Chapter XLIX: Part X (4)

Reveillé, 5 a.m. Policing camp just after reveillé. Infantry company drills, for all classes, 5.30 a.m. Surgeon’s call, 6.30 a.m. Breakfast call, 7 a.m. Parade call, 8 a.m. Guard mounting, immediately after parade. Siege and sea-coast artillery drill for 1st class; Light Battery drill, 2d class; Foot Light Battery drill, 4th class; 9 till 10 a.m. Laboratory duty for two weeks, signaling, practical and topograpical engineering, for rest of term for 1st class, 10 till 12 a.m. Laboratory duty for 3d class for two weeks, 10 till 12 a.m. Infantry squad drill for 4th class, 10 till 11 a.m. Dinner, 1 p.m. Policing camp, 4 p.m. Infantry company’s drill for all classes, 5.30 p.m. Parade, sunset, Supper, after parade. Tattoo, 9.30 p.m. Taps, 9.45 p.m.

I. REGULATIONS

RELATIVE TO

THE ADMISSION OF CADETS INTO THE MILITARY ACADEMY.

Applications for admission into the United States Military Academy at West Point, should be made by letter to the Secretary of War. By provision of law, each Congressional and Territorial district, and the District of Columbia, is entitled to have one cadet at the Military Academy, and no more. The district appointments are made on the nomination of the member of Congress representing the district at the date of the appointment. The law requires that the individual selected shall be an actual resident of the Congressional district of the State or Territory, or District of Columbia, from which the appointment purports to be made. Also, appointments “at large,” not to exceed ten, are annually made. Application can be made, at any time, by the candidate himself, his parent, guardian, or any of his friends, and the name placed on the register. No preference will be given to applications on account of priority; nor will any application be entered in the register when the candidate is under or above the prescribed age; the _precise age_ must be given; _no relaxation of the regulation in this respect will be made_; nor will any application be considered in cases where the age and other qualifications of the candidates are not stated. The fixed abode of the candidate, and _number_ of the Congressional district which he considers his permanent residence, must be set forth in the application. The pay of a cadet is $30 per month, to commence from his admission into the Military Academy, and is considered ample with proper economy, for his support.

The appointments will be made annually in the month of February or March, on the applications made within the preceding year. The claims of all the candidates on the register will be considered and acted upon. No certain information can be given as to the probable success of the candidate, before the arrival of the period for making the selections. Persons, therefore, making applications, must not expect to receive information on this point.

As a general rule, no person will be appointed who has had a brother
educated at the institution.

QUALIFICATIONS.

Candidates must be over sixteen and under twenty-one years of age, at the time of entrance into the Military Academy; must be at least five feet in height, and free from any deformity, disease, or infirmity, which would render them unfit for the military service, and from any disorder of an infectious or immoral character. They must be able to read and write well, and perform with facility and accuracy the various operations of the four ground rules of arithmetic, of reduction, of simple and compound proportion, and of vulgar and decimal fractions.

It must be understood that a full compliance with the above conditions will be insisted on--that is to say--the candidate must write in a fair and legible hand, and without any material mistakes in spelling, such sentences as shall be dictated by the examiners; and he must answer promptly, and without errors, all their questions in the above-mentioned rules of arithmetic: failing in any of these particulars, he will be rejected.

It must also be understood, that every candidate will, soon after his arrival at West Point, be subjected to a rigid examination by an experienced medical board; and should there be found to exist in him any of the following causes of disqualification, to such a degree as will immediately, or in all probability may at no very distant period, impair his efficiency, he will be rejected:

1. Feeble constitution and muscular tenuity; unsound health from whatever cause; indications of former disease; glandular swellings, or other symptoms of scrofula.

2. Chronic cutaneous affections, especially of the scalp, or any
disorder of an infectious character.

3. Severe injuries of the bones of the head; convulsions.

4. Impaired vision from whatever cause; inflammatory affections of the eyelids; immobility or irregularity of the iris; fistula lachrymalis, &c., &c.

5. Deafness; copious discharge from the ears.

6. Loss of many teeth, or teeth generally unsound.

7. Impediment of speech.

8. Want of due capacity of the chest, and any other indication of a
liability to a pulmonic disease.

9. Impaired or inadequate efficiency of one or both of the superior extremities on account of fractures, especially of the clavicle, contraction of a joint, extenuation, deformity, &c., &c.

10. An unnatural excurvature or incurvature of the spine.

11. Hernia.

12. A varicose state of the veins, of the scrotum and spermatic cord,
(when large,) sarcocele, hydrocele, hemorrhoids, fistulas.

13. Impaired or inadequate efficiency of one or both of the inferior extremities on account of varicose veins, fractures, malformation, (flat feet, &c.,) lameness, contraction, unequal length, bunions, over-lying or supernumerary toes, &c., &c.

