The age-herald., 1900-12-29

to abide my record as commandant If the facts in the case are known. I acted as co mmandant for more than five months dur ing the season of '9S-99 That I was a sue cess as such is shown by the universal esteem in which I was held by the corps. by the good order and discipline, which was never better than at that time; and, lastly, by the fact that your honorable board eleced me eommandant for the ensuing ses- sion of '99-00, although had not applied for the position and the former incumbent had not resigned.
 So much for '99. During that year, the president sustained every recommendation l made. There was not the slightest fric- ton or jar in the administration of affairs, because the corps knew the rules would be enforced and their violation would be pun- ished. During the session of '99-00, the presi- dent sustained all my recommendations un- til some time in the early spring. At this time the attendance, which had hitherto been large, and dwndled down by resigna- tions and other means, to small numbers and 1t appeared to be the policy of the in- stitution to hold the remaining few at any cost Hence 1t was that my urgent recom- mendation to dismiss the principal offenders was ignored. These latter were cadets who had shown themselves incorEgihle no amount of demerits of tours, or of anests seemed to have any restraining influence uon them, and they were the ringleaders of all disorder. I believed it best to expel them, because they corrupted the entire corps Such steps are always to be regretted but are, nevertheless, necessary just as a surgeon must amputate diseased limb to save the body from modification.
 But no; they belonged ito influential fam lilies and politics had so long griped the vitals of the university that she could not purge herself of this evil. The president, in- stead of assisting the commandant to pre- dfepinHna rannVad tha DPnalfiPS im- posed by him in the course of his duty have In my possession today papers written by the president requiring me to release from arrest a cadet so that he might en- gage in game of baseball. The Hon. James F. Webb of your board has seen this paper. This cadet had been guilty of gross disorder and infraction of the rules; but the laws of the trustees had to be thrust so that the good will of the boys might be cul- tivated. Gentlemen, was I lax in my duty in this case?
 Again, your rules set down for the Uni- versity officers rescrbe that any student guilty of breech of arrest shall be dis missed. This is time-hono-ed law. A prom inent cadet was reported by me to the presi- dent for this offense, in an indisputable case He is the son of a well-to-do judge and his offense was overlooked.
 These are facts and the records and pa- pers in my possession will prove them, and many other incidents of like nature. I now ask you, gentlemen, to sum up the condition of affairs; a hundred lusty, en- thusiastic boys, who knew that, no matter what they might do, they would not be severely punished and openly avowing that such was the fact Are you going to &C., cuse me of failing to administer discipline when I was deprived of the power with which to enforce it? You cannot expect the superhuman.
 Now, in regard to the disorder of last commencement and aSnppia1lV that curing at the time of the alumni banquet: I had previously told the president that I would not be responsible for disorders un- less he would undertake to punish infringe ments of the rules, but I could get no sat- isfactory statement from him. The banquet was in progress during release from quarters, when no restraint was on the ca.- dets. Soon after all were seated, the ca dets began firing cannon crackers and roll ing stoves down the steps, This continued for about five minutes. I did not move from my seat, for had reported some of lenders earlier in the day and no action had been taken In their case Finally, one of the trustees remarked that the noise was getting unbearable. This brought the president to his feet, and he came over to my seat and asked me if I could not quiet the disorder How he could make such a request of me after having failed to sup port me, is more than l can see. However I replied that the only way to quiet the disorder was to punish the perpetrators of 1t. He said, "Well, if you can catch these men, I think the trustees will take steps to punish them" I answered him by say Ing that he was the man authorized to pun ish them, and not the trustees. This con- versation was overheard by several of the alumni whose names will be forthcoming later.
 However, I went into Barracks" and the cadets who saw me desisted from dls- order I saw one cadet, the son of a Y,aFaf rail lurnU off down the steps and engage in other distur- bance I took him over to the president s office and sent for that dignitary. l pre- ferred the charge, stating in addition that the cadet had three hundred demerits, one hundred more than enough to dismiss him. The president was very much Mustered at being interrupted at his meal; and after I had departed sent the cadet to the H. brarian who kindly lectured him. This was all the punishment he ever received.
 In the face of these facts, could you ex- pect cadets to obey rules that had no pen altieS attached?
 That the disrespect of the students at commencement was not directed towards me is shown by the fact that the exhibi- ton drill was the only public exercises on which they all attended. On none of the literary exercises were there more than small percentage of the cadets in attend ance. But though there was no coerciye power over them at the time. the ranks were full on the Governors review.
 So far as the laxness of my control is concerned, as long as I was supported by the executive I am willing to leave the question to the disinterested citizens of Tuscaloosa to decide They have had an opportunity to judge for themselves and will speak the truth no matter If 1t does uncover some miserable wrongdoer who has tried to make me the scapegoat for his incompetency.
 I regret exceedingly that circumstances have necessitated these disclosures, but feel that the University of Alabama can- not profit by suppressing the truth. That I have done so till now shows my un- swerving loyalty to the institution, for have borne the blame of the inefficiency of another rather than that she should be hald m f1, rai1ilic ridicllla