i V B B5 UC-NRLF ^B 7E D73 LO C\J A FEW THOUGHTS UPON ANK IN THE NAVY. (ijdd !•& ,J'. S. Un homme mort n' est qu'un homme mort et ne fait pas de consequence; mais une formalite negligee porte un notable prejudice a tout le corps des m^decins. — Moliere (L' Amour Medecin.) PHILADELPHIA. 1850. ^^. > f RANK IN THE NAty: The subject of the following remarks may appear to many a matter of the most trifling import. To bespeak a measure of attention from such, we would point them to the policy of that empire from which, politically, we have nothing to learn, while, in all that relates to national attack or defence, there can be no wiser instructor. Since the war of 1815, Great Britian has raised her navy to a pitch of eflSciency of which Nelson and CoUingwood never dreamed, and which it is of vital moment for this country to examine and imitate. For our present purpose, we need only mention one cause which has led to this result. Taught in the bitter school of defeat that every thing which can in any manner affect the discipline or welfare of her navy is of deepest interest to the existence of her glory and power, England now looks upon nothing as too small for the most patient, mature, and cautious deliberation. It is upon this principle that we find a special com- mittee of Parliament raised for the purpose of considering the subject of reducing the allowance of grog to seamen in the navy. We find too, that committee bringing in an elaborate report, recommending the adoption of fifteen minute provisions on this subject. And, until we likewise perceive this necessity for caution in disturbing any of the elements of our former naval successes, we say without scruple that every act of hasty legislation may be but a step towards the goal of national defeat and dishonor. In this light, even the subject of rank in the navy assumes an importance which, at first blush, we might be disposed to deny it. It unfortunately happens, in this our age of the world's history, that na- tions find themselves obliged, for purposes of defence, to keep on foot war- like armaments by land and sea, which we may hope will in another cen- tury or two, be regarded as remnants of a barbarous antiquity. The well- being and security of a nation at present, make these evils indispensable, though some enlightened philanthropists conceive that such institutions should even now bo abolished. The American people have not yet so de- cided. They still entertain the opinion, that an army and a navy are worth the pains and expense which they entail upon the country, and are willing to maintain them. For the purposes of a navy, they have built ships, established dock-yards, trained up officers, enlisted seamen, and prepared in all other respects, the means necessary for vigorous war. :^ji\ '^^r^ It is found, however, by the experience of all ages, that in war there can be no vigor, except by instituting grades or ranks among the forces to be employed. It is for this reason, and for this alone, that the people of the United States have conferred a species of rank upon a portion of their fellow-citizens : rank for the purposes of command, not a shadow but a sub- stance, not a title for the e^nbty gratification of puerile vanity,buta power to be exercised for the purpose of its institution, over those whom the same people have Said sh^llthkve nc such power or rank. And the purpose for which alone, this seeming departure from republican principle has been per- mitted, is to make an efficient fighting force, wherewith the country may be defended in time of need. This object gained, it is manifest that the exercise of power to confer rank, should be exactly limited by the occasion which calls for it. Such has been the rule followed by the government of this country, with regard to the navy, from its foundation up to the present time. A certain rank has been conferred upon those men who were se- lected to command other men on board of our ships of war, in order that they might exercise, with becoming dignity and moral power, the trusfc de- legated to them by the country. But it seems that other agents, besides the belligerent ones thus far al- luded to, are requisite to the advantageous working of a military organi- zation. We must have physicians to cure the sick, surgeons to heal the wounded, pursers to pay and feed us all. And we want them for no other purpose lohich can he named or imagined. They come to the navy as ad- juncts to the main building — collaterals altogether — nay, necessary encum- brances. And this is said, of course, in no offensive meaning, for it is evident that whatever contributes nothing to the direct fighting power of a ship-of- war is per se, cumbersome and disadvantageous — it must be carried about by the ship-of-war ; and if, as in this case, it be an additional individual, it must be remunerated by the country. Still these functionaries are necessary, and no one attempts to deny it. This being the case, the question is raised, is it necessary, for the administration of the duties of these officers, that the people should confer upon them any of the show of power implied in the term rank? Is it necessary for the due effect of medical remedies that the prescribing power should enjoy what is called rank ? Is it requisite for the proper amputation of an arm 1 »' Will honor set a leg ?" Will the officers or crew decline their pay and rations, except from a purser robed in this mighty cloak of rank ? Seriously, the way in which this strikes every citizen, who first hears of any covetous desires on the part of these gentlemen, is just the manner in which we have presented it. Rank is necessary for the performance of certain duties in the navy — let it, there- fore, be given — it is not necessary for the performance of other duties — to bestow it were superffuous. This