14. Ulcers, or unsound cicatrices of ulcers likely to break out
afresh.

The above Regulations were issued by the War Department in 1862. Although it appears from this official document, that “applications for admission into the United States Military Academy at West Point, should be made by letter to the Secretary of War,” and that “the claims of all candidates on the register will be considered and acted upon,” it is also stated, that “_the district appointments are made on the nomination of the member of Congress representing the district at the date of the appointment_.” This delicate duty, and great privilege of selecting, out of all the young men between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one years, in a Congressional district of at least 70,000 inhabitants, who aspire to serve their country in a military capacity, the one _best_ qualified, or even _well_ qualified, is not imposed or conferred directly by law, but by the practice of the appointing power, on the member for that district.

_Summary of Qualifications (in Circular of 1871)._

A sound body and constitution, a fixed degree of preparation, good natural capacity, an aptitude for study, industrious habits, perseverance, an obedient and orderly disposition, and a correct moral deportment are such essential qualifications that candidates knowingly deficient in any of these respects should not, as many do, subject themselves and their friends to the chances of future mortification and disappointment, by accepting appointments to the Academy and entering upon a career which they can not successfully pursue.

_Method of Testing the Qualifications of Candidates._

Candidates should be able to _read_ with facility from any book, giving the proper intonation and pauses, and to _write_ portions that are read aloud for that purpose, spelling the words and punctuating the sentences properly. Some historical work should preferably be chosen, and successive passages read till the reading exercises are ended. Then, from another part of the book, a suitable paragraph or paragraphs, of reasonable length, should be read aloud to the candidates, with proper intonations and pauses, as a guide to punctuation, and written down by them as read.

In Arithmetic they should be able to perform with facility examples under the four ground rules, and hence should be familiar with the tables of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and be able to perform examples in reduction and in vulgar and decimal fractions, such as:

Add ⅔ to ¾; subtract ⅖ from ⅚; multiply ¾ by ⅞; divide ⅖ by ⅜

Add together two hundred and thirty-four thousandths, (.234,)
twenty-six thousandths, (.026,) and three thousandths, (.003.)

Subtract one hundred and sixty-one ten thousandths (.0161) from
twenty-five hundredths (.25.)

Multiply or divide twenty-six hundredths (.26) by sixteen thousandths
(.016.)

They should also be able to change vulgar fractions into decimal fractions, and decimals into vulgar fractions, with examples like the following:

Change 15/16 into a decimal fraction of the same value.

Change one hundred and two thousandths (.102) into a vulgar fraction.

In simple and compound proportion, examples of various kinds should be given, and the candidates should understand the principles of the rules followed.

In English Grammar candidates should exhibit a familiarity with the nine parts of speech and the rules in relation thereto; should be able to parse any ordinary sentence given to them, and, generally, should understand those portions of the subject usually taught in the higher academies and schools throughout the country, under Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody.

In Descriptive Geography they should name, locate, and describe the natural grand and political divisions of the earth, and be able to delineate any one of the States or Territories of the American Union, with its principal cities, rivers, lakes, seaports, and mountains.

In History they should be able to name the periods of the discovery and settlement of the North American continent; of the rise and progress of the United States, and of the successive wars and political administrations.

The examinations in Orthography, Grammar, Geography, and History may
be either oral or written.

Candidates undoubtedly deficient in any one requisite, or more than one, should resign any expectation of admission till the deficiency is overcome.

Candidates should first be examined by a medical practitioner, with reference to the physical requirements and disqualifications set forth in the circular; such as are manifestly disqualified being so informed.

The condition of body and mind considered together should be regarded, as well as general proficiency in the studies as a whole. Especially should natural ability and manifest aptitude for acquiring and applying knowledge take precedence of mere scholastic finish and readiness of answer to former problems. Other things being equal, preference should be given, in order, to those whose claims are strengthened by military, naval, or other distinguished service rendered to the country by themselves or their immediate relatives; and it is better for candidates to be nearer the minimum than the maximum age.

BOARD OF VISITORS

In the Regulations for the government of the Military Academy, approved July 1, 1816, provision for the appointment of a Board of Visitors, to consist of five competent gentlemen, who should attend at each general examination, and report thereon to the War Department through the Inspector, who appears to have been from the start the senior officer of the corps of Engineers.

In 1846 (Aug. 8), Congress authorized the appointment annually, by the President, of a Board of Visitors, whose duty it was made to attend each yearly examination, and report to the Secretary of War upon the discipline, instruction, police and fiscal affairs of the Academy. The members were to be taken from one half of the number of States, alternating yearly with the other half, each member being a _bona fide_ resident of the State from whence appointed, and each Congressional district being in turn designated to furnish an appointee. Of the members each year, not less than six must be taken from among officers actually serving in the militia.

