The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-03-20
SAMPSON, AND sNoesIsANEss
IN THE NAVY.

Navy opposing the promotion OF men
from the ranks has undoubtedly
blasted all prospects he may have
had for promotion to the grade OF
yice-Admiral However much a GER
tain few in America may strive for
class distinctions and an official arts
tocracy the spirit Of the people viii
so oppose that. they will never be sue
cessfuL Democracy still lives in the
United States and viii continue 20
live long after Admiral Sampson
has been forgotten
What called forth Simpsons letter
was this: The naval appropriation
bill recently passed by Congress au-
thorized the president to promote six
warrant officers in the navy to the
grade of ensign each year after an
examination TO determine their quail
fications- A young gunner in the
navy named Morgan, who was in
charge of the divers that investigaf.
ed the wreck of the Maine, and after
ward served with Sampson on the
flagship New York. applied to his
former commander for recommends
tons for promotion under the provis-
ion referred TO. Capt Sigsbee gave
him a hearty Endorsement, but Ad-
miral Sampson, while testifying to
his efficiency as a non-commissioned
officer and his soldierly appearance
and behavior, advised against his ad-
yancement on the ground that he had
not enjoyed the social advantages
necessary TO qualify him to enter the
navy The admiral also expressed
the hope that the Secretary of the
Navy would not carry out that pro-
vision OF the bill which authorizes
the promotion of warrant officers be-
cause the chief duty of the navy in
time of peace is to represent the coun-
try abroad and the officers should
therefore be men of refinement.
Apparently Admiral Sampson would
declare the commissioned officers Of
the American navy to constitute 4
perpetual aristocracy impenetrable
except ~ way of the naval academy.
Apparently he considers no qualities
that come from breeding or associa-
ton an equivalent to the four years
at Annapolis, if by chance the man
has chosen to serve his country as 4
warrant officer in the navy. But An
napolis itself is presumed to be a
democratic institution, its appoint
ments being based on merit and not
on social forms. Surely it cannot be
maintained that four years of veneer
ing at Annapolis can make a gentle
man of refinement" out of one who
had not the instincts of gentleman,
or that one must lack all forms be-
cause one has not been to that insti-
tuition. Animal Simpsons chief OBJ
lection to such appointments is that
in youth the warrant officers have not
had social advantages. Until this
utterance one would have supposed it
a source of proper American pride
that Admiral Sampson himself had
risen from humble station in a New
York village, where his father was a
day laborer, with whom he tramped
from farm to farm to cut wood, hoe
gardens and do other chores. No one
but himself ever before has named
poverty or lowly ancestry as an b.
stacle to be erected against those
who may aspire to naval service.
There is no doubt however that
Simpsons position is endorsed by
many officers of the navy, who have
assumed to be the aristocracy and
exclusive branch of the government
and have stubbornly opposed every
proposition that looked to the promo
ton of men from the ranks There
are now on the list several officers.
like Admiral Hichborn, who came in
to the service from civil life through
the engineer and construction corps,
but since 1865 no one has been CON-
missioned who has not been educated
at Annapolis The engineer corps in
the navy have complained OF social
ostracism by the officers of the line
in cases where the officers entered
the service from civil life. Candidates
for paymaster and surgeon have been
compelled TO bring powerful social in
fuences TO secure appointments. and
there is no question that Admiral
Sampson has expressed the senti-
ments of many officers in the navy.
Admiral SIMPSONS position is an in
direct verification of the conditions
outlined by Prof James Taft Hatfield.
and based on what he saw ON board
the Yale during the Spanish-American
war:
The old slave idea, which
livery consistently prohibited as
a crime and punished severely
the teaching of negroes how TO
read. is not entirely dead and
buried. but exists. here and there.
TO this day. as | have had oppor-
tunity 10 notice. Especially did
gain such an impression in the
United States navy, which is
rather a feudal survival in some
respects l noticed that com
mon sailor might be as vile and
profane and low as he chose. and
no one was troubled about It
He could go ashore and carouse