view of the matter under consideration, has reference solely to the utility or necessity of the bestowal of rank* The expediency is another question, and one whicli concerns the people and congress not at all, so far as the service which they require from these gentlemen is concerned. They may with perfect propriety say : " There are certain rules and regulations for your guidance in the performance of certain duties ; show us any reason why you may not heal the sick, &c., without some adventitious assistance and we will cover you with cloth of gold, yea, rank you in our parchments with admirals and kings." A plain man on shore is entirely mystified and confounded, when he first hears that the medical attendants of military men must fe« military men, and must be clothed like their patients. Let any person select the most eminent prac- titioner of his own acquaintance, say his family physician, and fancy him calling at his bedside, not in the accustomed gravity of black coat and cane, but shining like the morning star in gold lace and epaulets — we do not ask the effect upon his risible faculties — but will his disease be greatly checked by the resplendant vision? VVhy, really it would seem that this principle would divide the medical world into castes and departments, re^ quiring every man's doctor to be of the same trade as his patient. And, recurring to the past, we ask, how is it that from the year 1777 to 1846, our seamen were cured and paid, as skilfully and punctually as they have been since, without an atomic part of the jewel rank which is now so be- seechingly sought for ] We know that much medical quackery has been exploded ; that men are now cured by "opathies" innumerable, as well as by the old regime ; but can it be that we are also to go through a system of ranA:opathy 1 Has there been found out a magnetic affinity between gold bullion, and some of those evils which flesh is heir to 1 The next question which presents itself is, is it expedient to confer rank npon civil attaches of the navy. As we have shown that this distinction can in no way affect the discharge of any duties required of these gentle- men, it is plain that, if any considerations demand the bestowal of rank, they must be such as are purely personal. These considerations have been suggested by the respective corps of which we speak. They have never been brought to the public eye by any want of efficiency in the service performed, and no public naval necessity prompts a revision of old laws in reference to this subject. It is solely the complaints of individuals which have urged a change, and indeed demanded it, with sometimes the arro- gance of a grandee, and sometimes the wildness of a maniac. It may be said here once for all, that the agitation of this subject is very well known in the navy, to be the work of a few men only. And although the feeling of clanship, which is natural in such cases, forbids any open opposition to the incendiaries upon the part of those of the same profes- sion who disagree with them, there are, we hope and believe, many noble spirits unwilling to join the cry of defamation against officers, who have been proud and happy to be associated with them, who cherish their friend- ship, and can never forget the kindness of professional care which no 6 money can purchase. So much is due from the writer of these few pages, to a corps, of which he is glad to say that he numbers many personal, and some intimate friends, and with no member of which in the course of nearly seventeen years' service, has he ever had the slightest personal or official misunderstanding. But is it expedient to give this rank ? The only plau- sible ground uj)on which this expediency can be urged, is that which some medical gentlemen have not scrupled to advance, namely : That the civi- lians employed in our ships of war, are in a state of social degradation, unable to command the consideration to which their position and attain- ments should entitle them, unless that position and that worth be endorsed by the fiction of rank. This is the head and front of their charge, this the chorus of all their lamentations, the beginning and almost the end of all their woes. It is this plea alone which has gained th& popular ear, and excited the sons of Galen, from one end of the Union to the other. Now this charge is in the fullest possible manner denied, and we declare' most unequivocally, that we have never known a single instance of a civil officer being in the slightest degree subjected to any disrespect or want of cour- tesy whatever. Civil degradation ! Why, how can gentlemen, how can men born in America, take up with such a plea ! There are men upon the list of surgeons and pursers, who would scorn to avail themselves of such a pretence — men who know this charge to be false, and who would no more submit to " civil degradation," than they would to a state of serfdom. These men know that the civil officers of the navy are always treated on board ship with marked consideration— that surgeons are in an especial manner courted as associates by officers in command— that there has, until the present time, existed a remarkable degree of harmony and kind feeling between the civilians and sea officers — in short, that the charges of arro- gance made against the latter, are the mere coinage of the brain. The only particulars which these gentlemen can specify as any thing like a sha- dow for their piteous grief are that without rank they are not entitled to salutes, and have no fixed position to take up in a line of officers with whom they happen to be entering or leaving a boat. The salutes referred to, are merely the shouldering of arms by the sentry at the gangway (or door of entrance) of the ship, and the other matter is only an old' sea-cus- tom, by which the youngest officer goes into a boat first, and leaves her last.