The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-02-26

of decensy or ethics, secretary Long
seems determined to follow Admiral
Schley to the finish, for it is an
nounced that he will not resign from
the cabinet so long as there is pos
sibility of the Schley case being
brought before congress.
In an effort to Justify his findings
the president enters into lengthy dis
cussion of the merits of the case and
winds up his statement with the petu-
liant assertion that there is no excuse
for anyone to discuss the case any
further From this it seems that
President Roosevelt believes his own
opinion to be the court of last resort
but the majority of people will hold
that the highest court is that of pub
Tic opinion, and one to which Admiral
Schley will not appeal in vain.
The reasons given by the president
for his findings are neither original
or ingenious. He condemns Admiral
Schley for making the famous loop,
and says it was a captains battle
anyway. The president evidently for
got that Captain Cook was RESPONSE
bic for the loop. But it WI take
better naval tactician than Mr.. Roose-
welt to convince the American people
that the loop was a mistake. Success
is the only standard by which COM
mander can be judged. Had the
Brooklyn turned to the left and been
rammed by Cerveras ship or sent
to the bottom by shot from Span
ism gun, or had the Spanish ships es-
capped by reason of the loop, Admiral
Schley would have been condemned.
But the loop kept the Brooklyn at the
proper distance, saved the lives of
her men by keeping them from use
less danger and enabled her gunners
to use both port and starboard bat
teries to pound the Spanish ships
into smithereens. Still, the president
says it was a mistake. and, according
to Roberts Rules of Order, or Roose-
velt's Rules for Rough Riders, per
haps it was. The president also says
h. triY 70 mol n
mistake, and perhaps it was, but it
enabled fthe American ships to put
on full steam when the Spanish feet
finally came out, and the people are
very glad that Admiral Schley made
the grave mistake of running for coal
when he needed it.
The president terms it captains
battle, and with equal justice he
might have called it a gunners' bat
tie or an engineers battle, for with
out the men behind the guns, the bat
tie could not have been won, and
without the skill and foresight of the
ships engineers the Spanish ships
could not have been overhauled.
The presidents friends had hoped
for something better and they had a
right to expect it. They desired no
condemnation of Sampson or anyone
else, but they had right to expect a
clean cut statement from the presi-
dent which should sweep away the
cobwebs of calumny and give Schley
credit for his achievements instead
of condemning him for not following
the rule of thumb laid down by the
| department, when to do so might
have resulted in disaster.
Admiral Schley's friends must now
regret having submitted his case to
the president, for out of respect to
the chief executive the party lash
will be used to prevent any action by
congress. Admiral Schley's last hope
of vindication is gone and he must
go down in history as a commander
convicted of dilatoriness, lack of en-
| terprise and weak and vacillating
| conduct.