The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1901-01-19
The Truth at Last.

We were quite prepared for the
abhorrent revelations as 10 laz'n"
at West Point. During the latter
days Of the War Department inves-
tigation, Gems. Brooke and Bates
elected confessions that suggested
every abominable disclosure since
extorted by the Congressional com
mittee. The army officers in ques
ton did even more than was ex
rected of them, for there is an
evident and very na,ura! ur~iliing-
ness on the part OF all army men to
parade the infamies SO long prac
ticed at the Military Academy. To
Col. Helm, the c..mmanhant, we
give all credit for his candor. He
told what he knew-told it frankly
and honorably-and that was of
itself a terrible arraignment of West
Point But tho Congressional COM
mittee have gone still further. They
have compelled the. upper class
cadets to tell the whole truth.
They have trampled down The con-
spiracy of talsehood. concealment,
and disingenuous misrepresentation.
They have laid bare the ugly and
revolving truth.
What we gather from the admis-
sions Of the senior cadets is that SD
called hazing at West Point has
been tyrannical and cruel perse
cution of the small bows bv the big
-AAA~~,-<+.ar the lights required by T.
academy "co,ie Of honor" are i"
fact mere barbarous punishments
of the weak by the strong; shat in
nine cases out of ten the freshman
has no sort of chance, and that tie
ceremony is deliberately c. rived
with q view to asc-rtainng the limit
Of his ability to survive the effects
of an overwhelming onslaught. 1t
has been clearly shown that these
West Point fights are far more
brutal than contests in the prize
ring, for in the latter case feeble
men are never pitted against their
physical superiors, while in the
former they are almost always sub
jec,ed to that hopeless ha..,iicap
In the prize-ring men are male t.,
wear gloves and are invariably pro-
tected against barbarous punish
ment In the West Point fign;s the
with bare knuckles, and they are.
expected to fight until thev iAin'.
no matter how hopeless their il.
feriority may be or how certain
their cruel punishment, The West
Point fights, in fact, are character
lied ,v all the ruthless bru ality Of
the pr,ze-ring of the eighteenth
century, with out presenting one Of
its humane and manly attributes
1t is 4 case of barbarism, and moth
ing else.
Moreover, and from a moral point
of view still worse, the inevitable
tendency of the system is to degrade
and demoralize those who recognize
anil practice it. Not only does it
make bnilies and ruffians of the big
ger bows, but it involves them in
mendacity and false witness as a
necessary consequence. They are
under oath TO obey the academy
regulations, yet they violate that
oath, and afterward impudentIy ad-
NIT that they hold the cadet "code
of honor" as more worthy of loyal
recognition. They confess, under
pressure, that their treatment Of the
youngsters is outrageous, and never
theless they put themselves on record
as supporting, if they do not actually
inf1ict it. Worst OF all, they lead US
to suppose that the officers DELHI
erately wink at these atrocities, and,
in way, give them the sanction of
their ignorance.
Every reader of the Post knows
that we have always advocated the
welfare and promotion Of our mill
tary establishment; that we have
consistently urged the expansion of
the navy and the enlargement and
better reorganization of the army
Only a few days ago we appealed to
~nnoroSS RI fhe orr,v hill intD