* The very statement of these points, demonstrates their utter pueri-? lity, when applied to any but men of a purely military character. For the support of authority on board ships and in camps, it has been, and still is deemed necessary to invest those who are to exercise it with a degree of personal consideration, entirely distinct from their individual character. It * In the French navy the rule is reversed, so that lliere is no intrinsic distinction in the order of precedence. It is not kno'^rn whether the " piping of the sid^," is conajt dpred a cause of gricTancc * is their robe of office. One method of keeping this delegated importance constantly before the eyes of the governed is, to require upon certain occa- sions, certain outward acknowledgments of its existence. This, we take it, is the theory of all military salutes. Now, by what conceivable pro- cess this ceremonial can be made serviceable in promoting the usefulness of a gentleman whose business and whose only business it is to attend the sick, is more than can be easily comprehended. And how the professional and social standing of a medical man can be affected by the order in which he enters or leaves a boat, passes the wit of an ordinary mind to conceive And those who are not of the navy, may well be surprised when they learn that these little matters, so small as scarce to admit of a discussion, are the exciting causes of all the flood of pamphlets and petitions, which a few surgeons have poured out upon the navy and congress. We say exciting causes, for though these fancied grievances first induced the taking up of arms, we have yet to learn what worlds will satisfy these conquering Alexanders. In truth, the " social degradation" is a farce. When a number of men are living in such close juxtaposition as is unavoidable in the wardroom of a ship of war, those whose habits of thought or whose pleasures are the same, will choose each other's society, without reference to the fact, whether they are or are not of the same profession. In the forced contact of daily and hourly association, men's good and bad qualities are fully developed, and as in all societies, the respectable are respected, the unworthy are despised. The invariable law that in all bodies of men, honor will follow desert, finds no exception here, and how unwise, nay, unaccountably perverse seems the feeling which prompts doctors and surgeons to run out of the pale of their own pursuits to seek for a species of distinction which, apart from a military character, is beyond expression puerile and meaningless. Why do not these gentlemen content themselves with pursuing fame in the pro- fession and after the manner of the high names which adorn the colleges of our country-T— the Motts — the Chapmans — the Warrens of America ? Can there be a nobler ambition than this ? Has the world retrograded a century, that men of books are to abandon the highest fields of distinction, and turn to the muddy streams of military renown? Why, surely, there must be something infectious in the air of military companionship, which can so bewilder the minds of men of intelligence — men above the average, perhaps, of ordinary society. But in spite of the unreasonableness of the pretension, it cannot be de- nied that most civil officers in the navy, consider the bestowal of some rank necessary for their comfort. We think that this arises from a morbid sen- sibility, growing out of the fact, that officers with whom they live, receive outward demonstrations of military etiquette necessary for the proper per- formance of their duties — that those gentlemen fancy the not receiving them to be a species of degradation — a declaration of social inequality. This is the whole matter in a nutshell. We will postpone the answer to the question of the expediency of be. stowing rank upon these civil officers, until we give a short historic sketch of what has been done for these gentlemen, both by executive and le- gislative decrees. This may be best done by an extract from a paper pre- sented to the Secretary of the Navy by a large number of officers, and supposed to emanate from the pen of one whom all acknowledge as a very type and pattern of what a naval captain should be. " From the Resolution passed in July, 1777, that surgeons should re- ceive the pay of the lieutenants of the ships to which they respectively be- longed, and from the act of March 30th, 1812, making pursers commis- sioned officers, the condition of both has been steadily ameliorated. The establishment of medical boards of examination, by which the corps chooses its own members ; the creation of the grade of fleet surgeons ; that of passed assistant-surgeons ; an increase of pay in 1828, seven years before the general navy pay bill was passed, when it was again largely augmented* and by a recent construction of the law, is still further increased ; hand- some accommodations provided as the new hospitals and asylums were erected ; good houses in the navy yards ; assistant-surgeons introduced into the ward-rooms, young men just in receipt of their diplomas, taking their seats with those who have to pass a long probation before they are able to reach that apartment, a probation be it said, eminently desirable, in order to secure a true military organization, from which must ever spring greater practical experience and loyalty to the service. When the administration of the navy department, involving a yearly expenditure of many millions of dollars, was divided into five bureaus, one of the five was given to the medical department, with officers, clerks, &c., to supervise an expenditure of some forty thousand dollars ; having moreover, the direction and dispo- sal in a great measure of its own personel. In the small matter