f 



99 ' 



Deiuirtiiient to withdraw its dotall ami its equii)iueut, if need be, and proceed 

 witb our military instriiction under sucli conditions as we may be able to afford. 

 This is a matter of much regret to the chancellor, because he believes in military 

 instruction. 



W. O. Thompson, of Ohio. The section of the first Morrill Act whicli relates 

 to military instruction is as follows: 



The President may, upon the application of any established military institute, 

 seminary or academy, college or university, within the United States, having 

 capacity to educate at the same time not less than 150 male students, detail an 

 officer of the Army or Na\'y to act as superintendent. 



I call attention to the wording of the statute in order to show that it is not 

 mandatory, but permissive. Under this statute the President may detail, or he 

 may decline to detail. In time of war, when the officers are in demand, he 

 may refuse a detail, and during the Spanish war he did not detail anybody 

 excei)t retired officers. But since that wai' there have been some detailed who 

 are not retired officers. There is not a college in this whole association that can 

 meet this Order No. 05 with five hours a week. If they could do so they would, 

 and say no more about it. Some of them now give four hours of drill and an 

 hour's instruction in addition, but they can not give more than that without 

 seriously interrupting the work of the college. The mandatory character of 

 this order has raised the (luestion as to whether we can obey it. Our commandant 

 says we can not do it. If we have entered into an agreement, as suggested by 

 President Stimson and Dean Bailey, we can close the contract or decline to 

 renew it. I think it altogether likely the Ohio State University will request the 

 Department to cut off the detail of its officer, and then will make some arrange- 

 ment of its own. I do not see any other way out of the difficulty. 



I shall not object to a minimum of two hours, but 1 fear that if we make the 

 minimum so low as two hours it will simply irritate the army officers. 



It seems to me that the method of attack of this association, if an attack is 

 to be made, is to go by competent committee on which I should have some recog- 

 nized military man, to the President of the United States and state our difficul- 

 ties, and ask his advice. 1 would refer this resolution to our executive committee 

 for consideration with a view to devising some means of reaching the matter 

 through the President, giving them full power to act, knowing very well what 

 the state of sentiment is in this body. 



J. K. Patterson, of Kentucky. About eighteen years ago in the preliminary 

 meeting that was held in Washington to take steps looking toward the organiza- 

 tion of this association, this question came up and was debated with a great 

 deal of earnestness, I may say with not a little acrimony. There were a few 

 of the colleges represented on that occasion who were quite willing, and I may 

 say anxious to comply with what they believed was the spirit and intent of the 

 organic law as set forth in the act of 18G2. They held that there were two or 

 three things that were made obligatory in that organic law. One was, teaching 

 those branches of learning relating to agriculture, and another those relating to 

 mechanic arts, and another relating to military tactics. There were certain 

 subjects that were optional, that might be included or might not, and these were 

 classics and other scientific studies. They held that if it was obligatory upon 

 the colleges to teach sciences relating to agriculture and to mechanic arts, it 

 was equally obligatory to make provision for carrying out what they believed 

 to be the intent as well as the letter of the law in regard to the instruction in 

 military tactics ; that they could not set aside the one without setting aside 

 the other ; that there was no more reason why they should adhere to military 

 tactics and mechanic arts and eliminate agriculture than there was to adhere 

 to agriculture and mechanic arts, and eliminate or perform in a perfunctory 



