The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-01-09
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The BOWdOin Drill Once lOre.

| To the Editor OF the Press: p
| 1t would doubtless be far from pleasant to
| the public to be treated to new dicussion of
| the Bowdoin rebellion of last sumner which
| occupied so much attention at the tine of its
| occurrence 1t is certainly not my purpose or
desire to reopen the subject in any other way
than briefly to correct single statement to
which my attention has been called in your
issue of the 31st ult. / solicit the space in your
columns to do so with the greater confidence
because the Faculty of the College have not
hitherto burdened the readers of newspapers
with the expression of their views. Aside
from their printed letter which was sent to par
ents of the rebellious students, and which was
copied into several newspapers, the Faculty
have refrained from any public utterance upon
this subject Indeed if that letter had been
carefully read, and faithfully represented there
would be no occasion for this present note of
correction. During the progress of the re-
bellion it was a matter of regret TO the gentle
men of the Faculty, that so many individuals
and journals failed to understand the real
point at issue, and persistently regarded the af-
fair as an aggravated case of difference of
opinion between the faculty and the studen Is
as difficulty, that is, which admitted OF
compromise; but such regrets were only pri-
vately expressed. But when one of the most
widely circulated newspapers of the state, in
deliberately summarizing the educational pro-
gress or regress of the Commonwealth for the
past year, sets it down historical fact, TO be
referred to hereafter ard accepted as authorita
tive, that son the 9th of June the students
nearly all answered to the roll CALL a comprom-
Use having been arranged by the terms OF which
the drill was made elective, lit seems TO me
important that some one who has regard for
the reputation of the college and for the in
terests of education should protest against
a summary which so far misstates the facts
and misrepresents the situation. That it
msstates the facts is evident since no arrange
ment by which the drill should become elective
was made or proposed, until the meeting OF the
Board of Trustees and Overseers a month later
than the 9th of June, when ''the students Eear-
ly all answered to the roll call. That it mis-
represents the situation, is scarcely less evident
from the fact-intimated above-that no COM
promise was possible. The Faculty is not the
legislative but the executive government of the
college. A persistent refusal, therefore, on the
part of the students to obey the laws of the in
stitution, could only result in the resignation OF
the Faculty on account of inability to adminis-
ter the laws, or in the expulsion of the stu
dents, as was unhappily proved in several cases
last summer. This point, so important to the
appreciation of the BowdOn Rebellion. and so
vital to the interests of good government IN
college or out of college, ought not to be over
looked by the individual or the journalist OF IN
telgence The students did not return to duty
as the result of compromise, or "a compro-
mise having been arranged" but because, when
the alternative was placed before them, they
apprehended the situation and the principle
which was involved in it, better thau-many
who watched the course of events from outside.
Passing over one or two unessental inaccura-
ces in the article referred to, and remarking
by the way that L fail to perceive how the
election of gymnastio rather than military ex-
ercise shows a preference for ''the severe
guidance of Minerva to the tutelage of Mars
or Bellona, allow me to add, in clocng that
any representation which attributes partisan
ship to the faculty of the college as against its
Students is wholly unjust. Their interests are
mutually recognized 10 be identical, and when
ever they seem to clash, it is only the inevlta-
Bile jar that attends all machinery of govern
ment, and not the spirit of antagonism or hos
tility. Respectfully yours,
HENRY l.. CHAPMAN.
Brunswick, Jan. ID.