New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-09-11


would be able to discover either wit or fun
or humor ia them. IL is rather remarkable
iact that The induction oil a young man
upon Il course OF collegiate instruction, his
entrance upcn the first steps oil hIgii intellectual
culture, Should De made the occasion OF such Il
positive lapse into sayagcIy ana barbaliSih.
Fer the horse play OF butchers and black
smi.bs. the coarseness and yul~arity of dOc!.
labole,a, and the g3im plcasan.rigs Of the fore
castle. are tender and decent compared with
the builying insolence and pitlcss brutality
with which the college sophomore extracts his
fun from the ursOphisticatcd freshman, who
has the misfortune to be year behind him IN
his studies. The most common form OF COZ
lcee hazing OF late years, Is IN connection with
the nitiatons into the Greek letter or secret So
cetics. In these performances the newcomer Is
at the worst possible disadvantage, beng bind
folded and usually at the numerical odds OF
about one against twenty or fifty, with all the
conditions arranged by his tormentors Tor rem
dcring themselves perfectly secure and him
helu!ess. In this state OF things there
is no limit to the physical discom-
fort and mental torture TO which the
victim may be subjected for the recreation and
amusement of his captors. How far tins sort
OF thing may be carried was illustrated few
years ago at Cornell University, when Young
man fell from height during the process OF
initiation and was killed. Among the prac-
ticos which obtain at Yale during the
initiation of freshmen are, according
TO common report, some which are filthy
some frightiul. and some dangerous to
the health and even the life of the student
undergoing them. They are none the less cut
RACES because perDetrated under the form 81
society limitations nor does the fact that they
ere done by college students make them rcpu-
table or decent
The faculties and governing boards of these
institutions are, or ought TO be, responsible iof
the enforcement of at least so much discipline
As is necessary for the protection OF the stu
dents under their charge, and the preservation
of the peace and order Of the university. The
society institutions are not difficult OF super
vision. The college officers would have
no trouble in regulating them 80 lar
as that they should be decent and
not dangerous. /; is their duty to do this, and
not wait until some accident" like that at
Cornell, or some unusually gross imposition
upon a freshman shall compel attention. This
particular form of haZing Is easy TO reach ana
control, and there can be no excuse for ne
clecting ii. The efforts Of Government officers
have been directed for several years to The
suppression Of the practice at West Point
and Annapolis, and with such success that
young man may now enter either the Military
OF Naval Academy with some assurance that
he viii not encounter the greatest peril Of
soldiers or a sailors life at the door OF the
Academy. We take leave to call the attrn-
ton Of college officers to this abuse at the
present time, because most OF the college terms
begin this week or next, and whatever steps
are to be taken to suppress hazing should be
taken at once.