What devoted servants those officers of the
War Department must be, that they can see in their chief
so much liberality!
"But in what respect was the Secretary of War so
'liberal in his interpretation of the regulations?'
"Was it in dismissing me, and turning back to a lower
class two white cadets who had been unable to complete
successfully the first year of the course with everything
in their favor, while I had completed three years of the
same course in spite of all the opposition which the whole
corps of cadets, backed by the 'powers that be,' could
throw in my way? Or was it his decision that 'I can give
Mr. Smith a re-examination, but I won't?' The Chronicle
is perfectly correct in saying 'that he did for him what
had never been done for a white boy in like circumstances,'
for, in the first place, I don't think there ever was 'a
white boy in like circumstances,' certainly not while I
was at the Academy, and if there ever were a white boy so
placed, we are pretty safe in concluding, from the general
treatment of white boys, that the secretary was not so
frank in his remarks nor so decided in his action.
"'I want another cadet to represent your district at
West Point, and I have already sent to Mr. Elliott to
appoint one,' means something more than fair dealing
(or, as the Chronicle would imply, partiality) toward
the colored cadet. It means that the gentleman was
pleasing himself in the choice of a cadet from the
Third Congressional District of South Carolina, and
that he did not recognize the rights of the people of
that district to choose for themselves.
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