The National tribune., 1910-02-17
MIR. PEARY AGAIN.
The Senate Makes Him a Rear Admiral.
Thc House Sits on the PrOnositinn

There is peculiar naval situation
with reference to AR Robert f. Peary.
the Arctic explorer. and discoverer of
! the North Pole. The effort to make
/ binl thru special act of Congress- a
| Rear-AdmiraI on the retired list has
been halted and may fail entirely This
isituation is believed TO be due some
what to the influence of line officers of
Itne Navy, who do not. take kindly to
FSary sand his assumption of the title
! 5sGommander. The explorer belongs to
Iasstaff corps. and civil engineer corps
lat that. Its members have no training
fat Annapolis whatever, and come in
tfrom civil life.
L. Secretary Meyer recommended that
the title Commander" used in the bill
be stricken out. as Mr.. Peary is not a
Commander, and that he be promoted
as a Civil ERgineer' to the retired list
with the relative rank and pay of a
Rear Admiral. This, however, would
not carry right to use the title Rear
Admiral. This followed unanimous
action by the Senate committee and by
the Senate in voting TO Peary the rank
and pay of a Rear-Admiral of the
highest grade on the retired list II
would mean if enacted into law, that
Peary would draw about Sc, 900 a year
from the Government for life for which
he would not be required to perform
tany service. In other words, it would
be pension in consideration of his
achievement in getting to the North
POLE. But the same day that Secretary
Meyer made his recommendation a sub
committee of the House Naval Affairs
which included some members who are
] hostile to Peary, voted unanimously
against the Hale bill that had passed
1.-THE Senate The Secretary of the Navy
| mad stated that Mr.. Peary has been
some ID years on furlough, drawing full
pay while following his own desires.
| This apparently ends the matter for
the present. The House Naval Com
miLtee might vote to oyerrtIle its sub
committees, but that Is rarely done, and
! If it We're would mean a stiff fight when
| the bill was brought into the House
! Chairman Foss is for the Peary pro-
motion, but just now does not see any
way in which he can help IL along
| While a great many people would be
glad to see Mr.. Peary recognized in
! some way, it can readily be seen that to
promote him from the civil list to Rear
Admiral would be a great injustice to
many men who have had real sea SER
Vice. hr: Peary never had a day of
tsea service on assignment from the
Navy Department
1t is expected that the matter Will
get before the House in some form be-
fore the close of the present session.
Some think the Senate will nut the
Peary provision upon the Naval appro-
| prlation bill as a rider That would
come entirely within the Senate rules
but would be resisted by quite a con-
tingent of the House as offensive to its
rules.
Meanwhile the gossips are busy with
| assertions about the undue activities of
| line officers against the bill. 1t is
claimed that the line officers and their
champions would have done better in
remaining silent, even if they did not
quietly support the proposition for
Peary's promotion.
There is room for argument of
course, as to the propriety of such leg
lslation. and the details pro and con are
being thrashed out in committee rooms
and corridors. 1t is thought that Con-
gress ought to vote Mr.. Peary a gold
medal.
Following is the comment of 4Secre-
1ary Meyer in his own words:
1t would appear that the bill in
question is framed for the purpose of
rewarding Civil Engineer Peary for
having reached the North Pole, and
while his having successfully accom-
plished this self-imposed task is most