Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1901-10-10
THE RETIREMENT OF ADMIRAL
e0ULEY
R0HLEY

guishcd scrvite. Rear Admiral Winfield
Scott Schley was Yesterday placed upon
the retired iisi, be having arrived at the
age Of sixty-two years No officer o.
our Navy ever ceased active service
under more unusual circumstances than
did this gallant son Of Marylan His
whole life, practically. was passed IN
upholding the honor and glory OF his
country. Admiral Schley retires while
he is before court Of inquiry trying to
explain why he won one OF the most
memorable victories in naval annals.
Men have been couu-mauialed and re-
quifed TO Justify defeats. bu; never be-
tore in the history OF this nation was
an officer required to Justify a victory.
That Admiral schley is compelled 20 do
so is ewing TO the Vaccinations Of CIR
rupt but bureaucracy.
Those who have been his prosecutors
for years, and who are now his prose-
cutors, seem TO have reserved the most
dramatic incident OF their entire assault
upon Admiral Schley for the day on
which his active service ended. In the
iorty-five years during which he served
the country this gallan, son OF Mary
land tough, on every sea and in every
cline. No other officer holds such a
varied record as is his Brave and gall
liant during the great Civil War Ad-
miral Schley followed up the record then
made by heroic service ia iar-dis,ant seas
and lands. he has led the attacking
forces in lands where civilization was
then practically unknown, winning the
highest encomiums for his courage and
daring. He has sailed his ships in the
tropics and in the frozen regions OF the
Arctics. always and ever showing the
highes, efficiency and capab,li,y.
Bot this service counts for naught
with the Navy Department ring. The
man who was at Port Hudson nearly
forty years ago. who vauquished the
Koreans Thirty years ago, who rescued
Greedy; who conducted the Chilian i'm
hrcsho with eonsumma'e skill and di-
piomacy; who discovered Cervera' feet.
and later left it a battered wreck on the
south coast of Cuba, has incurred the
hatred OF this clique. In oonse quence.
a long.sustained effort has been made
10 deprive him OF his laurels. On the
day OF his retirement an infereniial
charge OF cowardice was preferred
agaius, him. That charge was made by
one Of the young ships OF the service
a man whose experience has been prac-
ncally nil, and who, so far as is known.
never saw even a sham battle. His
opinion, born OF anupathY to a success
ful brother officer, is permitted by this
clique to go before the court, ossensibly
to be used in bols,ering up its case against
Admiral Schley. IL is, indeed. spectacle
when an opiniona,ed understanding like
Lieutenant Commander Potts can testi-
fy as he testified yesterday with entire
impuniY.
The whole thing is typical OF the depths
TO which the standard OF our naval SER
vice has fallen. OF course, nobody will
believe this subal,ern when he attempts
to prove Admiral Schley guilty of cow
ardice. The Admiral's iorty-hve years
record, which ended yesterday, is proof
against that: but the incident makes one
long tor such a shaking up in the Navy
Department as viii give ability. courage
and zeal a premium in the service, and
sink foppishness and characterization to
the depths where they belong -Balu'
more ivfeftcaH