The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-08-14

sometimes a low average at that. ReInem-
bering this, it is enough to say that the
cases in which graduates of West Point
nave been so convicted make barely per
cent. of the whole number or graduates
me moral tone of the Military ACADEMY
IS established, and 1t is Self-peFpetuatlng.
1t and its propagation are inherent IN the
officers. the profass s,T and The instructors
are naturally not negligent in the inculea-
ton of a high sense of honor and duty nor nor
in Furnishing obvious infractions of the
moral code. Very much, however. is left
to the body of the cadets, and it is a RUE
never to question the truth OF q caaet
statement without clear PROOF tnat IL Is
false. He is left to his own sense or shame
and to the discipline of his comrades. one
by his fellows sooner or later. When he is
round out he Is sent to Coventry, win
suddenness and persistency that open 70
MN new view of the obligations OF cadee
life. For example. during study hours the
cadets are under guard in their quarters
The guard on post has the power to restrain
them When one has need to go out ne
saiutes the guard and says, 1T is all right
SIR and he. is. allowed to pass. new
get relief from restraint and TO go tor a
stroll He has only given his own interpre-
t tat n, to AL right" In the Ianguage OF
the code or the corps the cadet has hed
to the sentinel. No fuss is made about Il
and no official discipline may be applied
but the atmosphere about that young man
changes. 1t turns somber and chill; first
class men, who may have had pleasant
highest ambitions, salute him stiffiy and
look on him coldly; the clouds thicken about
him; his friends find it not wise to be too
conspcuously Intimate with him. When ne
hnally energies from his Isolation he knows
what IT means to violate the standard set
up for their guidance by those who value
the honor OF their corps as the very apple
of their eye. Men who are not amenable
to such influences sooner or later meet their
fate at the hands of court-martial, and
the army is purged of them.
Athletics" of the usual university gate
money order nave never been permitted at
West Point. There is a good football team,
and there is much enthusiasm about it. 1t
has-and 1t needs-no training" for the
men are kept as hard as nails by their daily
about twenty minutes twice a day in recre-
atlon time and for an hour or two on Sat
diets subscribe to a fund which is sufficient
for the actual outlay including the pay
ment OF the expenses of teams invited to
mitted to play elsewhere, nor is the team
allowed to neglect its studies and drill in
6ny way because of its interest In the game.
nevertheless.
In his address to the graduating class OF
1884 Colonel Houk said that. the work and
influence of the academy had combined 20
make this body of young men now before
me. in all the essentials of true, incipient
manhood, about as good a sample of the
race as can be found assembled together
anywhere in the world
DEWEY'S TRAINING
The writer has the advantage of a long
personal acquaintance with Admiral Dewey,
the mildest-mannered man that ever scut-
tied ship. With only his Unborn good quail
ties, conspicuous though these are, he would
never have astonshed the world as he has
by his unprecedented achievements Those
Unborn qualities were hammered and tenn
pered into hard steel and polished by educa-
tIon at Annapolis, and developed by years
OF devoted service, until Dewey himself as
the world now knows him, meets every
problem with quietness and a precision
ana certainty of result that seem almost
automatic. Had he been subjected ito the
education of the Military Academy he
would have been essentially the same man
minus the opportunity it is unfortunate
have to be drawn so largely from the navy.
The only general officer In the regular army
VINO has had a West Point training is Mer-
rift, and he has been sent to Manila. No
accomplished soldier will pretend that we
had an ideal commander at Santiago. AT
the same time, no one who knows those OF
our generals who have been in the army
since the war of the rebellion can fail to
accord them all the skill and capacity of
which they were capable.
There We're retired officers available for
service In. the supply and transportation
bureaus who would have saved us from the
criminal and fatal blunders that were made
The Senate was ready so to amend the law
that these men could have been put on duty
but 1t was found that no such amendment
could pass the House. We know the result;
a great victory was achieved-but in spite
of what cruel blunderS and at the cost of
what brutal suffering!
An attempt has been made to show that
education at West Point is cheap. 1t is not.
Like all good things, it, is costly; like all ex-
cepttonally good education, it is enormously
costly. Nearly four thousand cadets have
been graduated since the opening of the
the accounts may be made to indicate cost
of less than $4,000 for the four years course
of each cadet, but a fair computation of the
value of the magnificent plant and perma-
nent facilities, the interest the cost of
these and the cost Of their maintenance the
services of officers and attendants, and the
maintenance of the academy as military
post, may fairly be estimated to bring the
cost well up to $1,000 per year, or $40 900 for
the four years development of each cadet.
This is perhaps the most expensive educa-
ton in the world and in many ways, espe-
is said to be far the best.
A new field of usefulness was opened for
graduates of the Military Academy in the
detailing of officers instructors at state
agricultural colleges and other institutions
of learning in all parts of the country. In
and even some who had not completed their
courses, have been eagerly sought for pro-
fessorships or as instructors in military tao
tics in the private military schools.
West Point keeps alive the spirit and de-
velopS the capacity of organization, no less
than it teaches the technical rudments of
the military art among those on whom We
must mainly depend on rare but always
possible, occasions of need to bring our cit
izen soldiery quickly to the front, under cir
cumstances which will guard them against
the deplorable effects of incompetency from
which our volunteer force has suffered so
gravely within the past few months