| Show 1 X ar I 1 1 ft et 4 ft 1 6 IM s I 1 L j X 71 1 1 TON 01 2 Z 4 1 7 el as ic osy I 1 fabj w 07 w r g 3 Z 47 4 k g taig TH E a BAD W 11 1 t 1 I 1 r f f f 4 1 klai jj U tile 1 N ad AA I 1 1 ai ateca t aur I 1 tb in some 2610 caco 1 commodore PV has protested to the secretary of th d against his wn it Is made bi at I 1 we the expense af pf his comrades and melds fri eads who tie he belleve believes 9 have performed their ithell deity quite as bravely and ably as he be A be cannot ile decline cline the promotion tor for if he e did so it would he be I 1 equivalent to a resignation from the service por this reason captain philip does not decline the life itte reward offered him for extraordinary bravery but he be frankly and respectfully calls the attention of the secretary of the navy to the injustice suffered by his fellow officers when he be and others are lifted over their heads he also points out in hl his 41 letter that brave and worthy men who did not happen to be in the battles of santiago and manila have bave actually been punished by the effort to reward those who had the good fortune to be on the fleets engaged commodore watson tor for example commodore remey bemey and one or two other officers are set back from three to live five numbers and every promotion down to the ensign affects several worthy and eff efficient ident men just as if they had been tried by court martial and sentenced to be degraded in the service no reply has been received to commodore phillps philips letter letteer but it is hoped that this frank and conscientious presentation sen gen tation of the case from a man whom no one will accuse of elther either envy or buncombe buitoni be will suggest to the president the propriety of adopting some other menn means of rewarding bravery and good service there Is a good deal of humbug about these promotions anyhow particularly ticul arly in the higher grades of the service after the battle of manna manila the i president advanced all the captains of deweys deleys fleet five numbers this set them above most of the officers of sampsons Samp sons and Sch leys fleets then after the battle of santiago the latter were advanced in a similar manner which put them back in their old places and actually degraded deweys deleys officers while men of corresponding rank who were not so fortunate as to have an opportunity ity to distinguish themselves but were quite as worthy and willing suffered in both cases it would be very much better if our government should adopt the reward system that prevails in the european navies and when an officer has distinguished himself give him some tangible recognition the usual custom Is to confer a decoration which carries with it an annuity tor for life from to 1000 a year this would be appreciated coated by our naval officers because the most of them are men of small means and dependent almost entirely upon their pay or congress might t pass U an act authorizing them to draw full pay after retirement which would be a blessing in their old age naval authorities who have been fig aring up the pecuniary advantages of at the promotions thus far find that admiral dewey will be just sampson and schley will receive about 9 2500 more from the paymaster during i the rest of their lives and captain i wilde of deweys deleys squadron bas hn improved his financial status by era exact i ly M 34 chicago record |
