Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1885-03-09

LANCASTER. MARCH 9. 1886.
For Doing Nothing.

e Probably every one has been delighted to
|loax that Gen. Hazen is to be court-martial-
N and everybody hopes that he will be
lound guilty of something that will drive
him out of his comfortable berth at the
md of the signal Office and return him to
pzlyate life for he is dreadfully poor
u0ncern as a weather prophet, and as an
o1Acer and man never has been thought Of
my account since the day he ran
away at Shiloh, though his impudence
and influence have sufiiced to keep him in
high position. He made dreadful mess Of
the Darlington expedition and should then
have been kicked out of his office. But
the army is curious machine. tsofficers
are pretty safe so long as they are simply bad.
50 many of them are bad that it would
never do to weed out the bad ones. Inefli-
cioncy is not good cause for expulsion.
~ used to be that lying was; and stealing.
n But since Swain has been court-mar-
tialed and found guilty Of these things, and
been rewarded with life position as brig
adler general in consideration therefor, it
seems that an army officer may lie and
steal IN q certain way without coming to
1Safah. He may duplicate his pay accounts
without being dismissed, when found out
and what he may not do is not very clear.
There would be no very good reason
to hope that Hazen is to be elected from
the army simply because he is to be court
.nantialed for IN offense of which he is un-
deniably guilty. But there is great cause
for hope in the nature of the offense. 1t is
supposed to be one Of the objectionable
ones in the army. In civil life il would not
be any offense at all. General Hazen is
court-martialed for saying that If the
secretary of war had ordered-a relief boat
to he sent. fo tho C-esly expedition in the
latter part Of 1888, after Garlington's re-
turn, the party would then have been
rescued. Only this and nothing more.
But it is a big crime, it appears, in the army
to disagree with a superior officer in his
conclusions and to say so.
1t seems that the secretary of war is sup
posed to be sort of lieutenant general I'M
der the president, the commander in chief.
just where he comes in with the general Of
the Amy has never been very clearly de-
fined. But he is supposed to be his boss. A
civilian elevated 10 the secretaryship Of
war is at once converted into a
magnificent military chieftain, and no Off
GER Of the army may challenge his judg
ment, style and decisions, under pain Of
death or dismissal. 1t is SO, too, with the
naval secretary. He becomes at once q
lord high admiral; and little fellow like
Billy Chandler, who is known of all men
to be scamp Of the most pronounced de.
gree, becomes too holy to be criticised; thai
I is by naval officers The rule does not apply
tocivilians. Otherwise all the newspapel
people in the country would be in dungeons
When you arein the military line you mus,
speak respectfully of your superiors, and
never let anybody think that you suspect
\ the possibility of their yer-being OF doing
Sypns. whether asoldier or sailor is bOunt
4 70 be thus respectful to and considerat,
~ ell the cabinet officers, we do not know
but we imagine that the secretaries of state
b1terior and treasury, and the attorney ani
Westminster general, not being in the linz
A command over them, they are not bQupi
a maintain their infallibilitS and tina,
the soldier man may damn all th'
secretaries but be of war and the sailor maj
an 4ptSh6 Of the navy, without being court
> ILkrtialed therefor; though it may be tina
the soldiers subordination may be deemet
10 demand of him that he shall regard a
the holiest of the holy all who are In author
ity, from the constable to the president
II 90, we have much sympathy for the mill
tary man. 1t must be hard enough for hin
to be deprived of the privilege Of denounc
ing the president and the secretaries o
war and navy, and his generals, colonel
and lieutenants, when they act like idiots
as they so often do. But to be permitte'
toswear at nobody but his subordinates i
hard on him and particularly hard o.
them.
As General Hazen has been guilty of tn
great crime Of declaring his opinion tina
the secretary of war erred, it ismost proba
bic that he is gone gosling unless Johnn
Mclean can persuade Cleveland to saw
him on the plea that he "didnt
nofhin'.' 1t is clear he didn't. He eneve
3 IA anything. There has been the troubl
nth him eyersince Shiloh. Heisnot doel
hit a talker. He is blower, pure an
Z maple and it is to be hoped that he wi
s now have an extinguisher put on him
though he did nothing, as usual