_Extract from Act of Congress approved August 8, 1846, amended by Acts
of March 16, 1868, and February 21, 1870._

That the President is authorized to appoint a Board of Visitors to attend the annual examination of the Military Academy, whose duty it shall be to report to the Secretary of War, for the information of Congress, at the commencement of the next succeeding session, the actual state of the discipline, instruction, police, administration, fiscal affairs, and other concerns of the institution: _Provided_, That the whole number of visitors each year shall not exceed seven: _Provided, further_, That no compensation shall be made to said members beyond the payment of their expenses for board and lodging while at the Military Academy, and an allowance, not to exceed eight cents per mile, for traveling by the shortest mail route from their respective homes to the Academy, and back to their homes. And in addition to the other members of the Board of Visitors to be appointed by the President, according to law, to attend the annual examination of cadets at the United States Military Academy, there shall be on every such board two Senators, to be designated by the Vice-President, or President _pro tempore_ of the Senate; and three members of the House of Representatives, to be designated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, such designations respectively to be made at the session of Congress next preceding the time of such examination; and the Senators and members so appointed shall make full report of their action as such visitors, with their views and recommendations in regard to the said Military Academy, within twenty days after the meeting of Congress, at the session next succeeding the time of their appointment.

EXTRACT FROM REPORT OF VISITORS FOR 1871.

Twenty-five years ago West Point was substantially separate from the outside world; for several months of the year a mail was not received oftener than once in three or four days. The presence of visitors was almost wholly unknown, and the officers and cadets formed a community by and of themselves. The relations existing between the officers and cadets was like that at present existing between the officers and soldiers at a military post. Cadets were permitted to visit at the quarters of professors and officers on Saturday afternoons, and at no other time. But so reserved were the manners of officers, even on such occasions, that the privilege, though recognized, was very rarely exercised. There was substantially no social intercourse between the officers and the cadets.

In those days, too, the rigor of discipline put all cadets, the sons of the rich and the sons of the poor, upon a common footing. The regulations not only prohibited any cadet from receiving money from his parents and friends, but no place existed, or was permitted to exist, on the limits, where cadets could expend money. Occasionally a cadet was allowed to purchase what he pleased under the head of “sundries;” not exceeding one dollar in amount, and that only on the order of an officer in charge.

But all this has changed. West Point is now or fast becoming a place of fashionable resort. Hotels have been erected in near proximity to the post, and hundreds of visitors now repair thither where one did in former years. This influx of fashionable life has caused a relaxation of the rules in regard to cadets visiting. The great distance between officers and cadets has been gradually diminished. Cadets of the first class may now visit officers every day in the week, and officers and cadets associate together with a freedom of intercourse not formerly known. Insensibly the standard of discipline has been lowered, until the Academy has less than formerly the character of the Regular Army, and more the features of a militia establishment, where officers and men are separated while on duty, but mingle in social intercourse when the hour of drill or parade has passed.

Although the regulation in regard to cadets receiving money remains unchanged, yet, at present, a new functionary, known as the “cadet confectioner,” is allowed to keep open on cadet limits a place of resort which cadets are known to frequent daily to enjoy the table, and where they may treat their fellows without stint or limit. Thus one of the elements of equality which formerly existed among the cadets is destroyed, and the son of a wealthy man may fare sumptuously, while the poor boy must confine himself to such food as the mess-hall affords.

Many other causes might be mentioned as contributing to the present condition of things, and many other illustrations of the change from the custom of former years might be given. But those members of the board who have been appointed by the Vice-President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, and whose duty it is by law specially made to report to Congress upon this subject, will doubtless do so at length, and therefore this board pass the subject without as full a consideration as would otherwise be demanded. But this board, feeling the importance of a high state of discipline to the efficiency of the Academy, to accomplish the purpose for which it is maintained, earnestly recommend a return to the stricter kind of discipline which was administered years ago. An army must be governed by different methods and upon different principles from a civil society and to an army and to every military establishment discipline is a necessity.

With a view to this end, in the opinion of this board, the superintendent and commandant of cadets should always be officers of high rank, who, by their age and military distinction, can command not only the respect but the implicit obedience of the cadets.

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS FOR 1863.

The Board of Visitors invited by the Secretary of War to visit the Military Academy at West Point, to make “a full and free investigation of the Military and Scientific instruction of the Cadets, and of the internal police, discipline, and fiscal concerns of the institution, and communicate the results of their observations, with any suggestions for the improvement of the Academy,” consisted of the following members:

Oliver S. Munsell, _Illinois_, PRESIDENT. Birdsey G. Northrop, _Mass._, SECRETARY. Thomas M. Allen, _Missouri_. Henry Barnard, _Connecticut_. Samuel W. Bostwick, _Ohio_. Thomas Brainard, _Penn._ Cyrus Bryant, _Illinois_. A. W. Campbell, _West Virginia_. Ralph W. Emerson, _Mass._ Oran Faville, _Iowa_. John H. Goodenow, _Maine_. P. D. Gurley, _District of Columbia_. Oliver P. Hubbard, _New Hampshire_. Edward Maynard, _District of Columbia_. Henry S. Randall, _New York_. William H. Russell, _Conn._ William A. Rust, _Maine_. Albert Smith, _New Hampshire_.

The Visitors introduce an account of their inspection with the following remarks:

Some of our number came with objections and prejudices against the Academy. But all doubts as to the value and importance of the institution were banished by the evidence presented in the course of our personal inquiries into its present condition and actual results. The Mexican war clearly evinced the value of military science. Still more has the present war demonstrated the necessity of maintaining, and even enlarging our Military Academy.

