Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-19
DESERTERS FROM THE NAVY
Why i. 1t That rAs,Fhnssr Nor. Than
1000 Each Year?
The Cause a. Ezprainsd to a Conn
mittee OF Congress AMoney Due
the Men Not Paid promptly.


way ought to be found for lessening the
number Of assertions. IFhese number more
than 1000 every year. nStrange this seems,
in view Of the fact THAI the wages paid to
the men are greater than they can earn on
shore. The prices charged for clothing are
| much less than the same goods can be pur-
| chased for ON land and the ration table COM
pares favorably in quality, quantity and
variety with any second-class hotel on land
AS for the strictness of discipline there Is
no complaint, for the enlisted man In the
| navy usually appreciates the benefit of strict
discipline, which, while it prevents him from
| trespassing on the rights Of others, assures
to himself all the privileges that are the re-
wards Of good conduct
The fact Is that very unreasonable prac-
ttce in the navy Is the cause Of nine tenths
of the assertions. lucia explanation of
this abuse and Of the way in which 1t works
was given recently by Mr.. Lodewyck Hoorn-
beck for the benefit of the joint congress
sional committee appointed to consider the
question Of reorganizlng the service. Mr..
HoOrnbeek is the editor of Our Navy, the
organ Of the enlisted men. He says that the
enlisted men have reason to complain that
the government of the United States does
not keep to the contract 1t makes with them
when they enlist. In this contract, duly
signed by both parties, Uncle Sam agrees to
pay to the enlisted man SO many dollars u
L
money is to be paid monthly. The fact is
quite different.
On first enlistment the man must be pro-
vided with an outfit of uniforms and bed
ding This is advanced to him by the pay
master, and it runs him into debt to an
amount varying from $45 to $50. Until that
debt Is liquidated he cannot go on shore
nor leave the ship. 1t takes the recruit
three or four months to work off the debt.
When it is paid and he has some money
due him on the paymas.er,s book, he has
a right to expect that the government shall
carry out its part 81 the agreement, and
thereafter pay him so many. dollars per
month";" as the contract states But the
government does nothing of the kind.
Discretion of the Commanding Omcer.
Before the debt is Cancelled he is usually
transferred to a sea-going ship, and he,
then runs against the pay regulations of
that ship. These regulations are entirely
within the discretion of the commanding Of
ficer According to the general rule, he
finds that he can draw no money as cash
until he has accumulated 500 with the pay
master. If he is patient, he remains on
board ship six or seven months more, until
he has accumulated the necessary 500. He
is not compelled to remain on board. ship
during this period, but without any money
there Is no fun in going on shore. When ne
has accumulated the 500. he then certainly
thinks that he will be entitled to his stipend
monthly. But he Is not ... ..'
He only receives an allowance called
monthly money. heANmpunt of which Is
entirely within the discretion of the COM
handing officer. Usually II varies from one
third to one-half a month bay each month.
The balance of his pay the government gen.
erously allows him to~accVmulate on the
books of the ship. butt be pcannot draw 1t.
If he desires to send money to his family,
he must make what Is knawn as a special
requisition, in which he6mukt testify in de-
tail the objects and uses to which the mon
ey is to be applied II Fhe commanding Of
ficer approves of the obtecthe gets the cash;
otherwise he does not get 1t.
About this time the recrlAt Is thoroughly
Disguised and ready to desert. In the case
of Americans nine out of ten do desert as
soon as they reach hoIhe port. Foreigners
are more patient. The demand in the navy
is for intelligent young men, but the first
assumption they encounter after enlistment
Is that they have not sufficient intelligence
to take care of their own earnings. In time
of peace young man does not enlist in the
navy for patriotic motives, but because he
wants to see the world and, to seek adven-
ture. But when he finds that for at least
year he must see the world with empty
pockets, deprived without reason of his earn
ings, he is utterly discouraged.
Some of the Evil Effects.
There is another motive for enlisting In
the navy. When a man is healthy. but out
Of work; when he has tramped from one
part of the country looking for employ
ment and acquiring vicious habits-then he
often goes to the navy as a refuge. He is
fed, clothed, and life to him is without
care The money he is forced to accumu-
late is spent tn one long del auch at the
end of each enlistment. Bankrupt in cash
and broken In nerves, he again seeks the
receiving ship and re-er lists for another
period of acc Emulation. To such men the
present pay regulations are no hardship.
To the foreigner who. attracted by the pay
in our navy, eniists for the sole purpose of
accommodating money, the regulations are
in no way Objectionable But they cause
the American to despise the service to
condemn his officers, and to desert
There are other evil effects of the present
regulations. man who has no money.
but wants 1t badly. will borrow it If he
can. There are comparatively rich men
among the enlisted force of the navy-men
who have become rich by lending money
to their shipmates. The rate of interest
is 20 per cent month. man borrows
20 from money-lender: at the end of the
month he must repay SO, or he must paw
81 for each month until the money is re-
paid If the borrower is recruit his ne
cessities being greater he only gets 81 and
repays 50. Officers in the navy have not
escaped suspicion of being concerned In
lending morey to the crew. furthermore
the fact that every enlisted man in the
service has balance due him from the
government invites manipulation of
those balances by naval pay officers or
their clerks. Many scandals have arisen
from this cause in the navy.
Officers Paid in Full.
Mr.. Hoornbeek mentioned the case of an
executive officer who refused to let a man
have money to send to his mother until he
procured certificate from the mothers
spiritual adviser to the effect that she was
not only sick. but destitute. Within the last
year an educated machinist of the navy was
compelled to deliver his letter open to an
officer, when he desired to inclose a check
to his relatives at home BY the captains
order the paymaster declined to deliver to
him the check for the money the machinist
had asked for. and would only deliver 1t to
an officer. who Enclosed the check in the
open letter, sealed 1t and mailed it.
There Is not man in the navy who sup
ports mother, wife, chitd or sister but has
felt the degradation OF being compelled to
tell his family secrets to an officer before
he could get the moneB, or rather a small
part of the money duesto himself from the
government The onlyIimeff who are paid
in full In the navy are the officers and
special service men. The latter enlist to
serve on board receiving ships They live
on shore with their familiesI and not a few
of them own saloons JUST outside the navy
yards. These men draw their money in full
each month. w