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way military tactics. I remember that those who hold 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 consequences, whatever they might 
be. Others wished to reduce it to a very small minimum ; I was among those 
who proposed to carry out in good faith what they conceived to he 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<J2 in its fullness and totality. We 
have had no difficulty with the War Department, and have encountered no 
difficulty in carrying out Order No. 05. Until about three years ago we 
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 
present 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 come 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. 65 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. (55 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 out 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 first board cf trustees a major- 
general of volunteers, who drew up the regulations for West Point fifty years 
ago, and he impressed the military spirit and the spirit of the military organi- 
zation 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 Bryan, 
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- 
