The Dean of Elphin, the Archdeacon of Waterford and the Bishop of Doun, advocate the measure on the ground of its tendency to produce competition between schools, and to stimulate private enterprise. The Bishop of Cashel “thought that this competition would be more valuable than the endowment of schools giving education gratuitously.”
In confirmation of the above views, and as an illustration of the benefits likely to accrue both to the cause of education and to the public service from the extension of the system of competitive examinations, we may add that, at the late competitive examination for certificates of merit held by the Royal Dublin Society Mr. Samuel Chapman, who was educated solely by the Incorporated Society, as a foundation boy, obtained the first place and a prize of £5. In consequence of this success the Bank of Ireland immediately appointed him to a clerkship. Mr. Chapman was originally elected to the Pococke Institution, from a parish school, by a competitive examination; and on his leaving the Santry school Prof. Galbraith appointed him his assistant in Trinity College, in consequence of the skill in drawing which he exhibited, and his knowledge of mathematics, as proved by his final examination.
[III. COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION AT WEST POINT.]
DEBATE IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, MAY 18TH, 1864.
The Bill making appropriation for the Military Academy being under consideration, Senator Anthony, of R. Island, remarked on the following amendment:
And be it further enacted, That hereafter, in all appointments of cadets to the Military Academy at West Point, the selections for such appointments in the several districts shall be made from the candidates according to their respective merits and qualifications, to be determined under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of War shall from time to time prescribe.
This, Mr. President, is substantially the proposition which I offered at the last session; and although I was not so fortunate as to obtain for it the assent of the Senate, mainly from an apprehension of practical difficulties in carrying out what is admitted to be a desirable reform if it could be effected, yet the general expression of Senators was so much in favor of the principle, and I have been so much strengthened in my views on the subject by subsequent reflection and examination, that I am emboldened to renew it.
I differ entirely from those who are fond of disparaging the Military Academy. It has been of incalculable service to the country; it is the origin and the constant supply of that military science without which mere courage would be constantly foiled, and battles would be but Indian fights on a large scale. Not to speak of the Mexican war, throughout the whole of which West Point shone with conspicuous luster, it is safe to leave the vindication of the Academy to the gallant and able men who have illustrated the annals of the war that is now raging. Nor have its indirect advantages been less marked than its direct. It has kept alive a military spirit, and kept up a good standard of military instruction in the volunteer militia. It furnished, from its graduates who have retired from the Army, scores of men who rushed to the head of our new levies, who organized and instructed them, inspired them with confidence, and led them over many a bloody field to many a glorious victory. Large numbers of our best volunteer officers owe their instruction indirectly to West Point.
To say that no course of military instruction can make a pupil a military genius, can create in him that rare quality that takes in at a glance, almost by intuition, the relative strength of great masses opposed to each other, and that power of combination which can bring an inferior force always in greater number upon the severed portions of a superior force, is very true. To discard military education on that account would be like shutting up the schools and colleges because they can not turn out Miltons and Burkes and Websters. Education does not create, it develops and enlarges and inspires and elevates. It will make the perfect flower, the majestic tree, from the little seed; but it must have the seed. And what I desire is that the Academy at West Point should have the best seed; that its great resources, its careful culture, its scientific appliances, should not be wasted on second-rate material. The Academy has never had a fair chance; the country has not had a fair chance; the boys have not had a fair chance. This is what I want them all to have, and especially the country. I desire that the Academy shall begin, as it goes on, upon the competitive principle. As all its standing, all its honors, are won by competition, so should the original right to compete for them be won. I would give all the youth of the country a fair chance; and, more desirable than that, I would give the country a fair chance for all its youth. I would have the Academy filled up by those young men who, upon examination by competent judges, should be found most likely to render the best service to the country; to make the best officers; whose qualifications, physical, intellectual, and moral, whose tastes and habits, should seem to best fit them for military life.
But, it is objected, no such examination would be infallible. Of course it would not be. No human judgment is infallible. Our deliberations are not infallible; but therefore shall we not deliberate? The decisions of the Supreme Court are not infallible; therefore shall we abolish the court?