The times., 1898-07-07
ScEIey and mpson.

The first gun in the battle of Samp-
sons friends to support him in his pit
liable attempt to deprive Commodore
Schley Of the glory Of his victory over
Cervera is fired by the New Ycrk
Herald. That journal deprecates the
tendency of "a certain class of politi-
clans in Washington to make capital
out of this or that hero-''to place This
or that officer on a specially prepared
pedestal and to glorify some at the ex-
pense of others.i's
We are unable to find that "a certain
class of politicians" here or anywhere
else are in the least involved in the
matter, but we know that a certain
standard of truth and justice IS very
much so. When Admiral Cervera made
his dash for liberty from the mouth of
Santiago Harbor. no American vessels
were on hand to meet and engage his
squadron but the Oregon. Iowa, Indi-
ana, Brooklyn, Texas and the convert d
yacht Gloucester The flagship New
York, with Admiral Sampson on board,
was most conspicuous by it's absence.
The fighting force of the two combat
ants was nearly equal. 1t was ship
to-ship fight. Coming in the nature
| of surprise, il rebounds all the more
to the glory of the victor that. in an
instant, he evolved and applied the
! tactics necessary to success, and had
| the ships of his squadron executing his
orders efficiently in less time than ii
| takes TO tell the story 1t is unneces-
/ - NO fieytsf
| The Spanish torpedo boats were de-
| stroyed, the Maria Teresa, Oquendo and
| Vizeaya transformed into scrap iron,
| Admiral Cervera a prisoner, and the
| Cristobal Colon captured before the
New York, bearing the admiral of the
| fleet. hose in sight to learn what had
| been going on. Then flashed out from
the hero's flagship, Brooklyn, the sig
nailed message: we have won a
great victory Details will be com
municated."
Admiral Sampson had neither part
nor lot in the achievement That fact,
| however does not appear to have pre-
vented him from making a record run
To the cable station and sending 10 the
| Government a jubilant message-not in
/ the naval cipher-offering "a Fourth
| of July present to the American peo-
| pie" from the fleet under his COM
mand," but containing not a word about
| Commodore Schley. 1t is all very we'll
for SIMPSONS apologists to say that,
when the official report arrives. he will
be found to do fun justice to his subor-
| dinate. We dare say that he will be
very glad to escape, as far as he can,
| from the position into which selfishness,
| jealousy and wounded vanity have be-
trayed him, very much TO the indigna-
| ton of the country. But it is too late
in the day for him to mend the matter
| materially.
II Sampson had frankly given the
| just need Of praise to the genius and
| courage of his splendid colleague when
| he sent his deceiying cablegram, no.
| body would have grudged him some
reflected credit, and it would have been
said that the result might have been
| the same if he had been in the neigh
borhood of the battle AS matters now
stand. and in view of his unchivalrous
attitude toward the conqueror, there is
no way left by which he will be allow
ed to divide the honors. He is not en-
titled to any and the Administration
would make a fatal blunder if it tried
| to bestow any upon him. Sampson
| cut as much of figure in the naval
| battle off Santiago as he did in Dewey's
| victory in Manila bay, and not a frac-
| ton more.
inf In
| Navy Department which have sought
to force piece of polished office furni
| ture upon the nation as fighting ad-
miral would do we'll TO leave his case
| severely alone. There is a notoriously
ugly feeling in Congress and through
| out the Union, resulting from the way
IN which Commodore Schley has been
| put down, snubbed, superseded by a
Junior officer, and generally prosecuted,
| for the benefit of a Department pet.
| Persistence in policy of fayoritism,
and in arbitrarily eleyating incompe-
| tence over the head of distinguished
| service and generalship, will certainly
| lead to investigation and unpleasant
| consequences.
| The American people are sometimes
| susceptible of being fooled. 1t has hap
pened to them before, in connection
with improper assignments to high
| command in the Navy. But they are
able to make their voice heard when
| once it is realized that their trusted
| agents have been guilty of criminal
| injustice. They have been given the
| opportunity to analyze and judge the
characters and performances of two
men who are now standing in the blaze
| of public attention. One of those men is
| Commodore Schley. The other is
| Admiral Sampson, who tried to rob
him of his laurels The nation will