The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-29

mus In all cdSeS send stamps |or naI puTposs'
The Case Of tho Submerged Chief
z Magistrate.
I. We have> received several commune
cations asking The SUNS opinion OF
Mr.. RoosEvl\LTs recent voyage In the
Plunger. Among those correspondents
whose tone is mot fippant isNB. F. II. '
OF New Rochelle. He says:
81 know tina. reesidsns noosEvsIr has tho
reputation Of being impunivo. but whom I read
In The sun that no took divo'in the submarine
boat I WAS both surprised and disappointed, for
this was no matter of imgalse but,m have been
the result OF elaboration.
what valid excuse can thero b for bis
voluntarily risk1ng his nfe In such dangerous
experiment. Perhaps eIaggerate tho danger.
but It would seem that tho present development
OF tho submarine boat does not warrant any ono
IN taking such nak without such good reason az
q compelling sense OF duty. whichscertalnly did not
pertain In this case.
And what about the Presidenrs duty 70 the
great party which elected him. and tho many I'm
portant and Vital interests Of tho nation. which
Al, who have studied and admired him a. have
will, I think. ooncede\he\ha ably andwscy handled
mus far-eo ably that there must be COMPARE
lively few who would mot regard his death at the
present timo a q great national nisfortunef
az would be interesting to know what TIE son
.h,nks about this incident. II does seem TO me
tina. II the Plunger. for any reason. had not'coms
"a ,be surface again, tho consequences ulghsshavs
been momentous."
Another correspondent, Mr.. G. A.
HAMILTON Of New York, asks:
is Il any moro dangerous for our chieftAasis-
trato 10 take . trip In an sirship than for him to
70 down 10 She bottom Of tho ocean In subrnA-
Tinef
viii THE Sun please eniighterl its readers - 70
the difference In the danger TO human life between
q trip In an airship and plunge Into the depths
of the ocean in Q submarine boat
As President ROCKVILLE 10 likely 10 take
srip In IN airship some time. II sesu,s 70 me that
Tu, Sun should eniighten him a. 70 tho limits OF
tho risk hs would take on his life by making such
Journey"
We do not regard it as probable that
Mr.. ROOSEVELT. while President OF the
United States. will undertake a journey
in an airship II the opportunity Of
fered, and the adventure seemed attract
i've to his fearless spirit Of enterprise,
he would doubtless be deferred not less
by q sense of official propriety than by
consideration for the feelings of the mil
lions who would view the excursion as
the foolish risking Of an exceedingly
valuable life. 1t is mistake to suppose
that utter recklessness is an element
OF Mr.. RoostvEIT's personal courage
Like most really brave men. he has the
clear perception Of the difference be-
tween the risk that serves useful pur-
pose and mere bravado. In the present
state of experimental aeronautics. there
il no service which the President could
imagine he was rendering to his country
by an ascent in a balloon.
On the other hand, we do the Presi-
dent the justice to believe that much
higher motive than the qualification OF
personal curiosity or the love Of adven-
ture impelled him to go down in the
Plunger. Tho submarine naval service
is to be an important branch Of the mill
tary establishment Of which Mr.. RoosE-
WELT is the Commander-in-Chief. Ac-
tual experience Of the capabilities OF
one Of the submarines must have seemed
to him most desirable addition to his
theoretical knowledge Of the efficiency
Of this weapon of war Furthermore,
nothing that he or any other American
could have said or done was 80 directly
calculated to inspire confidence in the
hearts Of those whose professional
duty it will be to navigate and perhaps
to fight war vessels Of the Plunger class
There is no denying that recent TRACE
dies in both the English and French
submarine service have tended to impair
the morale which is indispensable to the
successful operation Of these boats. The
President, as President, saw chance to
strengthen the confidence Of officers and
men, and, not "a Mr.. ROOSEVELT but as
President ROOSEVELT, he took the per-
sonal risk for the sake Of the public
illustration and example
We cannot doubt that Mr.. ROOSEVELT
wanted to 60 down in the Plunger. It
is quite another thing to assume that
he went down merely because he wanted
to, and for no other reason; or that
his other reason was not sufficient in his
estimation to counterbalance the more
or less remote danger to the life of the
Chief Magistrate which the adventure
involved.
Tho North Pacific Cable.