Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-05

But NOW cUITE AcrIvr-wHAr oFFrcrns on
EacH BRANCH oF rHE SERVICE HAVE 10 ..v
rPoS TIE SUBJECT.
For some time past there have been evidences
mat the relations existing between
the officers OF the army and those Of
'he navy have been somewhat strained owing
to the desire Of each 20 have control ~ ,ha
matter OF coast defenseS IL Is realized tia,
TINS feature OF the armament Is more important
now than Il has ever been before ana Mil
become even more in the immediate f,tur.
me question Of supremacy in the control a,
the coast defenses H. one tina, has csyo.
considerable troui.e 60 European nations .na
now that II has arisen on this side az tfe ,,.,.,
IL viii probably continue 90 be A hon. ~ g.
tention until such time as Congress NAV .,.n
IN and denno clearly the line between the iur,.-
dlctions OF the two arms Of the service.
Bat little has been said openly on ei,h.,
side and when the question is put 20 an army -
navy officer direct the chances sra a..
be VIII say that h. has never heard
affairs SO far the control Of the co.st
deienses has been IN the hauus OF the arm, a
system tAat Is contrary 20 that practiced ar,,n,-
some OF the leading naval uowcrs 81 ,be -
word me ordnance ana engineer officers %
Nj Flsa
march OF progress Ia scientific warfar. abroad
anu th.y have succeeded In building mn n ,,un
factory capable OF turning ont heavy ria,. frr
seaeosst iortliications. They have also CO
Aolshed systom of submarine mine.
and mortar defense aud they have oY,
lined plan for seacoast and bsrbnr
ueiehse that has been approved by the hlehe.t
experts IN that branch Of engineering. Iha
oiheers oil the navy, who have long desired 10
have al this inclnded In their own iurisdiction
/ reaAlZe. Is said hat q 4
trol IL must Ice obtained before tie army .uo
ceeds an carrying al Its plans INTO execution.
IN tue past the officers OF the army hav.
aNalled themselves freely OF the inquiries Of IA.
hafaI oiiice-s as furnished through the agency
OF the naval intelligence bureau. The func-
uoh OF this bureau Is 10 collect the --latest in
formation from abroad Ia the matter 81 a.
.ei0plnehts M methods Of modern warfare Itis
L'. rs'Sou' however. that the feeling between
me Two branches has gone so far that IA. naval
intelligence men have given up their FORMER
PrAcuce OF keeping their army brethren in
iothled as To what ls going on and that there
!" e0nsi1etAole eoolness evident between them
TROUBLE ~ A NEW PLACE
FROM information received recently on an
thority so good that the story can hardly a.
doubted the trouble has now broken ON, IN 4.
new place. A Is generally known. both ,h.
army anc navy send attaches TO the Different
European countries for the purDose of v.t,b
ing the developments Of th, armies ana ,s,,,a.
10 report improvements and changes ami a.
give all information which may he OF Us. 20
the United States service. All other couptric.
90 the same thing, but while IN such counuie.
the army and navy WORK together there A. a
spirit OF rivalry aud jealousy between our au-
thoritles IN this city which threatens 10 thw.rt
| the very object TO be obtained
III Is stated on the same authority that IN.
bureau Oh naval Intelligence some time ago is-
sued orders TO the naval attaches an Europe not
10 assist OF in any Way cooperate with tbs mi
itary attaches, the reason. It Is understood
pelng TINS same tight the control of tie
coast deienses.
An officer who ranks very near the ton 90 ,h.
list In the army said when his attention Was
called To this story by n STAR reporter thar a.
was absolutely without foundation. In ms
opinion 1t was all the baseless fabric of q dream
aud scarcely worth denying.
An ARMY OFFICERS VIEWS
Ihe whole matter OF coast defense" said
the officer, lis not one for discussion bv M a
any rate, for IL lies entirely with Congress- for
their action. As far as the army is concerned
.ue question Is not an open one aud 1
mouiu NOT Ike TO discuss It, The navy,
LED by very laudable ambition. IL
deslrous OF having its scope and authority in
creased and there Is nothing to ind fault with
IN that should not be at ali surprised N
there were some such feeling 10 be found among
the omcers on our side of the service still
| think there can be but one side 10 m. ones,,on
Inc army has control and there Is NO reason
In the world why At should be taken away.
the hrst lace the army. counting in the
militia, outnumbers the navy ten 10 one The
principal Use To which at would be pus
IN time OF war would be the protec-
uon OF the seacoast For no sane person
pehe'es that any army could be landed on our
shores strong enough To cope with Us at home.
iNoN' IN that same emergency the navy would
nave all the work it could possibly attend TO
on board snip and II would be foolish in the
extreme To load at down with q
work that Is already being 90 admirably
done lou see We have built up an engineer
corps that is second 10 none II rot the very
best In the world, and am unable 20 see the
wisdom OF transferring the coast defenses to
'he navy, Tor while lts engineers are unex-
cel!ed IN their own branch they are entirely uu-
ianlllar Will tie class OF work they would bs
called upon TO do, and the result would be
detrimental to the service an the extreme. The
navy an case OF war would be invaluable in
the line OF coast defense and harbor vessels,
but when At comes to doing the work from the
shore then the army must step IN.
Il don blame the navy Tor claiming this
control, FOR II there Is anything a sailor likes
Letter than being on laua IL Is sailing m still
water. They re right, too. Tor In the army
would rather do our lighting on dry land our
selves"
WHAT COMMODORE FoLGER THINKS
When the story OF the strained relations be-
tween the army and navy was called to the at
tention OF Commodore h oiger chief of the bu-
reau of ordnance, he said that the whole story,
SO lar as he knew was he manufactured Qua
OF the whole cloth. Why" said be. when We
want anything out of the War Department
We always get 1t and when they want Any-
thing from us they always ask for
II. Now, for example, there on the floor
Is pressure gauge like one used in the army
L got one from them a model and had Il
turned out at the ordnance shops at the navy
yard. really do not believe there il any-
thing In the story worthy Of credence, for tue
relations between the two branches are of toe
most amicable description"