The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-29
The Case Of the Submerged Chief
Magistrate.


The Case Of the Submerged Chief
fs Magistrate.
III We have received several commune
asking THE SUNS opinion OF
Il Mr.. RoosEvELT's recent voyage in the
Plunger. Among those correspondents
q whose tone is not flippant is"B. F. H.
81 New Rochelle. He says:
fs6~I know that President ROOSEVELT has the
h ssputssion Of being impulsive. but when read
n TEE Sun that he took q dive In the submarine
X boat. I was both surprised and disappointed for
this was no matter Of impulse, but must have been
shs result Of deliberaaon.
sss What valid excuse oan there DO for his
Il Voluntarily risking his life In such dangerous
+ Experiment, Perhaps exaggerate the danger.
but would seem that the present development
i o. the submarine boat does not warrant any ons
y ID taking such risk without such good reason as
X compelling sense Of duty. which certainly did not
: pertain In this case.
az And what about the Presidents duty 10 the
great party which elected hin,. and the many I'm
4 portsut and vital Interests Of the nation which
\ al who have studied and admired him a. have
WILL Nuuh, CUuC1uc ho nus eois sno "sA~~N
.shus hr-so ably that there must be oompara-
4 lively few who would not regard HE death At the
present time - great national m'sfortune'
III, would be Interesting 10 know what The Sun
>hinks about this incident. IL does seem to me
B IA, ". the Punssr for any reason. had not come
% the surface again. the consequences might have
Z hssn momsn'ous."
Another correspondent, Mr. c. A.
4 HAMILTON Of New York, asks:
rs II any more dangerous for our Chief Masls-
.s.s,s &c take .np In an airship than for him 70
{ 70 down TO the bottom Of the ocean in subma-
rias!
WIN THE Sun please eniIehten Its readers - to
the difference In the danger 10 human life between
trip In an alrship and plunge into the depths
Of the ocean In a submarine boat'
I" As President RoossvRLr Is likely to take
nip In an sirship some time, It seems to me that
4 Tan Sux should enilsh,en him as 70 the limits OF
~ risk he 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 journey
IN an airship. II the opportunity Of
Tered. and the adventure seemed attract
i've to his fearless spirit Of enterprise.
he would doubtless be deferred not less
J by q sense of official propriety than by
! consideration for the feelings Of the mil
4 lions who would view tho excursion as
the foolish risking Of an exceedingly
i valuable life. 1t ia m istake to suppose
/ that utter recklessness is an element
Sof Mr.. RoosEvELT'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
iADno service which the President could
! imagine he was rendering to his country
BY an ascent in 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-
sture impelled him to go down in the
Plunger. The submarine naval service
is to be an important branch of the mill
tary establishment Of which Mr.. RoosE-
WILT Is the Commander-in-Ch Chief Ac-
! tual experience Of the capabilities Of
one Of the submarines must have seemed
4 20 him q most desirable addition to his
/ theoretical knowledge Of the efficiency
sof this weapon OF war. Furthermore,
1 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
Sthe morale which is indispensable to the
ssuooesaful operation Of these boats. The
President, as President, saw chance to
Strengthen the confidence OF officers and
man, and. not as Mr.. ROOSEVELT but as
President ROOSEVELT, he took the per-
sonai risk for the sake OF, the public
/ illustration and example
We cannot doubt that Mr.. ROOSEVELT
wanted to 90 down in the Plunger. 1t
h quite another thing to assume that |
no 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 |
Chisf Magistrate which the adventure
involved.