Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-04-29

A question Of great importance 70 the navy
has been brought to the attention Of Secretary
Herbert and will undoubtedly receive prompt
and careful consideration ct his hands imme-
diately after his return from Chicago.
1t relates to the granting Of leaves Of absence
to officers to enable them to 60 into private
business From . small beginning this
practice has grown to alarming proper
tons So much so that It threatens
TO seriously affect the service The evils
that have arisen therefrom have begun
TO attract public attention and il is now asserted
that some remedial action will soon be taken 20
protect the interests of the government Naval
officers who have no aspirations in this direc-
ton do not hesitate to say that the practice is
detrimental to the service. Many Of them
go so far as TO characterize il as an
outrage. They argue that men who are edu-
Gated by the government for the purpose of
devoting their best efforts to it's welfare should
be compelled to do so as long as they are in ITS
employ. instead of being permitted TO enter the
service OF private corporations doing business
with the government A number Of
instances cited where officers who have
represented the government in the preuaration
OF contracts for steel plates and ship construc-
contractors IN the execution OF the very same
contracts, at the same time being retained on
the government pay roll 1t is the old question
of serving two masters. and. in the instances
mentioned. it was clearly TO the financial inter
est of the officers TO favor the contractorS
SOME wELL-KSowN CASES.
Some Of these cases are of common notoriety
in the navy and are mentioned now only FOR the
benefit Of the public. In January last Com
mander William N. Foiger, then chief Of the
bureau of ordnance, was granted leave Of
absence for two years on the ground OF Ill
health. Since then he has repeatedly visited the
department in the interests it is said of the COM
pany controlling the Harvey process OF strength
euing steel plates. which company has large
contracts with the government. Ii is alleged
that he is in their employ. While he was chief
of the bureau OF ordnance he was mainly in
strumentai in demonstrating the value Of
HarveyiZed plates in the construction Of naval
vessels, and his alleged interest IN their con-
tracts with the government at this time il q
matter Of general comment.
Another case. in the order Of rank, 10 that of
Lieut.. Commander Vim. swift He was granted
leave Of absence from August /. 1890. to Feb
ruary 1, 1893, ana was then furloughed until
February 1. 1894. During this time he has
been in the employ of Sellers & Co. of Phila-
deiphia, who do a large business with
the government in the safe of tools. &c. 1t
is understood that Mr.. swift has designed many
of these tools and has been very successful in
| negotiating their sale TO the government. 1t is
safe to assume that he is well paid by his en-
ployers.
Two other officers. viz. Lieut.. Commander
T. W. Symonds and Chief Engineer J.. w. Rob-
inson, were recently granted years leave Of
absence in order that they might accept re-
munerative private employment at the worlds
Columbian exposition.
Lieut.. Commander c. c. Coruwel has been
drawing two-thirds pay on leave of absence for
the past two wears, during which period he has
been looking after The interests OF the Thomp-
son-Houston Copper and Nickel Com gany In
their contracts with the Navy Department He
received $1,000 a year from the government
and 81, 800 year frori the contractora
DELIVERING LECTURES.
A case somewhat different is that OF Lieut.
A. V. Wadhams. He was granted a years leave
of absence from September 1, 1892, on two
thirds pay. He is utilizing this time and add
ing to his income by the delivery of a series of
lectures on the best means of improving the
naval service.
Lieut. c. A. Stone is a fortunate officer He
has been granted leave Of absence from March
&c, 1891, 20 March l6, 1894, during which time
he has been employed by Carnegie Co. Of
PittsburS in connection with their steel con-
tracts with the government. For this he re-
ceives S1.S0O year from the govern
ment and 5000 q year from Carnegie.
Thus, while he looks after the interest
of Mr.. Carnegie in the inspection Of the steel
plates made Tor the government, another naval
officer is required to be present to see that the
interests OF the government are protected.
The latter officer gets pay only from the gov
eminent, however, and il is about Q third
less than that received by Lieut.. Stone.
Another officer who has q good thing is
Lieut. W. H. briggs. He is the joint inventor
of a rapid-fre gun used by the navy, and is now
In tine employ Of the company engaged in its
manufacture. In order to give him time and
opportunity to look ali ter the interests of the
contractors against those of the government,
he was granted leave Of absence from May 81,
1883, to April 1, 1880. from which date he was
furioughed until September 1, 1888. His company
has had some legal difficulty with the govern
ment under its contracts and Lieut.. briggs was
relieved from duty under his commission in
order to assist in the prosecution OF the claims
against the government.
The case OF Lieut.. W. p. Clason is not quite
so bad. He was granted year. leave of alb
sence from June 80 last, but it was merely TO
allow him to assist in the settlement Of an es-
tate in which he was interested and not that he
might endeavor to mulct the national ex-
chequer.
Another officer interested in a contract with
the United States is Lieut.. 5. Seabury, who was
granted wear g furlough in April last in order
that he might accep, employment with private
company manufacturing ordnance for the use
Of the army.
THIS Is A GOOD THING.
Another fragrant case is that Of Chief En-
gineer N. P. Towne. After service in the
Navy Department in connection with the de-
signs for machinery for vessels, for the con-
struction OF which contracts were subse-
quentiy made with Cramp d Sons OF Phi,adel
phia, he was in January last granted two years'
leave Of absence in order that he might enter
the service of that company to superintend the
construction of this machinery. 1t is under
stood that he is to receive &C, 900 year for
this service. His government salary runs on
Just the same.
Then there is Lieut. W. W. Wood. who has
been on leave Of absence since October, 1859
He is the vice president and general manager
of the American Projectile Company. which
has contracts with the government. He gets
81, 500 year from the government for the
work he does for the company and undoubtedly
receives good pay from il at the same time.
Up to May 4. 1892, Naval Constructor s. W.
Armistead represented the governments inter-
ests in the construction Of vessels by the as
signees Of Loring q Co. at Boston, but on
that date he got = years leave Of absence
and entered their employ In identi-
cally the same capacity. Another
officer was detailed to the duty previously per-
formed by him, and the spectacle was pre-
sented Of two officers Of the same service rep
resenting two directly conflicting interests In
the same establishment
That brethren Of the cloth In the navy are
not above accepting financial and outside Of
ii h. Sc toA so