The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-10-21
THE NAVAL OFFICERS CASTE
No Seaman In Our Navy Can Obtain a Conn
mission.

become a commissioned officer of the
! United States. A sailor may hav,
learning, bravery and seamanship, eacl
in the highest degree, but he can neye,
command a ship or be anything higher
than warrant officer. When he ha.
risen to that position the limit has beer
reached. 1t has not always been so
In past times men, in a few cases hav.
attained commissioned rank. Afte,
the war provision was made by con
gress for selecting the brightest of the
apprentice boys on board the training
ships and sending them to the academy
But this practice was discontinued.
The opinions on this subject of some
sailors, marines, warrant officers anc
commissioned officers were collected by
a World reporter.
The captain of the receiving ship Yer
mont, who has more opportunities o.
observing the sailor than any man II
the country was indica ted at the nav,
yard as the man best qualified to speal
upon the matter.
81 believe in the abstract principls
that men should rise" he said. IF they
could pass rigid examination they
should have the same chance for com
mission as in the army. II would be q
good idea to send the best of the men e
the academy for two years to -
them CONVEX SAINT with the theoreticSy
| details of the profess ion. OF course on y
those who had had some practical ex-
pericnce at sea and were studious should
be taken. The naval profession is more
technical than the military, so the ex-
ANNA ton for seaman in the ,avy
about to become an officer shouli be
more rigid than in the same case or a
private in the army
1.-THE mod ern man-of-war is Scom-
plicated that it would be hard for a
man to gain the requisite knorledge
without assistance. 1t would encourage
men and make better class eilist if
they saw a commission head Of them.
In the marine corps p romotiopshould
be as free as in the army. Noting but
a lack OF technical KIN owledge should
be bar The best apprentices and
men should have n chance. The trouble
is that no provision is made far such a
thing. A limited mum er of blight fell
lows should be selected fir ON tie ranks
and sent to the academy. Sucl course
would bc more in consonalce with
American institutions Thee is no
earthly objec ton to it in my mind. 1t
would benefit the Sc rvice and bring
tirst-class men in"
A lieutena mt of marines Sid that the
marines are too old, in mot cases, to
learn. They could not acquire sufficient
knowledge If they are abe, however,
they should have the chancs.
The executiv e officer of The Atlanta
said that it was perfectly right that
men who could pass the examinations
of the Naval Academy should get COM
missions. Sending apprentices to the
Naval Academy, however, was failure
When 1t was tried many apprentices
entered, expecting to be sent to the
academy, and were spoiled for the serv-
ice and every thing else when they did
not get there.
Rear Admiral Walker, the command,
ant of the North Atlantic squadron
said: "A man who shows himself COM
petent should be encouraged. Not many
could do so. An officer nowadays has
to have a great amount of technical
knowledge. There would be so many
obstacles to getting a commission that
few men would go in for one. There
are so many chances for bright men in
priv ate life in this country that few
good men wo uld be tempted to come
1t proba bly, would not be good policy,
since men would come into the service
for the sole purpose of getting a COM
mission. Having failed, they would be
discontinued and move heaven and earth
to get out The ma rines, of course
should have the same chance as in the
army.
when the best apprentices were APP
pointed to the Naval academy sons of
officers and sons of gentlemen would
enlist When they did n OF get a chance
they pulled all sorts of wires and kept
all their political influence at work try
ing to be discharged. The consequence
was that the apprentice ships were in a
bad state Instead of trying to turn out
seaman, the whole service was subor-
dinated to sending ten cadets year to
the academy. The consequence was
that the ships did not turn out good
men," These are the opinions of the Of
ticers. The men unan imously disap-
proved of the present system.
THE best men would stay in the navy
If there were any chance to rise" said
one sailor. "As it is, they leave at the
first opportunity, both for this reason
and because they are Disguised with the
prevailing system of caste"
There is no reason why men should
not make good officers" another said.
The commissioned officers have no
idea of practical seamanship This is
the reason the ships are always getting
aground and into all kinds of scrapes.
An officer goes to sea for three years
and then stays on shore for from three
to six years, Sup posing doctor or
lawyer were to practice his profession
for three years, and then do something
else for six years, would he be co mpe-
tent? They shou Id be at sea four years
out of FIVE"
When this man was asked whether.
If he had chance to get commission.
he thought that he could get enough
theoretical knowledge to pass an exam
nation, he said that he had graduated
from school second in his class Relovv