The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-01-15
ROW BETWEEN
LINE AND STAFF
IN THE NAVY

broke out Christmas Eve, when al
Washington was supposed to be Civ.
ing itself over to peaceful festivities
Ever since then it has monopolize6
public attention in official circles. Poll
ties have been thrust into the back
: Washington seems to think so. Per
haps the rest of the country may not
take it quite so seriously, but all the
country has been taking notice be.
cause two bureau admirals had a bit.
ter quarrel and because President
Roosevelt took the side of one of them
and said that old Doctor Sawbones
was competent to command a hospital
ship.
Rear Admiral Preston NJ. 'Rixey,
chief of the Bureau Of Medicine and
Surgery of the Navy Department is
thus for the present very much on
top. In fact he has been away at
Pine Knot, Virginia, fos several days
rusticating with his commander i'm
chief and enjoying further evidence of
Mr. Roosevelt's sincere personal re-
gard. Rear Admiral Willard H.
Brownsop. who holds the rank because
! of promotion in the line and not solely
because he has been the chief of the
BureaR of Navigation, is discredited.
He has been for many years the Pres
ident's personal favorite, has often
been a personal guest at the White
House and at Sycamore Hill and has
likewise been invited to play tennis
with the President on the White House
courts. Furthermore he is generally
conceded to be one of the very ablest
and most competent of ali Navy Of
1cers of the line. He suggested to the
President the idea of sending the bat
tleship fleet to the Pacific. He organ
lied the fleet for that voyage and has
done many other things toward mor@
efficient navy. But he is now on the
retired list. After a great wrangle at
the White House offices, in which the
miral Brownson resigned forthwith.
He has now gone off to South Caro-
lima duckshooting and his career in the.
Navy is terminated.
It is hardly necessary to explain
that the entire affair came upon
Washington very suddenly and was
| 4rav,,ay5o,,c c,,rDr;ca The ropaeidaYT
not only had to chose between two per-
sonal friends, one of whom is his fam
| lily physician and has long had the run
of the White House, but he had to
decide question of principle, involv-
ing a contention between the line and
the staff of the navy. The line Of
ficers say a staff officer. should never
be given the command of ship. The
staff officers say otherwise, especially
when it is hospital ship, which they
say is nothing but floating hospital
cation, which is the highest place a
navy officer can hold in the admins
tration of the department would not
issue the orders placing Surgeon
Charles F. Stokes, a staff officer, in
command of the hospital ship Relief.
DR.. Stokes is a personal friend of the
President, has boxed and done other
athletic stunts with him, and had been
ordered up to Washington from his
station at San Juan, Porto Rico, prep
aratory to assuming command of this
ship. Admiral Rixey, who enjoys on
ly the relative rank of Captain and
would have only the pay of that rank
now but for the fact that the Pres
ident several years ago made him a |
bureau chief. was very insistent. The |
hospital ship Relief has been lying at
Mare Island yard for two years and |
has not been utilized because it had |
been impossible to settle this con-
troversy although that fact had never |
leaked out as the cause
So he brought it to decision. There |
had been several interviews between
the two battling admirals and the |
President. At first the President |
agreed with Admiral Brownson. AT a /
second talk be agreed with Admiral
Brownson but Admiral Rixey was still |
pounding away with his argument |
that hospital ships had been in com
mand of staff officers, that agreements
at The Hague and at the Geneva Con-
ference looked TO the command of such
ships by non-combatants. Admiral |
Brownson countered with the state
ment that the law specifically forbade
staff officers of the Navy having or
exercising command of any Navy ships
and that the whole thing would be
wrong in principle. The President. as
already stated, gave in to Admiral
Rixey, who has been very constant
Of late years on his tours.
and the first chapter of the incident
was closed as Admiral Brownson re-
signed. He had ceased to be an Of
hcer on the active list of the Navy
several months ago and therefore went