The National tribune., 1908-01-09
THE COMMAND OF THE HOSPITAL
SHIP.

THE COMMAND OF THE HOSPITAL
SHIP.
Tho President comes out triumphant
ly in his controversy with the line OF
the Navy as represented by Admiral
Brownson over the subject Of the com.
mand Of hospital ships. The Presidents
citations Of the law and precedent seem
ample to sustain his position that q
hospital ship should be thoroly neutral
ized and freed from all connection with
strictly in accordance with the present
practice by all civilized Nations, and is
in agreement with the terms of the
Geneva Conference. The British, Ger.
mans, japanese and Italians now recog-
nize the absolute neutrality of hospital
ships. They are placed under the COM
mand of medical officers. and no fight
ing man allowed on board Of them in
any capacity except that of patient
The experiment of having the ship COM
manded directly by a medical officer
with civilian crew navigating the ship
has worked well wherever tried, and
has avoided many of the troubles en-
countered when these ships were under
the command of line officers. The Pres
ident cites the fact that we began this
practice as long ago as the civil war,
when by General Orders of Feb. 6, 1865,
hospital and other boats were placed
exclusively under the control of the
Medical Department, with the Fleet
Surgeon in command of them and civil
fans running the boats. The presence of
casts a suspicion upon their neutrality,
and this has become more than a sus-
picion in some instances, especially that
Of the line officer in command of the
Solace during the War with Spain, who
actually attempted to collect prize
money.
As rule, however, the hospital ships
during the Spanish War were strictly
neutralized, and at one time, it having
been found that the Solace had several
armed men aboard of her on their way
to Cuba, she was stopped, upon the pro-
back to New York and the armed men
put ashore. In the Russo-Japanese War
a Russian hospital ship was captured
and confiscated by the Japanese be-
cause she had fighting men and war
supplies on board. This matter was
definitely settled in the Army years ago,
and paragraphs 1921 and 1922 of the
Army Regulations read:
"1621.-General hospitals will be un-
der the exclusive control of the Sur
geon-General, and will be governed by
such regulations as the Secretary of
War may prescribe. The Surgeon in
charge will command the same, and
will not be subject to the orders of local
other than those of terri
torial departments.
"1622.-Hospital transports, boats
and railway trains, after being properly
as such, will be exclusively un-
der the control of the Medical Depart
ment, and will not be diverted from
their special purposes by orders of local
or department commanders or officers
of other staff corps"
The President in presenting his side
of the question gives the naval officers
a very deserved rapping over the fingers
in saying:
'The officers of the Navy must re-
member that it is not merely childish,
but in the highest degree, reprehensi-
BILE, to permit either personal pique,
vanity or factional feeling on
behalf of some particular Bureau or or
ganiZation, to render them disloyal to
the interests of the Navy, and, there
fore, of the country as a whole. The
question whether one officer or another
shall command ship is of little conse-
quence compared with the weakening of
all command and discipline, which
would result if officers were to refuse to
serve whenever their tempers are ruffied
by adverse decisions on the part of their
superiors. Their sole concern should be
the good of the service, and, save only
lack of courage in actual warfare, obe-
dience and loyalty are the most essen
tial qualities in keeping the service up
to the highest standard. The different
Bureaus of the Department, the differ
ent branches of the service, must act in
and the questions that
arise between them must be settled by
the authority of the Secretary of the
Navy and of the President, under and
in accordance with the law enacted by
Congress; and the first duty of every
officer, whether of the line, of the Pay
of the Medical Department
or of the Construction Department,
in one Bureau or in another, is
to give immediate and loyal obedience
to every lawful command of a superior,
and. of course, above all, to the law
itself This duty is incumbent upon all,
but it is most incumbent upon those
highest in rank, whose example may be
uf ching effect