Washington sentinel., 1901-01-19
1t has been
West Point's said. in view of
Disgrace. s the Ias's 3, 1I., -.

the War Department tc investigate
charges Of hazing at West Point
that the practices Of the hazers are
brutal. But in view OF the revela-
tions obtained, says the Baltimore
Sun, by the more earnest and
searching inquiry Of the committee
OF Congress the epithet brutal
must be Withdrawn, in justice 10
brute creation, and the conduct OF
the older cadets at West Point to
ward the younger must be charac-
terized as diabolical. Moved by
hunger, brutes crafty their appe
tite without regard to the suffering
OF their victims. but they do not
torture them. They do not 60 OUT
OF their way to in1rct pain, nor do
they delight in needless and malig-
nant cruelty. Ifthey kill it is in iair
fight; they do not have a commit
tee to provoke fights and pick out
their biggest brute to "do up a
younger. smaller and weaker one.
In their case there is no parallel
with the treatment OF Booz, who
was done to death merely TO graf
iiy the capricious antipathies Of
coterie Of roughs OF higher :lass.
Intent on driving him from the
school, the roughs violated every
inst net OF humanity, every teach
ing OF Christianity and every SEN
ment Of a gentleman, to say moth
ing OF the rules and their oath 20
observe them. And the testimony
elected last week goes to show
that the officers in charge OF West
Point, from the superintendent
down to the lowest corporal, by
contributory negligence, if not by
positive sympathy, assist the haz-
ers in maintaining the reign Of
terror they have established. The
War Department itself IS not free
from blame, il has blocked inquiry
into the cases OF hazing instituted
by Superintendent Mills and has
restored a cadet who had been
expelled for hazing.
The actual situation would be
incredible if not proved by the tes-
timony Of the hazers themselves.
The great object of the hazIng, L
appears, apart from the delight in
the infiictIOn OF pain upon 8efeflse-
less youth, is TO compel the hazer
to respect and obey" the hazers
and to cause their resignation or
expulsion should they fail in their
duty to the hazers. Neither the
rules OF the school or sound reason
sanctions this enforced respect"
and hazing as a means oil compel
ling il is strictly forbidden. Yet
many cases are cited by cadets in
which they ha8ed men till they
"iainted," or went into fits" or
till their muscles twitched con-
vulsively." When lying "uncon-
scious" from protracted agony no
physician was summoned, for lear
the hazing should be exposed, but
the chance was taken shat they
would recover with the help OF
such remedies as were at hand. It
came out that the hazers who pre-
side at the lights insist that the
fighting shall go on till the fresh
man "gets the bones OF his hand
broken" or becomes so exhausted
and "groggy" that two men are
required to carry or support him
to his tent; and the basis of the
charge Of cowardice against Bo z,
it appears, was that he clay down"
or gave up the fight before he was
pummeled TO a state Of uncon-
sciousness, or exhausted to the
point Of being unable to walk. Not
that he was afraid to fight, but
that after his big antagonist, with
| the concurrence Of the seconds
all the bystanders were Of the
upper class-h9d knocked him out
with a blow in the stomach, he
succumbed before he lost the use
OF his legs. The fact seems to be
that nothing Booz did could have
satisfied his tormentors, since their
object-in which they succeeded
was to drive him from the school.
This is shown by the testimony Of
the cadets OF tn upper class, who
confessed that it was their custom
to give demerits to men they did
not like, in order to cause their ex-
pulsionl AS upper class men thev
are in authority over the ireshm en-,
or "plebes." and responsible tor
the just and proper conduct OF
affairs at the school. But they
shamefuIly abuse their authority
to inflct penalties without cause
to secure ulterior aims ol their
own. In other words, they lie in
their official reports Of demerits to
make a bad record for the cadets
they dislike. AT times they order
the younger cadets to do things
which are against the regulations