Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-06-16
HOW 1.-THE BOOK OF sNoBS"
IS AMPLIFIED At ANNAPOLIS
Caste Prejudice Against Mid.
shlpman kapIan

something Wnlcn ne cOuld not nnlSn. His
attempt was courageous, but narrow. The
particularly stupid vice which he sought to
smite was mot confined to Victorian Eng
land. 1t fourishes-or rather festers--in
countries dedicated 10 the basic equality of
mankind as well as in those In which tradi-
tions of artificial aristocracy supposedly
prevail.
The latest chapter TO the bulky and ever
growing volume compounded Of prejudice
and Grass bgotry was prepared at the
United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.
As personalities. the authors of the offense
do not deserve the publicity they have re-
ceived, The same thing may be said of the
object of their attacks. a Leonard Kaplan,
n member Of the graduating class and Jew.
kaplan was lampooned and insulted in the
undergraduate publication termed-with
perhaps unconscious irony--"The Lucky
Bag Kaplan, who may or may not he the
grind described by his fellow students. is
unimportant. His classmates are unim-
portant. Under ordinary circumstances the
Lucky Bag does not warrant serious
considerations
1t is student record of the so called
humorous type common to many UNIVERSE
ties The fun making in such works is not
celebrated for subtlety. Youthful satire is
ungentle, and as rule nobody but prig
would be tempted to complain of its heavy
handedness. The average college boy is
thoroughly hardened to such bludgeoning.
Snobbery and false pride Of birth or race
or religion play havoc with some supposedly
accepted proportions In the social or politi.
cal structure. The Kaplan case has invaded
Congress. Rear Admiral Wilson. superin-
tendent of the Naval Academy. has charac-
terized the preparation of the offense as "a
low down. miserable trick"
Senator Sutherland, of West Virginia,
has dispatched letter of indignation on the
subject to President Harding. ]. l.. Ohm
sted, editor of the year book. has been
compelled to relinqush letter of commen.
dation addressed to him by the academy
mead The incident has been set forth in
the ofhcial reprlmand administered to Olm-
sted by Acting Secretary of the Navy
Roosevelt The censure. however. is not
sufficiently comprehensive Olmsted was
by no means the sole culprit. He stands
simply as the symbol of a system Of caddish
discrimination deserving of the severest
suppression.
Were 1t not for the vital significance of
the principle involved in the affair this
attention to a burlesque might itself be
ridiculous. Boys will be boys This is
easily and often thoughtlessly said.
But boys, and especially in institutions
OF higher learning. are, for all their fond.
ness for foolery, also expected to be manly.
The adolescent snob is disgusting creature.
Superciliousness and the elevation of so.
cial or racial barriers are disgracefully out
OF place in the Government academies de.
signed to provide officers for the American
Army and Navy.
The indignities inflicted upon Midshipman
kapan lack the physical horror of the tor
lures Of which Cadet Booz was a victim at
West Point twenty years ago. But the
moral charge against the group of upstarts
at Annapolis is equally grave
Ihe case demands rigid official inquiry.
Jew-baitng or any other form Of class or
race persecution at Annapolis smacks OF
cruel and ignorant medievalism. 1t has been
reported that young Kaplan was socially os.
tracizcd by his fellow students throughout
career
The loutish filings at his race and religion
came as the climax of systematic NANTES.
tation of snobbery.
If the Naval Academy is engaged in the
production Of cads, the reflection Of tbe
principles and ethical standards inculcoted
there are obvious. 1t is on the officers in
charge as well as the cadets. The nresent
instance is not the first where mjdsbinme,
have been known 10 ignore the code which
stamps gentleman.
Possibly because official rank is so vividIv
defined, many appendices to The Book NJ
SnoDs have from time TO time been dev,sed
in the Army and Navy of the United States
Former Secretary Daniels, who was perhans
none too tactfu. endeavored 70 eradicate
excessive caste distinctions from tbe navv
and succeeded in stirring up Il hornets' nest
Inc schoois Tor good manners and mastery
OF the fundamental principles Of honor and
decency in the armed forces of the Govern.
ment are at West Point and Annapolis
Youth requires guidance. IL is incumbept
upon the directors and instructors n, tho
military and naval academies to stamn out
the absurd and ignoble artificial!ty of caste
AS has been Indicated the boy actors in
this unpleasant drama are not tbs nr,r,o
factors. Heavy responsibility falls upon
the management which has permitted sucb
perversion Of the principles Of democracy
to thrive.
Punishment Of the guilty in this cose
should be condign. But the heart of the
offense is not merely the barbarity of boy.
hood. BY allowing such preiudices TO take
root and grow the school authorities are
primarily 10 blame.