New-York tribune., 1893-12-23
ADMIRAL ST4NTON'S CASE

Admiral Stanton has been restored 10 duty
and placed in charge Of the North Atlantic
Station. and will ultimately be transferred to
the command of the South Atlantic squadron,
from which he was detached The eXplana-
tions which he has offered are technically over
r,,led by Secretary Herbert, and ne Is charged
with grave error of Judgment in sauting the
flag of the Aquidahan and making an otlic al
call on Admiral Mcllo; but the leniency ana
promptncss with which his offence has been
condoned invalidate the ccnsure. The depart
mcnt nomnay condemns his conduct ana
travcrses his defence, but by its acts acquits
him An officer, who has been relieved sum
marily from command under circumstances
tending to compromise his reputation Is vlr'n-
ally vindicatcd when he is restored to posi-
ton Of equal importance and is assured that
rs soon as the transfers can be conveniently
made he will be allowed to return to his former
post. Naval discipline of this kind can only
be understood in Pickwckian sense
When Admiral Stanton was suspended from
command Of the South Atlantic squadron the
explanation was made by officials OF the Navy
Department that he had violated explicit i'll
strlctions to withhold recognition Of Admiral
Mcllo's flag and rank. 1t is now apparent that
he had not received special instructions OF TINS
nature. He has been called to account for not
acting upon his general knowledge OF the fact
that Admiral Mcllo was an insurgcnt. ana Tor
disrcgarlng Article 10 Of the naval reg'ila-
tiOns. providing that no salute shall be iirod III
honor Of any nation not formally rccoghiZeh
by the United States. His defence Is that,
while he was fully aware Of the conditions or
civil war; he considered himself under obiiga-
ton 10 salute the Brazilian flag In entering
nort. and did not recognize thereby the bel
lIpcrent rights Of the rebels nor violate Article
10 of the naval regulations In the same way
when he exchanged official calls with Admiral
Meo. he contends that he honorch uniform ana
naval rank without recognizing or conitc-
nancinc the position Of the insurgcnt leader.
The practice of naval commanders during Inc
Chilian conflict seemed 10 justify his course. al
though there We're differences of opinion about
the matter among the American and European
officers in Rio.
We do not think that the department comes
out Of this controversy with flying cOorS. Scrre-
tary Herbert after reviewing the case acq'lits
the Admiral of intentional wrong, ccnsurcs him
mildly for an error Of Judgment admits that
he was detached from command in order Ia
satisfy the Pcixoto Government, and ends In
vIndicating him by restoring him 10 n com
mand Of Il squadron and promising 10 send
him back speedily 10 Rio. This conclusion oi
the matter is simply farcical. 1t Is virtually
confession that the department acted hastily.
and committed an error Of judgment In srs-
pending him from command in response 10 the
clamors Of the PeiXOto Government. 1t Is not
unreasonable to conclude that those demands
would have been waived If Admiral stanton
had been allowed to discam cmphaticay any
intention Of recognizing the rights Of the IN
surgcnts, or OF doing anything more than to pay
respect 10 the national flag and uniform.
Secretary Herbert states that the Government
had not authorized Admiral Stanton to recog-
nizc Admiral McllO and his forces as entitled
TO begcrent rights. This Is n negative way
Of putting the case Ought not the department
to have issued positive instructions which
would have enabled the Admiral to act intelli-
gently in an emergency which was certain to
arise? Neglect to do this appears to us TO have
been an error Of judgment. 1t was also mani
festly unfair for officials Of the department In
suspending him from command TO announce
that he had openly dsrcgarlcd his instructions.