Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-01-06

at the close OF the civil war. by general
| order of February g. 1855, hospital trans
ports and hospital boats were placed ex-
clusively under the control of the medical
department. the hospital ship on the Mis-
sissippf being under the, command of a
feet surgeon. with an acting master under
| him as 3 navigating officer. In the Span
fsh-American war the hospital ships Wig
ilanois. Relief. Missouri. Bay State and
Olivette were by various orders Nos. 1US.
122. 1885, 212. 2I3, &C. placed under the
army surgeons. the order sometimes Rad
| ing that the surgeon will take charge Of
| the hospital ship. some times that he will
| assume charge Of the hospital ship. this
nection with the ship Relief. the one that
| we are now considering. The manual of
| the meoIcal department of the United
States army for 1906 provides that hos
| pital boats shall be exclusively under the
control of the medical department, and
the order of the Secretary of the Navy of
December IL, 1906, puts hospital ships
| under naval surgeons. At present two
pay officers are serving in naval hospitals
under the command of medical officers Of
| the navy, and the present paymaster gen.
eral of the navy served under the COM
| nand of medical officer of the navy in
1879.
Military surgeons, including naval sur
geons, have special knowledge of hospital
ships, and they have in addition certain
military duties of command, organization
drills and discipline, just as do officers
of the line, awarding punishmeRts and be-
ing guided and governed in these military
duties by the same regulations that guide
and govern officers of the line. The COM
mand OF hospital ship should unques-
tionably be vested in a medical officer,
and no line officer should be aboard it.
With Line officers in Charge.
THE medical officer in such case is sim
ply the responsible head Of a large hos
pital plant, which by reason Of his train
| ing he is peculiarly fitted to command. It
is not his province to navigate the yes-
sci; that should be left to a civilian sailing
master; but he, and he alone, is best quail
fled to respect and guard the neutrality
Of the ship. The absurdity of permitting
| a line officer to command a hospital ship
was shown in the case Of the United
States hospital ship Solace during the war
with Spain. when the line officer in COM
mand actually attempted to put in
claim for prize money for the part the
Solace took in the capture OF the Adula,
while the Solace was flying the Red Cross
flag and processing neutrality.
''On another occasion the SoIace inter-
fered with the progress Of a schooner in
the old Bahama channel, so that the
United States torpedo boats nearby could
board and investigate her. On yet an
other occasion, but for the vigilance Of
the medical officer aboard her the solace
would have carried armed men from New
York to Cuba Her senior medical oficer
reported the violation Of neutrality to the
Nay Department and the ship w was n re
rows and the armed men removed. In
the Russo-Japanese war a Russian hos
pital ship violated her neutrality and was
captured and coniscated by the japanese
In time of war the presence Of COM
batants-that is, Of line officers or crew
would certainly cast suspicion upon
the neutrality Of the ship and no line
officer worth his salt would wish to be
on such a ship, while it seems incredible
that any, line officer should desire to have
another line officer on board such ship.
Hospitals. afioat or ashore, should No
more be under the command of surgeons:
one kind of appointment is quite as in
appropriate as the other. Hospital ships
should be maintained in time Of peace
exactly under the same conditions as In
time Of war. The system has been tried
In the army and tried in foreign navies,
and has worked without a hitch. 1t Ia
the only system that should be tolerated,
and IL it fails to work well this failure
can only be due to lack Of desire to have
it work well on the part OF those cor
cerned.
II direct that, unless Congress pro-
vide otherwise, the practice in the navy
be similar to that now obtaining IN the
treated as general hospital. ana article
1857 reads as follows: General hospitals
will be under exclusive control Of the
surgeon general. and VIII be governed by
may prescribe. The senior surgeon VIII
command the same.
| (signed) THEODORE ROOSEVELT"
Admiral Brownson. was shown the
Presidents letters and asked if. in view
Of the fact that Mr.. RooseveIts side of
the subject had been stated in these
communications, he would not teel at
haif x Say %osd xas his prompt
reply, and this attitude he maintained to
| ali Inquiries. for his views. The adj
| miral has consistently declined to say
anything for publication in the whole
matter.
Admiral Brownson's Letter.
The following correspondence was in
advertently omitted from that made pub
lie this morning:
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAXY;
BUREAU OF NAVIGATION,
| Washington, D. c., December "a, 1907.
"sir: In April last 1 was detached by
your order from the command OF the
| United States Asiatic fleet and ordered
most important bureau in the Navy De-
partment the bureau, which, under the
Secretary. is charged with matters re-
| lating to the personnel, the discipline ana
| the efficiency Of the feet.
''This transfer from q command which
ranks second in importance afloat to one
which Is second to none on shore, coming
| on the eve Of my retirement from active
service, while not to my personal liking,
| was deeply gratifying to, me, as 1t ap-
peared to be an evidence Of your conf
dence in my professional ability.
"fn order. however, that any efforts OF
| mine to maintain high standard OF EN-
cheney and discipline in the service be at
| tended with success it Is absolutely essen
tial that should have the confidence of
| the service at large as well as that OF
higher authority. The efficiency of the
| fleet can only be maintained when the
| officers and men feel that the chief of the
| bureau of navigation has the confidence
| of the comma nder-in-c Of the army
| and navy, and when strong military
| chi rat axisfs In, the service ANYTHING that