of the uniform, they have designed their own, which no one grade of sea-officers has ever been permitted to do ; and at this moment we learn that a rule recently adopted, making all shore-stations two year terms, has in the case of the surgeons, been extended to three. ** With reference to the pursers, the same progress has been theirs. When it suited them, they shook off the old system of emoluments from commissions, had themselves made salary officers, and liberal salaries they are, with clerks allowed, &c. ; their leave-pay was made equal to the sur- geons, though the latter have two grades to pass through ; while the pur- sers entering into their present position at once, without serving in a lower rank, a period of twelve years is sufficient to assimilate them with officers who, as already stated, are over thirty years reaching their commander's commission ; and a most important bureau in the navy department has also 9 been given to them, so on the whole, the pursers may be said to have re-f ceived even more consideration than their medical brethren." Here novr , is a brief compend of what has been done to increase the^ emoluments and consideration of two classes of officers, whose appetite, growing by what it feeds on, is still insatiately asking for more. In order to show, more clearly, the partial nature of legislation which has been in- voked, and with success too, we have thrown into the form of a table, all the laws regulating pay of captains, commanders, lieutenants, and medical officers, which we have been able to find. Pursers are omitted, as under the old system their emoluments were contingent upon the state of the market in their respective ships. Suffice it to say, that their pay is now from $1572 on board of a brig, to $3572 in a ship of the line.* 1777 1794 1797 1799 1814 1828 1835 1849 Captains, 1332 1332 2500 do. at sea, 3572 do. of ships of 32 guns and over, 1776 do. of ships of 20 guns and over, 1332 do. of squadrons, 2352 4072 Commanders, 1080 1800 do. at sea, 2572 Lieutenants, 696 696 696 883 1200 do. at sea. 1572 do. commanding, 888 1872 Surgeons, equal toLt 744 744 744 1st class Surgeons, first 5 years of commis. 744i*iono 1400 do. do. do. at sea. 1008 *1405 1938 2d do. do. second do. of commis. 876 *I200 1600 do. do. do. at sea. 1212 *1 672 2204 3d do. do. third do. of commis. 1008 1400 1800 do. do. do. at sea, 1416 1938 2472 4th do. do. fourth do. of commis. 1600 1800 do. do. do. at sea, 2204 2472 Sth do. do. over 20 do. of commis. 1128 1800 1800 do. do. do. at sea, 1536 2472 2472 Assist. Surgeons, 504 504 504 504 650 do. at sea, 1022 do. at sea after 2 years in serv. 708 do. after Passing, 636 850 do. do. at sea. 912 1272 do. do. after 10 in ser. 768 do. do. do. at sea. 1116 * In this table, the rations are converted into money. The valpe of the ration is now tvventy cents per day, or about $6 per month, and has been so calculated throughout; although until the year 1842, it might be, perhaps, $7. The pay of fleetsurgeons is omitted, so as not to make the table too large. After twenty years in the navy, a surgeon, should he happen to be " of the fleet," may receive $2772 per annum. There are lieute- nants who have been thirty-one ye?irs in service, and whose highest possible pay falls $900 short of this. 10 Now, in this tabular statement, several things are noticeable. Passing by the not insignificant fact that the very first law upon record, as to naval pay, seems to have been called for by surgeons, we desire attention to the column headed 1828, when it will be seen that medical men were enabled to secure the passage of a law, which under certain circumstanc«s, more than doubled their pay. At the same time, we find the small sop of an additional $192 thrown to lieutenants, while captains and commanders were left entirely in the lurch. It is evident from the elaboration of detail in the law of 1828, and the subsequent one of 1835, that these gentlemen did indeed " frame their own bills." But the main fact which appears by this table is, that while all other grades have remained stationary since 1835, that of surgeons has made a great advance by the operation of a clause attached to the Navy Appropriation Bill, for the year 1349. This clause reads thus : — " And be it further enacted, that in calculating for the pay of surgeons in the navy hereafter, the time upon the graduated scale of pay shall be reckoned from their original date of entry." By this we are referred to the General Navy Pay Bill of 1835, where we find these words under the head of *surgeons.' "For the first five years after date of his commission ^1000." *For the second five years,' so much &c. It will at once be perceived that there is no such thing as a change of construction given to an ambiguous law, but a radical change in the law itself, and one effected with an astuteness which deserves all— praise, shall we say ? At present no man reaches the rank of surgeon until he has been more than ten years in the navy — of course then he overleaps by this new law all the first four rates of pay in the column of 1835, and goes at once to the rate allowed by the General Pay Bill to the class of ^surgeons of the third five years after date of commission.' The four rates alluded to, and marked by an asterisk, are in fact nullified and the succeeding ones pushed up in their place, as we have done in the column of 1849. No surgeon comes under the first two classes of 1835. Now let us see the practical inequality effected by this tour de force — we use letters for real personages. Lieut. P. is 162 upon the list of lieutenants, just midway from the head and foot of his grade. Dr. M. is at the foot of the list of surgeons. Lieut. P. Dr. M. P. Mid. Entry into the Navy. Duty Pay. Sea Service. Pay in 1853. Pay in 1858. 