The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-01-24
BROWNSOh MADE
TELLING POINTS
Correspondence Regarding the
Command of Hospital Ships
Now on File in House.
MUCH HISTORICAL MATTER
ANALYSIS OF THE LAW BEARING
UPON THE SUBJECT.

Washington, Jan. 23.-The speaker
laid before the house of representa-
tives today the response of Secretary
of the Navy Metcalf to the resolution
introduced by Representative Gill
calling for the correspondence relative
to the designation of staff officers TO
naval commands. The correspondence
is voluminous and includes Admiral
Brownson's letter of resignation and
the two letters of the president con-
demning the course he had pursued.
There was also a mass of historical
matter showing the army practice in
the matter of hospital ship commands
and including orders issued in the navy
department by Secretary Bonaparte,
with copious endorsements by bureau
officers, all bearing upon this question
Opinion of Admiral Converse.
An interesting paper among the lat
ter is an endorsement by Admiral
Converse then chief of the navigation
bureau, delivered June IA, 1904, upon
the proposition which originated with
the joint board of medical officers of
the army and navy to place hospital
ships I'm command of naval surgeons.
Admiral Converse recommended
again the placing of hospital ships in
commission in time of peace and also
against the placing of medical officers
in command, even with civilian crews.
Admiral Converse held that ii was
necessary to discipline and efficiency
that the officers and crews of such
ships should be subjected to naval laws
and REGULATE ons, and that the officers
in command should be fitted by expert
fTs1i navigate
command a vessel under all conditions
of weather and unforeseen contingent
cies.
The new matter in the correspond
ence about which congress particularly
desired information consists of long
memorandum prepared by Admiral
Brownson, then chief of the bureau,
dated November Is, last, thereby anti
cipating the admiraIs resignation by
nearly a month.
Doctors Not Fit to Command.
Admiral Brownson holds that, wheth
er hospital ships or not, such vessels
as the Relief must accompany fleet
to fulfill their purposes, and to do so
must be navigated and handled in the
same seaman-like manner which is re-
quired of all vessels to assure safety
on the high seas. There is nothing in
the training of a medical officer the
admiral contends, which fits him for
such command. 1t requires just as
skillful a navigator to pilot hospital
ship as it does to pilot man-of-war-
the difficulties are wholly Independent
of the internal arrangements of the
vessel or the uses to which 1t may be
put To call it hospital ship does not
fully describe the ship. 1t would be
more nearly correct to state that "a
hospital ship is a sea-going vessel hav-
ing a large hospital on board" Exist
ing regulations give medical officers
all necessary authority to control and
care for their department on board
such ships. "Yet the surgeon general -.
says Admiral Brownson, seems to be-
lieve that the navigation. safe conduct
and general administration of a sea-
going vessel are secondary as regards
the responsibility to command. Tele
graph operators or cable engineers are
not put i'm command of cable ships,
nor postmasters in command of mail
steamers"
AnaIueie IF the aW