, 1880-04-24

West POINT JUSTICE.
The investigation OF the West Point rl-
plcasantness 1--WE think II better 10 nlltlc 10
tho butcl,cry Of Whitaker rs MI ,,llpleasNnt-
messy presents some collateral issues Of III
tercst, rs, for example, the testimony of
Cadet Frank D. Andrus. W. regret tint
the country docs not know more Of Antrus,
for he Is evidently flt,ble fellow. lie has,
1t seems, borne will, Christian ,neckncss N
too Intimate association with Whitaker II,
tho ranks fur a long Tine. III reply to II
question by Mr.. Townsend, Anarl,s said tint
"SVhittakcr had been falling III with him
six or eight weeks, a1ld lle (Anlrus) got
tired Of 1t for two or three REASONS" What
those 1.-TWO OF three reasons wcro he docs
not state to the Court, but doubtless ho H.
formed Whitaker, for liz snys "hu spoke to
Whitaker about It, mid told hin ho wished
he would stop It," lie probably sntd to
Whitaker: You don't look like Il niggcr;
YOU are SO pale that tile sui Inns painted your
face With freckles; but yon arc nEggor,
yon know, arAt It isn't tho t,1ng,'
sou know, for white cadct to permit
nlggor catlct to associate with him, oven III
tho class, officially, 10 please d0M't fail In
next to n,o again; please stop It," After this
expostulatton Antlrus says: "For two or
three times Whitaker did STOP" but "attcr-
wards commenced 'fulIing IN alongside
him. lie spoke to him agaln aild told him lo
wanted to see tt stopped, but 1t dttl no goodl."
The second expostuIation was probably more
severe, perhaps something Of this sort:
Whitaker, you are nigger; your father
may llaye been w1,tte llatl, but your
mother was niggcr. She nt least WIS q
slave eand you were n nasty littlo 'p1okanntny'
slave. There Is u .disagrccablo otlor about
you which might endure, but l can't bear
tho talnt Of slavery a,ll your tmputc,lt ny
sumption Of equality; don't full in nlong-
side iMe agn!n." Everybody will attnl1t
that Andrus Ind a renl grievance. IIe IAN
tlrns) I,ny be descended from Sir Wutter
Raleigh. Who knows? Or he may trnco
hta lineage ,back to tho white over
seer who laslled tho bare back ot
Whtttakcf's mother in the cotton-neld.
Think Of the impudonce of the bastard son
of q slave In assuming to fall III nlong-
side the sou Of white freeman, whether
cton Of the house Of Raleigh or Of the house
Of tho Hlayc-arlycr! True, Whitaker may
wei! have said: " MY father fought to pre- !
aoAs0 S4S NoHEAAHlIHA "u4tll 3Uul 1ALllE1
fonglt to destroy, and no pays taxes not only
tosupport ne bnt To support you In this III
stlsution. Tho food you cat the blno cont
you wear. and tho bed Upon which you sleep
are pa!l for out Of the hard earnings Of my
father, from whose back your father drew
bloUd with tho lashW And tho "niggcr''
cadet may havo ndled: "If l don't .fall
In alongside you l must fall In nlong-
side some other white cadct, and ho will tell
u,c to stop it," Tie presumption Is that
Anlrus Is tho least projudiced of nil tho
West Point cadets, else why should
Whitaker "fati fl" with him for "six
or eight weeks " consecutively2 This fact
furnishes clow to tho soctal status Of Wilt
takcr. It Is evident tint lIo has bccn systoM-
atlcally ostrnclsed, snccfcd at scorned, and
treated with insolcnt contumely by every
calot III the Academy, and that Aldrus 1.!ono
condesccnded to cxpostulate with him upon
tho enorintty of tho ofrouso Ut "falllng In"
with him, notwithstanding the fact that to
"fall In" with anybody else was to subject
himself to still more scornfnl trcAtment.
Another collateral issue developed by tho
Investigation is tho military theory III regard
to the credlLility Of uvldel,cc. A dispatch
says: "Tlo theory Of tho post Is, that 1t tho
catlGts aro guilty they will admit It under
oatll." OF courso this theory Is utterly rlllc-
nlous, except upon one Wow OF thu caso-
namely: TINT ttcrn was nothing intrtnsicalIy
dishonoraalo In tho act OF ,nusilnting Whltta.
ker. For example: Suppose MI able-bodicsl
hcggnr should meet n respectable citizen, nsk
a|.ns Ut him, bo refused, ald pass oil, hut
Instead Of bUIng content With o,ln refusal,