Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1908-01-02
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent
Washington, Dec. 30th, 1907.

| w Ith L iCSluCHb lOOScNtlb anu
his family in Virginia and the hol-
iday spirit still prevailing the city,
political as well as social Wash
ington would indeed be dull but
for the stir caused in army and
navy circles by the resignation of
Rear Admiral Brownson as chief
of the Bureau of Navigation, made
necessary by his difference of opin-
ion with the President as to the
proper commander for the hospital
ship, Relief Admiral Brownson
preceded his resignation by a cold,
clear and logical presentation of the
reasons why he objected to the
assignment of a physician to COM
mand a naval ship, even though
that vessel were exclusively devot-
ed to hospital uses. The Presi-
dent declines to make public this
statement, although Surgeon Cen
eral Bixsy has come out in print
with the viewpoint Of the staff side
of the controversy and the obvious
inference is that there is some
thing in the letter of Admiral
Brownson which the President pre-
fers not to see in print, at least for
the present. This attitude is the
cause of much agitation in military
circles and they can only hope for
Il change in the executive mind or
an investigation by Congress which
will develop all the facts.
AS the controversy, precipitated
by the resignation of Rear Admiral
Brownson, threatens to occupy the
attention of the public for some
time to come, it may not be out of
place to state the difference be-
tween the line and the staff, about
which the public mind is more or
less confused. To be brief, q line
officer is one whose sole duty is to
fight the ship, while the staff officer
either provides the means for the
line officer to fight, or acts under
his direction in carrying out his
general orders. For instance, the
engineer when off the staff looks
closely after the machinery and
starts and stops it when called up
on to do so by the line officer; he
has nothing to say about the desti-
nation of the ship, its speed or
when it shall move. Likewise,
the surgeons aboard ship look after
the health of the crew in time of
peace and heal their wounds in
time of war, having nothing what
ever to do with the movements of
the ship to which they are attach
ed, and the same rule applies to
the paymaster and to the con-
structor who builds the ship navi-
gated by the line officer.
Secretary Metcalf has repeatedly
declined to enter into any discus
sion Of the issues which prompted
Admiral Brownson's resignation
and declares he knows nothing
about the statement of Surgeon
General Rixey to the effect that
the internal administration of the
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
had been interferred with by the
Bureau of Navigation. Surgeon
General Rixey is in Virginia with
President Roosevelt shooting wild
turkeys.
Mrs. Nicholas Longworth, who
had been at the White House for
two weeks past, where she went to
undergo an operation for appen-
, dicitis, has again taken possession
of her house on / street. Mrs.
! Longworth has almost entirely re-
covered from her illness and has
taken great interest in the arrange
ment of her house in holiday at
tire. At each window have been
placed holly wreaths tied with
bright red ribbon, and the interior
of the house, with it's quantities of
potted plants and vases filled with
flowers, is much like a conserva-