the understanding to be offered a
navy on paper that will not float,
commanded by a host of officers that
seldom get to sea. Let US abolish
our naval establishment or maintain il
in q eerviceable shape. Let us do with
out officers or give them something to
do. Let us he without ships or have
z ships that will do what ships should de-
While our navy is as it is,
why cannot the best of these officers
be kept in service in the best of the
ships and the rest be indefinitely fur
loughed on half pay Secretary Chan.
dier would have exhibited better sense
eSif he had undertaken to bully one Of the
1eAker class of naval officers, whose
1kryices the country would gladly spare.
instead of jumping upon Commander
Gorringe wire can an6l6 to spare the
country. 1t would probably have had d
more agreeable resu1Vto him, too. He
would not have been apt to be knocked
down in the encounter. A bully ought
always to have sense enough to judi
clously select his game especially when
he is secretary of the navy and cannot
afford to be upset. 1t is not a very nice
thing to be bully; nor very creditable
to the country to have such creatures in
high Office !, but when they do get there
md do insist upon gratifying their ma
8ural bent, and undertake to blackguard
{ their subordinates and drive them from
Sthe service, we naturally wish that
they would try their hand, for their good
ind ours, on those whom we can afford
I'd spare.
The Fee System Must 10.
k,,Al,nr;1od rpnroaontativoS Of the