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Department to withdraw its detail and its equipment, If need be, and proceed 
with our military instruction under such conditions as wo may be able to afford. 
This is a matter <>r much regrel to the chancellor, because be believes In military 
instruct Ion. 
W. o. Thompson, of Ohio. The section of the first Morrill Act which 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, baving 
capacity t<> educate at the same time not loss than 150 male students, detail an 
Officer of the Army or Navy to act as superintendent. 
1 call attention to the wording of the statute in order to show that it is not 
mandatory, hut permissive, ruder this statute the President may detail, or he 
may decline t<> detail. In time of war. when the officers are in demand, he 
may refuse ;i detail, and during the Spanish war he did not detail anybody 
except retired officers. But since that war 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. 65 with five hours a week. If they could do so they would, 
and say no more about it. Some of them now give hair hours of drill and an 
hour's instruction in addition, hut they can not give more than that without 
seriously interrupting the work of the college. The mandatory character of 
this order has raised the question as to whether we can obey it. Our commandant 
says we can not do it. Tf 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 I 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. I 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 1862. 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 he 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 
