The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1898-06-04
MEN OF THE NAVY.
TIE Majority Are Nafiye-Born. H..
There Are Many Aliens In
the Service.

There are records which are var,,
carefully made up from the returns ~
the recruiting officers and kept on fila
in the bureau of navigation at the was
department. These show that at tba
close of the fiscal year 1897 when tia
last statistics were summarized. tba
number of men in the general service
was s,6s5, and in special service, inelua.
ing fish commission and coast SURVEY
1.O1s. Of the men in the general serv.
ice 2,s45 were petty officers, SO per cent
of whom were citizens of the United
States, and more than IS per cent, ma,
tives. OF the remaining 5,S40 about 10
per cent. were citizens and IS per cent.
natives. Taking the service entire, in.
eluding some special branches, we find
"a per cent. citizens and more than 81
per cent. natives, as against about "a
per cent and So per cent, respectively.
one year before; and more than IL per
cent. of the remainder had declared
their intention of becoming citizens.
In pursuance of Secretary Longs pol
icy of Americanizing the navy, the
latest instructions sent to recruiting
officers require them to enlist as an
prentices none but citizens.
Some little Importance has been
given to this movement by the raising
of the question, what rights would be
recognized, in such case as the Maine
disaster for example, on the part of the
several governments to which alien en-
listed men owed allegiance, il an In
demnity were to be paid and divided,
Under ordinary circumstances, un-
doubtedly foreign governments would
generally share the feeling expressed
by the diplomatic representatives Of
Japan, of confidence that the govern
ment temporarily employing the men
would see that their dependent families
were remembered in the distribution,
regardless of their nationality; butitis
possible to imagine complications aris-
ing in which the status of these men
might cause embarrassment, and it
would be better ON general principles
to have one rule applied throughout the
service. Efforts have been made to
procure legislation in behalf Of the
naval service similar to that which was
enacted for the army in July, 1862, pro.
yiding that any adult alien who has en-
listed and been honorably discharged
shall be admitted to citizenship with-
cut previous declaration of intention or
proof of more than one years resi-
dence; but thus far without avail.
There seems to Turk in the public mind
q suspicion that no material for making
seamen is so good as American native
stock. This is not borne out by facts,
in the judgment of some of our most ex-
perienced naval officers. These ex-
perts commonly agree that although
il is highly important that we should
have citizens of the United States COM
mand our ships-men whose natural
sense of loyalty TO the government
would not be questioned, and whose
material interests would point in the
same direction, since they would have
no other government to appeal to in
time of trouble, yet the adopted citizen
makes quite as good sailor and some-
times a little better This is not so
much a question of ancestry as of early
environment and training. The Yam
kee-born is apt to have much more
quickness of perception, promptness OF
action and general adaptabiity than
his British-born cousin, for instance;
but on the other hand the duller Briton
is apt to have been trained in the school
of Difference to superiors and unreason-
ing obedience, which on the sea prove
highly valuable. Where the Yankee
sailor knows all rights, and knowing,
dares maintain, the foreign-born sailor,
ten chances to one, has never set his
sluggish mind to studying the laws OF
his own status. The British sailor has
been mentioned in contrast with the
American merely because they may be
assumed to spring from a common
stock and to have had their traits diff
ferentiated wholly by their home sur
roundings and education; but the same
difference is to be observed in even
greater degree between Americans and
sailors of any other northern nation
ality. While the native recruit, there
fore, is always welcomed on the receiy-
ing ship, the foreign-born citizen con-
stitutes valuable leaven to distribute
throughout the lump, and all expert
enced naval officers recognize this fact.
The movement for Americanizing the
navy has gone on for several years. A
glance over the roster of the old Brook
Ign in 1855, for instance, shows only
JOG Americans in total of 2a6 blue
jackets, and only IS Americans in to-
val OF 40 marines. At that time, al
though inducements were held out to
native Americans to enter the service,
oil those who did enter by far the larger
part had escaped being foreign born by
only one generation. The Yankee who
can trace his American lineage back to
revolutionary time or earlier was then,
us he IS now, rare bird in our naval
serVlce.-Boston Transcript.
Paid the Penalty.
We learn that one George Mitchell, of