The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-03

pay of officers on this list is set at
three-quarterS of the pay they were
receiving while in active service. But
they are not to be treated as pen
slOners. At any time that their services
are needed by the government. their
waiting orders may be revoked and
they may be set al such work as they
may still be fitted to perform. There is
also provision for voluntary retire
ment at the end Of thirty consecutive
years of service, at three-fOurths dutv-
pay. The places Of the officers trans.
terred to the waiting orders list are
10 be hlled by promotions SrOm below.
This bill proposes no radical de-
pafture from past practices. An act
passed in 1895 provided for the placing
on permanent waiting orders. with one
half duty pay, Of those officers who
were then examined and found dis
qualified for active service, numbering,
thirty nine. But the three years which
have interviewed have raised another
considerable crop of lncapabIes. so that
1t is necessary to do some more thin
nlng out in order TO relieve serious
clog. The object Of the present bill is
to save the necessity Of such Iegis-
Iation every few years, by providing an
automatic system, like that which
exists in both army and navy. A uni
form general law always works more
adVantageOusly to q service as well as
more justly to the individual mem bers
thereof, than spasmOdic legislation to
fit peculiar emergencies.
The complement of active officers al
lowed by law is 222. When it is re-
membered that the service of these mon
between intervals Of sea going and Of
rest, as in the navy, that it is not only
IabOriOuS but hazardous, and that the
vessels to be Differed number thirty
SIX, 1t does not appear that the full
number allowed by law is any too
large If the revenue marine is to be
Kept up to it's full possible measure Of
efficiency. 1t is a technical service,
the officers Of which are required to
be educated in all the arts Of seaman
ship and to pass rigid professional ex-
amlnatiOns for entrance and promo
ton. 1t is also a branch Of the mill
tary force of the country Although
it performs merely sort of police duty
in times of peace, it becomes an ad-
Junct of the Independently d part of
tin time of war The commissions
Of officers in the revenue marine are
for life. just the same as the commits
slons Of army and navy officers. Poll
tics play no part in appointments. dis
cipline or promotion. Even in time of
peace, if some special emergency
arises, the cutter service is liable to be
called upon by the president to CO.
operate with the navy. as was illus
trated in the policing Of Boring sea
under the sealing agreement between
this country and Great Britain.
CuTiously enough, The same Influences
which were called into play to procure
the complete transfer of the revenue
cutter service to the navy, now threat
en- to prevent the enactment Of the
pending bill designed to accomplish Il
similar end bv different means There
seems to be little doubt that the SEN
ate would Dass the pending bill. but
in the house the very friends of the
revenue marine who insisted upon its
amalgamation with the navy refuse to
he satisfied with anything short Of
that, and threaten to defeat this bill
if it comes over. The case furnishes
a fresh illustra ton of the inconsistent
cjes of congressional action if we try
to measure it by the ends sought in
stead Of by the motives of the law
makers. The bill rests upon the sen
ate calendar to await some reasonable
probability Of favorable action in the
house. How soon such signs may be
looked for no one knows.