The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-10-07
II j q ':lIltt 1al

ought ever to be Characteristic OF officers OF all
| grades In enc word every commander should
| keep Constantly before him the great hu-1 that
! 10 be well cleyed he must be perfectly esteemed
| But il is no: alone with subordinate officers
| that commander has to deal. Beh'id men,
/ and the foundation Of all, Is he crew 10 MS
J nlca the commanding officer sharld ne ptcrttt,
| priest and kingi His authority WHOM on shore
+ being Brcr .snily absolute the crew should b. as
oHe impressed that the captain, Ike the
! sovereign, can DO wrongH
This Is the utst delicate Of all the commanding
pficers obligations. No rule can be set for meet.
/ ing it. II must ever he n question Of tact ana
perception OF human nature on the spot and 10
I sui5 the OCCASION Ii officer fails in this, he
cannot make Up icr such failure by severity, aus
4 t,rit,, or cruelty. Use force and apply restraint
! punishment he may. he will always have a
suon crew AID unhappy ship. But force
/ must be used sometimes tor the ends OF disei-
pine On such occasions the quality OF the com
manGer viii be most screly tried You and the
h,r members OF the honorable committee VIII,
/ am SURF pardon me for speaking Wit some
fcgiing this point. Ii IS known to you ana,
! | presume, 10 the other tentlo'ran, your col
I leagues. that only few yedrs ago | was called
Z upon in a desperate emergency and as last re
sort 20 preserve the discipline requisite for the
salvation Of my ship and my fcver-strlcken crew.
10 pUt 10 death with my own hands refractory
/ and wholly iEcorrieii!e sailor, r'ood jury tla
/ for H. and honordhly acquitted Ny aequlttai
WAS due wholly 10 the impression made upon tde
I miads 81 the jury by the testimony Of my crew
d ]
case C. illustrate the truth OF what Lave already
said farnoly tlat the commander should always
impress lis cew with the belief thai, whatgvtr he
! does may have 10 DO is right, and that, IKE
! the sovereign, lc can d. no wrOng!
When a commander has, by tact, patience, JUS
tice, aud frInaess, each exercised in ITS proper
turn. produced such an impression upon those
under his orders in ship OF war; he has oniy 70
await the apps asano of his enemys I0ISais upon
the Horizon. lie never tell when that MON mt
may come. But with ii does come he may DC
sure Of victory equal somen hat superior
force, OF honorable defeat by one greatly superior
I or, in eases, someIimes lustlfiable, he may
! chaIleree the devotion of his followers TO SINK
/ with him aloEtside the more powerful foe, and
{ ali go dossn together with the unstrichen nag OF
{ tLCir country still waving defanty over them in
their sepuchros
NJ such achievements are possible to I'M
happy ship with sullCn crew.
All these considerations pertain TO the naval Of
! ficer atoSt. But part, and often an important
/ part, OF his carer must be in pot or on duty
/ ashore. Here he must be OF afiabe temper and
Z master Of ciyiiities He must meet and mix
with his iufe ors OF rank in society ashore, ana
! on sGch occasions he must have tact TO be eaey
AID gracious with them, particularly when ladies'
! are present, at the same time without the least
air Of patronage affected eondescension.
/ though constantly preserving the distinctions OF
: rank.
1t may not lie possible TO always realize these
| ideal TO the full; bat they should form the
ssndaid and selections ought TO be made with
view to their closest approximation.
In Old ost@b. ished nayies like, Tor example, those
: OF Britain and France, generations bred and
I specially educated TO the duties and response
biiit5s of officers. In land forces generals may
I and sometimes do rise from the ranks But |
have not yet heard of admiral coming aft
from forccastle.
Even in the merchant service master mariners
almost invariably start as cabin apprentices. In
all my wide acquaintance with the merchant SER
vice / think of but three competent
master mariners who made their first appearance
\ on beard ship through the hawse-hole," IS the
saving Is.
