There is little doubt, however, that his appointment to the Britannia fluttered the dovecots a little, and he soon made his somewhat “dour” character felt. He was one of those men who are not afraid to accept responsibility for their actions, or to carry out any threat or promise to the bitter end, even though it may involve the antagonism of the whole of his subordinates.
On one occasion during his command the cadets took it into their heads to protest against having the meat left from the previous day served up as hashes, etc., for breakfast; and as there was some little agitation among them, it was brought to the captain’s notice. The cadet captains were accordingly mustered, and invited to state their grievance. The captain heard them patiently, and then, to their delight, he replied, “You are quite right, boys, it shall be stopped.” The boys, thinking they had scored completely, chorused, “Thank you, sir!” until the captain added grimly, “But you will have nothing in its place!” As they knew perfectly well that he would not swerve from his decision, they retired crestfallen, and put up with the hashes, which probably did them no harm.
Another incident had rather an unexpected result. On a wet and cheerless holiday in the spring of 1867, going on shore being out of the question, the boys were skylarking about the decks, rather at a loose end, and some of the bigger cadets began to amuse themselves by a form of bullying, joining hands and rushing the smaller boys along the deck with considerable violence, regardless of possible serious injury from falls, etc. This amusement being carried to rather cruel extremes, the officer of the day thought it right to call the attention of the commander to it, who in turn reported it to the captain. Possibly the captain may have been aware of some previous cases of bullying, and determined to make an example of the offenders; however this may be, he resorted to drastic measures on the spot. The cadets were called to divisions, and the culprits, four or five in number, received then and there a good birching. There is the authority of a naval instructor who was then in the ship for the statement that bullying was very promptly stopped by this proceeding; but apparently it was resented by the friends of some of the cadets, an agitation in Parliament was organised, and in July of that year Mr. Corry, the First Lord of the Admiralty, was interrogated by Mr. Bass on the subject. On July 25th the matter was dealt with in the House as follows (reported in the Times of July 26th):—
“Mr. Bass asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he had made further inquiry respecting the mode of punishment of cadets on board the Britannia. It was alleged from a great many quarters that excessive cruelty was practised on board that ship; and it was stated by gentlemen acquainted with the practice, and who had given their names, that when a cadet was punished his legs and arms were tied to ringbolts so that he could not move, and that he was flogged with a birch broom which had been previously steeped in water to make it more pliant; that fifteen cuts were inflicted with it on the back, and that the doctors invariably attended. He wished to know whether the First Lord had made further inquiries on the matter, and if he retained the opinion he formerly expressed.
“Mr. Corry said, in consequence of the statement of the hon. member, he had thought it necessary to make minute inquiry on the subject of the punishment on board the Britannia, and the result was a complete denial that the punishment of cadets was accompanied by the cruelty described. Punishment was inflicted, not with a birch broom, but precisely similar to that used at schools. There was a complete denial of any such cruelty as had been alleged.
“Mr. Bass: The arms are not tied to ringbolts?
“Mr. Corry: Certainly not. It is hardly necessary that I should go further into the case, as the Admiralty, having taken the whole subject into consideration, have thought it desirable that the practice of punishing naval cadets should be discontinued. (Cheers.) An order to that effect was issued by the Board of Admiralty last Monday. (Cheers.)”
Mr. Bass and his friends thus scored off the Admiralty in a degree to which they were not intrinsically entitled. The use of the birch, or other means of corporal punishment, is a legitimate subject of controversy, upon which many diverse opinions have always existed; but, granted the advisability of its use, the allegations of Mr. Bass are mere humanitarian padding. If you are going to inflict corporal punishment upon anyone, man or boy, there is certainly no cruelty in securing him so that he cannot move; birch rods for the punishment of young seamen in the Navy were most frequently made by splitting up an ordinary birch broom into convenient small bundles for the purpose; and the soaking in water had the effect of preventing the ends flying off during the first few strokes; while the attendance of the doctor is merely an obvious precaution, in the event of a fainting fit, which may possibly occur, even in the case of an apparently robust subject. Needless to say, a delicate or weakly boy would not be subjected to such punishment.
Mr. Bass, it will be noticed, did not agitate for the abolition of flogging. Mr. Corry and his colleagues must, however, be credited with having investigated the matter in an independent spirit, and with arriving at their decision upon adequate grounds; though the general impression produced must have been that they were more or less truckling to a piece of unnecessary meddling.