STRENGTHENING THE MORAL FIBER
When a new class of cadets reports at West Point, it is composed of
men as diverse in appearance, in points of view, and in character as
the parts of the country from which they come. But after they have
been at the Academy for a couple of years a marked change occurs, and
by the time they are ready to graduate they have undergone a complete
metamorphosis. In some mysterious manner they seem to have been
leveled to a certain standard, like some scraggly hedge that has been
scrupulously trimmed by its painstaking guardian. The fat ones have
lost their extra pounds; the thin ones have made good their deficit;
the round-shouldered have straightened up, and the hollow-chested have
filled out. Instead of a heterogeneous looking lot of men, they give
the impression of having been made from the same die. And then too
there is a uniformity about their point of view. Whereas at entrance
their whole thought was colored by the life from which they came and
by what they hoped to be, once enrolled in the Corps, they quickly and
involuntarily have found themselves worshiping identical ideals--the
ideals of Duty, Honor, and Country. They have discovered at West Point
certain standards that have been approved by other men, and they have
gradually adopted them as their own. But the real stamp of West Point
appears in their faces. The imprint is evident wherever a group of the
cadets are gathered together, but it is never so apparent as at the
graduation ceremonies when the cadets individually mount the platform
to receive their diplomas. Then one can see a certain look in the
eye and a certain feeling of strength about the features that is the
same. It is the look of men who have accomplished something and of the
strength that comes from character.
What, you ask, is this leveling influence at the Academy? It comes
from discipline, the discipline of the body, the discipline of the
mind, and the discipline of the soul. It is the one governing factor
in the success of West Point. All three kinds of it begin on the day
that the cadet reports for duty, and continues without interruption
during his entire course. The discipline of the body and the mind is
a comparatively simple affair, especially when there is a willingness
on the part of the subject, but the discipline of the soul is the
influence that is hardest to make cadets appreciate. Some people shy
when the word discipline is mentioned; they think that it means to
break a man’s will and to destroy his individuality, but that is not
so. The discipline that I speak of is a process of education whereby a
man’s mental attitude is trained to a certain viewpoint; whereby his
actions unconsciously respond to the correct ethical view of his duty.
It is aimed to teach respect for law and order, to teach truthfulness
and honesty, loyalty and obedience. It inculcates respect for
superiors, if not for the man, then for the office that he holds. It
teaches a soldier the sacredness of orders; it is the quality without
which no army is successful.
Under this strong influence of discipline come men from all sections of
our great country and from all classes of society. Viewed exteriorly
they are, upon reporting, as motley a looking lot as could be imagined.
An examination of their interiors would reveal natures and characters
of equal variety. Some come from homes where they have received the
most careful moral nurture; others from environments of vague and lax
standards. Side by side with youths who are models of truth are lads
with uncertain ideas of right and wrong. Among the throng are brilliant
boys and stupid ones; well-educated lads and those whose advantages
have been of the most limited sort; sons of rich men and boys who have
known the meaning of want. From everywhere they come: from the city and
from the farm; from the mountain and from the plain.
It is interesting to dwell for a moment on the following table showing
the sources of the personnel of the cadet body. Herein are listed the
occupations of the parents of the cadets and the number engaged in
each, covering a period of fifty years.
Accountants 3
Agents 62
Architects 5
Artists 4
Auctioneer 1
Auditor 1
Author 1
Baggagemaster 1
Bakers 4
Bankers and bank officers 90
Barbers 4
Bookkeepers 18
Brewers 3
Brokers 40
Builders 2
Butchers 2
Capitalist 1
Chief of police 1
City marshal 1
Clergymen 128
Clerk of House of Representatives 1
Clerks 90
Collectors 4
Commercial travelers 13
Conductors 2
Contractors 38
Cook 1
Cotton buyer 1
County officers 74
Cutlery commissioner 1
Dairyman 2
Dentists 14
Detectives 2
Distiller 1
Dock commissioner 1
Dock master 1
Draftsman 1
Druggists 13
Editors 62
Electroplater 1
Engineers:
Civil 13
Mechanical 10
Locomotive 3
Stationary 1
Enlisted men 4
Express business 2
Farmers and planters 1,149
Fishing master 1
Foreman 1
Gardeners 3
General business 5
Hatter 1
Heads of corporations 10
Hotel keepers 55
Iceman 1
Importer 1
Inspector of buildings 1
Inspectors of factories 2
Inspectors of police 2
Insurance business 38
Inventor 1
Jewelers 3
Journalists 8
Justice of peace 1
Laborers 29
Lawyers and judges 645
Letter carriers 1
Librarians 2
Lithographer 1
Liverymen 15
Lumbermen 20
Manager of brewery 1
Manager of engines and boilers 1
Manager of factory 1
Manager of land company 1
Manufacturers 151