/ A navy is essentially and necessarily aristo-
I cratic True may be the political principals
fer which We are now contendng, they can never
; be practically applied admitted board
4 ship. out of port off soundings. This may
seem a hardship. but il is nevertheless the
sinlple.t of truths Whilst the ships sent forth
/ by the Congress may and must fight for the
/ principles of human rights AID republican free
T dom. the ships themselves must be ruled and
commanded al sea under system OF absolute
dsspotism.
/ trust that have now made fairly clear to
you the tremendous responsibilities that devolye
upon the honorable committee OF which you are
a member. You called upon to found new
| navy; TO lay the founds, ions of power
aho4t tina; must some time. in tho course Of
human events become Formidable enough 10 dis
puie With England the mastery of the
Neither you nor may live 20 see such
growth. But here at the planting OF
the tree. and maybe Of must in the
course OF destiny water its feeble and struggling
/ roots with blood. Ii 20. let it be sol We
cannot help it. We must do the best We can
with what We have at hand!
The first brush OF real war weedcd out
, the capable from the incapable connman-
ders and resulted in a series OF courts
martial and dismissals from the service.
1t decided, once for all. that it is worse
/ than useless TO play politics in the navy.
Paul Jones and Nicholas Biddle we're the
only men out OF the whole number Of Off
GERS which our navy had in its beginning
! who won worthy regulations. The crew
which he commanded in the Providence,
Z a small sloop of war, which was his first
Independent command contained Z small
( group Of men who followed him through
all the yicissitudes of the Revolution,
until they fell in action. The list Of heir
names is given as follows:
John c. Robinson and Richard wallineiord, OF
! Philadelphia; Henry Luut Nathaniel Tanning,
( Henfy Gardner Owen StaTbuck, Samuel Stacey,
and Charles Hill, OF Massachusetts,; Thomas Pot
ter of Baltimore; Nathan Sargent, OF Ports
{ mouth, y. H.; William Hicliborn, Of Salem, and
I Anthony jeremiah, Of Martha's Vineyard.
The last mentioned man was full
blooded Narragansett Indian, aud there
were also two negroes from Jones Vir-
ginia plantation, Cato and ScipIo. This
I plantation was looted by the British dur
ing the war, and the slaves all carried
away; and from that time onward Cato
and Scipio vowed vengeance against the
enemy. In a letter to Mr.. Hewes, Jones
says, speaking 81 this calamity:
This Is, of course, part OF the fortunes Of war
Z / accept the extreme luminosity displayed b,
! Lord Dunfnore as = compliment to the sincerity
Of my attachment TO the cause Of liberty. Ia
: lordship is entitled 10 his own conception o.
civilized warfare. lie and his know where
am and what ! am doing. They can AFFECT me-
only by ravage behind my back ] do not com
plain OF that But most sadly deplore the fate
OF my poor negroes. The plantation wac TO then
q home no; & place Of bondage. Their existence
was species Of grown-up childhood not slavery
Now they are torn away and carried Of to die
under the pestilence and the lash Of Jainale'
csLe-aelds, and the price OF their poor bodie
will swell the pockets Of English slave traders
For this cruelty TO these innocent, harmlts
people I hope come time. some how TO hn'
opu,ortuuity TO exact q reckoning. ] an
now more than ever glad that brought with m
my two black boys. Cato and Seipio. They wer
well trained in river and bay sailing ON tn
sloop, and now, in the two cruises We have mad
in the Alfred and the Providence, they have be
come prime seamen. Their brothers and sister
have been carried of by the British maranders
! and now they talk Of nothing but vengeance
| have given them their full papers tmeaning pa
pers q manumission) dated even with my cap
tail's commission, October 10, l776.
The letter concludes, with a spice o.
that dare devil spirit so characteristic Of
Jones
1t now appears that have no fortune left bu
4 my sword, and prospect except that OF get
I ting alongside the enemy.
One Of these early letters. written t,
: Robert Morris, protests strenuousl!
agaIust the plan, which was even ther
\ making its evil influence felt, OF allow
d ing political influence TO have weight il
. the appointment of naval officers. Pau
! Jones urged that each applicant be ex
u amined BY a board competent TO judg