New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-31

the sails to be handled by another set Of men;
BaSe was born Sommander born ieader h, D1
splendid stuff out Of which to make sailors and
striking triumphs against enemies whose forces
were administered under a system quite as faulty
AN AMALGAMATIoN BROUGHT ABOUT.
Nevertheless. the faults Of the system were so
evident that IT could not continue. and gradually
the corps of fighting men on board ship was ANAL
gamaied with the corps whose duty 1t was TO
dr.ct The ,np's motive power that In time
the fighting man required also TO know now
TO handle The ship he comm Id I'd TINS oil COURSE.
both his ,ral and his ren.ai powers: but the de-
mand was net without difficulty. AMI tie last last N
the line of succession Of the greaf admirals OF
E En9 cs waS ara Colnrwood Who were
fleets. Nc halfway measure could nave aVhlIcI.
fighting man or to keep the sailor man distinct
from him while giving nm the same "ri nr s ep
glneer can heve the power OF command nor the
little that goes with it unless he is himself trained
the fighting man mus stand supreme; only ne
change as he snip changes SO that preseH o as
he once knew about sails how ~ must kioW abon I
en man can e exercise ei Il Su he must oTourh
fitted FOR IT. II is not necessary that nc shoud
man OF OF the engine driver o' ne ahi " Ann
passed through the training which VIII enaoe MI"
TO oversee and direct their work.
LINE LIMITATIONS.
A change like that which TOOK place TWO nun
dred years ago must take place now. As then the
sailor man who knew only how 10 handle snip
had 10 be merged in the trained oifcer. while the
sen soldier who had once commanded his troops
whether ashore or anoat became also sailor man.
the line officer and The ens!neer mus .y oe
in the sense in which i IS employed IN the Navy
i; includes men u widely different duues, rne
corresponds with the man who ar'ua,ly haaa,ca i
the rigging OF tho old-stye sailing snip ana "lal
liz oaed in
of machinists whose upper men shall he warrant
omen rak Ed T'h ae Fur consrucs ana
designing engineers; the men VINO pah anu ,roose
from among mon who have shown spec'ai sp,'.r' W.,
for the work JUS az b IS T and ierrbia guns wiz
which modern warships are armed Between - -..
two gets Of mn hsae T. 5 2q hS 1911 n me o NE
be an engineer who. besides theoretical kno"I-
edse o. h1s must have mad the practical *
perience 10 be gained by s'andihs ""'o" J." VIC
engne-room aboard ship
ENGINEERS ESSENTIAL
IN short II Is absolutely essential that the best
naval officer OF the future shall be proacisnt IN
ero,rear1rc The fact that Farragut knew nothing
OF engines has no moro bearing on the case than
The fact the. Blake knew nothing Of sails Exactly
as Nelson. who succeeded BLAKE had 70 kno ns
Snora2, hc aTaru, q The f.,g1s ana mgi Md SSs
rehabilitation but Their. can be no sreGi;nlizntiS
G az 10 IL i'Hf "i %
Departmental custom among Inc sIons the line.
as sb 10 hs eowS the most ap,i,us bu, they
must remain me ocsIs the major part o, ~ So
lcIn his fellows only in the same manner as ne
thar or a' are Tsd sons to S0
order Of capacity we answer freely hat ms Is Y.
6d. Gn' warship doe. cali FOR the exercise
higher des'ee OF .e1n' ,n7 b ana f9s
OF one OF thu old vessels The best man today VIII
be no 9s or u P.f rrs Or Ssi "T
! standard which we may be quite content 10 equai
5q the We. anSnyh IN ola dsys would
ably make failure now We demand hghe,
1 we demand we VII mos as.uTedly attain l! is
more delicate work 70 command IN. ino!ana INA n
ION hut this is because In war. as In civil He. the
demands upon The leader OF men nYe .osnco
Training VIII be in no sense substitute f2r lhose
OF Gsa w rH1H'tG to oo run sE
| read,ness 10 accept responsibility which have IN
! all ages marked Grest captains II VIII merely be
! an Indispensable addition.
IMPROVED DISCIPLINE EXPECTED.
One OF the great benefits to be gained by the
amalzamation Of the line and engineers Will he In
discipline AT present 1t IS Inevitable that there
! should be more or loss clashing and grumbIng
about the work Of the machinsts in connection
With the work OF the rest OF the ships crew. his
must always accompany divided command ara
The connc, Of uncertain rights The chance ot any
oo opUresscd by particular officer because it IS
r. d iSs same w {p5 Spnis' VINE" ali the
TO sum up we must disregard the pretuices OF
cisev as Two centuries ago 1t was necessary dts
regard the preudices Of those who would have Keep:
s6ip and the man who sailed her. We must no, be
mised by any false analogies nor must we raj S, &c
radically from those 81 merchant marine. The
duties Of b ae & av s NO ns M nsne ono
| necton than have those Of the designer OF crack
.s scn ee T or h@ after s has BEEN b
On the other hand Ire duties ,o OF Inc Officer
Sirhiy mechanlca work as Is implied in the super:
vison Of the electrical engines the gun turrets and
ion and ihe compass art The building OF engines
like the building OF guns or r. 'orpedoes must ,s be
purpose TIE actual driving OF the engines. IKE
he actual management OF ihe ra SALE ara ha , OF 'hS
he enlisted men, the 9.tns sO OF the nsI,bsr
ssS ong Hnfe. engineer nor an engine driver must
/ in he future be familiar 70 every captain OF
war bey should be specialized only as the duie.
q the navigator the compass or elec'ricsi expert
or TIE G5e AXE phond be ded BY detail and
alike should be In line OF command
PROVIDING FOR PROMOTION.
TIL. problem Of combining the line and the en-
s,neers ,s comparatively new. The problem
tho solution Of which is attempted In this bill, u
how to provide properly for promotion. This is I
vo-v oId problem Many different solutions to 4
bav. been tried in actual practice. No solutio;
ever has worked can work. 70 as to give en-
tire satisfaction: bun one OF the worst Of all posi-
odonfed that OF promoting every one by pure
sen}orlty without regard 10 merit. as long as NJ
remsins in the service at all -
T'he statement Of the problem Is easy. TO prop
oriv man our ships need about three times a.
w., Ulcers below command grade as above II
NAM nyreeent promotion goes purely by seniority
each man. II he lives long enough ana u tmof
though all grades m o6 Of MS b pro
nSie",s develop the very negative virtues requisite
a. keep him clear Of court martial by IN
eJnnie nrocess OF consulting any set OF actuar.
sah1.s n can be seen at glance that this system
sasmre. man spending much the largest part OF III