Evening star., 1949-07-19
Congress Probe
Hinted inf Failure
fCadet =
Report Charges Lack
Of Interest in Schools;
Corning Issues Denial
By Don S. Warren

Wy AOV ,. VOIICU
A Congressional inquiry may be
sought, unless something is done
to rebuild the dwindling ranks of
the Washington High School Ca
det Corps. a member of the House
District Committee said today.
The statement came from Rep
reSentative league, Democrat, of
Texas, a war veteran and commit
tee member, who made public an
Army inspection team report.
pointing to a lack of interest by
school authorities.
There were both charges and
denials as to the reasons for re-
duced ranks of the cadets. There
were also promises that full sur
vey of the facts and recommended
tions for improvement soon would
be filed with Mr.. league.
Old issues came to head last
night, when the Texan issued a
press statement quoting a report
by I'd Army inspection team to
the effect that School Supt. Ho-
bart M. Corning had Indicated
it would be better for all con-
cerned If military training was
abandoned.
Denied by Corning.
/ A direct denial came Immediate
ly from DR.. Corning as soon as he
had heard of the report. He said
such charges were utterly false. ;"
The school superintendent said
he and school officers have been
at work for some time on means
of building up the cadet corps"
and that he thinks there are ways
of making it work.
Mr.. league said he had so far
received only a digest of the in
spection report on high school
cadets here from the I'd Army at
Fort Meade, which with Roosevelt.
Western and Wilson High Schools
and the Bell and Chamberlain Vo-
cational High Schools.
! But summary of the report,
Mr.. league said. contains the
statement that DR.. Corning "ad-
mitted that the activities of the
cadet corps had been somewhat
curtailed since the war but firmly
believed that this could not be
rectifled, due to oversize student
enrolment. and crowded sched-
ules."
Limited knowledge Claimed.
The report added that the su-
perintendent showed lack of
knowledge of the cadet program,
other than restrictions governing
activities of the professors of mill
tary science and tactics"
The school superintendent, ac-
cording to the league report of
the Army survey, several times
intimated that it would be better
for all concerned if military train
ing was abandoned"
Mr.. league added that this
view is not shared by administra-
tors of colored schools. where en-
rollment in the cadets has been
high.
DR.. Corning said all the charges
are "categorically untrue. without
exception"
School officials and officers, he
said. have been working on means
Of building up the cadet corps and
believe it should be done. He said
he has conference scheduled for
tomorrow with reserve officers in
terested in the program.
Cannot Force Recruiting.
We've done our best to get
the students interested in joining
the cadets" he said. I'VE have
arranged for their participation
in various public events like the
inaugural parade. We have no way
of forcing them into the program
1--WE are working diligently on
the problem. The size of the cadet
corps has been dWindling for
years. since the time before the
war, and we now have reached a
new low"
In his press release last night,
Mr.. league said some of the con-
clusions reached by the Army in
spection team are:
"A decided lack of interest on
the part of school authorities and
veiled determination not to al
low any improvement.
THE negative attitude of some
administrators is decidedly HARM
full. The cadet corps can be put on
a superior level. AS an example,
the system at the Richmond high
school, was faced with identical
problems, but it now meets every
requirement and is superior in
every sense of the word"
Sympathetic Administrators Urged
Recommendations in the inspec-
tion team report, Mr.. league said
include bringing the cadet training
into the school day and the addi-
ton of one or two fulltime assist
ants to the staffs of each professor
of military science.
Mr.. league said the cadet corps
requires administrators who are