This Academy belongs to the whole nation. So far as its purpose and numbers permit, it is the Peoples’ College. It is maintained for the special benefit of no particular section, sect, party, or class. We could discover no evidence of aristocracy, exclusiveness, or caste. The Cadets represent all sects and parties, and almost all nationalities, now naturalized among us. The poor are not denied its privileges, for the expenses of all are paid alike. If particular dogmas have at any time prevailed here, the fact is an accidental, rather than an essential one, and should be referred to the ruling influences at the seat of government, and not to any inherent element in the local organization at West Point.

Their Report has been communicated to the Secretary, by whom the same will be transmitted to Congress--to receive such attention as the Secretary and Congress may see fit to bestow on its various suggestions. By permission of the Secretary, we transfer to our pages, that portion of the Report in which the subject of the Admission of Cadets--their number, age, attainments, and mode of appointment, is discussed with considerable fullness.

ADMISSION OF CADETS.

In concluding the report of their inspection of this, the only national military school, to which the country naturally looks for the organization and command of her armies, and the construction of her works of defense, the Visitors would respectfully urge on the consideration of the Department, an immediate and thorough revision of the law and regulations relating to the admission of Cadets--the number, the qualifications required, and the mode of ascertaining these qualifications, and of making the appointments. No matter how appropriate may be the location, how complete the buildings and equipment, and how skillful and faithful the teachers, unless there is a constant and sufficient supply of pupils of the right age, character, bodily and mental vigor and aptitude, as well as aspirations for a military career, the public will be disappointed in the practical workings of the institution.

1. The number of pupils in the Military Academy is determined by the law, which limits the Cadet Corps of the United States Army to one cadet for each Congressional District in the several States, one for each Territory, one for the District of Columbia, and to forty more, whom the President may appoint, ten each year, from the country at large, without reference to their residence. Under this law, if each Congressional District and Territory were represented, the whole number of cadets would be two hundred and eighty, but owing to vacancies by withdrawal or non-appointment in Congressional Districts in the States involved in the rebellion, the number at this time is reduced to less than two hundred--and the graduating class of 1863, to twenty-five--a number altogether inadequate for the regular army in time of peace, and much below the present and future exigences of the service, while the expense of the Academy remains the same. We are assured by the Superintendent that without any additional expense for building and material equipment, and with a small advance in the pay of pupils and assistant teachers, the Cadet Corps could be increased to four hundred. The Visitors are unanimously of the opinion that the corps should be at once increased to this number, and should be maintained at this maximum at all times, by authorizing the President to appoint to any vacancy which may remain unfilled for three months by reason of nullification, secession, rebellion, or any other cause. If the appointments to fill and maintain the Corps at this maximum, can be selected out of the many American youths, ambitious to serve their country in the army, on the plan of an open competitive examination in the several States, the Visitors believe that ninety out of every one hundred thus appointed will go through the whole course with honor, and the average ability, scholarship, and good conduct of the whole corps, will equal that now reached by the first ten of each class.

2. By the original law providing for the appointment of cadets to the corps of Artillerists and Engineers, and by the act of 1812, by which the Military Academy was made to consist of the Corps of Engineers, the candidates for cadets were to be “not under the age of fourteen, nor above the age of twenty-one years.” By regulations of the Department the minimum age is fixed at sixteen years, and the Visitors believe that the interests of the Academy and the military service, will be promoted by making the legal age for admission between eighteen and twenty-one years. The four years preceding and including eighteen are peculiarly the formative period of the body, mind, and character, and should be devoted to the acquisition of right habits of study and general culture, as the proper foundation for all special and professional training, which should not be commenced until the constitution is consolidated, the taste for a pursuit is distinctly pronounced, and the moral character is naturally developed under the influences and supervision of home. The experience of Europe, and particularly of France and England, has led to the abandonment of juvenile military schools, as nurseries for officers; and the very common practice of nominating candidates who exceed the legal age, expresses the convictions of our own people that military studies now require more maturity of mind than was deemed necessary in the early history of the Academy. The present want of uniformity as to age and mental discipline explains in part, the wide disparity of attainments between members of the same class. With few brilliant exceptions, confined to cadets of rare aptitude and vigor of mind, the most solid practical education is obtained by those who come to West Point when at least eighteen years of age, with at least a good preparation in English studies, and a taste for mathematical and military pursuits.

