414 
TWENTY-SEYENTH ANNUAL MEETING 
Sko. 4. That all veterinary surgeons of the United States Army who, at the 
passage of this act shall be in service, may be granted three months’ leave of ab¬ 
sence with full pay, for the purpose of preparing themselves for examination. 
Seo. 5. That the Secretary of War shall hereafter appoint from time 
to time a veterinary examining board, which shall consist of the chief veterinarian 
and two veterinarians of the United States army veterinarian division, to examine 
candidates for the position of assistant veterinarians, with the rank, of second 
lieutenant and for promotion in the division. 
Seo. 6. That promotion below the rank of field officer shall be by seniority, 
but no officer of the division shall be entitled to promotion thereby until he shall 
have been examined and approved by a veterinary examining board ; and if any 
such officer fail on examination he shall be suspended from promotion for one 
year, when he shall be re examined before a like board, and in case of failure on 
such re-examination he shall be discharged from the service. 
Seo. 7. That officers of the veterinary division shall not be eligible for pro¬ 
motion other than in that division. 
Seo. 8. That any of the present veterinary surgeons who shall fail to pass 
the examination required by Section 2 in this act shall be discharged with one 
year’s pay. 
The bill was returned to the committee with the approval of the War 
Department, but was placed upon the calendar of the House by the committee, 
with still further modifications, which consist essentially of the reduction of the 
rank of chief veterinarian from that of major to that of captain of cavalry, and 
the elimination of the word “rank” in connection with the position of the other 
officers. In the Committee on Military Affairs of the Senate, the matter was un¬ 
der consideration when the modification took place in the House of Representa¬ 
tives, and your committee then deemed it unadvisable to spend further time in 
the Senate until the matter was settled in the House. 
In a letter from General Joseph Wheeler, under date ot August 26th, your 
committee is informed “ that the veterinary bill has been reported favorably and 
will probably soon come up in the House, and it is understood that the Military 
Committee will have a day, and.that we expect to get the bill up.” Your com¬ 
mittee is assured that the word “ rank” will be reinserted by the Military Com¬ 
mittee in the Senate, and that after a conference committee the change will be 
accepted by the House. 
At an early period in the winter, and at various times later on, we were in¬ 
formed by officers at the Army Headquarters, by Senators and by Congressmen 
who were interested in this legislation, that they were in constant receipt of let¬ 
ters opposing the action of your committee, and requesting their influence to 
check any action being taken on the bills introduced in behalf of the United 
States Veterinary Medical Association; also, from time to time, other bills, look¬ 
ing toward the organization of a veterinary corps in the army, were introduced 
both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. Upon investigation, 
your committee found that the other bills introduced in the Senate and the 
House of Representatives, and the opposition to the action of the committee of 
the United States Veterinary Medical Association, emanated from the same 
sources. These sources were principally veterinarians now in the employ of the 
I 
