New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-04-30
THE RP4WL AT VENICE

The recent brawl in Venice does not appear
TO have been as serious as the one III 'ii-
yer-st. of which the poet has sung put II AS
| had enough TO be much regretted ana 10 oa"''
NOT LITTLE shame IT Is 10 be depioI'u HUN
! - ,,o;pt of view That we may say upon
+l,a strength, Of what is already known, regard
| less of what additional facts may yet come Out
II is to he hoped and we think 1t may De pretty
confidently expected that when all Is kno"h
the conduct of the ChicagoS oIncers VIII Ho'
rno,, ac had IS # did at first It may he that
they will be seen to Rave been as much Slniieu
! against as SHINING. UnhappiIy that will not
sutfice TO absolve them of their sins. According
10 their own confession they were more or less
DRINK They had no right TO be drunk
noral officer of the United States wearing The
United States uniform and unfolding the dig
nitv and honor of the United States flag and of
the nation itself has no right to get drunk III
nuhlic and in a foreign land Such conduct is
coInparable with that Of a sentry who Tails
asleep at his post only il is. if anything, worse,
because while the sleeping sentry merely neg
lects his duty in passive way, the drunken
officer renders himself liable and likely to dis
grace himself and his flag in an aggressive man
ner If these men We're as is intimated, victims
of tricky walters and a violent mob, they were
thus victims. at any rate We're the more easily
yictimized. because of their drunkenness. Had
they been entirely sober the incident would
scarcely have developed as it did
"Trick" tables which upset or collapse at a
touch are by no means unknown in real life as
well as on the stage and have more than once
been a successful implement for the eXtOrtion Of
blackmaiI They are used however generally
in the case of intoxicated persons. or of green
or timorous strangers. who would not be likely
1ha trick resist It's c0nSp
ouences That even a Venetian waiter or his
master would try the trick upon a party Of cool,
collected experienced men Of the world is
scarcely conceivable. If the trick was played
upon these officers on the suppOstion that they
were too tipsy to see or TO resent it, that was
scurvy performance. and there is enough of the
Old Adam in the average American TO make
him hone that the trickSter got his head well
tanned in the scrimmage. The alleged fact that
the walters or the crowd would not accept rea-
sonable payment for the damage done. but
pitched violently upon the officers and hustled
them off to Jail. is also grave count against
the Venetians, though we must feel some won
der aft if as the obvious purpose of the trick-if
trick there was-was to eXtoTt payment. If men
accidentally or in any way other than with de-
Hberate malice do some little damage to prop
erty. the decent plan is to accept indemnity
from them anG let them 20. Finally, it must be
said that the sentences imposed upon the men
seem uncommonly severe, If not oppressive IN
less their offence was greater than appears in
the dispatches.
Upon all these points we shall doubtless soon
have fuller light, pending which we Shall do
well to withhold final Judgment, save to the eX-
tent which we have indicated. Justice will
doubtless be done in the case The redeeming
features of 1t are the conduct of the commander
of the Chicago and the attitude Of the Navy De
partment at Washington, which are entirely
correct 1t is consoling to remember that occur
rences similar to this have not marked the his
tory of the American navy. Jack tars" have,
of course had their little scrapes though even
these have been few. Officers of the navy have
almost invariably conducted themselves as offi-
GERS and gentlemen" and the present deplorable
episode attracts the attention because it is
so striking an exception to the general rule OF
| the service. Upon the individuals who erred in
becoming intoxicated, and then in resisting the
police instead of invoking the protection of the
latter against what appears to have been VI
ciously aggressive mob, it may be necessary to
place grave censure. Upon our navy as a whole
no dishonor will fall from this unhappy episode.