Marble dealer 1
Mechanics 341
Member of city board 1
Member of State Legislature 1
Members of Congress 32
Merchant tailor 1
Merchants 722
Messenger 1
Millers 11
Mining 26
Museum keeper 1
Musician, band leader 1
Musicians 2
Newspaper correspondent 1
Newspaper manager 1
No occupation 191
Nurserymen 6
Officers of the Army 362
Officers of the Navy 59
Officers of volunteers 21
Oil business 2
Overseers 4
Photographers 6
Physicians 367
Pilot 1
Policemen 7
Police justices 2
Politicians 3
Postmasters 5
President of manufacturing company 1
President of steam heating company 1
President of wire mill 1
Presidents of colleges 4
Presidents of insurance companies 3
Printers 12
Professors 27
Proprietor of elevator company 1
Publishers 8
Railroad employees 6
Railroad officers 13
Ranchmen 2
Real estate 37
Restaurant keeper 1
Salesmen 5
Saloonkeeper 1
School teachers 56
Secretaries 14
Ship captains 25
Speculators 10
State officers 27
Steamboatman 1
Steward 1
Stock dealers (cattle) 10
Stock raisers 6
Stocks 1
Superintendent of coal and iron company 1
Superintendent of factory 1
Superintendent of iron work 1
Superintendent of mine 1
Superintendent of prison 1
Superintendent of railroad 1
Superintendents of gas works 2
Superintendents of schools 4
Surveyors 5
Tanners 2
Teacher of garment cutting 1
Teacher of music 1
Teamster 1
Theater manager 1
Undertakers 5
United States civil officers 85
Unknown 39
Wagonmaster 1
Warden of prison 1
It is to the sons of men in this list that West Point applies its
discipline in order to create the type of officer that the Government
desires for its Army. From them must be eliminated the unfit and the
unworthy during the molding process to which they are subjected.
The immediate effect of the application of discipline to this variety
of material is the creation of an ideal democracy. All of the new
arrivals are thrown indiscriminately into the melting pot, and no
attention is paid to any man’s antecedents. The boys of rich and
influential parents are not allowed little life-preservers of wealth,
family, and position whereby they might remain on top, but they must
boil away, sometimes on top, sometimes at the bottom of the pot,
rubbing and bumping against boys to whom riches and influence are
strangers. Whether they sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish,
depends on individual effort alone. Men are esteemed at West Point for
what they are and not for what they have. Each man feeling that he has
as good an opportunity to succeed as the other man becomes imbued from
the outset of his cadet career with the spirit of democracy that exists
at the Academy.
From the moment that a cadet enters West Point, his past life,
experiences, advantages, record, disappear into oblivion so far as
the authorities and other cadets are concerned. No reference is ever
made to any cadet’s home, to his connections, to his family, unless he
introduces the subject. Once he becomes a cadet, a new clean sheet of
his life is started for him, and whatever is entered thereon depends
solely upon himself. Every man at West Point has the same chance--the
chance of advancement based upon merit and efficiency and upon nothing
else. It makes no difference to the officers in charge or to the
other cadets whether a man’s family is wealthy or distinguished. As
a matter of fact this information is rarely known because all of the
cadets report together; they are totally unknown to those in charge so
that there is no possible way to ascertain anything about the cadet’s
antecedents. They lose their identity completely, and so much so that
the upper-classmen take months to learn their real names, meanwhile
calling them by the generic names, Ducrot, Dumbguard, and Dumbjohn.
The character of the rooms in barracks illustrates most strikingly
this democratic ideal that discipline fosters. The plain and homely
furnishings of each room are identical in pattern, material, and
quantity, so that no cadet is housed better than his fellow. The walls
are free from pictures, the windows from curtains, the floors from
rugs. There are no soft easy chairs but only an old-fashioned wooden
one for each man, that is as hard for the rich cadet as for the poor
Mr. Ducrot. Nor are there any cliques that occupy particular rooms in
the barracks. Each company has so many rooms for its members, and as
far as possible the men within the company may choose their roommates.
Their selection is made on mutual attraction and congeniality solely.
Whenever two chaps enjoy each other’s companionship, that indefinable
mingling of mute spirits, they try to room together.
And then again, the cadets are free from the distinctions and the
social barriers that money creates. They are prohibited from receiving
any money from their homes and are not allowed the handling of the pay
that they receive from the Government. Instead, the authorities supply
all of their wants, their food, their clothing, their books, their
amusements, so that they might have no need of cash. In fact there is
but one store on the reservation where they can spend money, and that
is a place called “The Boodlers,” a sort of a general store at the foot
of the hill near the gas tank. Here they may, if out of debt, obtain a
permit for two dollars per month, and only those cadets with permits
are allowed even to enter the store.
