Evening journal., 1916-03-25
SENATOR DU PONT
HAS ACTIVE HAND
IN military LAW

Special to TIE EVENING JOURNAL.
WASHINGTON, ID. c.. March 25.-
Senator Henry A. DUPONT of Delaware.
who is ranking Republican member Of
the Senate committee on military af-
fairs. has taken an active part in
discussions of the army reOrganiza-
tion bill this week Senator DUPONT
is a West Point graduate and has
"A record for distinguished service IN
tho Civil War His opinion on mill
tary mT ters. because of his service
and the study he has given the sub
ject. is. as Senator Norris. Democrat
of Nebraska, said during a debate on
Wednesday, entitled to very great
weight"
Senator DUPONT opposed an amend
menJ 10 the Military Academy bill,
offered by Senator Norris. providing
that the selection of appointees in be-
half of Congressman should be dis
carded and that such appointments
should be made without reference to
the Senators or members of the House
from the various States and districts.
Senator DUPONT argued against the
sdoptiOn OF the Norris amendment.
as did Senator Chamberlain. Of Ore
gon. chairman of the committee. they
Contending that the present system
Of Senators and representatives Sc
lecting the best young men in their
districts. regardless of politics for ap-
pointmcnt TO West Point is the best
plan The Norris amendement was
defeated. I'm discussing il, Senator
DUPONT said:
"Nr President. i'm the matter of
these appointments. ] desire 10 call
the attention OF The Senator from Ne
braska. TO the fact that IL is very
valuable and necessary that all parts
Of the country should be represented
The ideal way probably would be "a
have general competition all over the
country and the men who have tn,
highest marks should be admitted
That is the way they do in France. al
the Polytechnique School: but OBJ
viously this country is so large anC
the conditions are so different. edu
catiOnally and otherwise. that such
system would result in an undue pro
portion OF cadets. both at the Militar,
and Naval Academies. from certaii
parts of the country where they hav
'tNNA NNAhAaA NANAuANNNhA uuN t-tf
Therefore It has been the custom iron
the very foundation of these nationa
schools to apportion the students II
all the different parts OF the country
which is best done by congressional
districts and by States.
"It is evident that. If these ap
pointments were left to the President
he would have great difficulty i'm max
ing his selections. The members q
the House and Senate from the resnec
tive districts and States are bette
qualified to judge and 10 select youn
men: and ! must say that ! ontirel
agree with the Senator from Orego
i'm his view that the appointments az
rarely, If ever, made solely for politi
cai considerations. know that
have never made an appointment {
West Point nor TO the Naval Academ
on these grounds since have bee
I'm the Senate. However. that is No
the point. The point is that the Sen
ator or Representative. in my iude
ment should select the best and mos
capable young man i'm his district O
State, and give him the chance Tha
is best for the State. best for IN
country. and fair to all. / can see n
advantage whatever to be gained b
the adoption Of the amendment OF tn
Senator from Nebraska