Morris tribune., 1884-12-03
S, MIMI, WEDNESDAY,, DECEMBER 3, 1884.
LINCOLN ON HAZEN.
THE WAR SECRETARY APPEARS A
LITTLE "RlIEo."
Some Very Sharp Comments on Ccrtain
Passages OF the Chief Signal Oficer's
RepOrt-Requested to Mind .r..
His Own Business.

WASHINGTON Cry, Dec. 1.-The secrt
tary of war has given his report to the pres.
lie deals in it very fully with the conditio
OF the army, which is generally good Til
most interesting part to the general public
| probably, is that which deals with Gen
Hazen, chief signal officer, who took occa
! sion TO anlmadvert in his annua
report upon the conduct Of opera
tions for the relief Of the Greel,
party. Secretary Lincoln says: "The secre
tary of war observes with regret that tn
chief signal officer has chosen to make, in hi
annual report, formal EXPIRE ssion of opinion
that. after the arrival of the wrecked Pro
teus party on Sept 13,, 1883, as Sc Johna
there was still time 'as known from previous
experience and shown by subsequent facts
to send efficient relief, stating that Capt
Melville and others volunteered to 60, giving
their full plans for the relief"
"a contention as to what would have beer
the probable result OF an expedition to tn,
arctic regions started in the autumn, will
such preparation as could be made after thu
middle Of September, is now useless for any
practical purpose, but a few words may
properly be given to the subject, as there
may be persons whose humane consideration
for the terrible situation of Lieut. Greely
and his party existed for months may not be
accompanied by a knowledge of the opinion
of experienced persons as to the danger OF
disaster and the little hope of success of any
attempt to approach him at that season.
Secretary Lincoln then goes on to detail
the consultations and Investigations held pre-.
vious to the sending of the relief party, deal.
ing principally with the project of sending q
relief party in the fall ofsaSS3, and showing
that such a thing was mpracticable for
many reasons. Nearly every experienced
arctic navigator who was consulted declared
it no use at all, and the others thoughti it very
hazardous and of doubtful USE The secre.
tary continues:
"The deplorable situation of the Greely
party, then feared but since known to exist,
did not lessen the perils which would have
beset any relief party started at the begire
ming Of an arctic winter. The secretary of
war knows of no one whose opinion would be
considered, except the chief signal officer,
who would not have regarded such an ex-
petition not only as substantially hopeless
for any relief earlier than was actually
given, but perilous in the extreme, if not
foolhardy. .--- F"
Nothing is more illustrative of the impos-
sibility of overcoming at all times the diff.
culties of arctic travel, whether by land or
sea, than the fact that two-thirds of Lieut..
Greely's party starved to death at Cape
Sabine, with 100 pounds of meat untouched
at Cape Isabella, distand about thirty miles,
and with 250 rations untouched at Littleton
island, at about the same distance, but sep
arated by Smiths sound. 1t probably never
occurred to any one that the Greely party
could not easily reach and use both of these
stores"
= X X
ITO some of the criticisms made by the
chief signal officer in his report no reference
seems to be required beyond saying that the
Proteus court of inquiry, so called, had the
merit of basing its conclusions as to the Of
ficers with whom it dealt upon such inforIna-
tion of facts and conditions as was attainable
by the officers themselves at the time Of
their action, as well as by the court.
But the expression Of the chief
signal officer, above referred to Is an
of an official opinion as to the pro-
priety Of the course of the secretaries of war
and OF the navy in not hazarding more lives
in 1888 in nearly hopeless adventure, upon
his telegraphic requests. This excursion into
an official jurisdiction beyond his own and
his dictum upon the exercise :of superior
which he was not invited to
share are extraordinary in their time and
place, and are hardly excusable even
under whatever of irritation may have been
caused by the finding of the Proteus court of
inquiry. Waving, however, that. considera-
lion if there had at the time been given more
weight to the view of that branch of the |
public service, under. whose management |
here had been one futile and one disastrous
expedition in the northern seas in two sue
,essive years, than to the views of men hay
ng experience in such matters, it is now
hardly to be doubted. that we would have |
lad last summer the news Of two arctic I
calamities instead of one." :: n