New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-12-03
ROYAL NAVY DISCIPLINE.
IRON IN SEVERITY. BUT WITH FEW
TRANSGRESSIONs REPORTED.

Zone. The bulk of the punishmcnts awaTd@d ar,
neauer summary in order to distinguish them
from those awarded by courts martial but
strictly speaking there are M rasoe If en1',,,9r
punishmcnts i'm the navy
10y one 81 the Wisest rules possible period
81 ehly-iour hours must elapse between the
itPoIt OF an offence and the awarding of pun
lshmcnt therefor, SO that the officer passing SEN
.cnce '"ho may have been personally aggrloyedD
mas tlme to think the matter over and has no
revenge. " " 'P'i' "a
only the most minor offences are allowed to be
mus deaIt with, offences which. it is safe n
adS' are IN the majority Of cases peculiar 10
the navy, and would rot be consid red offences
AT an ~ private life. Trivial as they may be
I rrsaIdra, a nasty word. forgetfulness of duty
want OF udincss or Cleanliness it is on the rigi
suppression Of such "trines" as these that the
beautiful condition Of a ship Of war depends
roi we need discipline, We BrtOns being prone
~ 'iNe luil advantage of any slackness on
tHe part ol those bearing rule. 1t is true that
we IoNe To choose for ourselves these latter and
are qulck 10 resent the exercise Of tieeipljparv
powers ny them if they fail to realize our ideal
81 iHthiineSS but if they be men they may go
obey '9''
The first thing that strikes one in this report
/ IS the triylaity Of the total Of sorous offences
ho''d-"IcnceS such as would be tried in
court ashore and are tried in the navy by courts
martial The total number Of seamcn and mar
/ Ih'r1 an!at during the year under review 1898
was NN,-bl. This number II men, all i'm the prime
/ OF NE, would account, for the population Of n
very large town indeed. And they are all con-
lned IN small spaces under conditions that 10
say the least do not make for righteousness few
. OF the social amenities and relaXations Of ordi-
nary life being open to them
Yet out Of that army Of full bo0dcd men the
| total number tried by courts martial for all
offences during the year was 100, 4 percentage
/ Of the whole Of .22. Surely this should afford
every one Of US matter for just pride But even
| this low percentage Of offences for which courts
/ martial wer" considered necessary will appear
/ higher than the facts warrant if the nature Of
! these offences is analysed. Owing to the clarity
/ Of the tables we are easily enabled 20 do this
For instance. the offence Of which there are
more cases than any other-three times as
/ many, in facts Striking and attempting to
| strike a superior ohicer''-serious enough no
doubt, in naval or military service but bound
/ To occur in the very nature Of things board
ship. where numbers of high spirited men are
! confined TO one anOthcr'S company for long
/ periods Of time, and whore the slight grada-
! tons OF rank induce forgetiulnesS OF SUI
/ perority.
Petty officers mix 50 freely with the men
| that we cannot wonder that at times an angry
man trips over the line that divides him from
| ms superior, and becomes a candidate for Il
| court martial without being criminal in the
/ ordinary sense at all.
/ Wilfu diSObodience Of orders accounts for
/ forty-siX cases. theft and cmbeZzement for
/ fUrty-fOur. but be il noted only sixteen of those
were of the seaman class, and further investisa-
ton would probably reveal that most, if not all.
of the offenders were boys who had not yet
/ learned to appreciate the dignity Of their cali
| ing.
Mutiny none; We have travelled long way
! from the awful conditions ~ life In the navy
which eliminated in the mutiny at the More;
| using piofane language none Ohe recording
angel must have dropped a perfect flood Of
tears over these lines: drunkenness. ten. This
/ last item is sufficient To make one gasp. Ten
| cases Of drunkenness calling for court martial
! among nearly ninety thousand sailors in a year.
Yet it is only more proof Of the hold
obtained over our seamen by temperance prin-
ciples, and it doubtless accounts for the graft
/ flying paucty Of all the other offences
/ Now, lest it should be thought that only very
serious cases are entered being tried by
/ court martial it may be well to state with
/ considerable emphasis that this is certainly not
J the case. While | was on board of the Mars
/ a boy found To be in possession of money
/ for which he could give no satisfactory account.
| 1t must be remembered that the leading
! man petty officer at the head Of each mess
exercises quite a parental supervision over the
/ boys in his mess, which explains how such
circumstance came to light. The boy was sus-
pected. too Of other lapses from virtue.
/ Upon the matter being reported in the usual
/ way sort Of preliminary inquiry was held, at
which the boy stubbOnly refused To say how
he became possessed of the money. So the mat
ter was held for court martial, the same fun
dread array that would have tried man for
any crime The prisoners "frrnI, his c0un-
sci for his defence. was our torpedo lieutenant,
and his accuser Of course. was the captain.
So we'll did the lieutenant DO his part that
the boy was acquitted, and returned on board
with grin of triumph, which was soon changed
into quite another sort Of grimace by the cane
Of the master arms, who proceeded 10 carry
, out a summary sentence Of six strokes, awarded
the day before for another offence.
Many courts martial are Of this Kind, but no
distinction is made in the report and since the
number of summary punishments awarded
mount into q considerable total n well inten-
toned but ignorant NJ. T. might arrive at an
entirely wrong conclusion from its perusaL lie
might lose sight Of the great comforting fact
! maj the standard Of conduct in the navy is
higher than that of any similar body of men in
the world.