New-York tribune., 1900-10-18
MELVILLE MAKES PROTEST
SEES GRAVE DANGERS IN CONSOLIDA-
TION OF NAVAL BUREAUS.
THE OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES {
THE PERSONNEL BILLS WORKINGS
VIGOROUSLY STATED.
IBr TELEGRAPH TO THE rRrBUNE.l

VIGOROUSLY STATED.
[BY TELEGRAPH TRTBUNE.l
Washington, Oct 17.-Admiral Melville, En-
gineer-in-Chief of the Navy. in his annual re-
port. makes an emphatic protest to the Secre-
tary of the Navy against the destruction of his
corps of experts, and solemnly warns Congress
of the grave dangers that in his opinion, menace
the service afoat His fearless earnestness in
treating the subject is unprecedented in official
documents, and although other matters under
his cognizance are handled without gloves, the
vexed personnel question is presented in man
ner calculated to command attention. After
registering at great length his radical opposl-
tion to Secretary Longs plan to consolidate the
naval bureaus, and showing that the Personnel
bilP' of two years ago has resulted, instead OF
increasing the number of engineers, in an actual
loss OF one hundred officers of that most i'm
portant branch of the service, Admiral Melville
continues:
With this great decrease in numbers came an
increase in work. making it necessity to cur
tail the usual and needed allowance of engineer
officers for ships, until the largest could have
but one, and the colliers and smaller ships often
To the latter were assigned in most cases
former line officers as heads of the steam engl-
neering depar tment, these depending principally
upon the machinists for expert directions. That
many casualties have not resulted is not. now
ever. not due TO the proprety and efficiency
and comnendable condition, for it has only been
by dint of the most anxious and continuous care
the part of the depleted force that mshaps
and breakdowns have been infrequent. In other
words state of tension has existed ana now
exists, under which it is neither wise nor saIe
to continue a day, as it is sapping the energy
OF good men.
LACK OF CAPABLE ENGINEERS.
Instead Of building up a personnel for the
day of need. stronger than necessary for the
time Of peace the engineer officers and men are
kept at the point of elastic limit, and new war
to-day could not fail to develop large list of
physical incapables in the engineering branch
the moment the additional burden was put upon
them. True. could call upon the civilian eX-
pert for help, and doubt secure many good
men; but how foolish to deliberately lean on
this uncertainty, when it is possible 10 school
our own intelligent and devoted officers to a
degree of satisfactory efficiency. That this
schooling will eventually be accomplished still
believe. but my earnest request is for greater
effort 10 hasten it, in order that no day of need
cided steps toward this object, pointing again to
the fact that at the present rate new expert
eHeIueeis are not peihs Ildue ~ any t so. 10
proportion whatever to the displacement OF the
old ones from the active list, If, indeed they
are being made at all
You are fully cognzant of the intricacy anc
extent of the engineering department of a large
ship. That of a smaller bears the same i'm
portance and carries the same danger for the
| Inexperienced You can therefore. judge how
impossible it is to create in few months expert
engineers from even the most intelligent ofhcers
daily under all conditions of service alone per-
| fects efficiency, when combined with inteli-
gence, and it is this experience ask shall be
given now to ali line officers possible, below
| the grade OF lieutenant commander, both at sea
and ashore From the many sure to
gather fair proportion particularly adapted to
the work and with natural proclivities toward
mechanics. These will be the real additions to
the engineering branch, and Will increase as
| greater numbers come from the Academy. The
others. fairly well versed in time viii fill the
gaps in emergency or war; and with universal
general interest there will be no need to call for
volunteers TO man our ships in this department.
Regarding the engineering departments of
ships at sea in times of peace well war,
compare for a moment the condition of bat
teship depending for the full and proper oper
ations of her motive power upon the knowledge
of a single officer. the chief engineer with that
Of another ship of the same class whereon any
one Of the line officers could, in emergency, take
efficient charge of the machinery, and several
indeed. assume and completely i the position
of an expert in that department. The ideal
dition of the latter is what striving
for. since engineering knowledge has been rec
ognized as of the most vital Importance in the
service, and it is to the realization of this still
hopefully look despite the many visible OBJ
stacles.
ANXIOUS FOR WELFARE OF SERVICE.