New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-01-23


Ensign --------'''
The spectacle will thus be presented At q time n ia
,h Na,y rorpo,rd OF men between the age, Of thirty
,rycn End niy four During all this period they can
only have q subordinate responsibility, aIlhouEh uII
have reached an age when many men are almost iTaun
to retire from the pursuit OF an active cIeGr ., fr
are still in leading strings. AWAY comPeed 20 ici'
oven upimpOrant c.tiOn, - their seniors VI d>el'
ont the miserable existence OF subordinate Wiz d
eric, have been sappcd, whose ambition Is gohc au
v'bo has learned from long experience to evade and
sbirl, r,>nou,biIitv The ab,urdy Of this arialg5-
mcut il shown by the fact that after >IehdihT !VrlS
wears ~ hi life in inferior p1.liol, IN, tbn byh
int eight wear. left IN which 70 pSsS through .nG F'
r,t grade, before retirement. Nhch ne Icit1co a
Mace Of responsibility he /, no longer htel Tor H. au
IL, +, therefore %, incapactat'd for eIn'Icht SIN'c
during his short period Of command a. ne Wa u,, :
his urotracrcd career of -ubodnati1n. III Ihi1 PfdI,
flee continues. the Government VIII soon H" i, ~ -
n. 90. ed Of "A feet of the highest qualities PLACED III
III. hands Of "a body Of officers originally INFERIOR 10
none I'm world. but with a capacity lhat M, D r
dwarf and >tuntcd by the results OF thl'
legislation. 49,, ,.,.n,
Tni, short extract from The report Of the Secretary
urc-cntS the situation In nutshell There Is prop
ably no other service I'm the world, the 'hncse noe
cyccptcd I'm which such a condition OF affairs womb
,c ,,rmii..l to continue much longer. The remedy
,,roi.,.od bv IN. secretary is upon hi, own al
mi-.i,u A mahc~hft merely. II Is designed u
afford temporary relief only, and falls far short OF the
radical reform which is needed I'rlciy stated 1t
call, for increase Of the personnel In limited mum
lcr Of the grades. such plan may SATISFY prop
ably larger number Of officers than any other tha'
may be proposed but it will In no wise increase tho
efficiency Of the personnel. The Naval establish
mont viii Doe compelled heretofore, TO carry The
burden If a 10 Of deadwood In the nature of super
animated officers who ought to be retired. and In a
few wear, the different grades viii be choked ana
promotion rendered difficult As it ever waa before
with new ships added 10 the Navy at The present
rate il may bc urged by some that promotion VIII
become NOR, rapid. Til, is by no means the case
far Secretary Tracy ha, also shown that the old
harqrf .fnr 90
Fundamentally prolonged by elaborate system of
r,.p,ir. must De laid mp for good at rate much
NOR, rapid than it IS possible 20 replace them by
the ships
The system Of promotion prevailing in tn Naval
service ~ foreign countries j. based entirely upon
the efficiency Of the officer and in considering his
efficiency az, plays an important par. Lieutenant
Mrutz, United states Navy, IN recent report "a
the Dcpar mcut says:
I'm .tudving he question of promotion and
tnrmcnt the iacj j, forcby presented that foreign
Dovcrmrut, rccogniL. that an officer beyond CT
tain ar for certain du r>. ceases To- be OF the great
81 u,,fnlnc~~ and -ysjcms ar, adopted by which
officers are advanced 10 positions Of re>pon-in ihy
cfo, the cucrpichWrn, Of age hdV" undermined their
abilities. These Governments do no rapidly promote
their officer from any me" -chtim n "t reward
nut look upon them weapons OF warfare the
most important Of all weapons. as possessing tn
mind, to diirc the other weapons, ana II Is thelr
pole, have them of the best much u, II Is their
policy f. have their ship, aud guns and toiprdne> ~
10. best. Promotion in Germany and Aus ria Is no,
Of selection for merit An officer Is cous autly under
the scrutiny Of hi, seniors IN rank. who must pcriOI
c.ly report upon hi, merits. and when 1t come, MS
turn for promotion. If the report, not "a i-actoy
he is cropped from the service There is no fixed
AZ, for retirement, but the reports show when ho
hn, passed The are Of efficiency The fact hat the
averag' age for promotion To commander Is thirty
Two Ia captain fory-two. and to rear admiral about
hf y shows with what rigOr and severity the re-
puircmcnt> carried ont. In all the other countries
here promotion by seniority and by selection and IN
Italy. IN addition 10 these me hodS, by competitive
examination. There az" limits, Vine limits
and service limit, i'm each grade requirement, for
promotion, and compulsory retirement for age IN
each grade
As ha, already been poin' ed ont this Is the only
country. probably. in which stagnaon Of promotion
has been permitted Ia impair seriously the efficiency
II the personnel. 1t i, notorious that men are
old for the discharge Of the duties imposed
upon them. They look upon sca-servicc
necessary evil punishment in fact
They only too glad to have put i'm
their sea service in order they may devote them
selves TO shore duty once more. such notions have
resulted in producing a feeling I'm the Navy that
have also resulted In creating system under which
men are picked ont for service on shore on account
Of their ability, and for duty simply on account
Of their availability. Compulsory retirement In the
service pf supcrannultcd and practically useless
officers but IL would also Increase the cost Of the retired
co,t would not exceed T2OOOOO a year. This /, n
small sum when compared with the millions voted
annually ships. II it shond increase the efficiency
Of the called upon to command those sps-and no
one can doubt that IL would, in view Of the results
obtained by foreign Governments by said mcans-wOuld
not such expenditure be incurred IN the interest
wise and intelligent economy l. IL not the plain
duty Of Congress 10 give this subject Immediate atten