The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1902-08-22
AT WEST POINT
They Make Stalwart Men
-and the Best Soldiers
in the World
Rules of Action That Could Be
Adopted With Fine Results
in Cur SChesls and
Colleges.
Extract from West Point After q Century
in The Worlds Work.


Extract from West Point After a Century
In The Worlds Work.
Action and decision are the keynotes
of soldering, and sctlon and decision
are the products of the academy's sys-
tem.r There is no time for lolling.
There is always something to do and 1t
must be done quickly. Upon gradua-
tion the cadet has the habit Of otedi-
ence, Of order, Of promptness, of thor
oughness, OF always knowing his own
mind, and he has the proper ground
work to develop individuality-the very
same groundwork that Grant and Sher-
man had.
Once an oficer the cadet may con-
tinue to learn or may just keep step and
assure himself OF poor assignments for
his old age; for until the day of his re-
tirement his record is kept In the. War
Department We do not follow the
plan of certain foreign nations and keep
an officer in q stiff collar and on stills
all his life. Our army, as every army
must be, Is machine; but We recog-
nize that 1t is human machine, COM
posed Of human units that salute all
along the line from the private to the
President, its commsnder-in-chief, with
heartiness that does not belong to q
wooden drill. Since the Spanish-Ameri-
can and the South-African wars, for
eigners no longer scoff at the individual
initiative of our officers and men, who
represent q school which Is now recog-
nized as the school of the future. The
tribute OF Gen. Wolseley IL really q
tribute to Sylvanus Thayer's system.
In his letter of congratulation on the
academy's anniversary he called the
American army ''the foremost in the
world
There is no boy in the land so poor
that he cannot 60 TO the academy. The
government literally receives the can
didate naked, and clothes and feeds
while educating him, and then gives
him . commission In the army. From
the day he has passed his examination
he is self-supporting. He need not re-
ceive any funds from home, and, in
TACT his instructors prefer that he
should not II he has q single cent
on his person upon his arrival, it Is put
on the credit side of his account in the
quartermaster's office, along with the
s45 month which the government
allows him. Any outside remittances
thereafter must also be turned in. Lit
tie by little q sum Is deducted toward
buying him an equipment for gradua.
ton. He can bhy nothing from the
quartermaster without official permis-
sion. That teaches him that one OF the
first duties of an officer is to live within
his income, AID also to be businesslike
in his official accounts; for IL Is only
when an officer is not businesslike that
he gets tangled in the red tape which
is as necessary in an army as q ledger
in bank. o.
i No rich mans son has the time or the
opportunity to cut dash at the Point
The corps is an extreme democracy
which knows no inequalities excep,
those of rank and demerits from the
thine that the plebe sheds his ''cit'
CLOTHES and puts on q ready-made uni
form Of gray, which, in turn, he doffi
las soon as the tailor has made one 4
order for him. But this he cannot veal
until board Of officers has decided ths
it fits him. And how 1t does fitl Yoi
still lean to the corset theory until 20,
Isee the cadets in thesgymnasium AMI
find that the corsets are of the kinl
whose steels do not rust.
sHazing by tobacco sauce and othe
severe methods is thing OF the past
Hazing OF a milder kind is not ant
never will be, let us hope. A battle i
not q tea party, and, the prime objec
of West Point being to make soldiers
the first requirement Of q 'plebe," u
lput it bluntly, is that he should b
"weaned." In more than one instance
where the demerit system failed, tn
solicitude of his fellows has saved tn
al OnlCCE WhOt nOWcSC
much Of a credit he might be to som
other, was not by disposition fitted TO
the military profession. There is tn
Header OF the first class and the bottor
man in the fourth class. and each mus
know his place and do his work yea
ously and ungrudgingly, leaving hi
reward to his superiors and not to In
trigue, just as he must do it in tn
army if the army is to be efficient.
The boy who brought all the notice
I from the home paper TO show ho
smart was this village prodigy had
learn them by heart and repeat theI
throughout his first year just to n
\ assure the poor, benighted upper clas
) men that they were in the presence {
greatness. That good fellow can laug
today with his tormentors over the IL
: cident and thank them for lifting hin
J out of provincialism into the wild
y \lcamaraderie of serving ones countr