Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-30

no one outside of the Department can pos
sibly know-there is no doubt that the
charges emanate from the clique which Is
opposed to the present administration OF
the Ordnance Department. Commodore
| Sicard, the former Chief of the Bureau of
Ordnance, and the officers who acted with
him form q clique which has opposed nearly
every act OF the present administration OF
the Office. Especially have the officers of
this clique been excited by the least changes
made in designs originating during their
tenure, though they themselves we're re-
sponsible for changes at least as radical as
any that have been made by the present of
icials
Party Politics in the Matter.
Party politics also enters, to some extent,
into the controversy, as many of the
officials who operated under ex-Secretary
Whitney were very friendly to that gentle
man, and are jealous of anvact that could
reflect upon the Judgment of his admiuistra-
tion. 1t is these officials who are stirring
| up the trouble, though they are keeping
themselves in the background in the fear
that they may be disciplined, as they are
making serious assaults on the integrity OF
their superior officers which they should
| never have even whispered unless they were
ready to make them good before court OF
naval officers.
There is either subject for . formal in :
quiry, or there is nothing but jealousy at
the back of the charges. In the one case
the Secretary Of the Navy and the Chief OF
the Bureau of Ordnance should be hauled
over the Goals, and in the other the officers
(and some of them are of high rank who
are responsible for the attacks on the Sec
retary and the Chief of Ordnance should at
least be consigned to active duty, away
from the soft places they now fill largely by
reason of social influence.
ga strong ground for the supposition that
the charges are magnitied is that the Chief
of Ordnance has constantly known that the
eyes of the opposing clique were upon his
every action, and that he could do abso-
lutely nothing without their knowledge.
He would have been something more than
foolish even if he wished to indulge in ia
voritism, or in corrupt schemes, to have
done so in the face of certain discovery and
ultimate disgrace.
jealousy on Both Sides of the Fence.
"On the other hand, it is possible that
some of the changes made were the result of
jealousy On the part of the clique of which
Commodore Folger is a central figure. 1t
takes but small provoeation to set these
sensitive naval officers by the ears, and in
their jealous fits they are liable to magnify
every HONcmcut VI tuc OpposieiOu VIM ooA
be gotten hold of for criticism"
The assertion that Secretary Tracy has
been the catspaw of Commodore Folger is
one of the most. absurd of the charges
made. The Secretary has heard both sides
Of all these questions, and if he accepted
Folger's views it was because of his con.
viction that they were for the best interests
of the Government Either that or he must
be as culpable, and deliberately SO, as
Folger.
At the same time. it is true that it wasn't
the unanimous opinion of those who are en-
tirely friendly to both Tracy and Folger
that the surrender of the DETECTING turret
idea was wise. Though it was an untried
experiment, even SO conservative an official
as Chief Naval Constructor Hichborn is of
the opinion that the conical turret
would have proved a great success. On the
other hand, was told by high officer of
the navy, long before this controversy
arose, that the designs for the conical turret
we're very defective, and that the big guns
could not be operated effectively or safely
in them. But Mr.. Hichborn happens to have
been the designer of the turret