The record-union., 1898-08-02
JUSTICE FOR THESE MEN.

doors Of Congress again. And they
should clamor, and SO Justify that they
may prevail
1t is shameful that the appeals of the
navy have been so shabbily treated.
Small-minded men, narrow-souled DEM
agogues and unscrupulous politicians
have put the appeals of the navy men
to one side because these brave Amer
leans can be put aside. They will not
log-roll. and. wire-pull and enter into
political mumblepeg games to gain their
points They are trained to be self
respecting, manly, above small and
mean things, and above all, to be gen
tlemanly and above board in all they
do
What chance have such men before
Congress on a claim for recognition
and fair play? They have no rewards
to Offer no spoils to divide, no Off
oial patronage to disburse; all they
have is their honor and their pride in
their calling. With these for years
upon years they have gone before Con-
of a war in Which they have shone SO
conspicuously, they may possibly get
some attention from the national body.
Certainly, they have deserved it. They
have battled nobly. They have been
discreet, statesfnanlilze and sagacious.
They. have been resistless as the tor
nado and gentle as the evening zephyr.
The whole nation glories in them, and
the people strive with one another to
do them honor.
What is it they want and have been
denied? Well, first and foremost, they
wish to know. why they should be
graded below the army in the matter
Of salaries, and all the world will ask,
Why? Because of possible prize mon
ey? AS to that, wars are infrequent,
prize money uncertain, and none has
been distributed in the navy until this
war for thirty-three years.
They ask that they be given better
opportunities for promotion before
they are laid upon the retired shelf.
They claim that in peace promotion
may well be as rapid as in time of war.
They want the distinction between the
line and the engineers to be abolished,
and thus remove a source of constant
irritation. And why should not this
request be granted? No one has ever
yet ventured to make answer. They
ask that more engineers be equipped
at the naval school, and that cadets
be stimulated to enter the Engineering
Corps. since all our great ships now
days are, complicated machines, and
there are too few engineers prepared
to understand and work them.
When we consider the marvellous ef-
ficiency Of the navy in this war. the
heroism of it's officers and men, the
self-sacrifice and peril, the uncomplain-
ing character of the force the high
bearing of the men in the navy, their
splendid craftsmanship and their care
Of their ships; when we reflect that
they have not lost us so much as a
ships cutter; that they have shed
much blood through the enemys veins,
and have spared the blood Of American
officers and men, until it can be almost
said with truth that on our side the
war on the ocean has been bloodless-
when we consider the glory that has
been settled on American arms by
American sailors, shall we be SO mean
and ungrateful as to deny them the
reasonable request they make, and to
~ oh CO 7pd
ear?
There is something else upon which,
out Of sheer pride and modesty, the
naval men have not asked, but which
ought to be attended to. namely,
reformation of the system Of promo
ton, that merit may be rewarded and
valor crowned, without pLucking the
laurels from other brows. As it is
now, no officer in the navy IS rewarded
by elevation IN rank except at the ex-
pense of some other officer, who suf-
fers a decline in consequence.
Take the case Of Captain Clark OF
the Oregon. After making that splendid
trip Of 14O00 miles and bringing in his
great ship safe through dangers, as
fresh as the day he sailed, he arrive:
to find himself absolutely lower in ranI
than when he started on his splendid
and perilous journey.
This should not be- It can and must
oe rectifed. Resolutions and thanks
of Congress are all well, but let Us
have more substantial tokens Of re.
ward for the navy; let promotion gC
on, but let it not be at the expense ot
some poor fellows who are set bacl
points that others may go higher.
Bills have been before Congress near
ly every session to accomplish mos
of the objects to which we have re
ferred, but they have always failed o.
passage because Of the opposition o.
the politicians. Let us see when Con
gress reassembles who these opponent
are. for what purpose they oppose
whether they are attempting to bleeC
the naval men, or whether they ar
simply opposing that the plunder lef
in the treasury they may snatch a
Will be greater. Whatever their rea
sons, whoever they are, they shoulC
be dragged to light and held UP TO
public condemnation and scorn. LIE
us see who the men are who defea
the recommendations of the Secretarie
of the Navy, and of the Adnlirals, Com
nodores and every naval official boar
that has ever hee1l consulted on tn