BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-03-22
Nevertheless, to make the military rule Of

Nevertheless, to make the military rule Of
obedience moral is startling to the lay mind.
Obedience In the army and navy Ia popular.
" supposed to be literal obedience. The
operations Of an army seem to an observer
to be those of great machine in which the
subordinate officers and the rank and file act
as mechanically as cogs and wheels in the
sVhole. "Theirs not to reason sehy". There
have been, to he sure, several historic ins.
tanoes in which the subordinate officer evad.
ed his orders, as Nelson at Cape st. Vincent
and again at Naples. But these are notable
because exceptional it is supposed. Tie
quality obedience ia to the popular mind
10 her that OF the literal obedience of the
captain Of tha Campsrdewn, resulting in the
sinking Of the atgship Of his own admiral
Yet Capt. Mahan points out that in very
large number of cases the military rule Of
obedience o.nnot, frcm the nature Of the
case, become merely literal obedience.
Military procedure is like moral conduct in
that. invldual initiative is not suppressed.
There are many obvious instances in 10th
military and moral conduct where only
literal obedience is proper. There are aleo
large number Of cases where literal obedien
CO would be entirely improper. But what
is more to the point. the largest body Of
instances is made up of those where literal
obedience can not only not be given but
also can not be commanded, This is like
wise true in morals-the largest part OF
La nan conduct is not and can not be cover
ed BY specific rules. Neither military mol
moral conduct can be mapped out by literal
rules to be literally obeyed. The result
4 ~unv,l1 ho ouicfrv in aithor e0aa Miiifarv
training does not, any more than morals
"palsy individuality and neutralize intel
Iligence," to uss Capt. Mshsn's scords
Many commands can be made only in gen
eral terms, like that of our government tC
Dewey to 90 to Manila and sink or capture
the Spanish feet. No battle was svsl
fought on exactly the plans laid cut. Ex'g
encies are constantly arising, in warfare ai
nowhere else, which cannot be foreseen
Therefore herein is military obedience fun.
| idamentally moral it ia founded ON q
principle rather than upon literal rule, and
the rules, commands, literal iDjanctions
are only interpretations OF this prime pie
There exists great unknown Iegior-
underlined and conditional i'm both moral,
and war in which individual Judgement
individual choice and individual initiative
In view Of the common purpose involved are
the essential factors Of obedience.
The favorable issue of an event nevel
justifies disobedience of the literal order
Obedience is always obedience, whether
against the literal command or not. It il
moral. IL is c,nfdent unity Of action
With the superior officer. "Obedience il
the cement OF the structure; or, more worth
lily understood in the spirit, it 10 the life
blood Of the organism. In short, she rule Of
obedience 10 simply the expression Of that
one among the military virtues upon which
all the others depend in order that the
exertion Of their powers may not breed CEN
fusion. n.....- but may accomplish decisive
results, approaching perfection in proportion
as cooperation has been exact" That 10 ai
convincing 40 1t 10 we'll said.