3. The school attainments required by law of candidates for admission to the Military Academy, are as rudimentary and limited as our language can express--far below, we are assured, the requisitions of any similar school in the world. Prior to 1812, when the Academy was little more than a school of mathematics, taught by two professors, in the line of geometrical and algebraical demonstrations, and the practical exercises were confined to surveying, and the simplest forms of military construction, the candidates were not subjected to any examination. The act of 1812, provides that “each candidate previously to his appointment, shall be well versed in reading, writing, and arithmetic,” and by regulations of the department, the knowledge of arithmetic is restricted to only a portion of that science. There were special reasons at the start for thus limiting the amount of knowledge, when the minimum age of admission was fixed at fourteen years, and the Academy was properly a juvenile military school, like all cadet schools in Europe at that time. At that date, science entered far less than now into the art of war, as applied to the means and modes of attack as well as of defense. Besides, the opportunities of even elementary instruction were then far less widely or equally distributed through all the States than now, when the general government has set apart over sixty million acres of the best land in aid of primary schools in all the new States, and nearly every State legislature has subjected the entire property of their several communities to taxation for the support of public instruction. Now that the requirement as to age has been advanced from the fourteenth to the sixteenth year, and by the voluntary action of parties having the nomination, or seeking the appointment, to the eighteenth year, we see no reason why the school attainments corresponding to, and compatible with that age, should not be also required. The least that should be demanded of any candidate is that amount of general culture and attainments, which constitutes a good English education, and which it is now the aim of the public schools, and their boast, to give without partiality, to all, poor and rich alike, if the advantages they proffer are properly improved. And we see no injustice in fixing the standard of general attainments and culture as high as that now reached by cadets in good standing at the close of their first year in this Academy, including even an elementary knowledge of one modern language. If the French, or Spanish, or German language is to be mastered by American officers for the sake of the military science and literature which it embodies, or its uses in conversation, or official duty, called for by the exigences of our foreign relations, both in peace and war, its acquisition should be begun as early in life as possible, while the organs of speech are flexible, and the grammatical and etymological difficulties of a new language are more readily surmounted. Judging from the results of the examinations we have witnessed here, and what we know of the attainments made by students in colleges elsewhere, very few persons, who begin the study of modern languages, late in their school life, in the pressure of other studies, ever attain the mastery of even one, so as to be able to use it as an instrument of written or spoken communication, or make its treasures of science and literature a familiar possession.

Whatever may be thought of the disciplinary and practical value of earlier and longer attention to one or more modern languages, to those, whose minds will otherwise be almost exclusively subjected to the peculiar training of the mathematics, there can be no doubt that young men who have reached the age of eighteen, and desire to profit by the special studies of a purely military school, should exhibit in their language, habits, and attainments that intellectual, moral, and esthetical culture, which the public or private schools of any State can, and should give to any youth of average ability of that age.

4. Low as the requirements for admission now are, from a defective and vicious mode, as we believe, of selecting candidates, and making appointments to the Cadet Corps, the number of candidates nominated and provisionally appointed, who present themselves at West Point and shrink from any examination, or who fail to pass even the entrance examination which is confined to reading a few passages of familiar English prose or verse, and writing a few sentences from dictation, and performing on the blackboard a few operations of the most elementary character in arithmetic,--or being admitted, are not able to gain or keep a respectable standing for one year, although the studies of the first year belong to a general, and not a military education,--or by a “special providence,” manage just to escape dismission from incompetency, and graduate,--is disgracefully large. The country abounds in youth, competent to master and profit by the course of instruction here provided, and ambitious of enjoying these privileges of education, and opportunities of distinction; and a selection by lot from the juvenile population of any state, could not result in so few prizes, and such a dreary waste of blanks as have been realized from the appointments made, in the necessary absence of all personal knowledge of the candidates by the appointing power, on the recommendation, or nomination of one or more persons in each Congressional District, in no way responsible for the incompetency of the individuals named.

From official tables prepared from the records of the Academy,[14] it appears that the proportion of all who graduate, to all appointed in successive periods of ten years, is as follows:

For Ten Years, from 1802 to 1811, 0.606
“ “ “ 1812 to 1821, 0.289
“ “ “ 1822 to 1831, 0.377
“ “ “ 1832 to 1841, 0.472
“ “ “ 1842 to 1851, 0.510
“ “ “ 1852 to 1861, 0.523

[Footnote 14: See Boynton’s “History of Military Academy at West
Point,” p. 293.]

From official returns furnished by the Superintendent, a portion of which are hereto appended, (B. C.) it appears that out of 4626 who have been admitted to the Corps of Cadets, (including two hundred new members,) only 2020 were able to graduate, and of those who failed, (2398, excluding those who remain,) more than three-fifths broke down in the first year in studies which in almost every military and scientific school in Europe are required for admission. Out of the whole number regularly nominated, recommended, and provisionally appointed from 1841 to 1863, more than twenty per cent. failed to pass the examination, as to health and constitution, or the slight examination in reading, writing, and ciphering. And this proportion would be increased by the number who withdrew in advance from the consciousness of their unfitness for a position to which ambitious and influential friends had promoted them. Out of the whole number admitted from 1851 to 1862, more than one-third failed during their first year. The proportion of graduates to the whole number admitted is 46 per cent. and of those who failed to graduate, 54 per cent.

