The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-27


FiGhters-HOw the Marine Was
Put in False Position Before the
Public.
Special to The st. Paul Globe.
WASHINGTON, March 22.-The de-
house to insert In it's annual appropria-
ton bill a provision for the enlistment
Of 473 more marines, following close
upon the increase Of the army by two
artillery regiments, has raised the
question why the secretary of the navy
did not of his own motion enlist the
400 men necessary to bring the total
Of the marine corps up to the limit of
5000 authorized by section 1886 of the
Revised Statutes. This increase, added
to the 1900 now on duty at the navy
yard, would, it is argued, have brought
up the total Immediately available for
land duty to LOO, and 1000 experienced
men could have been selected from
these and sent at once to the new for
t11cat1onS. AS the marines are actual
ly artillery men, drilled during their
sea duty at the. ships guns, and dur
ing their shore duty with rifles and
machine guns, 1t is claimed that they
In connection with the raw artillery
recruits
This argument is plausible, and Sec
rotary Long did contemplate raising
the marine corps to it's lawful compile
ment; but when he took legal counsel
on the question 1T was held that he had
no right to enlist the extra 400 men for
so short a term as that for which the
emergency appropriation was made
available. That made it necessary to
wait for a direct provision by congress,
which is now on the way to accom-
plishment.
But in any event, the use of the
marines for the present as a part of
the land artillery force seems out of
the question Every man in the corps
is, in the secretary's Judgment needed
for the ships. We are accustomed to
hear the marine corps jeered at as a
supernumerary branch of the service.
hybrid organization which can be
claSsed neither as flesh nor as fish.
This is not the fault of the corps, which
has a highly honorable record, but of
the fact that we are trying to get
modern effects out of an antiuuated
mechanism. We are still keeping our
coast Notifications and our harbor de-
Tense system under separate control.
instead of placing them both in charge
OF the navy department, as England
does except in the case of such isolated
strongholds as Gibraltar for instance.
II the present war furry shall result
in impresSing upon congress this weak
point in our defensive methods, we
shall have abundant use, and good use.
Tor all the marines the law allows.
The marine is not the needless an
pendage to the service which he is Of
ten represented to be. Nor is he at his
best as mere ships policeman. Means
nave been found to employ him in near
~ every capacity on our big modern
WarshlpS except as an engineer He
doeS yeomen service, when we'll train
co. IN coal1ng ship; he can work as a
gunner at battery; he can help run
the machinery Of a turret; he can work
with the men who supply the gunners
with ammunition; or he can take his
place IN the fighting tops and bring his
individual craftsmanship into play.
These are duties which require a man
with the sea habit, and the readiness
and resources of ships mechanic. In
MS proper place on a man-Of-War the
marine is as far superior to the mere
lnfantryman as in a forecastle the sail
orman recruited from a New Bedford
cod-schooner is superior to the land
lubber who is merely working his pas
sage from one port to another AL
though landsman in the character Of
most of his duties, the marine is pro-
fessionally assimilated with the sea-
man, and is not intended for service In
forts except as they may be a part
OF defensive system under naval con-
troll, like the navy yards and stations
Two circumstances have contribut ed
to put the marine in a false position
before the public. The first is the fact
that the origin of the service which
dates back nearly 235 years, was the
nan6 Of Of
British ships to keep the impressed
seamen in subsection. In those days,
and for nearly two centuries after
ward, the naval sailormen We're en-
ployed chiefly in sailing the ships.
while the fighting, which was often
hand-to-hand, was done in the main
by soldiers. This gave the marine
soldier distinct status, which grad
ually drifted from him as naval condi-
lions changed with the passage of time.
AS the fighting came to be carried on
more and more by cannonade at long
range, and sailors were trained to
handle the old-fashioned guns, the
marines glory shrunk correspondingly.
The odium of his traditional police
duty chung to him, and kept barrier
always between him and the deniZen
of the forecastle, which most naval
officers, for disciplinary reasons, made
no attempt to break down. AS the
typical of-war passed from the
old broadside pattern into the great
floating engine, and the duties of the
sailor in their turn became more re-
stricted, the marine increased once
more in Importance with the opening
of additional avenues for his USEFUL
ness. 1t is for this reason that far
sighted secretaries and admirals of the
navy have refused to consent to the
abolition Of the corps, in which they
have discerned the nucleus Of wider
spread for their own branch of the ma
tons war service, If congress can be
brought to view the subject Alright.
Moreover, history shows that the corps
has an honorable past as we'll as
possible future; for scarcely can there
be found an official account Of a great
naval encounter in modern times which
does not recognize the gallant conduct
of the marines, while the congress of
the United States has placed it's graft
tude to our sea-soldiers on record more
than two dozen times.
N4II ID