SYSTEMS OF DISCIPLINE

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 122, 25 May 1928, Page 15

SYSTEMS OF DISCIPLINE

' (From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, 18th April. ' Now that the courts-martial on Captain Dewar and Commander Daniel aro ended, the inevitable comments on the iJloyal Oak case follow. To begin with, regret is generally expressed' that theoccurrences on board ,the battlesliip wore ever made public. '. The "Daily "Express" considers that the whole, incident f.rom its inception nt Malta has been discreditable to the naval authorities. It should never have been. allowed ■to develop into sueh1 a public scandal. The mismanagement that permitted an impression of mutiny to bo created out of a vulgar jazz-band ■squabble—the equivalent of a supperclub row on lavd —deserves the strongest censure. . The naval correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" voices what is probably the opinion of most naval officers. "Inquiries reveal a marked cleavage, between naval and public views on the Royal Oak affair," ho says. "While the public at largo is inclined to regard Captain. Dowar and Commander Daniel as the victims of a miscarriage of justice, naval men as a body consider the ! court-martial veridcts and sentences to have-been justified by the circumstances of the. case. One hears many tributes to the courage of these two officers in -taking a step of which the almost inevitable consequences must have been obvious to them, .■•Nevertheless, the opinion expressed is that their actions were ill-advised, and opposed to both letter and spirit of the disciplinary codo by which the Navy is governed. As several officers, have, pointed out to me, the maintenance of discipline is of such vital impprtancc that any officer or man who departs, however slightly, from the rules of conduct laid down in the King's Regulations exposes himself to almost certain punishment. To the lay public this 'judgment may seem' somewhat narrow and, drastic, but there is" little doubt that, it represents the sentiments of the service, and. is entirelyunaffected by personal considerations. REAR-ADMIRAL'S HUMILIATION. "Respect for, and. obedience to, seniors is the bedrock, of the naval system, and anything which is calculated, to. undermine this basic principle meets with stern reprobation even from officers who ,have themselves, suffered, frorii its not always discriminating application. Circumstances may, of course, | arise in which it becomes the plain duty of subordinates to appeal to a | nigher authority over the head of their immediate senior, but it is not conceded that the state of affairs in the Royal Oak was sufficiently grave to warrant such a procedure. "For these reasons no great sympathy is '.'expressed in nayal circles with, the former 'captain and commander of R0ya1,,0ak.... Emphasis,, howe/ver, is laid on the fact* that these'officers'are.-'not the only sufferers. "A search through the records fails to reveal any precedent for the stern treatment meted out to the rear-admiral concerned, who received^ an apparently curt order tb haul down his flag, thereby losing his appointment as third in command of our premier Battle Meet. This point appears to have been overJflSfeMil by,_j,many commentators, who seem tooe 'un3er IK'o "erroneous Tmpres^" siou; that , the-senior officer concerned has escap.ed all disciplinary measures." "In matters so personal and petty," remarks tlws "Morning Post," "the publicity becomes an Undeserved humiliatio'B.-.;. ..For this, the Admiralty itself c'anne* escape all blame, although the AdiniraHy, like all the other protagonists, has bp»u the sport of a perverse fate. There is much talk of; further campaigns. Questions and debates?; in the Hou,se of Commons are threatened. Sotfie'whb s*hd'uld?kndw better announce • an. iutent;ion to keep on probing this "miserable pin-prick, as if it \Vere a poison which endangered the very lifeblood of the Navy, No worses disservice could be (lone.'.to the State, to the Navy, ; bi';:to the" officers concerned. If any further steps are necessary or desirable, the Admiralty may bp trusted to take thorn. , And. the -public will do well to pass ,*^rqjii" J/tKp, ■ ole ■■business, with a sigli ofijconipassioiiato . egret.": ■. j; (:^UJiiiiTlN;te'' "ipUT OF BATE? "The,,'tlifferenco between theso two officers'yaM "their superior," ■Says the "Daily ..Mail," was not in reality personal,;;,.tilough on tho surface it may have .appeared so. The conflict was not between,, men but between two differ,M^/Bj;st;pms..o£ ; discipline. The new.sys-. •iem\oi,discipline, has been great-fy-:snumlated; by the experience gained in the war, seeks intelligent tion and zealous service, appealing, to affection and enthusiasm. There may. be arguments for either system, but the new one is. more likely to secure great results. The findings of the icourts-martial are subject to revision by the Admiralty, which can 'modify or 1 them".without giving any reason fotits action.j ,In this ease the public litssu'nies as a matter of course that both the'officers, who"..have been dismissed their ship, will bo given further employment at an early date." "As for discipline," gays the "Daily Chronicle," "the behaviour of which the Bear-Admiral was alleged guilty, will not surprise a good many civilians, who went, through the Service mill in the Avar. ■'. Plenty of the old Army scrgeant.^ and too many even'of- the old' battalion '"commanders, -had just that conception of discipline as the right to | -bully.1 'Historically one can see how it originated, in., days when'the masses were' uneducated, and recruits were drawn from the lowest and roughest social strata. To-day, with an educated nation,, its survival is not merely indefensible but a positive danger. In :the;stand which they took about that, .'the: two offieei's, who have just been sentenced, were in the right, and tho '■■A'driiiralty ougn't to make it much clearer .that it so regards them." UNLUCKY ASSOCIATION. "What is novel," according to "The Times," "about the antipathies that seem to have captured the senior officers of the Royal Onk is that, instciid of the ship keeping charge of them, -they should ha\'O taken charge of,the ship. An A ( dmiral too much given to the .i-clrd'lprie- word' served by .officers too. dpur or too zealous to keep the passing! moment in reasonable perspective, too little gravity 011 one side and too much solemnity on the other—:such seems to bo the summary of an episode which has brought the Navy under tlio humiliating glare of unmerited publicity. . ■•■ "If there i 3 anything to bo criticised it is the unlucky appointment that brought them together —though Captain J.'Diwnr's appointment was made after .-.the usual consultation of the Kear-Ad-vniiral.'s preference-—and the possibly adherence to formality which has.made some, ignominious and unusual events on board one ship, in the Mediterranean Fleet a topic- for tho world's discussion. ■■ Was .it .inevitable that a court-martial should adjudicate upon iiisidents that really required nothing more than tact for their prevention and ■masterful common-sense for their cure? The Navy,has.suffered nothing material. L'.u,t everyone1- who knows the torpor afc spirit' of "the"Service and the je.iil.ousy with u-hieh its jic-ot'l nnnu: is nuurdod 'will also know what it hrifi Karl to endure hi t!ic indignities which a

malign chain of occurrences has brought . upon it through no ascerta'inable fault of its own." • »