The herald., 1898-11-15

- VI Peti -lNlpSsUlb III UlSSS
buttons and shoulder-stra ps. 1t is hard
to imagine where anybody will find
himself at the conclusion of the en-
| tertainment
That the whole system is wrong and
absurd is acknowledged even by the
navy department. which is very anx-
ious to have it changed by act of con-
gress. In fact. it has already recon-
mended to that body a new plan, which
will almost undoubtedly be adopted at
the next session. This scheme covers
the entire business of promotion in the
service, with a special provision relat-
| ing to the advancement of officers for
exceptional merit. Under this new
method there is to be no jumping and
| no gain of numbers on the naval list
| by the men who are to be recompensed
for gallantry or other reasons. The off,
Ger will get as his reward a medal and
an increase of pay. In the American
navy of the future some officers will
have special rating as "medal-of- hon.
or-men,' and as such they will regu-
larly draw an addition of five per cent
TO their salaries. This augmentation
will apply always after the medal-of-
honor has been bestowed, even after
the recipient has been retired, and
thus he will experience during all the
rest of his life a continuous benefit.
Under the plan described it will be a
grateful government that gives the re-
ward and not the comrades of the
beneficiary.
The new plan of promotion will in
troduce the element of selection in
such manner as to weed out of the
service the least desirable men. At
present. advancement in the navy is
purely by seniority which means the
survival of the good stomach and
strong nervous system. The officer of
only pa assable efficiency has merely to
keep clear of court martial, and he
goes steadily up through the list, ar
irving at the rank of admiral In the
course of time. There is no question
here of the survival of the fittest in
respect to ability. This arrangement.
it is admitted, does not tend to produce
the best results, but. for obvious rea-
sons, there has been much opposition to
the radical change that is unquestion-
ably needed-a change involving the
adoption of a system of retirements
voluntary and involuntary.
The authorities of the navy depart
ment have made a study of the systems
of promotion adopted in foreign coun-
tries, but none of these appear to be
ideal. In the British service there is
an age limit for each grade. If lieu
tenant, for example, arrives at a GER
tain age without being shifted by
seniority to the rank next above, he
drops out of the service entirely. and
It is the same way with captain or
with an officer of any other grade.
This prevents stagnation in promotion.
but it has the serious disadvantage of
dropping out many fine officers who
ought not to be dispensed with. The
efficient man is apt to be dropped as
the most incompetent one. the whole
business being simply a gamble and
operating by blind chance.
The French system is better. COM
bining as It does the principle of SEN
iority and selection. In the lower
grades OF the service one-third of the
officers are promoted by selection, and
two-thirds by seniority. For instance,
if during one year sixty ensigns are TO
be made lieutenants, the first forty en-
signs on the list go up, but the remain
ing twenty are chosen purely on the
ground of fitness and with no reference
to seniority AS they rise into the
higher grades, the proportion of off
GERS selected in this way becomes
greater, until. when the rank of cap
tain Is reached, all the promotions are
made for fitness only. This seems a
very excellent scheme. and so it Is in
all but one respect. The men who do
not obtain promotion are naturally dis
gruntled, and so there is always in the
French navy a percentage of officers
who are disappointed and disconnected
Deeming themselves victims OF injus-
tice, they lose the elan and interest in
their work which are such necessary
qualities in an officer.
The plan that has been recommend
ed TO congress for our own navy re-
quires that there shall be at least so
many vacancies in each grade every
year. If the required number of vacan-
cies is not created by retrements and
casualties, they must be made arbitrar-
lily. There is to be z list or officers who
put themselves down as applicants for
voluntary retirement, and the Presi- !
dent will be at liberty at any time to
grant as many of these APPLICATIONS as
he chooses, with a view to making
requisite vacancies, the officers thus
disposed of retiring with the rank next
above that which they actually hold
when dropped from the active list ana
with three-fourths of the sea pay Of
this superior grade. 1t is to be noticed |
that the President will be able to exer-
else selection in this matter, choosing