Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-12-19
ALMOST A,REyOLUTION.
y Eight Hundred Cartridges+tsross
lutusfice .f..... p .

prank Or,asg the ,ebniliti0n OF o boyist
anger, but whatever it was, this famou:
place was d short time since nearly be.
coming the scene Of an evont unparal
leled in the 4 history3of military acade-
mics. Instead of the absurd represen.
tation of the battle of Sedan, which Gen.
eral Upton, amid the smiles Of cadets
and officers, has. endcayored to enact
secret preparations were actually made
for an armed mutiny of the corps
Eight hundred bali cartridges were alb
stracted, and, had'the occasion brought
/ forth man willing or capable of lead.
ling the cadets, the United States troops
might now beinyesting this historic spot,
land debating whether to lombard it, or
starve out the juvenile, Trochus. But
there were no men willing to form the
provisional government, and Gen eral
tUpton is still commandant, and Cadet
Smith is still in clover. M
Doubtless ii is very ludicrous thing
to hear young officers and cadets soberly
discuss, the prospects of this rising but
II becomes quite serious when It Is re-
garded as an indication Of the utter dis
satisfaction felt by the young men at
their treatment by their commanding
1 officers. When men en- masse become
restive under a strained discipline, it is
hardly meeting the exigencies of the case
to- sneer at the absurd remedies which
they propose to takeinto their own hands,
The opinion that the disciplinariahs are
at fault is quite as likely to be. correct as
that the murmurers are undisciplined.
IButiwhen, in addition to excessive strin-
gency on the part. OF officials, there is
added a suspicion that their political bias
prejudices their judgment, andthis in an
institution which trains the future sol
diers If the country, the situation grows
very alarming. vs. ,pgi .isils eai hna I
! i suppose | need not say the apple Of
discord at present at the Point is the
cheerful colored cadet, JiiW Smith. He
is. the chief, source Of the troubles, but
not the only one. He is, indeed, an
leye-sore to the corps, 'butthey have other
more acknowledgements for complaint.
1t is unfortunate for poor Smith that he
was ever sent here, as tits always unfor-
tunate for persons without the education
or the Instincts of higher class Of So
ciety to be forced by cireumstlnceslinto
it. Smith may be "a very excellent
young person among the colored breth-
ren, who look upon breaches of parole
or occasional lapses from truth and good |
manners with little dsfayor, but this is
not the disposition of men trained TO a |
high sense Of professional honor. 1t is |
COMMONLY supposed that the entire dis |
like of the cadets for Smith is due TO his |
color. This. is not the case; while there
is an almost universal, objection to his
presence on this ground, it certainly |
would have been less had the representa-
tive of the future colored soldiers been
personally less Objectionable =, You will |
Of course understand that all the state
ments make in this. letter are not made
from my own knowledge, but from the
statements iof those whom. believe
to be cognizant of the facts. | there
fore may state that not even the, Presi
dents own relative here has been
able to perfectly appreciate the |
excellence OF young Mr.. Smith. Your
readers doubtless understand that there
are two laws governing West Point: the
written law of the rules and regulations,
and the unwritten law of the esprit de
corps. The latter is probably the stronger
of the two. Its violation is Immediately
punished by the exclusion OF the cadet
from the society of the corps, Want Of
or truthfulness, or of gentle
manly bearing under all circumstances,
of parole-as, for instance, in
breach of arrest--are punished by the
cadets in their own school of natural
Justice quite as effectively as by courts
martial. TAlr. Smith is accused of vari-
aus violations Of his parole and Of
making himself otherwise disagreeable
by his indisposition to meet the conse-
Iuences- Of his act without appealing to
The authoritiesF j"Iatling Ptwas never
much admired at the Point, or elsewhere
among high-spirited young men. 1t is
specially alleged that Smith, besides
breaking his arrest three times, was de-
,lared by the Judge Advocate TO have
been guilty Of q bubble little, if at all,
short of an untruth in his official explain
ltion. This statement has been madeto
ne with much positiveness, as it was
llso stated that the same official de-
dared that, Mr.. Smith should be dis ;
missed the service. Nevertheless, the
influence .ofyO. o. Howard was sufficient ;
o have him retained. " ]
This has not. increased e,good. feel
NC at the Point. The young men point
,ut that while twenty-one members of
heir corps have been placed under ar
est, and six have been dismissed With
,ut trial and five others have been
equally without trial, for G
comparatively trivial offenses or for no G
,fense at all, Mr.. Smith has been treat h
,ficers and courts-martial They sayf 7
han If his offences are such as would c
Hide the withdrawal of white cadets v
-..sI.La Al.5o,n,- - -ota;r L;a,0 I