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Show FUTURE WEST POINT j IMPORTANT ADDITION TO GOVERNMENT GOV-ERNMENT MILITARY SCHOOL. Army Officers Recommend the Pur. chase of Constitution Island Adjacent Ad-jacent to the Present Grounds for Enlarged Work. If tho ndvlco of tho conitnnuilor of West Point Military academy, Col. II. L. Scott, of numerous other high officers of-ficers of tho nrmy and of prominent members of congress und heads of patriotic organizations is nccoptcd Constitution Island, lying In tho Hudson Hud-son Just at tho point whoro tho river breakB through tho highlands, will soon pass Into thn ownership of the Unltod States nnd thereafter becomo u most Important part In tho schemo that plans to mako tho United States military academy, nlrcady tho world's greatest military training school, an even greater Institution. That It Is of vital Importance to the United Stales that Constitution Island be acquired there Is no doubt In tho minds of thoso familiar with tho situation. situa-tion. Gen. 8chofleld, when ho was superintendent of tho military academy, acad-emy, suggested that tho government acqulro title to tho property nt tho earliest posslblo moment and that on Its magnificent rocky eminence thero bo erected a sorlcs of bulldjngs, architecturally ar-chitecturally harmonizing with thoso of West Point proper, whoro tho boys of this country, so fortunate as to ro-cclvo ro-cclvo appointments to cadetshlps nt West Point, might report In order to bo properly prcpnrcd for their entrance en-trance Into tho academy proper. In other words, tho schomo of Qcn. Schoflcld was to establish on this Island, Is-land, which Is so closo to West Point that you can throw a rock from ono pl'.co to tho other, tho United States preparatory Bchool to West Point, which wnB to bo ns perfect In Its own splicro as tho West Point of to-day Is la Its. lint It was not until Col. Hugh U Scott, tho present superintendent of the military academy, wns sent to West Point by President Iloosovelt that tho plan so long tho dream of army officers bogan to tako dellnlto shape, and when tho noxt congress convenes a determined effort will be made to havo tho purchaso prlco of tho Island, which Is botween $150,000 and $250,000, Included In tho military academy bill, and thero Is every reason to bcllovo that tho action of congress will bo favorable. Tho preparatory school Idea Is tho one that Is uppermost In tho minds of the officers who are Interested In the future of Constitution Island, and that such a school will fill a long felt need at West Point and result In the training train-ing of nn oven hotter lot of officers than Is now posslblo thero seems little doubt. That tho preliminary training cadet nominees receive Is not sum dent to enable them to pass tho en trance examinations to West Point thero Is no question. In mnthcmallcj particularly tho American boy seems to ho deficient, nnd hero Is whoro tha United Slates Military Preparatory school would do Its best work. Tho West Point cadet register for 1907 shows that out of moro thnn 50 deficiencies that caused either tho djs-chargo djs-chargo or tho turning back to a lower class of tho delinquent, 40 of theso deficiencies wore In tho department of mnthcmatlcs. In somo states of tho union tho high school training Is up dcOLMLUSCOTTL to the standard ro-cxnmlnntions, but In a great many other parts of the 1 country tho rovcrso Is the case, and It Is to remedy this deficiency that the Constitution Island school Is necessary. neces-sary. As Col. Scott put It, there Is many a boy In this country who Is cut out fot n soldier, but who has not had th necessary training to permit his bo lng appointed a cadet at West Point Now tho army needs that young fcl low, nnd in order to get him somt plan mubt bo dovlsed that will make It possible for him to get a West Polnl training. As tho West Point standard of cntrnnco requirements will novel be lowered, there Is but ono way tc get him, and tho government must create that way, and tho school thai will do that Col. Scott wants erected on Constitution Island. |