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EDITORIAL. 
EFFORTS OF A COMMITTEE OF ARMY VETERINARIANS TO BETTER THE CONDITION 
(THROUGH LEGISLATION) OF THE MEMBERS OF THE PROFESSION IN THE 
SERVICE. 
The frequent failure of those attempting to better the condition of the army 
veterinarian through the national legislature had almost discouraged us from any 
further efforts in this direction until the thought occurred to us, that if a thing 
was worth having it was worth fighting for again and again, and that the harder 
the fight—when success crowned the effort—the greater the glory. Having 
taken this for a text, a correspondence was started between the veterinarians in 
the service, asking each other what it was best to do in the premises. As a 
result of this correspondence, the following bill, which originated with Dr. M. J. 
Treacy, M.R.C.V.S., Veterinarian 8th U. S. Cavalry, was submitted to each 
veterinarian in the service, asking for his suggestions as to changes, etc., in its 
provisions. The bill, as it appears below, met with the approval of all, with one 
exception, this exception being from John Tempany (an empiric), who at pre¬ 
sent fills the position of senior veterinarian in the 9th U. S. Cavalry; his 
objection was that if the bill became a law it would give him a rank he did not 
like, and, although the bill increased his wages $25.00 per month, still it deprived 
him of fuel and light amounting to about $4.00 per month. 
The following is the bill: 
A BILL TO FIX THE PAY AND ALLOWANCES OF THE VETERINARIANS OF THE ARMY 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and Home of Representatives of the United States 
of America , in Congress assembled: 
Section 1. That the pay of the Veterinarians of the Army of the United 
States shall be One Hundred and Twenty-five Dollars ($125.00) per month with 
all the allowances of a Second Lieutenant of Cavalry. 
§ 2. That the number of Veterinarians in the Army of the United States 
shall not exceed two (2) for each regiment of Cavalry. 
§ 8. That hereafter all appointments as Veterinarians in the Army of the 
United States shall be confined to graduates of recognized Veterinary Colleges of 
the United States, and candidates for such appointments shall be citizens of the 
United States, and shall be required to pass such examination as the Secretary 
of War shall direct. 
§ 4. That all veterinarians—employed as such—in the Army of the United 
States at the passage of this act shall be immediately reappointed without exam¬ 
ination under the provisions of this Act. 
§ 5. This Act to take effect immediately. 
When it was ascertained that the bill met with universal approval—with 
above exception—a subscription of not less than $8.00, and not to exceed $5.00, 
was requested from each member in the service. The response was prompt, each 
individual enclosing $5.00, with the exceptions of Tempany, 9th; Service, 10th, 
and Waugh, 8rd Cavalry (the latter gentleman, however, while not wishing to 
subscribe at this stage, promised to pay the committee a full month’s salary, the 
first he received under the new system, if bill became a law), this subscription 
