The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-11-11
THE MILITARY INSTITUTE.

brother.
THE MILITARY INSTITUTE.
Heply Made to Citizen Anent the
Fourth Glass.
Editor OF Tho Times:
Sir.-The communication In your issue
of the Sd instant. from Citizen, calls
for some notice from me. Every word OF
It but shows more plainly that he does
not understand the Institute or Hs
rnanav. ment. He is especially ignorant
on all that concerns the fourth class. he
does not know that the class to-day, only
sixty days q class IS mace up o. t"e
hos, eontented lot Of fine young fellows
- +,s found in the whole country. Not
one of them is the least OH oafnaseu !"
nhvsinue or morals by any incident OF the
mast two months All Of them the better
for what has been experienced, ana eacD
loving his fellow as Othello was loHeu,
t.for the dangers (and pleasures l'dsseu-
If ..Citizen" doubts this. Let him inVesu-
gate His reward would be that OF the
over-zealous. friend whom fEes'oeli'
Andrew Johnson damned for being more
for me than l am for myself Ano ehe
six or eight Of the fourth-class men,
be the ioudest in their anathenas- II
surely shows lack Of the knowledge OF
facts WHEN Citizen" yoked in double
team with another citizsn, proposes 70
improve and reform, cff-hand, the "oIh
Of fifty years Of such man as francs
H Smith, Oh! save US! The Institute OF
today is the true reflection Of that OF %,
so and so and any change made IN the
last ten wars would have been made by
- IoI no,
longer His constant aim was to improve
and add symmetry to his beloved school.
Citizen Is again informed that the In
sJitute is ali right. especially the fourth
class. This last has always been SO. In
.6i it followed Jackson to the war months
before Aud Lang Sy1e" had been sounded
for ii. and stayed in the field until ono
third of its Members. some thirty ODD had
given their lives for the country! If this
record has ever been equalled, who can
tell BY whom? In 81. when only sixty
days q class, 1t marched to Nashville and,
in a great competition. won from United
States army officers the encomiut-" The
finest troops we ever saw. They would fight
anything" Carry tho present class TO
Berlin Tomorrow and Emperor William
would say the same Of It. And yet 'Ctti
zen'' says that these are poor fellows who
have beei. ''disheor,ened. Inundated and
dismayed-
For six months before q frst-class man
graduates he is beset hy agents OF mill
tary schools from Maine TO Louisiana
and from New York to California" He is
wanted as q teacher, disciplinarian. eS-
emplar Re Is not ;nterrogated as to his
views about 'l1azing," but is OF every
other solitary subject. But Citizen be-
iieves he could, with help as aforesaid.
largely improve a system out of which
such soldiers as Kodes and Ferrill Geiger
and Carter Johnson came. Citizen does
me too much honor when he elias p me
with the 'tsub-professors,' as he is eased
TO cali them. Not one OF the gentlemen
Of the Adjunct Faculty is even personally
known TO this writer and ne regrets 1t.
This much can b said with assurance, that
these gentlemen are thoroughly conpe
tent 10 give the facts in the case in
point, and their evidence would nave con-
vincing weight in any court in our land.
'Citizen" alleges that this writer, in the
letter under his criticism, asked The ques-
hon. .'Why people kept on sending their
sons to the Virginia Military Institute if
they supposed they would come to any
harm during their <ourth-class year."
using the quotation marks formally, and
then, 10 add force to the snsquotaticn, h
goes on. in the next paragraph, to say
that many parents do not know before
hand what their boys will have to under
GO Now this IS what was actually
said and what Citizen" pretends 10
copy. as above-"A very large proportion
of the men in each class. year after year,
ara the brothers, sons and lsinsmen Of
former. cadets. Surely. knowing The schoo!
as tie alumni do, IL Is not reasonable that
they would allow ;fsir own flesh and blood
10 enter II If these latter would come to
any serious harm in the fourth-c!ass year"
This is a Misrepresentation of my point,
and by these three processes OF addition
subtraction and Implication.
The stern order from the Naval Acatie-
my was doubtless framed after simitas
ones which have bsen issued. seriaily, from
pecatur's time until now garragut
Semmes. Scliey and Bag.ey came along
however, all the same. and Jack Tar has
K pt in his kit a lot of ceremonies and
"iad,Gn:t.es" that come out when he pre-
sents his pr@ntices TO Father Neptuns
Jack will shed his skin and charSa his
spats ere he abolish S this time ignored
custom. 1t is astonishing to iean from
Citizen that the newspapers took the
matter So seriously, especially when Their
are a dozsn app,ic ants for every vacancy
among the niddles. Now I hope "Citi-
zen will brace I'D yourself'' and MOI
take SO morbid q. view Of this matter. II
is running on q false scent. His fourth
class friends are now immersed in matt
and squad drill and football. they even
begin to take notice OF such vanitIes as
corparaiitiss. chevrons. swords, sashes and
p!u-nes; they know not that they have
grievance.
T.v. BROOKS. 81,