The San Francisco call., 1898-06-08
THE NAVY PERSONNEL BILL.

dealing with the navy personnel bill than was O expected The importance of the subject IS great and much consideration due it, but at the same time 1t has been long under discussion, IS well understood by all interested in the matter and there is no reason apparent why the bill, which has been carefully drawn and received the approval of high authorities should not have been promptly adopted by both houses.
 The object of the measure is to remedy defects which have long been noted as evils in our naval system It provides that the line officers and the gineers of the navy be amalgamated that when the number of officers to be promoted is far the service the requisite number of vacancies shall be caused by weeding out the men who are least fit to meet the heavy requirements of modern naval duty; that the enlisted men aboard ship shall be given the same reward Of pension and retirement enjoyed by enlisted men in the army; that uppermost machin- ists shall be made warrant officers rank with gun and carpenters, and that there shall be engagement of salaries by which the payment of off, in the navy is made equal to that of other officers of the Government employed in equal duties.
 Each of these provisions effects much-needed re- form. The amalgamation of the engineers with the line officers is essential the best handling of mod battle-ships. Under the present system we have in our navy two sets of officers, one to manage the machinery of the ship and the other to do the fight ing. Under the proposed system as is pointed out by Walter Mcfarland, of the officers who drew up the bill, the American naval officer will be fight ing engineer, capable of managing his ship as well of fighting her, just as Decatur, Perry and other captains of the days of old knew how to sail their vessels as we'll to lead their into action.
 In the navy of the future, says MT. Mcfarland, every officer in command of ship is to be "an en- gineer who is competent to for and manipulate any Of the engines on board ship and who has been trained to command the who actually handle these various engines. He is to be specialist who has been given careful training for the particular work he has to do which is different from that com ing any other engineer; he is to be- in short a fighting engineer"
 The provision for the encouragement of salaries proposes act of justice which has been already too long delayed In his report the bill Mr. Roosevelt who then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, di- rected attention to the fact that at present the line of the navy IS the most poorly paid branch of the Government in proportion to the duties performed and the responsibilities involved" The bill proposes to equaze matters in this regard by giving the line officers of the navy the pay now granted to officers of corresponding grades in the army.
 The remaining features of the measure are not less commendable than those referred to- The bill is not the work of any man. Like every other measure affecting large number of men, it is compromise. MT. Mcfarland attributes the solution of the controversy between the line and the engineers to Captain Robley D. Evans, while Mr. Roosevelt states in his report The board with the exception of one member, reports unanimously in favor of every section of the bill but one" Thus recommended the bill should have prompt adoption at the hands of Congress. At this crisis every step which tends to improve the navy and to do justice to its officers and men should be taken without delay