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rill acts, but entitled by courtesy to a seat in this convention, gave notice of its pur- 
pose to send a delegate to this meeting and this person has been assigned a place 
in the programme to describe some of the work done by the institution which he 
represents. 
As so often before, the committee found it necessary to give close attention to the 
progress of legislation during the last session of Congress, to guard the various inter- 
ests intrusted to the institutions composing this Association. 
The Sayers bill, repealing all permanent appropriations from the Treasury — includ- 
ing, of course, the annuities under the Morrill Act of 1890 — and substituting a system 
of annual appropriations for all purposes, was in a doubtful state for months. It 
has never been reported from the committee, but may yet appear at the coming ses- 
sion of Congress. The subject received careful attention, and your committee is 
confident that if the bill is reported, it will include several exceptions, and the 
college annuity will be among them. 
During the early spring a proposition appeared very unexpectedly, incorporated 
in the Army appropriation bill, cutting off the commutation of quarters for officers 
on duty at colleges and requiring every college, before receiving such detail, to pro- 
vide quarters free for the officer. This measure had the almost unanimous support 
of the Committee on Military Affairs, including some of the strongest men on both 
sides of the House of Representatives. For a time it seemed probable this provision 
would pass the House, but active measures secured the interest of members- friendly 
to the colleges, and the objectional features w r ere struck from the bill when in Com- 
mittee of the Whole House. This was a short but spirited contest, and very satis- 
factory in showing once more the strength which this Association can command — in 
the halls of Congress — when necessary to sustain a good cause. 
This movement, combined with other circumstances, made it inexpedient to do 
anything toward bringing forward the plan of having the War Department supply 
uniform clothing and camp equipage to the land-grant colleges the same as to the 
Army. This plan is favored by the Inspector-General of the Army, and would not be 
objected to by other high officers. But the present Quartermaster-General of the 
k Army, whose Bureau would be affected by such a law, is unalterably opposed to the 
project. The increase in the number of officers on college and school duty, and 
correspondingly of the young men and boys by them instructed, would make the 
expense of uniforms very great, if supplied to all, and for that reason the proposi- 
tion will be opposed by the Secretary of War. Altogether, your committee considers 
it unwise for the Association to agitate this subject further at present, beyond giving 
moral support to the officials of the War Department who may declare in its favor. 
There are other points of interest in connection with the military departments of 
land-grant colleges which seem to need attention at the War Department. Army 
officers naturally favor those institutions which furnish the greatest number of per- 
sons for drill and which give special prominence to the military feature, by requir- 
ing uniforms to be worn at all times, keeping students under military regulations 
continually, and placing the entire subject of discipline in charge of the military 
professor. In the recently published report of the Adjutant-General of the Army, 
that officer recommends the detail of officers to largely attended city high schools 
rather than to land-grant colleges offering fewer students for drill, and proposes that 
the law be changed so that no officer shall be detailed to any institution having less 
than 150 students actually present and required to perform military duty. Already 
the Department has refused to detail officers to some of the smaller agricultural and 
mechanical colleges, on the ground that they had too few students in attendance, 
notwithstanding the legal obligation to teach military tactics at these colleges. In 
short, despite the phraseology of the existing law, the Department reserves the right 
to refuse a detail to any college for reasons sufficient to itself, and as mentioned, 
there are indications of a tendency to discriminate against land-grant colleges. 
Since the last full conference between a representative committee of this Associa- 
tion and the War Department officials (in 1890), the latter have entirely changed in 
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