1828 1837 1837 $1572 $1938 $822 13 y. 9 m. 7 y. 11 m. 11 y. 2 m. $1572 $2204 $1572 $2472 The Doctor who entered the navy nine years after the lieutenant, receives now 8366 more than the latter, and in the year 1858 will receive $900 more than the same Lieutenant will then get, at the present rate of advance- 11 iinent which may be looked upon as fixed unless in case of war. Lieut. P. in that year will stand number 102 from the head of his grade and about seventeen years from promotion. The present difference between the Passed Midshipman and the Doctor who entered together is very glaring : the former receiving much less than half the pay of the latter, and having a year or more to wait for his Lieutenancy. Beyond this he will not go until the year 1880 — that is after 43 years' service. How truly speaks the poet : Bat och ! Mankind are unco weak An' little to be trusted : If self the wavering balance shake. It's rarely right adjusted. Now we make this expose of the medical budget with not the slightest shadow of intention to assert that these gentlemen are paid too much or that sea-officers are paid too little. So far from it, that since the year 1835 we have yet to learn that a single sea-officer has sought for an advance of pay under any circumstances. But it clearly appears that the energies of one corps have been pertinaciously devoted to an increase of consideration and emolument — up to as late date as 1848 with perfect success- It would seem that they adopt the question of Moliere's operateur. L'or de teas les climats qu' entoure 1' oc6an Pent il jamais payer ce secret d' importance? Be it so — wo grudge them not one dollar of it all — it may be that our own services are very well remunerated. But what we do insist upon is this, that they do not, after lining their pockets so well, abandon the strong vantage ground which availed them so powerfully in obtaining their legis- lative enactments. The cry has always been, we are entirely out of the line of promotion, we have no rank, we ask for none, what we want is more pay — let our military brethern have that sort of distinction which they prize, only increase our fees — give them honors, give us gold. It is upon this ground alone that these special provisions of class legislation could at all be justified, and the matter of surprise to the whole navy is, that after obtain- ing in twenty years an increase of emolunent in some cases triple of what it was, these gentlemen should now say 'give us rank too, we are not satisfied.' Now we come to offer the objections which we have to bestowing any at the so called " assimilated rank" upon the civilians of the navy, and least of all the amount conferred by the orders of the late Secretaries of the Navy. In the first place, we hold all such executive orders to be illegal and null. In a monarchy all rank, even military, proceeds from the crown. But in a republic like ours, the people stand, in this regard, in the place of the sovereign, and from them must proceed every such distinction. We •can find nowhere that this power has been delegated to the President of 12 the United States. Therefore, we conceive that all laws conferring rank, must come from congress, the representatives of the people. In " Hal- leck's Military Law," the power of the commander-in-chief is clearly- shown to extend only to matters of command, leaving rank, as we have stated it, entirely under the jurisdiction of congress. This subject, how- ever, is now in the hands of the attorney-general for his decision ; and whatever that may be, it seems scarce necessary to say, we shall all bow in silence. Sliould his opinion favor the legality of these decrees, our hope is in the conviction that the secretary's orders are not the laws of the Modes and Persians, but are subject to the revision of each incumbent of that office. * Supposing this question then to be an entirely new one, we say that such a law is inexpedient ; first, because as we have shown, it is entirely unne- cessary for the public service or for private comfort. In the next place, such assimilated rank gives to civilians precedence and consideration upon military occasions over military men. And this is the vital objection to it in our eyes. We repeat, that the minutioB of etiquette are to a military man, things of importance — they are to him elements of power, and as you cheapen these outward expressions of deference, and as you bestow the right to require acknowledgments of military superiority, where there is no military power to be strengthened thereby, just in the same ratio do you destroy the moral power of all etiquette. For this matter of bowing and saluting and firing of cannon is all a ridiculous farce, apart from the end to which it ministers, namely, the bestowal of moral power, by giving a prestige to the individual who receives the signs of deference. And in no navy in the world, is this etiquette so necessary as in our own — for from our political organization, thank God ! we have never known any distinc- tions of rank in civil life. Consequently, when one set of Americans are temporarily placed over another set of their fellow-citizens, it needs all the moral power which law and forms can give to command obedience and su- bordination. By bestowing rank where it ^is entirely unnecessary, you weaken legitimate authority. This is the strongest reason against any such law as the one in question. Another objection which applies especially to the regulation as it now stands is this ; that we know not how far the prospective views of these gentlemen may reach. We have witnessed by how rapid strides they have advanced in the scale iof pay, and how studiously and patiently all such claims as those now presented, have been postponed until the main chance was looked to and secured. We naturally ask, upon hearing of every new