Again, Magruder

While other Navy officials were celebrating Navy Day* with glad hearts, Rear Admiral Thomas Pickett Magruder, who so loves the Navy that he dared accuse it of large faults, received a shock. He and most other people had supposed the recent "Magruder Incident" was closed (TIME, Oct. 10). Now came a curt telegram from Secretary of the Navy Curtis Dwight Wilbur, detaching Admiral Magruder from his post at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Among the statements composing the "Magruder Incident," had been the following:

Admiral Magruder: "There is a rotten condition and I have exposed it. The Navy is spending $300,000,000 and getting $200,000, worth of Navy. . . ."

Secretary Wilbur: "I am anxious to get the full benefit of any suggestions."

Senator Borah: "I wish there was a Magruder in every Department of the Government."

Last week, Secretary Wilbur's telegram, and his publication of correspondence with Admiral Magruder during the "Incident," included or brought forth the following statements:

Secretary Wilbur: " . . . Proceed to Washington and report to the Secretary of the Navy for duty."

Admiral Magruder: "An insult. ... A great surprise. ... I haven't gone yet. . . . You know when a thing is done summarily it's pretty tough."

Secretary Wilbur: "The order to Admiral Magruder is not punitive; it is administrative. ... I will say, however, that I do not feel that the Secretary of the Navy should be compelled or expected to get information from naval officers concerning plans for the Navy organization by obtaining newspapers or magazines in which such information is published. . . ."

Admiral Magruder: "My mother was a Kildare; my father was a Magruder; and my hair is red. I'll be heard if I have to take it to the President himself."

(Admiral Magruder wrote to President Coolidge asking that Secretary Wilbur's order be overruled, that the President receive Admiral Magruder to hear his explanations.)

Admiral Magruder: "I don't contemplate any protest. I expect to go without making a fuss."

(President Coolidge declined to see Admiral Magruder or take cognizance of his letter, as a matter of executive policy. He instructed Secretary Wilbur to continue dealing directly with Admiral Magruder).

Admiral Magruder: "My letter to the President was intercepted by the Secretary of the Navy. ... I still hope to talk with the President."

Secretary Wilbur: "As to other and subsequent utterances, I make no statement at this time, as I am now more interested in ascertaining whether or not the Navy can benefit by Admiral Magruder's knowledge or experience in regard to naval organization and naval economy."

Admiral Magruder: "I have been lucky in my career up to this time, but it has been the mistake of my life that I have talked too much. Navy men are taught to keep their mouths shut."

P: To succeed Admiral Magruder at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Secretary Wilbur designated Rear Admiral Julian Lane Latimer.

P: Said Representative Fred Al bert Britten of Illinois, ranking member of the House Naval Affairs Committee: "I think that officers of the Navy generally feel that Rear Admiral Magruder went off half-cocked and that instead of doing the Navy a service he probably has hurt us in the eyes of the public. ... I do not believe that Admiral Magruder should or will be disciplined. . . . Congress will never tolerate the gagging of Admiral Magruder. . . ."

P: Shouted William Mitchell, one-time Colonel and Assistant Chief of the Army Air Service: "Every line that Admiral Magruder has written ... is based on actual truth! ... President Coolidge is the worst public official in office. He has made an industry of office-holding and is trying to rule the country, not govern it!"

P: Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Douglas Robinson (nephew of the late Theodore Roosevelt) was chief speaker at a Navy Day luncheon in Philadelphia at which Admiral Magruder presided. Said Assistant Secretary Robinson:

"I don't want to be connected with a navy that is only an average navy. What we need is a bigger and better navy. It is useless to belong to a navy that wins prizes for merely being average. An average navy is a detriment to the country. . . .

"When I took office, I told them there were too many navy yards. 'We know it, but we must keep them going,' was the reply I received. Thus, so long as Congress and the Navy Departments heads say we must have yards, we must have them.

"I am sure Admiral Magruder told what he thought to be the truth."

*Oct. 27, chosen because it is the late Theodore Roosevelt's birthday. On Navy Day, speakers usually recite instances of Theodore Roosevelt's constructive interest and energy in building up the Navy during his term as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1897-98). Last week, Pierce Long, Boston attorney, recalled an incident in 1898 when his father was Secretary of the Navy and Theodore Roosevelt was Assistant Secretary. It was during preparations for War against Spain. Secretary John D. Long took a day off. Subordinates telephoned in panic. The Assistant Secretary, they said, was giving orders right and left, disrupting plans, sending off ships where there was no coal, coal where were no ships. Secretary Long hurried ..back to his office, rescinded Assistant Secretary Roosevelt's orders, called Assistant Secretary Roosevelt in and explained some things to him. "After considering the matter for a few moments, Roosevelt admitted to my father he guessed he had speeded up a bit too much and they both had a good laugh over it."