The Washington times., 1905-12-30
Shutting the Stable Door.

1t is reported from Annapolis that
Midshipman Jerdone P. Kimbrough.
whom Midshipman Trenmor Coffin.
jr., was tried for hazing, is ostracized
by his fellow-cadets-even by some
of the members of his own class
and that the feeling against him is
so bitter it is unlikely he will find it
possible to continue at the Academy.
The excuse for this is Kimbroughs s
testimony against Coffin, as to the
facts of his illtreatment That he
should have revealed these facts is
considered dishonorable, or unmanly.
His comrades feel he has forfeited
their confidence and regard
This situation merely emphasizes
a position The Times has tried re-
Gently 10 impress-on several occa-
sions. 1t involves the folly of Sc
lecting some individual, whom cir
cumstances unforeseen have brought
TO public attention, as the scapegoat
of an evil system and furnishing him
for his adherence to a recognized or
tolerated code That prizefghting.
or hazing, or running, or any of the
other features of Naval Academy life
SO generally lamented should be stop
ped by such measures is impossible
Tor thinking men TO believe.
AS has been revealed sufficiently in
testimony before courts-martial, there
exists at the Academy a cadet code
wholly apart from the official regu-
lations and the articles of war. Ad-
herence to that code is enforced
among the cadets themselves by the
compelling power of opinion Ac-
quiescence in that codes existence
and observance marks the whole at
titude of the Academy staff. While
Admiral Sands himself, the superin-
tendent of the Academy, was ignor-
ant, perhaps. of infractions of rules
occurring under his nose. it is not
TO be thought his ignorance was
shared by the younger officers. more
Immediately in charge of discipline.
The accustomed attitude of the au-
thorities is one of federation. nor is
1T altered until some victim of The
Jovial hazers is sent to hospital.
under circumstances sufficiently SER
ious or spectacular TO bring his case
TO public attention The inevitable
howl then springs up over the coun-
try. We of the newspapers lead the
agitation. perhaps, and there is a
vociferous response from the puIpit
and in the halls of legislation. The
Navy Department issues a few pro-
nunciamentos and the Academy staff
wakes from its slumbers. The young
gentleman who was so foolish and
so unfortunate as to be caught is
hailed before d court-martial and
dismissed from the service-for an
offense of which, in all human proba-
bility, nine-tenths OF his classmates
are customarily guilty.
Quite naturally the effect produced
upon the student conscience by
such performances as this is not
healthy. The cadets fail TO see its JUS
tice. Their attention is drawn away
from the brutality of their methods
and the character-dwarfing nature of
their ideals. They see only the
patent injustice of the punishment
and they resent il.
The way to stop hazing and allied
abuses at the Academy is to place
on the executive staff, not only as
superintendent. but, in the minor
offices, men who oppose such
practices actually and on principle
and who will not tolerate their con-
tinuance, or the continuance of the
spirit from which they evolve. Let
them enforce the rules consistently
1mpressing the truth that rules are
made for character-building, not for
repression. Let them exemplify the
1aet that lying and brutality. in
justice and oppression of the weak
or defenseless, all inhabit the same
low moral plane. The cadets cannot
fail to catch the inspiration. Upon
them, of course. rests the ultimate
responsibility for abolishing a sys-
tenn that has become intolerable.