Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1873-02-01

when, tho other day, we gave
room for tho Washington rumor
that II WINS proposed or determined
| TO bring tho lads from tho military
academy 10 tho inauguration OF the
President, wc did 30 with much
doubt as TO its bong well founded,
We sincerely hoped " was not.
The following authoritative an.
nouncement Of the Philadelphia
Prcss-an administration journal
however, removes tho doubt and
oxtinguishes tho hopo:
Secretary Belknap's letter to
tho com mandment Of West Point,
requiring the presence of tho cadets
in Washington on tho occasion OF
President Grants second inaugur-
alton, will undoubtedly meet with
general approval. Bringing the
cadets to Washington will afford
opportunity for the large number
of Americans who will DO present
at the Inauguration to witness tho
admirable drill and soldiery bear.
ing of the officers in embryo; and,
besides this, it is not bad policy to
show the representatives OF foreign
nations the men who will command
our regiments and brigades in the
event of our again dropping into =
war; to show them that while the
rank and flo ofour army is evolved
from patriotism as the result of
our volunteer system of recruiting
has been termed, the officers who
will guide and direct our forces are
educated in the most thorough and
admirable manner"
1t is, then, by can order from tho
secretary of war" that this con-
summato folly is TO be pcrpetrated,
and the regular discipline of a great
school, where moro than anywhere
stcadiness and continuity Of rule
arc needed, is TO be broken up for
tho puerile purpose of sticking ono
other feather in the executive cap.
Now, on this war department." or
dar,"" Iva have @ WORD or two to say.
A somewhat careful scrutiny of the
act of Congress organizing the de-
partment and the academy, satisfiss
us that if it DO an "ordor" issued by
the secretary prodrio motu, and
without specific direction OF the
President, it is utterly irregular
and unauthorized. We do not 60
40 far as to say that General Ruger,
who as a good disciplinarian must
DO annoyed to death by this child.
ish prank, should disobey the de-
partment order but wo do say with
emphasis that it is so clearly irreg-
ular that he would do no more
than his duty were he to appeal to
the President to interpose and stop
the scandal. If the commander-in,
chief affirms the order there is an
end of the matter; but then the
public will have the pleasing reaii'
ty before them of President Of
| the United States experimenting
the pagcantry of his own installa,
tion-a thing, down TO this day Of
shame, unprecedented. The secre-
tary of war, by the statute which
creates him-the act of 17S9-hai
no right to do anything but what
"may from time to time cenjoined
on him or instrusted to him by the
President of tho United States,
and it is quite remarkable how care
fully his direct interference with
the Military Academy is specifical.
ly guarded against. The president
is alone recognized. "Tho said
corps" says the act Of 1882, "when
organized shall be- stationed at
West Point, in the State of New
York, and shall constitute militia
ry academy and the engineers, as.
sistant engineers, and cadets of said
corps shall be subject at all times
to do duty at such places or snch
service as the President Of the Unit
ed States shall direct" So it il
throughout; and hence it is that
any attempt in this relation to dis
tinguish the act of tho secretary
from that of tho president is per.
fectly illusory, and in law as in fact
it is that, as we have said, for mere
purposes of personal qualification
and pageantry, it is the president
himself that does this great wrong
That it is o wrong-a wrong, we
mean, to the public interests, and
to the interests especially Of the
Academy-no sane man can ques-
ton 1t can do nothing but harm
and as to remote and possible good,
when all that can be said is such
nonsense as impressing the diplo-
matic corps at Washington by the
sight of two or three hundred boys,
some of very low stature, marching
through the March mud Of Penn
sylvania avenue, it is beneath no.
tice. Our Seventh Regiment would
do it better. No worse season
could BIO selected for an Interrupt.
ton Of tho West Point curriculum.
1t is tho very period when the class
es, and especially tho graduating
class, are preparing for the examI-
nation which is to determine their
position. Nota moment can well
be spared. And yet no one, Meth
er president nor secretary, bestows
a thought on this. We do not be-
lieve a single good student will do
aught but regret it. The "demer.
it,. folks, white and black, will
L l. 4 Eol. IA n