The Visitors are unanimously of opinion that in a matter of such vital importance as the right organization and command of the armies of the United States, on which the honor and safety of the whole country depend, the original appointment to the Cadet Corps which is the _first step_ in promotion to such command, as well as to all the special duties which attach to the engineer service, should not be made in any case except on the principle of finding the best youth for the place--having the health, character, vigor of body, maturity and aptitude of mind, and preparatory knowledge, to profit by the opportunities of the special military training provided by the government for this corps, and a decided taste and expressed desire for a military career. And to this end, the law and regulations should provide for the rigorous exclusion in advance of all who can not present testimonials from the teachers under whose instruction they have been for the two years next previous, that in their opinion they possess the qualifications above specified, and who do not make a written declaration of their desire to enter the Corps for the purpose of qualifying themselves to labor in the military service of the government, to which they will bear true allegiance against all enemies foreign and domestic, and over all state and local authority, government and constitution whatever. To select the best out of any number who may present their testimonials and written declarations, public examination should be held of all applicants at such times and places as the law should prescribe, by such persons and under such regulations as the Department shall be authorized to appoint; and the results of such examination of each person examined, and in each subject specified by law, should be returned to the Department, in which return the applicants should be arranged in the order of merit. From this merit roll, revised from year to year, all appointments to the Cadet Corps should be made, and in the order of merit as assigned by the examiners.

This principle of appointment and promotion by merit which we advocate, is in full and successful operation in the classification and advancement of cadets in the Academy itself, and the country will be satisfied if the same principle can be as fairly and rigorously enforced on all who aspire to enter, as well as on all promotions in the service after leaving the institution. The principle itself, of selection by merit, either in the mode of public examination, or of careful and searching inquiry by competent and impartial educators, designated for this purpose by the parties to whom custom and not law had assigned the grave responsibility of nominating candidates, has been voluntarily applied in several Congressional Districts. Not a cadet known to have been thus selected and appointed, has ever broken down from want of vigor of body or mind, or failed to reach and maintain an honorable position on the merit roll of the Academy; and to this careful selection by those who felt the responsibility of the privilege accorded to them, is the country indebted for its most eminent and useful officers.

To the objection that selection by public competitive examination, will involve expense, we reply, that any expense which will do away with the prejudices against the Academy, which the present system of patronage has done so much directly and indirectly to evoke and foster, and which will, at the same time, exclude incompetent, and secure the services of vigorous, talented, well trained officers, for every arm of the service, will be well incurred. But, in our opinion, there will be no more expense in selecting and educating a given number of cadets on this plan, than on the present. The two thousand cadets who were appointed by patronage and failed to graduate, cost the government, directly and indirectly each year, a much larger sum than it would have taken to have excluded them in advance from the institution by competitive examination, and filling their places by better men; and their exclusion by substituting better material, would have been an incalculable gain to the Academy, facilitating its discipline, increasing the value of its instruction, and giving to the army a larger number of competent officers.

The objection, that the mode of making all appointments by open competitive examination, will deprive the President, and members of Congress of the opportunity of appointing the sons of meritorious officers, or poor, and it may be, orphan boys of genius--is more plausible than real. That such appointments have been made, to the manifest advantage of the country, is certain. But we know not a single instance of such marked success, on the part of a cadet thus appointed, as to attract investigation, where the same youth would not have secured the appointment in open competition. But if he had failed, and the place had been filled by one better qualified, the country would have been no loser, and he would have suffered no injustice or neglect. We fear, from an abuse of this amiable motive of rewarding meritorious parents, and assisting the poor, that in some instances, weak, ignorant, and incompetent persons are appointed, as though this Academy were a public charity school, or home for orphans; and not a special school for military instruction and training, for which the great object, in any mode of appointment, is to select those who will profit most by its advantages, and do the country the greatest service after being thus educated at its expense.

To the objections that, in these examinations, “the most forward boys will have the best chance, and such boys seldom make the best men,” and that no amount of book knowledge can give assurance of the great military genius, “which must be born and not made,” we reply, that these objections apply just as forcibly to any plan of nomination, and to every system of instruction. But we believe that those examinations can be and will be so conducted as to distinguish what is precocious from what is the healthy development of the faculties, what is solid from what is showy in attainments, what is vigor, grasp and aptitude of mind from what is mere memory and quickness, in competing candidates. All of these candidates must bring the testimonials of their former teachers, as to their character, ability and attainments, must have reached the age of eighteen years, and will be called upon to exhibit orally as well as in writing their knowledge and opinions on subjects which require judgment, reflection, presence of mind and decision. If a young man of eighteen and upward shows that he has done well what he had undertaken to do thus far in life, that he has preserved a sound constitution in vigorous health, has mastered the studies appropriate to his age, is honest, diligent, thoughtful, teachable, courageous, courteous, and ambitious of excellence generally, then the country has every assurance which can be given that on this basis of character, talents, attainments, and application, a solid fabric of military education can be reared, and that in the hour of trial he will show not only courage to dare, but competence to devise, influence and command. In the responsibilities of such an hour will be found the fruitage of all his previous promise and preparation.

