The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-02-20
CONGRESSIONAL

liIOuu upllauSc.l
CONGRESSIONAL
THE AIKEN - HEWITT COMBAT.
The West Point Blll--IntcrcstIng Dis
cuss1on--Strange DiscIosures--Who
Sold out the PrcsiIency?--Aiken
.Awakcns the Northern Democracy.
The Clerk resumed the reading OF the bill,
and read the following:
For pay OF cadets, >l5D,0Oo; and no cadet shall
receive more than at the rate $40 Il year.
Mr.. Aiken. | move 0arlcnQ the paragraph
just read so that ii will read:
For pay of cadets, Sl0),OIO; and no cadet shall
receive more than at the rate Of ; year.
| do not know for how long Il time these ca
diets have been receiving $40 n wear, hut am
satisfied that 1t has been for mvrc than two
years past. | contend that the pnrciluSin"
power of money to-day is so much greater
than II was two years ago. according to the
report which was made by the diSburSing Of
ti""T at West Point on the :Oth nf June last.
that IL is proper for Congress To make the re-
duction when ! propose.
MI. ! .lillrlil:ll. ! lOlt III my mana inc annu-
a!rcport of the Board of NiSitorS Of hc United
States Military Academy. In that report l
read that under the management Of Iicutcn-
ant Mills. who Is treasurer Of the acN'l" my,
the mess bill Of each cadet for every term OF
two months during the year closing on the
:Othi Of Jun last had been reduced from an
average of 80 to S29. making Il saving IN the
commiSsary department of Sll during crcil
term Of two months. Now II Is reasonable to
suppose that there has been IN equivalent re-
dlrtinn In the quaricrnrlStcr's department.;
and il you will refer further to this report.
Which is too lengthy for ne to read. You will
find that Lieutenant Mills by his system of
Ccnn0iny has saved IN average Of $lH)a year
for each student In the cOm!niSSary and quar-
trrlnaStcr departments OF this institution.
Now, as there mr.. three hundred students,
this would make S5h.Dm saved by his practical
economy: and in making this saving he has
not deprived the students of Il single dollar Of
their legitimate support: for he says that there
has been no falling off In the quantity and
variety of the fool furnished. ] take ii then
that there Is opportunity to reduce this APP
preparation SH0.0U on that score.
Now, let me call attention to some other
items in the report Of Lieutenant Mills. He
, states that during the year closing June ~,
Isl. he paid out for "daicing lessons SH9j. 10.
! hclirv" this bill makes an appropriation of
about 81 .EI for the purpose for the coming
year. He says moreover. that he paid out
last year for "cntc"tainlncntS' 81. 2S222 Now
If the public money l. to be expended in Civ
ing these students "dancing lessons" sup
l''' = - tN'' N''s - W ~ - .itNill
the opportunity OF "tripping tho light ftntaS-
tie toe" 1T entertainments
, | notice further in this report that Licut?n-
ant Mills paid out last year sl,S7D.SJ for "pho-
boys coming from the rurl! districts OF This
! country and going TO West Point. when they
get on their bob-ttil coats with brass buttons,
must each sit for his photograph to be semitic
his dulr:nci or somebody else. iIaughtcr.j q
observe further that Lieutenant Mills has
paid out :3n.'G for use OF d:ctiGihry.' | SUBJ
nit to tue Fommtttccc on Appropriation that
/ they had better insert in this bill Il little Hp-
preparation for dictionaries, so ms to give one
To each of the cadets. | DO not know what
this Item means: but there 1t is In the report.
! notice also that this officer Unsupported ST.
njl.3 for "barhcr. Sho,.binck. &C.,. Now, I
thought. Mr.. Chairman, that the majority Of
the boys going TO West Point were hcarllcSS
youths, and | also believed that In Il military
academy the boys were taught to black their
own shoes. / do not know what that cXpen-
diturc means.
This same report states further that this Of
:rcr has paid out for miscellaneous tens
S3i9.1j. Can any gentleman tell NE what are
"miScc,luncouS iiclnS?"
Mr.. Butler. Bricks!
