Evening star., 1902-02-20
The Presidents Reply to Schley.

The Presidents ruling in the Schley case
Is ostensibly the final official utterance on
the subject. Short of positive congress
sonal Intervention in this strictly eXecu-
tive ma a,ter it Is impossible to foresee any
further incident in the affair. so lamentably
prolonged and so prolific of bitterness. Inc
Presidents own words close the case for
the sake of 1.-THE navy and the country.
1t is evident that Rear Admiral Schley's
appeal from the decision of the court or
Inquiry was a grave mistake, for the an
swer which President Roosevelt renders to
that protest Is the seveTest rebuke which
has yet been administered to the COM
mander of the flying squadron. In char
acterizing his conduct prior to the battle,
1t declares that his retrograde movement
was his gravest error involving disobe-
dence of orders and misstatement of facts,
and imputes to him during this period
''offenses'' which were "condoned
The famous loop of the Brooklyn is,
to the Presidents mind, the one grave mis-
take marring the otherwise fair record Of
the navy at Santiago. His language in
characterizing it is pregnant with mean
ing The contrast which Mr.. Roosevelt
draws between the course of the Brooklyn
and the performance of the Gloucester is
in itself a severe indictment of Rear Ad-
miral Schley. In this the President goes
further than did the court of inquiry, max
ing it plain that in his judgment 1t was
not according to American standards for
commander for any reason whatever to
take his vessel out of the danger zone
when the first impulse of every other COM
mander was to press forward closer into
the fight
The question Of command may be left
+lo y,1a
Sampson was technically in command,
though the New York was so far away
from the actual battle that his orders were
not observed or needed. Schley COM
manded only the Brooklyn during the
main battle and the western division dur
ing the chase Of the Colon; his orders were
regarded by no other vessel of the feet
except the Brooklyn. The fight was fought
by the captains, following at the very be-
ginning Of the battle the lines laid down
by Sampson. There is nothing in the rec
ord, the President holds, to warrant the
least change in the rulings already rem
dered by the Navy Department. the courts
and particularly President Mckinley, In
awarding the honors resultant from the
Santiago campaign.
The Star has steadfastly condemned the
excessive personal, partisan and fac
tional bitterness of this controversy. 1t
protested against the original dispute over
the "glory" of the fight of July B. 1t
deprecated the political tendency to capi-
taliZe the incident. 1t protested against
the revival of the issues which eliminated
In the court of inquiry. When that court
rendered its Judgment The Star called for
its acceptance as a final adjudication. 1t
deplored the appeals subsequently taken,
and now that the Presidents judgment
has been rendered the futility Of the whole
business becomes plainly apparent. The
case is today, In substance, precisely
where it was at first. Rear Admiral Schley
has gained the high honor of the dictum
of Admiral Dewey to the effect that he
was in command at Santiago, an opinion
which President Roosevelt vigorously COM
bats, and, following President Mckinley.
Admiral Schley has lost in the accumua-
tion of official findings against him, based
largely upon actions prior to Santiago, for
which he could not, except at his own sug-
gestion, be called to account, and which,
so far as the public were concerned, were
merged and lost In the glories of Santiago.
Further agitation of the issues of this
case can result In no practical measure of
retribution reward. In the name OF
American honor and self-respect, the peo-
pie should accept President Roosevelt 8 In
Junction to permit this whole controversy
to drop, since IT is fruitless Of all save bit
te- feeling and injury to the prestige
of the American navy.