In this ideal democracy, among the influences that are considered
prejudicial to good order and military discipline are drinking,
gambling, and cigarette smoking. All alcoholic drinks are consequently
banished from the life of the young embryo officer, for he must keep
a clear brain in order to think straight and master his problems. He
is permitted only the wholesome beverages of milk, tea, and coffee
that are supplied in the greatest abundance. Occasionally there is a
case of drinking among the cadet body, but as a vice, intoxication
does not exist at the Military Academy. One has only to look at
the healthy ruddy complexions of the cadets to be convinced of the
truth of this statement. Any girl might envy them their skins, whose
brilliancy and transparency would soon disappear if late hours and
beer were permitted. Nor is there any gambling in the Corps, unless
the betting of one’s ice cream on the result of some football game be
so considered. The cadets are not even allowed the use of cards or of
any games of chance. They may not indulge in so harmless a pastime as
bridge. Their chief solace in their free moments must be their pipes of
briar, for cigarettes are frowned upon and regarded as contraband of
war, liable to seizure by any Tactical officer. The weed is confiscated
and the cadet receives a report. What becomes of those confiscated
cigarettes has always been a matter of great speculation. Tactical
officers are always under suspicion. I remember one case where a cadet
was caught with three hundred cigarettes in his possession and told by
his officer to turn them in at the Guardhouse. This order grieved the
cadet very much because he felt that perhaps someone else would enjoy
those cherished smokes. He therefore bored a hole in each one with a
pin, before complying with his directions. Soon after turning in the
cigarettes, he was reported for having mutilated them and was made to
walk punishment tours on the Area for many days. The inference was that
some disappointed Tactical officer could not make the cigarettes draw.
The ability to maintain a high state of discipline at West Point is
due partially to the wisdom of placing the instruction of the cadets
in the hands of officers who are themselves graduates of the Academy.
The officers have more prestige with the cadets and they understand
better the preparation of these young men for their future duties than
could civilian instructors. They have to a greater degree than most
instructors the prestige of a physical and moral superiority over their
students. They are familiar with the spirit of the institution and are
always on the alert to guard against corrupt influences. They better
understand how to instill the austere virtues that a soldier ought to
have, and how to form a brave and virile heart in their young charges.
In a measure they re-create the man and develop in him the national
soul.
The attitude of the cadets themselves, however, toward their discipline
is the real reason for the success of West Point’s efforts to turn
out men who are high-minded and honorable. They are as zealous as the
officers over them in seeing that their associates live up to certain
standards. Honor is their shibboleth, and each new man upon his arrival
is instructed in what is meant by Corps Honor. Upper-classmen give
the plebes lectures wherein they explain the ethics that govern their
body, and leave them no room for doubt regarding the penalties for an
infringement of their code. From the outset of their careers cadets
are taught the hatred of a lie, and are made to understand that only
by the most scrupulous regard for the truth, every detail of it, can
they be considered fit to hold their places as cadets and gentlemen.
Any cadet who is found guilty of making a false statement regarding
even the most trifling circumstance is dismissed. If he is caught in
a dishonorable act, he is reported by his fellows to the authorities,
or told by his classmates that his resignation would be favorably
received. In order to do justice to any man accused of breaking the
code, the cadets have among their body a Vigilance Committee that is
composed of representatives from the three upper classes. These men
investigate all questionable acts that ordinarily would not come to
the eyes of the authorities, and if they are satisfied that the man is
guilty they report him. For example, at the written examinations the
officers never supervise the cadets as regards their moral conduct,
but frequently leave the room for long periods. If any man should
take advantage of these circumstances to cheat, his act, if seen by
a comrade, is at once reported to either the Vigilance Committee or
to the officers. It is apparent therefore that the honor of the Corps
will always remain unsullied so long as it is left in the hands of the
cadets themselves.
[Illustration: A Review for the Chief of the Staff of the Army]
This rigid code of discipline to which the cadet is subjected for four
years and the influence of the honor system in the Corps develop in
him to a high degree the sentiment of duty. At West Point duty comes
first. The idea is that when a cadet is given a task to perform he will
approach it with a strength of purpose that never gets weary or tired.
It teaches him to make his resolve so strong that he can listen to the
murmurings of the ignorant, to their sophistry, receive their insults
and slanders, conscious that the ideals for which he stands will
eventually triumph. It is the sentiment that will sustain him not only
in time of war, for then he has the sympathy of the people, but in time
of peace when the average layman who does not understand the character
of his work condemns it as an activity that produces nothing.
The result of four years’ immersion in the atmosphere at West Point
is the molding of the cadet’s character. When he entered the Academy
he was just a boy, fresh from the hands of his parents and still
malleable, but when his course has been completed under the painstaking
care of his foster mother, his standards have been crystallized and he
has developed into a man of courage, intellect, and honor. And when
graduation day arrives, and West Point hands each man his diploma, with
it she gives her stamp of approval and acknowledges her willingness
to entrust to his keeping the cherished traditions of the Military
Academy.