100 



way military tactics. I remember that those who held these views were in a 

 small minority. Some were .willing to abolish military tactics in the colleges 

 at that time altogether, and to brave the conseqnences, whatever they might 

 be. Others wished to reduce it to-a very small minimum; 1 was among those 

 who proposed to carry out in good faith what they conceived to be the obliga- 

 tions of the act. From the beginning of my administration of affairs in the col- 

 lege of agriculture and mechanic arts in Kentucky, in 18G9, to the present, I 

 have endeavored to carry out the act of 18<;2 in its fullness and totality. We 

 have had no difliculty with the War Department, and have encountered no 

 difficulty in carrying out Order No. ti5. Until about three years ago wo 

 required all male students to drill throughout all classes and allowed no excep- 

 tions or evasions. Now the senior class is exempted from military service. 



As a matter of interpretation of the law, I think this matter ought to be 

 regulated by the State to which the grant is given, but no specific action has 

 ever been taken with reference to this burning and vexed question that has tor- 

 mented us for years. If any legislature would take the initiative in defining 

 what it conceived to be the duties of the colleges organized and controlled by it 

 under the organic law of Congress, or say what they wanted done, it would 

 bring a direct issue between the legislature and the War Department of the 

 United States, but I do not consider it wise to do this. In my opinion the 

 pi-esent crisis is very largely our own fault. All of us who have attended these 

 meetings for the last fifteen or twenty years know that there have been a number 

 of colleges represented in this organization that have always stood for military 

 tactics and military drill. There have been a number that have constantly 

 been endeavoring to avoid and minimize it. and some would have been glad to 

 eliminate it altogether. For a number of years an inspector did not come around 

 at all, but within the last ten or fifteen years the inspector sent by the War 

 Department has cojne around annually. He visits the commandant, and the 

 president and some of the cadet officers, and he makes up his report from what 

 he hears. It is on account of the unfavorable character of some of these reports 

 that Order No. (55 has been issued by the War Department. 



Mr. Thompson. How many hours a week do you give to this matter? 



Mr. Patterson. Five hours a week. 



Mr. Thompson. We are giving four hours a week to drill plus one hour of 

 instruction, and we have been censured. Our commandant says we can not 

 carry out Order No. 65 with ten hours a week. 



Mr. Patterson. When Order No. (»," came I had a conference with the com- 

 mandant, and I said, " It matters not whether it subjects us to any inconven- 

 ience in other directions or not, you must carry cut loyally the spirit cf this 

 order and its intent, and if five hours is not sufficient, you will have to take a 

 sufficient amount of additional time from other duties connected with the col- 

 lege." The military instruction is a popular feature in our institution. 



We were fortunate enough to have upon our fir^ t board cf trustees a ma.ior- 

 general of volunteers, who drew up the regulations for West Point fifty years 

 ago, and he impre.ssed the military spirit and the spirit of the military organi- 

 z.ntion upon the State college of Kentucky, and it has never sought to escape 

 from it. From another point of view I conceive that military instruction is one 

 of the best features of these land-grant colleges. As stated by President P>ryan, 

 we raise our armies not by conscription, but from the volunteers. Now, in the 

 event of a great national crisis, and in view of our great national expansion, 

 we must provide and educate citizen soldiery that is capable of meeting emer- 

 gencies when they arise. Military training will always be popular in this 

 country, because we are potentially a military nation, and will have to provide 

 the military education by which a citizen soldiery will always be at the com- 



