New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-24
RrFORUS At TEST POINT.


The report of the West Point Board OF VISIT
ors TO the Secretary of War; for 1881, whlch
has inst issued from the Government Pnntihs
Oe;co i without doubt the most important ever
nronorod The Board, of which Senator Man
dnrson was president, was an unusually strong
ono and the trenchant pen of Major John NJ
Carson. its secretary, has been employed 10 eA
cellent purpose in setting iofth uhe merits anu
Iaroo.. IS aur whole system of educating army
officers.
In ,bose DAYS Of war-tak the subject is NATL
roIlv Of absorbing interest. The wisdom OF the
founders of the Military Academy has bedn so
freoucnav and emphatically vindicated that crit
;c;sm of the fundamental plan of the institution
i No Ionoor timely. No intelligent observer can,
however fail TO wonder at the results accom-
plishcd with such inadequate means ana the
Hill 10 be introduced at this session OF Congress- II
devised with single eye to remedylng existing
defects will deserve the ready support it Is likely
r. receive. Certain portions of the standing
continent are VIGOROUSLY ineffective. No two
cnns Of the seacoast battery, for instance, are
mounted on the same kind of carriage. The
siece-battery is antiquated and unservlceabe ana
in danger Of busting Most of the field guns
are obsolete muzzIe leaders. Neither a Maxim
machine gun nor n lIotchiiss rapid-frc are avail
able The cavalry horses, with tho enlisted
cayalrymen at the post, are also impressed 1or
artillery service, and the quarters OF officers ana
men alike are crampcd and nsalubrious.
All these shortcomings together with others
sucb rs the need for stable-drill and practice
marches and inadequate attention in the course
to English the Board urgently insists should De
corrected The Iecompendation OF widest IN
tercst however, is that concerning the number
Of cadets and methods of appointment ana ex-
animation. Under the present Congressional APP
portionmcnt, the maximum strength OIL the caucO
corps is 347, which will be increased with the
IIIId Congress TO 81. The actual number OF
students a, the Academy is only Isl or nearly
% per cent below the legal limit. This dell
cheney. as the report indicates, is due mainly 10
tbo SELECTION of unfit candidates and the Ire
ouent failure Of Congressman to make noihiha-
,ions N fiji vacancies The new class, owing 10
.bcso two causes alone, started with only -
members instead Of 1873, "equvalcnt to waste
of 81 per cent Of the power and energy OF inc
institution" The Board, therefore, recommends
an act fixing the maximum strength oi the cadel
corps at 400, instead OF 81, TWO auuluohil
nominations 10 be allotted TO the senator's OF
each state and 90 instead Of 10 TO be appoint
Cd bv the President from the country at large
This plan accordS 50 exactly with the obvious
needs Of the service and is based on theories so
sound and conservative that we should be glad
10 see it carried into effect
As to the proposed reform in the method OF
Amendment. the project Of holding preliminary
examinations n. different places throughout the
country. under the direction OF the Secretary OF
War, would immensely assist IN preserving me
representative character Of tho Academy. IL
would at tho same time save unquallied cahU-
dates and their relatives much disappointment,
TO saw nothing Of travelling expenses and would
aid in maintaining tho numerical standard ny
vigorously sitting the new material.