Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-01-21
REPORT ON F1AzING
AT WEST POINT MADE
BY SUPERINTENDENT


Ee@E39
or peculiar imtereat To Annapolis,
because tEe Naval academy anthOri-
ties have endeayored to put . quietus
upon haxing. is tbs report Of the su
perintendent OF West Point. Col S. q.
Ttilnaan, u. S. arny, made public
Saturday in which hs deals extensive
II with the .shazinga or devillng. of
the plebs OF new cadets at the acad.
eray. The report. dated November is,
1913. says in part
at all times the authorities Of the
academy have known that complete
lnon-controI and on-inserfsrance With
the nesv eadets by ne upper ciassneSa
would result Ia 4 BAR less rapid de-
veIOpnent Of them In their military
aeconap hments. The authorities
have n0g intended OF at least not de-
sired that the new cadets should be
subjected "a unnecessary annoyance.
but on the other hand they have DE-
sired not to lose the BoIdierly results
quickly brought about by the sharp
disciplinary control or the new E6en
both la and out Of ranks The "a
Guilty has been and II to prevent this
control from being carried too Tar Ana
from being exercised by unauthorized
parties
DisaCult to Control
THE prevention Of undue control In
wolves many aiflcaities.
/ Il Is the tradition that II has al
ways been exercised and as q bene-
Acial factor.
q Each class knows that It's pre-
decessor INDUCED the custom
3. Many visiting alumni, with sons
in the corps, openly advocates or at
least see no harm III the practice and
often attribute specific beneficial re-
suits In their own experiences to 1t.
The families ana especially the
female friends Of the older caaets ars.
ali assured by tho latter that they
themselves we're greatly Sene tied ~
the practice: the former are accord
ingly fully Convinced 3f IL henefsts
and condemn any efforts to suppress
it,.
s. The new cadets themselves, with
very few exceptions, in short time
realize that the military discipline to
which they have been subjected has
improved their physical bearing and
appearances and are much iisineItmaa
to give Information that would invelve
m upper classman
rs. The fact that .haxing Ia various
forms has been and IL practiced at SO
many educational institutions without
most Of the saving features which at
tach to the practice here.
New Methods Adopted
It may be said that the method now
being pursued iii giving the early dis
ciplinary training to the entering class
Is based upon sound principles and
promises to retain nearly. II not all,
4 the benefits Of past methods while
eliminating the objectionable features
of the past
In bEzef, this method may be said
to consfst III best0wing recognized and
specified authority ever new cadets
upon certain upper class men, to be
exercised at all times; this authority,
taken ID connection with that permit
ted ii ranks. to be sufEicient to bring
4 about the usual rapid military deveI-
/ opment OF the new msn, all other at
tempts at control og these men to be
| punished To the extreme limit ~ the
regulations relating thereto The reg
4 Mlations themselves may need some
modification to facilitate the accom-
pliahment Of their Intent The method
just referred TO differs from the past
+ In that II ofaciaIly authorizes such
control or the new cadets by the older
ones as to bring about the desired re-
suits. which were formerlx only reach
| cd through unauthorized control, this
control being countenanced, but never
openly authorised
Success Depends On One Faster
The success OF the method now Ia.
operation will depend upon whether
men as young ais OHr cadets can BE
given the authority outlined for them
without abusing ii themselves, 0r
countenancing its abuse by their as
soctates. AS stated above, the war.
emergency which has hastsned the
| graduation OF the classes for the past
two years has prevented amp test or
cnncIUsion with reference to this point
Ell Is not inappropriate here to re-
fer 90 the fact that the dFtIlxnasters
usually selected TO instruct the enter
| Ing class are ofen criticised, frequent
| " justly %, for rasping and unnec-
essary harahnesa of manner. While
this defect has been largely removed
Ii recent years II Is still present "a )
certain extent and th3 mAin reason
Il stiH continues Ii that these drill
masters have thslnaaIyes acquired 8
lvery snappy. brisk naanner Og execut-I
Ing commando they attempt to bring
Ethfs about IA shelr pupils; their com
Inalsds givsn iii she uuist dfmifEed
manner 81 more xn&kure zen faal 10
have ne daafra6 aKect, 2or xhe very
sirnpae reason that thsy are yOang and
less npresnava than clasr nasn Thsy,
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