Marble Hill press., 1920-08-19


Harvard Teacher. association. 90
sh.sh d. severely gri'g.srI ,hc
lFlN='ST<flf rur,i state. Military arai,my ~
UlN# I'll W'sf itIu' ~ az sileauurHl las'l.
II " 4 Huou
,S>>1 Nae W,,, ru.ut is an institution
- - salH,Hs ustaaal Importance r
ur E.'afs .rH,.sgns can Re
tA.n,f % - The uau.frs, a4fy %
,uHsr,-ss and try secretary ~ aaF 60 lr.us about
al change. rr,rsssry 'n o, the Institution 60 l,s
hsh pah.I. p4Iu~s
E..r.ssra..a Frrl 4 E-ff,u o., Illinois ,u.
truiaovi g,su.4tina r~.g,s'Iu. that crFfalu la
fpraaslaa - Furnished ihv house ty tar war
dsfnst#rui E,grrs.u'at,y Ja.l. kaha %
California. .Ha riaau - tar ,u#m.tt,, "a military
aralrs- vuafc go Secretary - War Newton u.
Hakcf a.u.rfu as this resolution SECRETARY HaAer
tsns 'hs .pY"r..a.p 90 write Hrpr..sHtatlyc
kalu saus Communication. which .s Zoo parVos"
aa1 ,1elt a formal defense ~ Nest Point and
au answer 'n ps I..ays cg..sIsMs. Iu ,lsw ~
the supreme .ug.rHury ~ Wr+, Point 90
American Hs"'4tsa. summary og SECRETARY
Makers defense b. arH worth printing
nr Et.Urs criticisms agr as follows.
T. 40 American ..h.u. ~ college, intended 10
youths lysor,u Is and - y,ars 90, a." st1a1
ac-,ri such H|yruaryJ material MS West Point
srrrpts
~Na school or COLLEGE should have a con.
pl,'rly prescribed curriculum.
o. 40 school or college should have i's teach.
ius done almost exclusively lF recent graduate,
~ TO sauc school or gu''t." ehn arr uH' teach.
crs and who serve short terms.
"Th. graduates ~ Wr.f Point during m"
world War both tu thr fc.t and IN business
utH.,, I.l ror -srau, vIrh frw cy-rrnuns f~um
tho method, which they had been taught ana
drjl'yl .n 3ar'us pra.. Tie methods - 7-huut
wrrw 90 the ma'a urN and tie methods - sup
ply ana aerour. ought '1 have Inyu u"v. Tho
rcA 'a-r or'np.1. prescribed 20 t'r American
Regular Army officers ~ passing a." buck vor"
very ml~chleyogs all through faa actual Fighting
and rva.ato a serious iNu.'Hucuf 90 the efficiency
~ The wnr department. 10 Ibis d7y
IN answering criticism No T. Secretary Baker
sets forth 'hs methods o' admission 20 West
pela. by congressional md presidential appoint
lnrrf competitive examinations entrance exam
nations etc He then SAYS, IN part
Prom lSlS TO 1918 the total number Of candl.
dates who have presented themselves FOR adms
sion to West Point has been lTol9 ~ these
sHi2 have been admitted. OF the residue +--N
we're rejected for admission by the academic
board 27lG lAlcd to report; 9@i were rejected by
the medical board: 573 were rejected by the Joint
action or the academic board and the medical
hoard tats passed for whom no vacancies existed,
los failed 10 complete the examinations; lNS de
rllncd appointments after completing the examS-
nation. and ~ appointments were Cancelled
"It thus appears that the process Of selection Is
countrywide that the requirements from purely
academic standpoint are adequately high ana
that the standards are rgidIy enforced.
Taking American secondary education as 1t is,
for rich and poor in the city and In the country,
east and west | am persuaded that no college
drawing Its students from wide geographical
area compares with West Point In the quality OF
the material which Il receives. and II more uni
form excellence could be obtained by sectional or
class selection, surely the exchange would be
bad one for the national constituency which the
academy has always had"
As 10 criticism No . Secretary Baker says he
does not attach any value TO any opinion ne
might express as TO the controversy between the
prescribed curriculum and the free elective sys
toms Of collegiate education. But, he says, II
cannot he conceded that West Point has fixed.
inelastic and unchanging curriculum. He men
tiops the appointment Of board Of inves'iea'
ton I'm 1917 and says II Ia only one IN con.
tinulns series ot investigations with the view OF
.aan,tng tho instruction to the demands which