96 
has been greatly strengthened by the success in military instruction of these 
land-grant colleges. 
We should not lose sight of its value as an educative force, particularly in a 
military way and in patriotism, hut another advantage is the physical training 
it gives. I believe it is worth while to have it for that reason. I am a great 
believer in all forms of athletics, but only a small percentage of the student 
body actually participates in athletics or even work in the gymnasium. Presi- 
denl Eliot, of Harvard, found that out of about 3,000 students only about one- 
third took active part in athletics. Military instruction furnishes a readily 
available means of giving all the students the physical training they need. It 
furnishes exercise, not simply as a gymnastic, but exercise with the ulterior pur- 
pose of training the men for something definite. We must not minimize the 
military feature. I believe it is a question of education, not only in preparing 
a man for military service and in inculcating patriotism, but I believe the train- 
ing is in itself educative. 
As regards the practical application of this matter, I think you will have as 
many views as you have States. I believe the question ought to be approached 
in a conciliatory manner. Military men are easily antagonized. They want 
men to obey whether or not. Therefore I do not believe in the extreme mili- 
tary feature. But we can approach the question in an amicable spirit. I 
do not believe, however, that the suggestion of the minimum amount of hours 
will meet the situation. I think two hours is too small. We have three now. 
We used to have five, and that was undesirable, but we get along very well with 
three. We haven't had an army officer in six years, but during that time we 
have made our quarterly report, and we get our arms. If five hours' drill are 
to be required we are not in a hurry to get under the Government. We now 
have in charge a man of our own training, who knows the situation and is 
willing to adapt himself to conditions. We have two general roll calls a day 
and three drills. The seniors have power to report offenses of various kinds. 
We do not find that power abused. We excuse our athletic teams, but it does 
not preclude them from promotion as cadet officers. Some of our best cadet 
officers are from the athletic team. 
E. A. Bryan, of Washington. For a thousand years or more we and our ances- 
tors have believed in the citizen soldiery. We have proceeded on the theory 
that our national defense is to be intrusted chiefly to the citizen soldier. Along 
about the time of the civil war we woke up to the fact that the National Guard, 
which had been intrusted in a measure with the training of the citizen soldier 
for times of defense, was a' poor reliance; that it was not in shape to serve the 
purposes of national defense, and I have no doubt, as has already been inti- 
mated, that it was due to the condition we then faced that the military clause 
was inserted in the first Morrill Act. I remember hearing a volunteer officer 
in the civil war say that in his entire regiment at the outbreak of the civil war 
there was not a single man that could drill a squad. I have no doubt that the 
statesmen of that day and citizens of that day felt very keenly the fact that 
there were few intelligent and educated men who had any knowledge of mili- 
tary science and tactics, and that it was due to this that at that time a new 
theory was injected into our system of national military education. As a result 
of that we have to-day three general plans of military education: First, that 
which is typified by West Point, a distinctly military school for the training of 
military officers : second, the National Guard, where for a few days each year 
the citizens who volunteer in the companies are trained, and third, the students 
who are trained in the land-grant colleges in this way. I approve this as a 
national movement, as a great means of national defense. I believe we should 
Jiave a general system which will provide men of intelligence and education* 
