The National tribune., 1908-01-02
NAVAL TITLES.

With one part of this squabble the
plain citizens of the United States have
mighty little sympathy. The naval Of
| ficers have been so crazy to ape foreign
titles that they have brought the Off
cial nomenclature of the Navy into
hopeless ENHANCEMENT and made it ut
terly meaningless. The title of Admiral
especially intoxicated them, and they
abolished the good old distinctive Amer
lean title of Commodore in order to
make themselves all Admirals. They
spawned upon our register the bastard
designation of Rear-Admiral, which
has no claims whatever for tolerance.
Because Austria, Italy, Spain and
France were full of Admirals, q large
proportion of whom never heard and
never will hear a hostile gun fire, our
officers wanted to be Admirals, too,
and consequently they got up that
enormity in the personnel bill of 1s
Rear-Admirals, nine of whom should
rank as Major-Generals in the Army
and nine as acknowledgements. This
was perversion of all military ethics,
inasmuch as the title does not give its
distinction of rank Then, as if the 1S
active Admirals were not enough, it
was enacted thai every naval officer
upon reaching the age of retirement
should be promoted and retired a Rear
Admiral. The consequence will be that
the "Admirals'' in this country threat
en- to become as common as Colonels in
Kentucky.
The staff officers demanded the same
right to this coveted title that the line
officers had secured and all the En-
gineers, Paymasters, Surgeons and
Constructors insisted upon the title be-
ing theirs by right when they reached
the same grade as those of the line
There is no sound reason for denying
line officers claim that theY are the
only fighting men in such highly COM
plicated organization as battieship
has become. Every man in 1t has equal
responsibilities and an equal part in
the fighting of the ship. The man who
points the gun is of no more importance
in winning the victory thaa the man
who manages the engines. Everyone
has to be present ar his post and loing
his full duty in order to win the vic
tory. The man at The ammunition moist
can instantly paraIyze the best efforts
of the man in the turret, and so 1t goes
on thru the ship. = The assumption that
the line officers are superior socially
and professionally to the staff Is an
absurd survival of the old prejudices
and caste of the navy of past centuries. |
1t harks back to the time when, as
Macaulay says, the British navy was
made up of gentlemen who were not
ssamen and seamen who were not gen.
tlemen." If the naval officers will re-
model their official hierarchy, ceasel
apng foreign titles, restore those which |
have won an honorable name in Amer
lean history and place themselves and
their pretensions on the common-sense
footing of to-day, they will get much
more sympathy from the public.
To return to the title of Commodore. |
1t was one which the American Navy
had made illustrious. 1t counted sor
far more than Admiral does TODAY in |
the minds of the people. Such men as
Commodores Porter, Bainbridge, Deca-
tur, Perry, Farragut and Dewey had
placed the name high on the lustrous
rolls of fame, precisely as the achieve
ments of the American Army had made
MaJor-General synonym for high
rank, great power and splendid achieve
ment. Major Generals were always men
from whom could be expected high
achievements and the finest exhibition
OF warlike endeavor. Europe is filed
with Admirals who have never done
anything, and who represent nothing.
but an American Commodore would |
have significance that no one could |
mistake.