Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1864-08-12

be Immediately attempted.
MILITARY ScHooIs.-That " The Army is
a profession and should be prepared Tor as
such, is a statement now generally received
as true. Military men who have not had
the advantages of a military education espe-
cially, are more inclined as the war is pro-
longed, to admit the correctness of this state
ment. Both they, and the people at large,
as they gain knowledge by experience, con-
cede this point which at first so many were
disposed to question. As result OF TINS
growing conviction of the necessity of militia
~ education, a greater degree of interest is
felt IN the prosperity of military schools and
particularly of the Military Academy at
West Point. The present hourishing condl-
ton of the Military School at Norwich, shows
the increased interest felt in military educa-
/ ton in this State. Before the rebellion 1t
was barely sustained by great effort and sac
rifces on the part of its Board of Instructors
the classes now, however, have been filed up,
and the class which will be graduated next
week at Norwich, has numbered sixty-fve
members, though now reduced to a bare half
dozen by enlistments INTO the Army. During
the past two years, the institution has pros
pered beyond all precedent The interest IN
West Point Academy has Of late been such
as to excite no little discussion Of its merits,
both as a school where patriotic sentiment
will he fostered. and where military knowl-
edge may be acquired 1t is held by GER
tain writers who claim superiority for every
thing American, that the Military Academy
is model, and almost iaultless. Others, and
among them some Of the ablest teachers Of the
collegiate institutions Of the country, hold
that Young men are admitted 10 West Point
who are by no means prepared to enter upon
the requirement Of sound and thorough
military education. That 80 large a PER
centage OF the students lover one third t,
one half of those entered) fail to pass the
examinations. is attributed by one class o
theorists to the commendable strictnc,s o
the institution, and by the other. to the in
sufficient preparation Of those who are ad-
mitted to it's privileges. West Point men
admit the latter to be the cause Of failure II
the majority of mstances.-Onc deficiency
has been pointed out by those visiting thi
institution as very important The STUDENT
it is said are too far removed from the PEG
, pie, and do not feel much Of the spirit tina
animates the country at large. Shut on
from the busy world and its life, their pa
triotsm is not so much living sentimen
as an abstract principle, is somtimes ''secon'
hand
The whole question Of military school
and training for the army, Is becoming ever.
day of greater acknowledged importance
The people who strive to excel in all othe
kinds of knowledge, are learning that th'
afety of their government demands tina
they shall excel in this, also. \ proposition
has already been made by the ASSOCIATED
teachers of the Empire State, looking towar,
a higher standard Of military education
} They urge the desirableness Of inauguratlnl
; a system of competitive examinations, in or
der to obtain the most promising young mer
as students in the United States military
and Naval schools. The entire question
must ultimately, in effect, be left for actor
by the people, and an especial obligation
will rest uTon them to inform themselve
and decide correctly in regard to it.
+ 1t is worthy of remark that the rebels ar,
reaching the same conclusion IN regard t
the Importance of military education as that
which has been reached at the North, as ex
tracts from their leading newspapers abund
antly show.