The times., 1901-05-23
APPEALING TO INFLUENCE.
The Dismissed Cadets Said to Have
Started for Wnshincton

1 The Dismissed Cadets Said to Have
! Started for Washington.
| WEST POINT. ". Y. May 2.-Never
! before in the history of the Military
Academy has the iron hand of authority
! fallen so heavily upon the corps of ca
| diets as it fell today when the order came
| from the War Department fully and COM
| pletely sustaining Col Albert NJ. Mills.
the Superintendent of the Academy, in
his recommendations for the punishment
of certain cadets who lately became in
volved in breaches Of discipline of a very
serious nature. Five members of the sec
ond class are dismissed. four members of
the same class and two of the third are
suspended, and seyenty-two more mem
bers of the corps to be punished sum
marily as the superintendent directs
Only once before. during the administra-
tion Of General Merritt. was there pun
ishment inflicted upon the corps anything
like in severity that which has now fallen.
General Merritt dismissed three cadets at
once. That was considered severe, but
the punishment the corps has brought
upon itself this time is a record breaker
III the opinion of all those who know the
institution best it means the end of that
tradition of hazing which for years has
been the bane of Academy life.
Although the technical charge on which
the cadets were punished was insubordi-
nation, the insubordination in question
had its origin in the old hazing spirit,
which. although somewhat discouraged by
the Congressional and the army investi-
cations of last winter. was by no means
broken The cadets. as the result of
those Investigations. voluntarily drew up
and pledged themselves to an agreement
to refrain from the more Objectionable
featUres-of hazing. Nowhere in the docu-
ment was there an implicit agreement to
let fourth-class men entirely alone Par
ticularly there was no reference to the
matter of "bracing" In respect to this
"bracing' practice the cadets took the
position that the traditions of the cadet
corps were superior to the authority of
the officers in charge of the institution
1t now remains to be seen whether an
influence, which, therefore, has been det-
rimental to discipline here at the Acade-
my can be again invoked. This is the
Congressional pull"
Heretofore cadets who were suspended
or even dismissed for good cause were
sometimes able, through their Represen-
tatives or Senators. to override the au-
thority Of the Superintendent and come
five cadets who were dismissed took the
1:l6 train this afternoon headed straight
for Washington For days back cadets
who were under a cloud and who knew
that they were likely to get just what
they have got have been keeping the
wires hot with kilograms to Senators.
Representatives, and others whose infiu-
ence they had reason to hope might be Of
value to them.
BY wire also they stirred up their
friends and relatives to the same action.
and even that is not all. Cadets here
who are not in the mess have been also
telegraphing to influential friends and to
Representatives and Senators, urging
them 10 give their influence for the dis
graced cadets. 1t remains now to be seen
what the effect of all this will be That
Secretary Root fully endorses the action
OF Superintendent Mills and that he will
strenuously oppose any mitigation of the
sentence is certain.
The political pressure, 1t is believed.
will be brought to bear upon the Presi-
dent The general comment is that il VIII
be a fine opportunity to test the sincerity
OF those Representatives who last winter
so vigorously denounced haZing and who
voted for the stern resolution against the
practice which Congress adopted. Tn
dOubtedly some of these are among the
ones to whom personal appeals have been
addressed.
The report which Colonel Mills turned
into the Secretary of War removed all
possibility of separating the hazing ques-
ton from the incident which led up to
the recent troubles. on the 18th of March
Colonel Helm, the cadet commandant Of
the post, caught Cadet CrisSy of the see
ond class in the act of 'bracing three
plebes in the ranks. Crissy was repri-
manded and the very next day was caught
doing the same thing with two more ca
diets. He again was reprimanded. The
next day he defantly repeated his Of
fences. On this occasion he was punished
This started the spirit Of insubordina-
ton. From the moment of Crissy's pun
lshnent there became a clearly defined
group of the disaffeCted cadets They
talked loudly and blasphemOusly against
their superior officers. 1t was the miscon-
duct of Cadet RalSton which precipitated
the crisis. Ralston was the commandant
of his table in the mess hall 1t was his
duty TO report any disorder al that table.
instead of making reports he permitted
cadets to do as they pleased.
Ralst0n was brought up for not report
ing them He was asked for an explana-
uOn and curtly replied that he had none
TO make-that the charge was true Colo
.nel Helm, to whom this written response
was made, was astonished, but wished to
give the youth another chance. He ask
ed for another explanation. RalstOn, in
the same curt way, again replied that the
charge was true.
Then Colonel Mills summoned him He
had permitted the breach of discipline to
pass without report he remarked be
cause he had regarded it as too trifling
to report. He said however that had
plebcs been guilty of what he saw upper
class men do. he would have reported
them. Ralston was punished At dress
parade on the 18th of April, he was re-
duced to the ranks. and sentenced to a
number of more or less severe penalties
That started the disaffected clique.