138 



CONGRESS. (HAZING.) 



of war, on conviction, any or all of such penalties 

 may be invoked." 



The text of the measure as approved is as fol- 

 lows: 



"That every person not belonging to the army 

 of the United States who, being duly subpoenaed 

 to appear as a witness before a general court- 

 martial of the army wilfully neglects or refuses 

 to appear, or refuses to qualify as a witness or to 

 testify or produce documentary evidence which 

 such person may have been legally subpoenaed to 

 produce, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemean- 

 or, for which such person shall be punished, on 

 information, in the district court of the United 

 States: and it shall be the duty of the United 

 States district attorney, on the certification of the 

 facts to him by the general court-martial, to file 

 an information against and prosecute the person 

 so offending, and the punishment of such person, 

 on conviction, shall be a fine of not more than 

 $500 or imprisonment not to exceed six months, 

 or both, at the discretion of the court: Prodded, 

 That this shall not apply to persons residing be- 

 yond the State, Territory, or District in which 

 such general court-martial is held, and that the 

 fees of such witness,, and his mileage at the rates 

 provided for witnesses in the United States dis- 

 trict court for said State, Territory, or District 

 shall be duly paid or tendered said witness, such 

 amounts to be paid by the pay department of the 

 army out of the appropriation for compensa- 

 tion of witnesses: Prodded, That no witness shall 

 be compelled to incriminate himself or to answer 

 any questions which may tend to incriminate or 

 degrade him. 



" SEC. 2. That article 94, section 1342, of the 

 Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the 

 same is hereby, repealed. 



" SEC. 3. That section 183 of the Revised Stat- 

 utes of the United States be, and the same is 

 hereby, amended so as to read as follows: 



" ' SEC. 183. Any officer or clerk of any of the 

 departments lawfully detailed to investigate 

 frauds on, or attempts to defraud, the Govern- 

 ment, or any irregularity or misconduct of any 

 officer or agent of the United States, and any offi- 

 cer of the army detailed to conduct an investiga- 

 tion, and the recorder, and, if there be none, the 

 presiding officer of any military board appointed 

 for such purpose, shall have authority to admin- 

 ister an oath to any witness attending to testify 

 or depose in the course of such investigation.' 



" SEC. 4. That article 83, section 1342, of the 

 Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the 

 same is hereby, amended to read' as follows : 



' ARTICLE 83. Regimental and garrison courts- 

 martial and summary courts detailed under ex- 

 isting laws to try enlisted men shall not have 

 power to try capital cases or 'commissioned offi- 

 cers, but shall have power to award punishment 

 not to exceed confinement at hard labor for three 

 months or forfeiture of three months' pay, or 

 both, and in addition thereto, in the case of non- 

 commissioned officers reduction to the ranks and 

 in the case of first-class privates reduction to 

 second-class privates: Provided, That a summary 

 court shall not adjudge confinement and forfei- 

 ture in excess of a period of one month, unless the 

 accused shall before trial consent in writing to 

 trial by said court, but in any case of refusal to 

 so consent, the trial may be "had either by gen- 

 eral, regimental, or garrison court-martial, or by 

 said summary court, but in case of trial by said 

 summary court without consent as aforesaid, the 

 court shall not adjudge confinement or forfeiture 

 of pay for more than one month.' 



" SEC. 5, That article GO, section 1342, of the 



Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the 

 same is hereby, amended by inserting after the 

 words " shall, on conviction thereof, be punished 

 by fine or imprisonment, or by such other punish- 

 ment as a court-martial may adjudge,' the words 

 k or by any or all of said penalties.' " 



Hazing. No subject attracted more general 

 attention during the session than hazing at West 

 Point. It was reported that Oscar L. Booz, of 

 Bristol, Pa., had died from the effect of injuries 

 received at the hands of his comrades while a 

 cadet at the Military Academy, from June 20 until 

 Oct. 4, 1898; and the House of Representatives 

 ordered an investigation into the practise of haz- 

 ing. A resolution was introduced Dec. 4, 1900, di- 

 recting the Secretary of War to investigate the 

 Booz case, and report to Congress. Dec. 11 the 

 Committee on Military Affairs submitted a report 

 containing the statement of the Secretary of War 

 that he had ordered an investigation and had 

 detailed Gen. Brooke and Cols. Gillespie and 

 Clous to act in the matter. A statement from 

 Col. Mills, superintendent at West Point, as to 

 the Booz case was also submitted. A resolution 

 was then passed by the House directing the Sec- 

 retary of War to report the results of the mili- 

 tary investigation, and also providing for a spe- 

 cial committee, consisting of five members, to ex- 

 amine 1 into and report upon the practise of hazing. 

 The report of this committee contained the fol- 

 lowing interesting summary of the hazing devices 

 commonly in use at West Point : 



" They are divided into three general classes: 



" 1. Things done professedly for the good of 

 fourth-class men or of the service. 



" 2. Things done to punish fourth-class men for 

 violations of the upper-class code. 



" 3. Things done apparently without purpose, 

 except to annoy, or for the mere amusement of 

 upper-class men. 



" Chief among the first of these classes is 



"Bracing. This consists in requiring the fourth- 

 class man to throw his shoulders back until the 

 blades meet, draw his chin in, to a wholly un- 

 natural degree, draw his abdomen up, and so walk 

 that his toes touch the ground before his heels. 

 It is claimed this is done to give a military car- 

 riage; but it has the contrary effect. It is such 

 an exaggeration of the attitude of a soldier and 

 is so irksome that when relieved from constraint 

 the inevitable tendency is to more than normal 

 relaxation and a slouchy carriage. The upper- 

 class men have required the fourth-class men to 

 brace at all times on the company streets, in camp, 

 and frequently on other occasions, and this has 

 on more than one occasion resulted in the victim 

 fainting. Some doubt is cast upon the absolute 

 belief upon the part of cadets that bracing is 

 necessary to a good military bearing and that it 

 is their duty to practise it to attain that end, as 

 they never brace an upper-class man, no matter 

 how slouchy he may be. Bracing is prohibited a_t 

 the academy and has been frequently, severely 

 punished, but has been constantly and defiantly 

 persisted in up to the time of the hearing by your 

 committee. 



" Under the like claim as to their motives the 

 upper-class men have deprived fourth-class men 

 of the privileges accorded them by the authorities, 

 such as having Saturday afternoon leave, and 

 have ordered fourth-class men to abstain from 

 reading and letter-writing except on Sunday. 



" The following are some of the second class of 

 annoyances which have been imposed on fourth- 

 class men: 



" Eaglinfj. This consists in the fourth-class 

 man standing on his toes with his arms extended, 



