New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-16
AFFAIRS AT THE NAVY YARD
..1.KING ABOUT THE PERSONNEL BILL
AND PROPOSED NEW SHIPS.
cr,v1Ty IN THE YARD-CRUIsERs READY FOR
sEA-MANY vIsITORs-HOw THE

There i "A question at the navy \ ara as 10 which
-. caused the most comment among naval officers
-, neople interested in matters pertaining to the
80 the bill regarding the naval personnel re-
I'D nv the Joint committee Of the House and
.na,e or the utterances of Congressman Geissen-
liver Of New-Jersey. favorng an increase in the
.seIs of the Navy. notably those Of a large size.
-,ose officers OF the "Hump"-that is those who
~, rradua ted from the Naval Academy between
Is, and 1861 who stationed at the Yard. are.
= a rule strongly in favor of the passage of the
An substantially as reported. This. OF course. APP
lies 10 the line. While a number of the officers
,bo have spent the last thirty in the service
=, tho Nation will by the passage of this bill. be
usced on the retired and reserved list with pos
utility Of reaching higher grade than that of
sntain they feel that while possible sacrifice Of
sanction may be the result to them personally
Ne possibilities of promotion under the present sys
EN- to a grade higher than that which they can
zach under the retirement clause of the bill is
emote that they we'll afford TO take the chance
nd consequently. there would be very few protests
rom the line officers against the passage Of the bill
That tn staff officers comprising the engineering
,edical and pay corps do not look with much
.vor on the bills is nothing TO be surprised at.
nere is a clause which may involve a reduction of
helr nav to the level that received by
,ne officers holding commissions parallel in rank
Ehie there will be, under this provision. slight
oss OF pay. the loss of prestige will be of more
.nec, in inducing protests against the bill The
.,an officers assert that while they, have definite
ank and liked pay. they should not be subject
reduction TO the level OF line officers the latter
IRE constantly IN the way of promotion to higher
ank sand correspondingly increased pay
One OF the older officers of the Navy, who has
zen in the service since early in 1851. speaking of
ne bin yesterday. said The proposed measure
municipalities: First. increasing the number of cap
aims and commanders fifteen each Second. maxi
he VII
rom the Volunteer Navy after the war. additional
n their grade and giving them promotion in the
,ame way as is done now; third. the creation OF a
reserve list Of 100 officers in addition the present
Naval establishment. With this accomplished II is
asserted that the promotion of the junior one-haf
" the list Of line officers will be more rapid and
heir pay will increase more rapidly accordingly.
The increase OF the appropriation. resulting from
increasing the number of commanding officers and
transforming the present commodores into rear-ad-
nirals. which latter project is another provision
. " the BILL Will amount 10 sloNo@ year in
round figures. The reserve list of 100 officers is to
se formed by taking officers from the list OF COM
handlers, lieutenant-comma nders. and the upper
half OF the lieutenants list. The shore-pay OF
these officers varies from s. 200 year in the case
N commanders to SEQ with the leutenants, an
average OF At least g 800 each For the pay Of the
100 the annual appropriation must. therefore. be
increased by $4,000; add this TO the 10000 before
ng TO cost the taxpayers Of the United States not
ess than $4,000 per annum
The idea in proposing TO increase the number OF
Ulcers in command ranks is that the greater the
lumber In those ranks in proportion TO the total
lumber Of all ranks the quicker will the juniors
Use into the higher ranks: this proposition is obv
lusy correct. The same object may be obtained.
however. by leaving the numbers in the command
anks they are. and reducing the number
the lower grades. The practical need for nifty
hree more officers OF command ranks is not as
erted. nor could Ii be with any regard to existing
ondons. There are forty five captains and
ighty-fve commanders. or 100 commanding officers
nan OF these. according TO the last official Navy
register just twenty FIVE are in command Of sea-
osnS vessels Of war and thirteen others are in
onmand OF receiving ships, training ships etc.
fthe vessels OF the first second and third rates,
Or the command Of which captains and COM
oanders eligible by law. the Navy Register
libits Just thirty-six that are At for service The
ships OF these rates now building will take
he place Of the old and obsolete craft gradually
being withdrawn from service for which reason
greater number than forty such vessels available
or sea-duty cannot be expected at any time In
he near future.
Under the present distribution Of members no
captain or commander taking regular turns at
auty. can get command of a ship more than one
third Of the time; in fact, the columns OF the Navy
Register show that officers Of these ranks who have
lad as much as three years command out OF ten
years Of service are rated exceptional. How eff
,ency and habits Of command can be expected OF
,ffcers who spend more than two-thrds OF their
lime on shore duty is puzzle which Congress
nay get confused in trying to solve and not be In
.lned TO complicate IT, and it will comp.icate 1t
most materially II the number OF commanding
officers is to be increased by hfty-three Then
here will be 1s3 officers instead Of 100 officers hav
ng 10 take turns in dividing the command OF about
49,.
anks to receive shore more han 70 per cent Of
lis time or eleven years between each cruise or
three years How will there be developed self
.eiiant and competent commanders? How long an
interval would there be before another period OF
ragnaon? Certainly not many years. and there
would be increase In the reserve list or some
'ther scheme with the consequent Increase OF cost
! believe that such a bill. II II becomes a law.
Toud be the injury OF the service to say nothing
# the additional cost Of the maintenance of the
gavy close 10 a half million dollars year
While all this divergence of opinion III expressed
W the officers most deeply interested. there Is a
,nanim,y o. opinion the point that something
houd be done and done quickly 10 relieve the
strain The spectacle Of officers OF the rank
RearAdmiral, occupying positions at the mead
bureaus on shore duty. where they have had
lready shore duty beyond the limit required by
equations and are entitled by all precedent 10
service while officers OF lower rank are as
isned to foreign stations with TIE re.atve RANK in
. Z rear-admiral while in command OF those sta-
Ions, is not one which fills the officers OF the
rades Of leutenant-commander. neutenants. etc,'
nh any great amount or hopeiulhess WHEN co"-
Nsring their chances OF promotion
READY FOR MORE WORK.
Congressman Geissenhainer. who is the new chair
aan Of the House Naval Committee. has carried
ops to the hearts Of all those who are interested IN
~ subject Of the United States having navy
Commensurate with It's importar ce and dignity as
nation That Secretary Herbert Is desirous OF
iavfng three batteshps and twelve torpedo
sats constructed is regarded In the light OF Con-
FRESHMAN Gessenhainer's recent remarks as IN
ncasive Of the policy which will be pursued by me
oemocratc Administration during the rest OF ,s
Nrm, and that some of this work OF construction
sIl fall to the part Of the different navy yafds -
vsntly hoped for by the chiefs OF bureaus d, c one
nfde. At the Brooklyn yard Chief Naval Con-
Nructor Frank @ Eernald has excellent force OF