The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-02

| most remarkable defence OF the West
Point hazing system has appeared in the
Boston Transcript" 1t is from the pen
/ of John Preston True. who has written
two or three successful juvenile books.
and it is followed by letters from one or
two other correspondents who contend
that hazing is a good thing because it
takes the rawness out of new cadet -
Mr. Tue says
Officially hazins is all wrong Officially. it
is violation OF the rights OF man. Officially.
it is frowned upon and with all possible rigor
kept down. Practically. looked at in hard cold
common sense, moderate amount of it is a
desirable thing. for it is the working OF a virile
instinct Of selfpreSeTyation. No man at West
Point lives who can safely say: 1t is impossible
thar my life and honor can ever be dependent on
the action of my classrnate, Mr. X On the con-
trary, both At some time may be entirely de-
pendent. IL is the right Of A and to know
that Y. when the time OF stress arrives is a
man who be trusted in such vital sngtters
And on this hard foundation their hazing prac-
tice rests"
In other words, while the officers Of the
Academy are supposed in their official ca
pacity to frown upon hazing and do all
that they can to prevent it, in reality they
are to wink at a moderate number of vio-
refuse to tell the truth in any investiga
ton of the proceedings when the truth
viii incriminate a hazer. The code of
honor developed by this method of educa-
ton may be a very superior article. but
to the mere layman, without military ira
ditions. it looks shady.
Again. Mr. True remarks:
Net one man graduates at West Point OF
whom ii would be safe TO predict That fellow
never Will be in high command On the con-
traTy, 20 every there is the possibility that
on his sole strength at some time in The days
20 viii rest the safety Of 4 thousand Of our
couHtrymen and the honor Of our country What
sort Of man do we want him then to be?
We want him who has the grim strength
OF soul and iron viii which VIII carry him
through all Odds. all dangers, win victory from
the grasp % death itself regardless whether for
him it ends in life or deth Is such a man
likely to be 0nc who quaiis al the schoolboy Laz
ing 81 his mates, or one Who has the grit aud
vim 10 SET his teeth and dght his way upward
through it?'
The question under consideration is not
whether the cadets are willing to endure
hazing, but whether they should be re
CURED 10 endure IT. Unquestionably, in
the days Of the Spanish InqUisition, there
was very high sense Of honor among
rack. refused 20 betray their fellows but
there was also an immense amount of
lying done under fear of that torture. II
IS TO be doubted whether the general
standard OF hoEor was any higher in those
days than Il is now; at any rate. nobody
contends that there ought to be renewal
CT such practices.
There is no schoolboy test which can
make it absolutely certain mat the man
who passes it successfully via prove true
at an important crisis. Hundreds of boys
who have passed unmoved through the
most brutal orteals OF hazing have not.
in later life, been strong enough to re-
sist temptation. II the tests provided
were such as would prove not the mere
bodily endurance of the victim, but his
ready wit, standard of honor. and loyalty,
1t would be different. But tho chances
are that the average cadet refrains from
appealing to the authorities not altogeth-
or because his sense of honor forbids it,
but also because he knows taat IL he
dares do such q thing the Lass state Of
him will be worse than the first. More