The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-06-20
sEoRErAtY ELKINs, ADYIcE
To the Graduating ofass of West Point
Woods Of MlAdom.

address: 81
Gentlemen Of the graduating class:
You are soon to be officers of the Army
of the United States, an organization
whose past is full OF glory, and the
aspiration and ambition Of whose mem
bers should be to reach perfection in
human organization. Washington was
its first commandeF.in-chief; Grant it's
greatest general. One helped to found,
tho other helped to save the Republic
1n 100 years there have been nine
teen Presidents Of the United States
elected by the people, nine of whom
were generals in the army The army
stood by the cradle OF tho republic and
nursed into existence the best attempt
at FREQ government the world has yet
seen. When threatened with division
and destruction. it came to the rescue
and saved the republic which it had
done so much to establish. During u
century it has defended the honor OF
the nation in four wars. at times it
has been the largest organized army
known to the world, and during its Pc
RODS OF greatest success was command
ed by general educated at West Point.
The army is a delicate machine; to
make it what 1t is today we have drawn
on the military usages and science Of
was OF all ages. 1t needs to be well un-
derstaod to be managed in whcl or in
part. Change is not reform, and any
reform attempted in the army should
be long and carefully considered. The
army, however, is not a perfect orgarl-
zation; to claim this would be. to dis.
count the centuries and leave you and
those who come after you without the
Incentive to do sonithing better than
those who have gone before you. In
the march Of ages. and the progress Of
development in civilization the world
gets ready for results, and these are
only reached in their order. Each age
can only attain the results that fall
to Il.
Civilization has not Travelled far
enough from barharism to go forward
with out using force-sometimes even
to preserve its own existence. Itaeems
that it is still necessary, revolving as it
may be, for nations to study the best
means of taking human life on a large
scale in the shortest time. It must be
borne in mind, however, that the mill
tary power never initiates war. The
civil power brings on war; the military
ends it, and through blood brings
peace
When the civil power is PROSTATE.
when there is no help for society, gov
ernments appeal to force, and find il, in
its best and most efficient form in or
ganized armies. In choosing the pro.
fession OF arms you become a part OF
that machinery countries make use OF
to keep the peace OF society, protect the
honor OF nations and defend territorial
rights. The undertaking at best is se-
rious from any standpoint You engage
not only to assist in 2tinding out the
the best means OF taking life, but in
certain conditions, to take il and even
to give UP your own
In entering the army you turn your
back on the chances and opportunities
civil life offers to wilma great fortune;
but you ut once secure for yourself an
Independence and high social position,
as also relief from the uncertainties,
anxieties and doubts that too often fol-
low a business career. While you can
not hope to become millionatres in your
profession, you have taken a bond OF
fate against ever being dependent.
Your life in the army should begin a
life OF study and improvement, andyou
aim and best ambition should DO to
make the arnybetter and more efficient
than you found it.
In the great republic 1t is hoped and
believed we are making substantial
progress toward permanent peace, but
this is not assured. Our Indian wars,
which have began.with the landing OF
the Pilgrims, are about at an end. The
frontier that has gradually grown less
as civilization has marched west would
no longer cxist-it has gone foreyer.
There Is now no frontier in the United
States except that contiguous to foreign
territory.
Apart from foreign war, the army
promises by its mere presence to be one
Of the guarantees Of peace and order
throughout tho nation. The future
would seem to hold within it no such
hardships for you as those who have
gone before you have endured, but it is
within the possibilities greater ones
may come to you. You may be called
upon to bear the flag of your country
and do duty within the tropics and
nearer the polar regions than any oil
your predecessors Tho flag floats over
territory of the United States further
west OF San francisco than San Fran
cisco is west OF New York, and further
north Of San Francisco than San Fran
cisco is north OF Texas. The control Of
the waterway across the isthmus that
is soon to marry the two great oceans
and open up q new and shorter high
way for. the commerce between the two
coasts Of America and Europe and the
fur east holds within 1t unsettled ques-
tons.
1t is assumed that you have been
amply instructed in all those essential
duties that are to carry you through
life; that you arc to be weli-mannered,
respectful to your superiors, just and
kind to your subordinates. 1t has
ceased to be presumption that you are
to be a gentleman. being from West
Point and in the army Of the United
States should establish this TACT the
wide world over. Advice on such oc-
casions counts for but little. We learn
only through the severe school OF ex.
perience; but after knowledge OF the
army covering more than thirty years
on the frontier, venture the sugges'
ton that may, Il lived up to, save you
trouble. Live within your means uns
der all circumstances; do not borrow
money, do not pledge yourpay accounts;
do not gamble. Living beyond their
means il largely the cause oil most OF