Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-21
TO BEGIN TOMORROW
Court Martial Of Midshipman
Merriwe.her
HAzING AND THE CODE
SOME OF THE PRACTICES AT THE
NAVAL AcADEMY.
Coming Trial Regarded by the Service
HAzING AND THE CODE
Coming Trial Regarded by the Service
as a Very Grave Affair-Com-
ment on the Case.
Special From a stan Correspondent.

ANNAPOLIS. Md, November p, 1906.
The trial of Midshipman Merriwether,
which will begin at,the Naval Academy to-
morrow. Is regarded by the service as a
grave affair. much graver even than the
question of how far the individual midship-
man was responsible for the death Of Mid
shipman Branch, which resulted from in
jurles received in fist fight. In the public
mind 1t Is really the code" that is on trial,
not the Individual.
1t is said that the Secretary Of the Navy
Is very determined about putting down
fighting at the academy. How far he will
have the backing OF the officers In that Is q
question. When the question OF hazing at
the academy was under investigation two
years ago there We're some differences OF
opinion, even among the officers. OF course,
in the present case the officers are not talk
ing for publication, but it is very doubtful
if any of them are much in favor Of break
ing up the habit Of fighting in the school.
1t may be said in passing that the fights are
not frequent But bringing several hundred
aggressively healthy, youngsters together in
a school where Of necessity one class is
subordinated to another and where ideas
of personal honor are even more rigidly
fixed than in the average school, 1t would
be strange IL occasionally there were not
cases where the code was forced into opera
it. They say the boys are brought to the
academy TO be trained as fighting men, and
boy who Is not ready to resent what he
considers personal affront is not the ma
terial that the school needs to work on.
Designed to Secure Fairness.
At the same time they say that the
code as it exists, is the growth of ex
perience by successive classes of young
sters. and it is designed to secure fairness
and equality In any meetings that take
place The upper classmen naturally have
the advantage of greater age and longer
training in a fight, but the code is de-
signed to give the "plebe" a square de II
where he might not otherwise get 1t. The
inner workings Of the code change from
time to time, and there are few OF the older
officers who profess to know anything about
1t. OF course. they do not care to know too
much. though fighting Is unoff1cially rec
ognized institution both at Annapolis and
West Point. But the officers say it cannot
be prevented. and the chances are that
Hazng at the academy is another and
slightly different matter. There are two
sorts which might be described as friend
1y" and "unfriendly.'
Effects of Hazing.
Fights may sometimes grow out of the
first. but never out of the second. The first
variety is of more or less individual sort.
1t consists in making ''plebes" answer all
sorts of foolish questions, rating them Sc
verely II they omit to put sir to his
name every time they speak to an upper
classman making him do gymnastic stunts,
usually of a more or less ridiculous sort.
and generally taking 1t out" of the aspir-
ing youngster and frequently turning him
into perspiring youngster. 1t Is held by
the upper classmen that this is good train
ing for the first-year men. that it relieves
any tendency to cranial enlargement, makes
them submissive to discipline from their
superiors, and generally tends to render
them meek and lowly of heart.
But this haZing is strictly circumscribed
by custom An upper class:aln may not
touch a plebe. however much he may
tongue-lash him. There are also certain
personal things he may not say to the
plebe, such as calling him liar or cow
ard The plebe can quit If the gymnastic
stunts are carried beyond his strength and
If he thinks he has been personally affront-
ed, which is a very different thing from
ordinary running" he can challenge his
opponent to fight. If he does both his own
class and the upper classmen will see fair
play. In fact if there is a great disparity
in size and weight, either man or his class
can nominate another man to do the fight
ing.
Victims Maintain Silence
Now, of course. all this is in fragrant vio-
lation of academy rules. II Junior class
man followed the rules and asserted his
rights he could report his superiors several
times day. But do they? No one ever
heard of it, and II they did they probably
would not last long in the school. 1t does
not seem to be the way a healthy boy is
built, and so he takes his hazing or fights,
as the case may be-
There is another sort of hazing that is
much more serious and that cannot be
reached by any rules of the school or of the
Navy Department. 1t is melted out to
man only for some gross violation Of the
code of honor that cannot be reached by
the rules or for intense personal unpopu-
larity. 1t is a class affair, and may even
extend to mans own classmates 1t sim
ply consists in cutting him dead and ignor-
ing his existence except in the most routine
exchange of commands. Usually there is
good reason for such drastic punishment
Sometimes a man has carried this stigma
clear through the academy with him and
into the service. And 1t may be said that