The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-26
WHY ADMIRAL
 LEFT BUREAU Reason tor Resignation
 of Brownson. FRICTION WITH DR. RIxEy As Result the Fleet is Without
 Hospital Ship. Dispute Arose As To Whether Medical Officer or . Lin. off,eer
 should Command The
FRICTION WITH DR. RlxEy

Washington, Dec, 25--That a serious breach exists between the Bureau or Navigation and the Bureau of Medicine of the navy, involving the question oI responsibility of the letter bureau was made apparent tonight in statement issued by Surgeon General Presley M. Rixey of the navy. in which he touch ed upon the circumstances leading up to the probable selection by the Presi- dent of a medical officer to copmand the Hospital Ship Relief over the pro test of Rear Admiral Willard Il. Brownson, chief of the Bureau of Navi- gation, who yesterday sent his resisna- tion to the President.
 While disclaiming exact knowiedse as to the cause of Admiral Browhson resienation, the Surgeon Generars abatement leaves little room for doubt that the controversy he reviews was potent factor. Surgeon Generai Rixey prefaced his statement by re- marking:
 T have been called up on the teie- phone many times today in regard to the resignation of Admiral Brownson'
 "Admiral Brownson and have been friends for many years and when on duty in Washington as naval attending surgeon was his family physicians His resignation as chief of the Bureau of Navigation has been assign ed to various causes, among others 10 a difference of opinion as to the com mand of the hospital ship Keller. While I do not know that this Is cause, it may be interesting to know the present status of this question" lt Command of Relief. Surgeon General Rixey then stated that hospital ships, as a rule. always have been commanded by medical or nit sailing master and civilian crew for purposes of nayiga- | ton. The Relief, he says. formerly De- l longed to the army and always was | commanded by a medical officer when used as a hospital ship. @ In attempting to unify the medical services of the army and navy. he says that q joint army and navy board oi medical officers which was convened | by executive order more than a year ago. recommended that hospital ships should be commanded by medical or ficers and that that recommendation was approved by both the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the Navy in general orders.
 Since the civil war. he says, all hos- pital ships and medical transports ct the army had been placed under the Surgeon General of the Army. He says further that Japanese naval hospital
  cers after having tried line officers. These ships, he says, are simply float ing hospitals properly under the control of the medical department and should he conducted in peace exactly as Tn time of war. This is especially so, he adds, because during war time line oni- cers cannot be spared and do not, and should not, desire the command Of these ships.
 He maintains that it always has been A doubtful question if the Geneva and | the Hague agreements could guarantet | the neutrality of these ships If com | batant Oine) officers and crews were aboard, and 1t was this doubt which prevented the Japanese during the re- cent war with Russia from using inc
 officers on hospital ships.
 Brownson Interfered.
 "The internal administration of th'
 Bureau of Medicine and Surgery" he
 says. has been in my opinion too
 mich interfered with by the Bureau oi Navigation This interference has al | times caused grave concern as to how
 I could meet the needs of those unde' | our care"
 The hospital ship Relief, he says
 should now be with the battleship fee
 on its cruise, but he adds. "the Bureat | of Navigation thought otherwise anC l the Heet or HIteeh liiouooiiN i
 lie auxiliaries. is without hospita
 ship and will be until It arrives a
 Magdalena Bay, more than thre'
 months from now.
 l He adds that he cannot understand
 how Admiral Brownson should be es
 pecially interested in the ofiicering o
 hospital ships. as his duties He ,n an
 other direction and that he should no
 interfere ins matter pertaining t'
 the Bureau of Medicine and surgery kand therefore to be decided by the Sec
 retary of the Navy
 Surgeon General Rixey's statement
 was shown to Admiral Brownson to night, but he declined to make an! | ,oTnmept whatever in regard to 1t.