Mr.. Aiken. Some people are in the habit
OF carrying bricks in their hats; but cadets do
not. Laughter.
Mr.. Chairman, ! scc, moreover, that. there
was an expenditure of Sj,>2l.Gi for cash paid
To students. Yet this same report tells us that
no student is authorized to draw money at
any t!lC WILL Lc SIiutllcS. lnlS report
states Il lso that the accounts are kept so ticcu-
rHtcly that any student can sec at any mo-
lncnt how his account stands. and that nc
student is ever allowed to spend one dollar
except with the approval OF the conmiSS-
AIRY. Yet this very same report says that
'tlIc cadets, with few exceptions, are out of
debt Now | ask how II IS that Il cadet can
get In debt when he is not allowed tc make
any expenditure except through the commits
Snry. If | am allowed, ! want to call attcn-
ton To some other matters in this report.
Here the hammer fell
Mr.. Rcchc obtained the floor, and said: !
yield my time to the gentleman from South
Carolina, Mr.. Aikcn.l
Mr.. Aiken. The same report boasts Of the
education that our boys receive at West Point
and tells us that the object OF the discipline
OF the Academy is to fit men for soldiers in
such Il manner us not TO unfit them for
civilianS.' Yet In this same report | read:
some surprise was occaSioncd by the dis
covclT that 30 time Is allowed on tho hour
plan for instruction in the departments Of
history. geography. and ethics, Il department
especially created by statute. Indeed no d.
rect training in the use Of the English Ian
Suage Is given during the entire course.
Sow. Mr.. Chairman, | cannot understand
how any member Of this Congress who reads
this report and credits its statement can fail
! to arrive 1T the conclusion TO which | have
come. that the West Point Academy is an in
cubuS upon the people of this country. II
you were to publish IL from the housclOpS to
the Taxpayers of this country that S275.GUO OF
their money is annually expended in the
manner shown In this report of the board OF
visitors. l venture the assertion that IN less
than thirty days thisb body would he Hooded
with petitions from the taxpayers Of our land
to put West Point up to the highest bidder or
to give it to the State of New Iorc. ! am bold
enough to say that If such Il petition were
presented | for one would vote for either pro,
position.
Here the hammer fell
Mr.. Chairman, l am glad to hear much
of what has fallen from the lips Of the
honorable gentleman from Tennessee.
SO far as he admits that his remarks
(which, to use the mildcst language that
could be applied to them, were decidedly
supplementary were based upon 4
misrepresentation of my remarks, | am
glad that he has relieved me from the
imputatiOn. But what replied to WAS
the assertion of a gentleman on this floor
that he would vote for the abolition or
sale of West Point. | did not believe
there was another member on this floor
from the Southern States WHO would give
assent TO that proposition l do not be-
licvc there is now. Hence in r%cpudiating
that declaration as I felt bound to do, us Il
democrat whose motives might be called
in question, | expressly limited the as
Sertion to the State from which the
gentleman came and | expected to hear
from tho other members Of that State Us
to whether they gave assent to his prOpO-
, SitiOn or not. But there was no intention
to include any other portion Of the South.
No man knows better than | do, from
my association, intimate and personal
with these Representative from the
South, that they are as l0yal.and true to
this Union to-day us any set Of men in
this country. 1t was for that reason that,
after twenty Years Of defense of their
constitutional rights ut the expense al
most of social ostraciSm, | gave two
years of diligent eXcrtion in the hope
that those constitutional rights would he
recognized and that the strong arm OF
military power which had kept them in
bondage would be withdrawn.
And no matter what might have beer
the result of that struggle, these gentle
! men, this country will bear we witness ii
was due to our unparalleled efforts in tho
presidential campaign that tho military
power to-day does not dominate i'll Loui-
Siana and does not dominate in South
Carolina. So if in the final hour Of that
tragic scene in which my party and my
country were robbed of their rights, if it
had not been that assurances were given
that military domination should cease,
Notwithstanding l was committed by
every principle of honor and duty and
Obligation, and would have gone to death
to finish that electoral count, | have rca-
son to believe that it would never have
been completed in this Hall. We Of tho
North fought for freedom for the South.
r, We had fought for the Union and com