acquisition — what next 1 nor indeed are we long in suspense, for already *' bloody with spurring, fiery red with speed," a champion rushes to the field. His martial words, his patriotic fire must surely stir every legisla- tive bosom. W^e ask, he cries, that one fold of that glorious ensign of 13 stripes and stars, may encircle us too — that we may be given something more than an " unmeaning mockery," a '* mere empty shadow." But let this fanfaronade pass. There is more serious matter behind ; for we find, at the back of all this patriotism, not merely laws demanded, but the very ** forms" of them prescribed. And herein is remarkably evident the spirit of encroachment which has become so characteristic of the corps of which we speak. Not content with the position assigned them by the orders of 1846, they now invoke congress not merely to sanction the executive ac- tion, but to make two important amendments. One of these is, to annul that part of the General Orders, which gave' executive officers always pre- cedence of civilians. This point has been sufficiently touched upon in the paper before quoted from. But the other change is equally subversive of good order, though more insidious. The civil officers are now to be ex- empted from all military control, except that of their own immediate com- mander ; thereby introducing into the navy, a principle entirely foreign to its organization, and fraught with evils. Every officer of the navy is taught implicitly to obey his superior officer without question, hesitation or debate, wherever he may meet him. If a captain encounter a lieutenant on the Paseo of Havana, and order him to go on board a ship, just leaving the dock for Japan — he goes. It matters not to him whether the captain belong to his own ship or no — he sees his superior and obeys. The orga- nization of the navy knows no regimental divisions, and no staff exclusives — and the principle of implicit obedience has always applied to the civil officers, as well as to the combatants. Let us put a case (merely hypothetical, of course,) which may show the absurdity of the reserved right of which we speak. A naval surgeon has embarked in a ship-of-war as passenger, merely to go out to a foreign sta- tion, or it may be, to return home. During the voyage, a pestilent epide- mic breaks out and taxes to the utmost the powers of the two medical gen- tlemen in charge of the sick. Now by what earthly power shall we make the services of our passenger available for the general good, and the relief of his overworked brethren? By none whatever — for he says, "It con- cerns me not, I have no commanding officer here, and will, therefore, take mine ease." Suppose the two surgeons of the ship to die at their posts — as we see them always ready to do — still our stolid friend might say, if he saw fit, " I cure no man here." It is no answer to say, that humanity and generosity will at once prompt a man in these circumstances to proffer his aid. This is by no means certain, and if it were, how pertinently might the dying lieutenant retort the argument of the surgeons, and waving away the kind attentions of his medical friend say ; " Thanks for all your coun- sel and prescriptions, but I am aware you only give them by courtesy, not by law : let me die according to law." This feverish anxiety to be always suggesting changes of condition, has 14 manifested itself strikingly also, in what seems the small matter of unr- form. Dress is one of those adventitious aids which, like etiquette, is found in military life to be an available means of increasing respect for authority. For any other purpose than to give weight to his official posi- tion, the man who should walk in one of our public thoroughfares in the garb of a navy lieutenant would justly be looked upon as a harlequin. It is the end above which gives any dignity or respectability to the custom of covering our necessary clothing with patches of gold lace and stripes of bullion. Now in practice, it has always been found necessary to vary the dress of officers to whom different degrees of power have been delegated, 80 that the governed may know at a glance the character of the personage who challenges their obedience, and may pay those outward marks of defer- ence due to the office. The mind of man, it would seem, can conceive no object tor which a surgeon or purser need invest himself with these trap- pings, cumbersome in themselves, not beautiful to the eye, and apart from their uses the most absurd things imaginable. If the thing were stated for the first time to a gentleman not conversant with naval affairs, that civil officers wore all the outward badges of military rank, it would excite the greatest possible wonder. Most persons however, even in the nav}', say that this is a small matter, and we will not dwell too long upon it. By the Regulations of May, 1830, the navy uniform was changed, and we find that captains and commanders were to wear two epaulets. Lieuten- ants one, surgeons were to have upon the collar an embroidered club of Esculapius, pursers a cornucopia. Now what could have been more appro- priate than this symbolising the professions of these gentlemen, and we may be sure that here as always, they prepared their own rules. Yet in January, 1832, we find the surgeons already weary of the time honored staff, and a special regulation is promulged, substituting for it a branch o^ live oak — the pursers being in this instance left in the shade, and of course ** degraded" by continuing to wear the cornucopia for a few years longer. In 1841, the uniform underwent some changes, when we find a few more stripes bestowed upon the surgeons — whether it was at this time or before that the pursers rose in the social scale, appears not. Again, in 1845, lieutenants were allowed to wear two epaulets