To the objection--“that a competitive examination must always result in the success of the best instructed, wholly irrespective of the capacity of the competing candidates; and the plan will thus secure for the country the services of dull mediocrity well instructed, and exclude genius without opportunities of development,”--we reply, that this does occur now under the present system, but need not, and never has been the result of competitive examination properly conducted. The examination which we propose to have inaugurated, is not to search simply or mainly for the results of memory or diligence, but for “vigor and aptitude of mind” in reference to the special purposes of this Academy. The examination will be poorly conducted, and will operate here widely differently than elsewhere, if it does not only exclude in advance palpable incompetency, and ascertain beyond doubt the possession by all the successful candidates, of that knowledge which is the basis of a special military training, but also seek, and give credit in the result, for the quick eye, the firm set mouth, the vigor and elasticity of body, the rapid decision, the contempt of danger, the competency to influence and command--and all the other marks of the incipient soldier and officer, as well as the mathematical tastes and qualities of mind which indicate the successful engineer. Composed as every Examination Commission might be, of at least one experienced officer of the United States Army, of one member (past or present,) of the Academic Board, of one officer of the State Militia, as well as one or more experts in educational matters, the military qualities of body, character and mind, will be sought for as well as the mere results of memory, diligence and good opportunities of instruction, in the competing candidates.

To the objection, that candidates will make special preparation, and in the phraseology of the class-room, “cram for the occasion,” we reply,--to such preparation and cramming as cover the whole ground of a good English education, we can see no possible objection; the more of it, the better. If the preparation is only crude and on the surface, we are sure that the ploughshare of interrogation requiring precise answers, oral and written, will very soon expose its superficial and undigested character.

To the sifting out and selection by open competition, might be added a period of probation for the successful candidates--making their first year’s connection with the academy a further test of capacity, preparation, and aptitude for a military career. No pains and no expense should be spared to exclude from the academy and the service, incompetent, indifferent, and unteachable cadets and officers; such men are “cumberers of the ground,” and no influence and inertia should be potent enough to resist the inevitable working of the principle of open competition, applied at frequent intervals, and at every stage of promotion, in getting rid of such cadets and officers.

The fact that such a public examination is to be held from year to year, and that the educational privileges of this Academy, and immediate and prospective promotion in the army are the prizes which await success, will, in five years call forth more latent genius in the obscure corners and poor families of a State, than has ever been sought out by the lantern of patronage, (which is now seldom carried beyond the family, or neighborhood, or party of the person having the nomination,) since the foundation of the Academy. With the network of public and elementary schools, woven by state legislation over all the land--with public schools of a higher grade, and special schools of science and the arts already established, at short intervals, or which will be called into existence by the demand for a higher and different preparation from that now given, it may be safely said, that no genius, likely to attract the attention of a member of Congress, will exist, which will not be developed under the same influences by which the “dull mediocrity” of the rest of the community will be educated. Once set in the path of instruction and development, real genius will assert its own claims to attention, and will, on a first or second trial, before any board of examiners, make its vigor, courage, and persistence felt. The result will be the same in this institution, as in every really good Public High School and Free Academy--all classes as to wealth, occupation, religious and political affinities will be represented,--provided the regulations are judicious, and the examination practical and impartial.

This is the experience of the competitive principle in France ever since it was inaugurated by Carnot in the Polytechnic School at Paris, and Napoleon extended its application to every public special school, and to promotion in every department of administration, civil as well as military. And where is there more general administrative ability, central and local? Where are abler or better trained officers, military and civil, to be found? Where does “well instructed mediocrity,” no matter how well backed up by wealth, find less favor, or genius for organization and command, no matter how poor or unfriended, find such speedy and sure recognition?

The experience of England in the trial of the two principles of patronage and competitive examination for admission, not only to the military and naval schools, but to the East India and the Civil service generally, is instructive, and especially on the points which we are now considering. Prior to the Crimean war, (which exposed the utter incompetency of a large number of officers, who had obtained their military education and promotion by patronage and purchase,)--admission to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, was by nomination, and the age fixed by law, was fourteen years.

The Secretary of War was satisfied by personal inquiry in 1855, that nothing could do so much to narrow and cramp the full development of a boy’s mind, as his long confinement from so early an age among lads having the same limited attainments, special studies, and destination;--that a majority of those admitted on nomination and through influential friends, had only the minimum qualifications specified by law;--that to most cadets the severer studies were irksome and imperfectly mastered, on account of immaturity of mind and imperfect preparation;--that the certainty of promotion by influence and purchase, after obtaining the diploma of the Academy, and not unfrequently without it, took away all stimulus for continued study;--that resignations were common, when the profession of arms ceased to be a pastime, or could be exchanged for something that paid better--and the service was incumbered by officers without large and trained capacity for command, although not deficient in courage and dash. Under these circumstances the Secretary of War, advanced the minimum age of candidates from fourteen to eighteen years, removed all the general studies of the Academy into the preparatory course, and opened the doors of admission to those only, who could prove their title to enter by personal merit, in a free competitive examination. The same principle was applied to appointments and promotion in the new regiments called for by the exigences of the great war in which England found herself engaged.

