The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-27
line and Staff Officers of the Nay Contend for Rights
 In the Service
BROWNSON'S ACTION
 STARTED THE GABFEST
Resignation of Brownson Followed His Refusal To Obey RooseveIt's Or der and Congress May Final
 ly Pass Upon the Matter.

Washington, December 26-Now that the legality of the Presidents proposed action in the matter of assigning staff officer in the person of Surgeon Stokes to command the hospital ship Relief has been called in question, it Is proper to state that the reliance of the line off cers is upon provision in section of the naval personnel act March 8, 1899. That section, among other things was designed to clear up doubt that existed as to the right of staff officer to as- sume the title of a line officer of a corresponding grade in the matter of pay and emoluments and length of serv- ice. Up to that date staff officers had enjoyed what was called relative rank" with which they were not satisfied so In section ', the word relative was struck out so that all sections of the revised statutes, which, in defining the rank of officers or positions in the navy, contained the words the relative rank" were amended so as to read ''the rank of to this provision, the following inn portant qualification was attached:
 But officers whose rank is so defined shall not be entitled, in virtue of their rank, to command in the line or in other staff corps"
 Line officers understand this to mean that no surgeon or engineer eff there shall ever be again commissioned engi- neers), or paymaster or .copstruetor shall be placed in a position on board ship where he may command the movements and actions of any person not of his own staff corps.
 The staff officers for their part, hold that this act does not in any sense abridge any privilege of rank enjoyed by a staff officer and a careful perusal of the act appears to justify the statement that this provision is open to contro- versy.
 No Developments.
 There were no developments today in the controversy, owing to the absence from Washington of the President.
 Admiral Brownson relinquished his po- sition as chief of the bureau of naviga- tion yesterday and the duties of that office were today discharged by Com mander Cameron McRae Winslow, the assistant chief of bureau. Commander Wnslow was not designated or appointed chief of the bureau as the result of re- cent events, but signed all of of his mail as acting chief"
 It developed today that a year ago when the Relief was put into commis- sion, the decision was reached to assign naval surgeon to command the vessel in the event that it were manned with merchant crew and master But in the event that the ship was manned with a naval crew, then a naval officer in the line would be assigned to the command. A naval surgeon in command would have absolute charge just as a physician would ara1o cum Nh nf al land. without however, interfering with the work of navigating the vessel. Sur geon Stokes will be assigned to the command of the Relief, if the crew and master are chosen from the merchant marine, which while not finally decided, is understood will be the case.
 Secretary Metcalf again today declined to enter into any discussion of the is- sues which prompted Admiral Brownson's resignation as chief of the navigation bureau and declared he knew nothing about the statement of Surgeon General Rixey that the internal administration of the bureau of medicine and surgery had been interfered with by the bureau of navigation.
 Feeling Is Acute.
 Not since the days preceding inc passage of the personnel law ten years ago has the feeling between the line and staff of the navy been so acute as 1t Is today as the result of the re- fusal of Admiral Brownson to transmit orders from his superior officer. tbe President of the United States. assign ing naval surgeon to command A vessel In the navy. In the case of the personnel act. it was MT. Roosevelt. then assistant secretary of the navy. who acted the part of pacificator and succeeded in bringing the two warning factions together in support of the
 
 past, though make shift, has served to maintain peace between the two factions in the navy. In the present instance, however, the efforts of the President to reconcile the surgeon and the line officers has failed and 1t is probable that the whole controversy will be threshed out on it's merits in Congress. This Is much depreciated by conservative officers in both line and staff. as likely to prove prejudi- cial to the navy's interest as whole for they believe that in order to sue ceed in securing from, Congress the four great battleships, the cruisers, scouts and submarines which form part of the years naval estimates in addition to securing legislation that will better the lot of naval officers personally, the navy must present & united front, which cannot be done if just at the beginning of a session, line and staff are to engage in a fierce strife.
 Through the published statement of Surgeon General Rfxey the merits of the doctors side of the case in this in- stance have been clearly set forth. Line officers believe that in commoi fairness they should also have hear ing. But they are in an embarrassing position in that respect. Admiral Brownson preceded his resignation by cold, clear and logical presentation of the reasons why he objected to the assignment of physician to command