instead of one — an innova- tion borrowed from the English Navy, and which has brought with it much confusion, with no other advantage than that of presenting a more symmet- rical appearance for the ball-room. But these same glittering badges of military authority now seemed to have charms for the civilians of the navy. This was sufficient — an order from the Navy Department, bestows all which is asked, and we now see the captain who, in 1815, captured the Cyane and Levant, side by side with the youth who yesterday left one of our medical schools, alike rejoicing in their brilliant pair of swabs. In. deed, so absurd has become the appearance presented by the array of non- 15 combatant military insignia, that some of our veterans have applied foj. leave to dispense with their epaulets altogether, and have got rid of some of their lace. If they succeed in the alteration which they wish, of course none of us can submit to the degradation of epaulets. Now how utterly puerile and unmanly all this seems. What we aver is, that there is no position in which a surgeon or purser in the navy can be placed, where there will be any occasion for him to be clad in any other dress than that which the President of the United States wears in the city of Washington. Their duties are purely civil — they have not one single iota of military authority which requires the factitious aid of dress, and will be always just as much respected in a black coat, as in a lieutenant's uniform. The truth of this is evident from the circumstance, that the chaplains always wear black* and are always treated with the greatest consideration. We hear no com- plaints from them — on the contrary, they bear willing witness to the ur- banity and courtesy with which they have been treated by officers. And this too, without uniform or rank j for no general order has yet enobled them.* To leave this subject, we will mention in passing, another matter in which this spirit of advancement has shown itself. About the year 1844, an order was issued, that assistant-surgeons were to be considered there- after ward-room officers ; thus putting a marked slight upon the whole of that deserving grade of officers, the passed-midshipmen, who after serving a hard apprenticeship of ten and twelve years, were thus thrust coolly back, to make way for a new fledged medical graduate. The practical operation of this regulation has been found to be, that young assistant-sur- geons find themselves quite out of place among their new associates, all men older than themselves, whilst those of their own age with whom they would find a more natural affinity, are declared by regulation unworthy their companionship. The young man of one-and-twenty, fresh from the medical school, leaps into a place which is shut tight and barred against a sea-officer, who has served ten or eleven years, and numbered perhaps eight-and-twenty summers. Let the passed-midshipmen look to this. Their position and prospects are dreary in the extreme, and demand all the sym- pathy and consideration which their brother officers can bestow, and not the least irksome thought suggested by their wearisome probationship must be this of which we speak. * By the present uniform the most ridiculous mistakes are liable to occur, as seven different grades of offieers wear epaulets, without sufficient distinction in other parts of the dress to prevent confusion. If it be said that in giving- Lieutenants two epaulets we follow the fashion of the English navy, we reply that by continuing the old style of one only, we would have followed the example of the Spanish; and if foreign precedents are necessary, we consider the Spaniard as good authority in matters of dress and etiquette, as are the English in sound conservative views of naval discipline and efficiency. 16 The subject of uniform was merely introduced to show the progressive spirit alluded to, and to demonstrate, when taken in connection with what has been said of pay, that no possible change or fancied amelioration will satisfy the civil corps of the navy. There is always something behind, and while a possible motive exists for changing existing laws, they will work unceasingly. Should they succeed in their present efforts, we ven- ture the prediction, that they will move on until they obtain the following grants. A new prize-money law — entire exemption from all military con- trol, even of their own commanding officer — the first choice of quarters m the gun or ward-room — next, surgeons of certain standing, to live with the captain — and lastly, seats at courts-martial. Ere this last point be con- ceded, ere gentlemen whose business, and only business it is, to heal the sick, be permitted to sit upon courts-martial to try military men for mili- tary offences we trust the American navy may be disbanded, and that we may all be satisfied with that citizenship of which we are much more proud than of our official place or title. The sum of the whole subject is this — that owing to novel pretensions on the part of the civil officers, there has arisen a want of harmony in our ships-of-war, somewhat detrimental to the public service, destructive of domestic peace, and threatening to sunder all relations of amity between the officers proper and their associates. The remedy for this state of things, we think, can be found in adopting either of two courses — first, a return to the "statu quo ante helium" — or, secondly, bestow a certain rank, calling it " assimilated," if you choose. By adopting the first proposition, you retain the present corps, purged of all this dreadful nonsense of rank, and occupying the position which they have held since the navy was first established — a position which is entitled to, and will receive all the respect which the intrinsic merit of its possessor can command — a position which ensures its incumbent social comfort, and shields him as effectually from social degradation as though he were prime minister of Great Britain. This we conceive, is all that the civil officers can in any reason desire. The only objection to this arrangement which has not been alluded to in the preceding remarks is, that the civil officers will have no particular place assigned them on such occasions as presentations to foreign poten- tates. To this we answer, that at such ceremonials, the country is repre- sented by the naval officer in command, and all other officers are merely his attendants, selected by himself — and if the civil officers have taken, part in such pageants, it has only been by the invitation of their comman- der, their country never having employed them for purposes of military show. Nor do these considerations in any manner affect the social posi- tion of these gentlemen, for they still retain at these presentations, all the advantages which are enjoyed by the most distinguished citizens of America. 17 It is certain, however, that the first proposition will never satisfy the corps alluded to. Their pride has been aroused by the constant agitation and discussion of this subject, and for the sake of peace and harmony, it may be thought expedient to bestow the so-called " assimilated rank." Our second suggestion then is — that chaplains, pursers and surgeons be given rank with, but after lieutenants — that these three grades take rank with one another, according to date of commissions — that passed assistant- surgeons rank with, but after masters, that assistant-surgeons rank with, but after passed-midshipmen. By this arrangement we avoid, in a great degree, the inexpressibly ab- surd idea of having military men in a purely military profession, yield pre- cedence to those who ought to consider such distinctions as entirely foreign to their avocations. "V^e secure to chaplains, pursers, and surgeons by law what they always have enjoyed, the same social consideration as lieutenants. And this being the ostensible object sought for, we could not more fully ac- complish that end by giving them the rank of admirals — for who ever heard a lieutenant complain of want of social consideration? In framing such a law as this, special care must be taken to avoid any phraseology which might permit either corps to assume rank from the date of any former and defunct , commission. — Let experience teach! Passed assistant-surgeons are by this proposition, after five years in th«^ navy, made to rank with masters who have been thirteen and fourteen years in the service ; the former in some cases having seen less than two years sea service, the latter, sometimes ten or eleven. Assistant-surgeons are ranked with passed-midshipmen, the former having been one day, the latter six years in the navy. What more can be asked? We fear that in merely proposing this plan we are liable to the imputation of neglecting the interests of the grades below our own. Let it be distinctly understood that we do not approve it ; but if any rank must be given, we submit that this is the only basis upon which it ought to be established, one which might perhaps do no harm to the service whilst it would or ought to heal the wounded sensibilities of our brethren. Why not let us sit down content with an arrangement in which all the advantages are so clearly thrown into the scale of the civil officers ? If neither of the two plans suggested be found sufficient to quell the spirit of faction and discontent, we hold ourselves ready to suggest a mode of settling this question, which will be satisfactory to the service, and en- tirely effectual. For the present we forbear, and will extend that charity which has not been shown to ourselves. In conclusion we would call attention to the fact that no simulative mili- tary character bestowed upon the civil officers of the navy has been able to beget in them a naval etprit de corps. Strange as it may seem, the truth stands thus-^the more these gentlemen have advanced towards a 16 military rank, the more have they discarded all military esprit de corps. And that this feeling is in many of them totally extinct, is evident from the circumstance that these officers row go out of the navy and array a whole profession in civil life against the good order and well^ being of the service. We allude to the " resolutions" being adopted by medical socie- ties for the purpose of bearing upon a subject with which they are not con- versant, and which we fear has not been rightly presented to them. Again, would naval esprit de corps twenty years ago have permitted a civil officer of the navy to attack in the public prints, an officer three thousand miles distant in the performance of his duty. No — all military feeling is for the present time, and for present purposes, merged in professional association- In presenting to the naval officers who shall see these pages, our views upon this subject, we desire once more to express the kindest personal feel- ings to the gentlemen who compose our list of surgeons and pursers. We trust that no elevation which they may attain will ever sever the bonds of friendship which bind so many of them to our regard. But when we deem their pretensions dangerous to the good order and discipline of the navy, and when we see their aims sought to be obtained by reflecting upon the attainments and character of sea officers, vre think it right that all their history and policy should be laid open to the examination of the service. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY Return to desk from which borrowed. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. IMar'50B2 lOlurfBOr 12Dec'50WIC LD 21-100m-ll,'49(B7146sl6)476 965189 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY ^.