Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-14
HIGHER RANK WANTED
Facts About Civil Engineers
of the Navy.
PRESIDENT CAN ACT
THE RESPONSIBLE DUTIES OF OF
FICERs OF THE CORPS.
Regarding Declared to Be Absolutely
Necessary-Not Matter
Of Pay.
PRESIDENT CAN ACT

A section of the Revised Statutes pro-
edes that civil engineers of the navy shall
have such rank as the President may fix
In view of that authority it is believed
by men interested in the advancement OF
this corps that the President will take ac
ton to place the civil engineers the
same basis of rank other staff officers.
The Army and Navy Register in it's lat
est issue states that it is Its belief that GER
tain facts in regard to the civil engineer
corps of the navy have never been brought
to the attention either of the Secretary of
the Navy or the President.
Personnel of the Corps.
The civil engineer corps at present COM
prises thirty-one officers. Four months
from now it will number thirtyfour. Rank
in the corps is follows: Two captains.
two commanders. two lieutenant command
ers. four heutenants, and all the rest
(twenty-one at present, twenty-four four
months from now Junior lieutenantS. The
scheme of rank is still as 1t was twenty
two years ago, when the corps numbered
but ten. No change has been made in this,
though the corps has more than trebled In
number.
In the corps of professors of mathematics
there is one captain In every four officers,
In the corps of naval constructors. one IN
every "A. and In the corps or chaplalns.
one In every 5.15: while in the corps OF
civil engineers there is but one in every il.
Or again, % per cent Of the professors, -
per cent of the constructors, and ia per
cent of the chaplains are captains, while
only per cent of the civil engineers nave
that rank. This percentage Is less than
one-third the average of the other three
corps
Regarding Necessary.
For the past four years Rear Admiral /
Endcott the chief of the bureau of yards
and docks, has urged In his annual re-
ports that the civil engineer corps be given
the rank due to the magnitude and impor-
lance of its work, its increased numbers,
and in keeping with the rank of other staff
corps He has stated unequivocally that
such regarding is absolutely essential to
the best interests and efficiency of the
service, and he recommends that the CORPS
be regarded to make lieutenant the lowest
rank in the full grade as in all the other
staff corps. No one is in position to
know as we'll as Admiral Endicott what
the best interests of the service and the
efficiency of his corps demand and his
rank and position as bureau chief give his
recommendations maximum weight.
Average Age of Officers.
The average age of the four officers at the
head Of the corps is over fftythree years.
Their average time in the service is twenty
five years, greater than the average of all
the captains in the other three staff corps.
Two of these officers Endicott and Peary,
have international regulations, Endicott IS
a member of the 1898 isthmian canal com
mission, director of the American Society
of Civil Engineers, and for the past nVe
years rear admiral and chief of the bu-
reua of yards and docks Peary by reason
of his Nicaragua ship canal surveys ana
his arctic explorations.
The average time of service of the Junior
neutenants in the civil engineer corps Is
the same as the average time or service OF
the full lieutenants in the corps of chap
lains and only n little less than the aver
age of the full lieutenants in the corps OF
professors.
Comparison With the Line.
The average age of the eighteen junior
lieutenants in the grade of civil engineer Is
thirty-two years. the same as the average
age of the first go senior lieutenants in the
line and five years and four months greater
than the average age of the junior lieu
tenants in the line. The average age at
which these eighteen officers will. in the
natural course of retirements, attain the
rank of lieutenant. is over hfty-three years.
Two of them will become lieutenants at the
age of fifty-nine. One of them, under eX-
listing conditions, will remain a junior leu
tenant to the age Of sixty-one years and
eight months. and will have four months
service as a lieutenant before retiring for
age. No such disheartening conditions ex-
The civil engineers have not been edu-
stted at government expense. They have
y id for their education and much Of their
occasional experience themselves, and
ave entered the service fully equipped
physically and technically for the effective
md responsible plying OF their profession.
with two or three exceptions the officers
in this corps have won their commissions
by running the gauntlet of a severer phys-
cal, mental and technical examination than
is required in any other branch or depart
ment of the government service.
Responsible Nature of Duties.
Attention is called to the responsible ma
ture of the duties of civil engineers in the
navy.
AS a matter OF figures the bureau of
yards and docks. 1. e. the corps of civil en-
gneers, at the present time has the super
intendence of. and is responsible for, the
proper expenditure OF appropria tons
amounting to s30.000.OO. and further, has
charge of, and is responsible for, between
s6o0O0O0O and s75.CO0.oO worth of build
ings wharves. dry docks and other gov
eminent structures and property. at the
various navy yards and stations.
Not Matter Of Play.
1t is not matter of pay. The pay of the
civil engineers depends solely upon length
corps will not cost the government a dollar.
Rank In the civil engineer corps rests by
law entirely in the power of the President.
No action by Congress is necessary. A
recommendation from the Navy Depart
ment can call the Presidents power into
instant play.