Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1901-03-01
ADMIRAL SIMPSONS BLuNDER.


Deweys weakness in giving away his
gift house and in reaching for the
presidential bee phantom did much in
forfeiting their hold as popular he
roes, but neither lost so much in the
esteem of the public as Admiral Samp-
son has done in that old, old practice
of burying ones self with a pen. The
letter in question was written for the
purpose of expressing his private
views to the navy department on the
subject Of promotion of men from the
ranks, but it got into the public
prints and the commander of the fleet
off Santiago is now referred to in Sen
ate debates and elsewhere as a CON
ceitcd ass
The letter was written on the appli-
cation of meritorious warrant officer,
Charles Morgan, who sought an ap-
pointment to the rank of ensign, under
the provisions of the amendment to
the naval appropriation bill now pend
ing, which provides that not more
than six petty officers may be given
commissions as officers of the navy
each year. if there should be vacan-
cies untitled by graduates of Annapo-
lis, On Morgan's application for one
of these positions Admiral Sampson
wrote that Morgan had good profes-
sional ability" "a gentlemanly bear
ing but hoped that the Secretary
of the Navy would not appoint war
rant officers to the grade of ensigns
for the reason that they had not had
the social advantages requisite for
commissioned officer.
The amendment to the naval appro-
priation bill under which Morgan
seeks promotion seems to guard
against the advancement of unfit per
sons by the provisions that no war
rant officer shall be appointed ensign
unless recommended by a command
ing officer under whom he has served,
nor until he shall have passed a com
petitive examination. Admiral Samp-
son also says that these warrant Off
ceIs are selected from "a large class
of men of unusual ability" The pro
motions to the rank of ensign are to
be made from the pick of these men.
They are to win their way by a very
rare display of merit. ability and char
acter. and it is certainly safe to a..
sumo that men of such conspicuous
force of character and intelligence
will be the very ores who will be
competent to acquire the superficial
qualifications upon which the Admiral
lays stress.
Admiral SIMPSONS idea savors too
strongly of the old world favoritism
and OF class distinction not to be re-
pugnant in a Democratic land of equal
rights and equal opportunities. The
training schools at Annapolis and
West Point are designed to make eff
cient officers for the navy and the
army but they ought not to be dead
lines to ambitious and deserving
young Americans who are not fortu-
nate enough to be appointed to them
to be educated at the expense of the
government.
The present commander in chief Of
the army was not educated at West
Point, and some of the ablest generals
in the same branch of the service
rose from humble positions. The com
missioned officers of the navy at the
present time We're recruited from An
napolis, but there are some pretty
good names OF officers and gentlemen
who did not have the advantage of
training there, including Paul Jones,
Decatur. Hull, Perry, Stewart, Barron,
Stockton, Porter, and Farragut.