The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1908-01-24

I
sonnet OF hospital ships composed OF civilians
On December =, 1906, Secretary Bona
parte took final action on the report OF
the joint medical board and decided that
there should be placed in service one his
pi-al ship to be attached TO the Atlantic
fleet and to be commanded by a surgeon
and navigated by sailing master. This
action was not promulgated IN general or
ders, but was merely thc adoption of the
boards report IN spite OF the fact that
President Roosevelt referred 20 IL In his
letter Of January 4, 1908. as an order Of
the department. issued by the Secretary
of the Navy and by the President
Question Dropped.
The question Of placing a hospital ship
in service was then dropped until Novem-
Der 6, 1897. when Surgeon General Rixey
wrote letter C. Secretary Of the Navy
| Metcalf saying that hospital accommo-
dations on the Pacific Coast were in
adequate and recommending che commits
| sioning of the Relief,
On November Is. 1907. Admiral Brown
| son. in a memorandum 10 the Secretary
| Of the Navy. stated his reasons for op-
posing the assignment Of q surgeon 10
command a naval vessel This memOran-
DUN was not made public at the time the
admiraIs letter Of resignation and the
Presidents letter of acceptance were pub
lished at the White House.
| This memorandum is the first official
document which has been published. tend
/ ing 20 justify the attitude taken by Ad-
miral Browuson and his predecessor, Ad-
miral Converse. in their opposition TO the
plan Of placing a naval vessel in COM
mand Of q surgeon
/ Ia this memorandum. Admiral Brown
son admitted that the existing hospital
/ facilities on the Pacific Coast were made
Iquate, and he added that be was heartily
/ in favor Of placing IN service. the hospital
! ship Relief, So that the hospital ship
might be available when the battle ship
| feet arrives at Magdalena Bay, in March.
! Opposed Surgeon.
/ Admiral BrOwnson. however. opposed
the action Of the department in placing
the hospital ship in command OF a sur
geon.
| While admitting that the question Of the
medical equipment Of a hospital ship
should be settled by medical officers. Ad-
| miral BroWnsOn COntended that the ques-
| ton Of manning sea-going vessel, was
+ one which sea line officers Of the navy
We're best qualified TO decide. As the
/ hospital ship Relief was q sea-going
vessel Admiral Brownson argued.
/ IL must be navigated in the same seaman
/ Ike manner which is required Of all other
Is esscls Of the navy. There is nothing I'm
/ the training Of a medical officer, Admiral
BToWnson continued. which fits him 10
command a sea-going vessel
Answers DIR. HiIey.
Discussing the recommendation Of surg.
Z Gen. Rixey that the surgeon command Of
the ship should be absolute" Admiral
BrowusOn said.
Telegraph operators or cable engineers are not
Tat ln command g cable -hffs nor are r1stma=ts-s
Tgt ln command ~ mail steamer. 4 battle shin
can with rIupIetE he called floating fort bat
. srfilFu officers are not fitted for fhe command OF
chem. lt must not be l1rs1tteu that d ship is au
[ inaEniaie object requires az al times G. c1mua-
tent officer in command % insure Jha safety q the
vessel az sea.
Long experience with officers Of the
merchant marine. he added. demonstrated
that they DO not perform their work as
efficiently as naval officers, He cited sew
eral instances Of conflict Of authority on
board naval auxiliaries. and the difficulty
Of maintaining discipline with merchant
officers and civilian crews.
Quotations Legality.
Admiral Brownson had the following 20
say regarding tie legality OF the pro-
posed assignments.
The following extracts from the stat
ute laws Of the United States have
direct bearing on the exercise Of military
command by medical officers.
The act Of Congress approved March
3, 1871 Statutes az large. vol Is, page
80, states.
Commanding officers u vessels Of war and Of
naval stations sal take precedence over ala 0elCes
placed under their command.
Section Of the act Of Congress ap-
proved August 3. 1854 fixing the rank OF
medical officers Of the navy, states:
This order c1ufrrs no authority to exercise mil.
tsry command and no additional right 70 quarters.
Section : Of the personnel act (Which
became q law March g, 1899 In amending
the revised statutes so as 10 confer upon
staff officers positive rank with tine liue F..
contains the limiting clause:
But officers whose rauA is so defined shall not be-
entitled virtue q their max 90 command 10 The line
or In other sta1 corDA
These laws are prohibitive of the full 4
exercise Of command by a medical officer. /
and he could. therefore. legally command /.
the paymaster. the crew. the commits /
sary force, &c, which the vessel, as an /
adjunct to the fleet or acting singly, must /
necessarily have"
Quotes from Report.
Admiral Brownson quotes from the re- /
port Of the Surgeon General for the year
1858. I'm which Or. Rixey commends the /
manner in which Commander Dunlay. a /
line officer, commanded the hospital ship F.
Solace during the Spanish-American war.
In conclusion Admiral Brownson said /
the commissioning Of hospital ship for
sea service as recommended by the Sur
geon General would be fraught with end
less complications, the chief OF which
are as follows:
/ II is directly contrary 70 the law for medical
officer 20 exercise military command IN any other
than his own corps
2 Divided responsibility leads 10 confusion and
poor administration.
; Experience both with the solacs in the SPANISH
American and with auxiliaries on the Asiatic
station shows corcsvely that the only organization
for the feet auxiliary is to have fuIl naval Gew
and officers.
4 A sea-soins ship 10 he Efficient must Of ne,ss-
sity be commanded BY sss-g0ug officer.
The Bureau of Navigation, Admiral |
Brownson said, believed that this mat
ter was of vital importance TO the naval
service, and he requested that the former
action Of the department be revoked and
that instructions be- issued for the com
missioning Of the Relief with a full navy
crew and officers
Rixey Has Last Word.
An interesting feature Of the CORE
spondence is the fact that the final doc,-
ment is a letter written to Secretary of