New-York tribune., 1908-01-06

placed under command OF medical officer.
Such ships ihs President therefore directs. shall
hereafter. unless otherwise directed by Congress.
be placed under the control and command OF
medical officers, their navigation being exclus-
lively controlled by competent sailing master
and civilian crew, the sailing master having the
complete responsibility for everything connect
ed with the navigation OF the ship.
Hospital ships should be maintained in time
of peace exactly under the same conditions as
in time of war" declares the President. "The
system has been tried in the army and tried in
Foreign navies and has worked without hitch"
ON COMMAND OF HOSPITAL SHIPS.
The Presidents letter is as follows:
The White House,
Washington, January T. 1908
To the Secretary OF the Navy:
Your predecessor in the Navy Department on
December u 1906 directed that hospital ships
should be treated as floating hospitals and that
each such ship should therefore be placed uiloer
the command OF medical officer, the Navigation
being controlled by a competent salllng nlaslei;
This order issued after the most careiui
consideration by the Secretary OF the Navy ana
oy the President OF all the reasons thai "oulu ,
be sdduced for and against it The case mas
now been reopened and the Secretary or Inc
Navy and the President have again listened 10
and considered all the reasons that ccufd pe
adduced against putting the order into effect,
After the fullest consideration L have deter
mined that the order is right, and ii Is hereoy
confirmed.
The hospital ships of the navy will hereafter,
unless otherwise directed by Congress, be placed
under the control and command Of medlcai ON
Gers Of the navy, their navigation being eXciu-
SiYely controlled by a competent sailing fhaster
and civilian crew, the sailing master having tns
complete responsibility for everything connected
with the navigation of the ship Such a sup Is
merely a floating hospital The hospital snip
now in questionable Relief-haS already been
used by the United states army as such. II was
then commanded by medical officer with
sailing master under him. This arrangement mas
Srny.1 N
that IL will not work as well under meolcal
ofioer OF the navy as under medical officer Oh
the army
Certain hospital ships i'll the British, German,
Japanese and Ita ian navies have already been
commanded by medical oficers-sometimes heet
surgeons, sometimes Red Cross surgeons
La these navies the only ships of which nave
heen able 10 get record were thus coniinanoetl,
save that in the japanese navy the hospital
ships at the beginning Of the late war were
commanded by line officers. but We're then put
under the command of medical officers TO avoid
zll question of possible breach OF neutrality III
own service, at the close of the civil war;
nv general order Of February 6, 1865. hospital
transports and hospital boats were placed ex-
clusively under the control OF the medical de-
nartment. the hospital ship on the MISSISSIPPI
being under the command of a feet surgeon
with an acting master under him as d naVigat-
ing officer IL the Spansh-American War the
hospital ships Vigilancia. Relief, Missouri, Bay
State and Oli,rette were by various orders tNos.
1o3 I2e Iss. 2Io e73. etcl placed under the
charge Of the command of various army sur
geons, the order sometimes reading that the
sometimes that he NH assume conlhlaho ol
tho hospital shin. this last being the form OF
words used in connection with the ship Relief,
the one that we are now considering Inc man
uai Of the medical department of the United
States army for 1906 provides that hospital
boats shall be exclusively under the control OF
the medical department, and the order Of the
Secretary of the Navy of December l., 1906,
nuts hospitai ships under the command of naval
surgeons. At present two pay officers are serving
in naval hospitals under the command of med
ical officers of the navy. and the present pay
command Of a medical officer Of the navy in
1879.
Military surgeons. including naval surgeons.
have special knowledge of hospital ships and
they have in addition certain military duties of
command, organization. drills and dlscipllne'
Just do officers of the line, awarding punish-
anents and being guided and governed in these
military duties by the same regulations as
guide ana govern officers of the line. The COM
,nand of hospital ship should unquestionably
he vested in a medical officer, and no line on-
Ger should be aboard il. The medical officer in
such case is simply the responsible heao OF a
large hospital pant which by reason of his
training he is peculiarly fitted to command IL
IS not his province to navigate the vessel ms
should be left TO civilian sailing master; DnL
no and he alone is best qualified 10 respect and
guard the neutrality of the ship. The absurdity
of rerr7,tfrinr ! line officer 10 command a hos
,,ifai ship was shown in the of the United
States hospital ship Solace during the war with
Spain. when the line officer in command actually
attempted put in claim for prize money TOT
the part the Solace took In the capture OF thS
Aduia, while the Solace was flying the feo
processing neutrality On an
other occasion the Solace interfered with the
rrosress OF q schooner in the old Bahama chan
mel so that the United States torpedo boats
nearby could board and investigate her On Yet
another occasion but for the vigilance OF the
medical officer aboard her. the Solace would
have carried armed from New York 10
Cuba Her senior medical officer reported the
violation of neutrality to the Navy Department
and the ship was recalled after passing through
the Narrows and the armed men removed In
the Russo Japanese War Russian hospital snip
violated her neutrality and was captured ana
confiscated by the Japanese. In time OF war the
presence Of combatants-that is, Of line officers
or crew-would certainly cast suspicion upon
the neutrality of the ship. and no line officer
while il seems incredible that any line officer
should desire TO have another line officer on
board such 4 ship. Hospitals afoat or ashore,
should no more be under the command of line
officers than regiments warships should be
,lnder the command of surgeons; one kind or
appointment is quite inappropriate as the
other HoSpital ships should be maintained IN
lime Of peace exactly under the same conditions
as in time of war The system has been tried IN
The army. and tried ia foreign naYies, and has
worked without q hitch II is the only system
that should be tolerated; and il IL fails to work
well this failure onl4 be due TO lack OF ne-
sire 10 have il work well on the part OF those
concerned
| direct thai unless Congress provide other
wise the practice in the navy be similar TO
that now obtaining in the army. In the army
the hospital ship is treated as general nos
initial and Article 26T reads follows:
ho<DfaIS viii - under the exclusive