Subjects, time, and places of examination, were officially made known throughout the kingdom, and commissions to conduct the examinations were appointed, composed of men of good common sense, military officers, and eminent practical teachers and educators. The results as stated in a debate in Parliament, five years later, on extending this principle to all public schools, and to all appointments and promotions in every department of the public service, were as follows:--In the competitive examinations for admission to the Royal Military Academy, candidates from all classes of society appeared--sons of merchants, attorneys, clergymen, mechanics, and noblemen, and among the successful competitors, every class was represented. Among the number was the son of a mechanic in the arsenal at Woolwich, and the son of an earl, who was at the time a Cabinet Minister--the graduates of National Schools, and the students of Eton, and other great Public Schools. The most successful candidates were between the ages of eighteen and nineteen, as is found to be the case in competitions for admission to the Polytechnic School of France. Out of 579 successful candidates for the latter, between 1854 and 1857, 450 were over eighteen years. But the most important result of the competitive examinations for Woolwich, was the superior mental ability, the vigorous health, and eagerness for study exhibited by the new classes, and the small number who have failed on account of ill-health or incompetency. On this point, Mr. Edward Chadwick, in a Report before the National Social Science Association, at Cambridge, in 1862, says:--

“Out of an average three hundred patronage appointed cadets at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, for officers of engineers and the artillery, during the five years preceding the adoption of the principle of open competition for admission to the Academy, there were fifty, who were after long and indulgent trial, and with a due regard to influential parents and patrons, dismissed for hopeless incapacity for the service of those scientific corps. During the five subsequent years, which have been years of the open competition principle, there has not been one dismissed for incapacity. Moreover, the general standard of capacity has been advanced. An eminent professor of this university who has taught as well under the patronage as under the competitive system at that Academy, declares that the quality of mind of the average of the cadets, has been improved by the competition, so much so, that he considers that the present average quality of mind of the cadets there,--though the sorts of attainment are different, has been brought up to the average of the first classmen of this (Cambridge) university, which of itself is a great gain. Another result, the opposite to that which was confidently predicted, by the opponents to the principle, has been that the average physical power or bodily strength, instead of being diminished, is advanced beyond the average of their predecessors.”

The opening of the Royal Military School at Woolwich to competition, on the basis of a more advanced age, and more thorough general education, has not only drawn in pupils of higher average ability and attainments, but has enabled the authorities to extend the course of instruction. In this, the only safe way, they solved the problem which has tortured the ingenuity of the friends of our Academy--of crowding new studies acknowledged to be desirable if not indispensable, into a course already too crowded for cadets so unequally, and, many of them, so imperfectly prepared for the course as it is.

Another result of immense importance to the educational interests of Great Britain has followed the introduction of these open competitive examinations for appointments to the Military and Naval Schools, to the East India service, as well as to fill vacancies in the principal clerkships in the War, Admiralty, Ordnance and Home Departments of the government:--a stimulus of the most healthy and powerful kind, worth more than millions of pecuniary endowment, has been given to all the great schools of the country, including the universities of England, Scotland and Ireland. As soon as it was known that candidates, graduates of Trinity College, Dublin, had succeeded over competitors from Oxford and Edinburgh in obtaining valuable appointments in the East India service--the professors in the latter universities began to look to their laurels. As soon as it was known to the master of any important school, that some of his leading pupils might compete in these examinations, and that his own reputation as a teacher depended in a measure on the success or failure of these pupils, he had a new motive to impart the most vigorous and thorough training to his whole school.

The success of candidates who had never seen the inside of a government Military School, in open competition for appointments to the Artillery and Engineer Corps, in the new regiments raised in 1855, over those who hold the diplomas of the Royal Military Academy, was one of the reasons which led to a thorough revision of the whole system of military education.

These results, imperfectly presented here, will, the Visitors believe, be realized from the changes, which they now suggest, in the requirements as to age, attainments, capacity and aptitude, and especially in the mode of ascertaining these qualifications, of candidates for appointments to the Cadet Corps of the United States Army.

To the present low requirements, and mode of selecting cadets, do they attribute the hostility which they know exists, to some extent, against this Academy, in different parts of the country. The charges of personal, and political favoritism in making nominations, and the absence of reasonable search, among all the youth of a district, for the best qualified in natural endowments and acquired knowledge irrespective of the poverty, or wealth, or occupation, or family, or party relations of the parents or guardians, we are forced to believe, in too many instances, to be well founded. To these hasty and injudicious nominations, do we attribute the bitter disappointments of so many individuals and families caused by the numerous failures to pass the almost formal entrance examinations in reading, spelling, penmanship, and elementary operations of arithmetic, or if admitted, to maintain a respectable standing in conduct and studies during their first year’s connection with the institution. To this inequality of preparation and maturity of mind on entrance, do we attribute the astonishing disparity of capacity and attainments in the members of the same class, and the very large proportion of all who are admitted, who fail to graduate in very high standing as men of science or military promise.