SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
501 
profession did not secure all that it desired, your committee is of the 
opinion that there is reason for encouragement rather than despair. 
The bill as passed provides for two veterinarians with each regiment 
of cavalry, one to have the pay and allowances of a second lieutenant of 
cavalry, the other to have the pay of seventy-five dollars per month and 
the allowances of a sergeant major. It is also provided that the veter¬ 
inarian appointed to the first grade shall not be so appointed until he 
shall have passed an examination, to be prescribed by the Secretary of 
War, as'to his physical, moral and professional qualifications. There is 
a further provision that the veterinarians now in the service who do not 
pass such competitive examination shall be eligible to the positions of 
the second class under such rules as are now prescribed by the regulations. 
It is to be sincerely regretted that the veterinarian of the first class 
is not given the rank as well as the pay and allowances of a second lieu¬ 
tenant of cavalry. A step has, however, been made in the right direc¬ 
tion, the merit system is recognized by the inauguration of examina¬ 
tions, provision has been made for the retention of deserving men who 
have long and faithfully served in the army and who may not be able to 
pass the examinations, and it is believed that there will be a disposition 
in the next Congress to do something more. 
Your committee desires especially to express its appreciation of the 
encouragement and assistance which it received from the Hon. James 
Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, and of the courteous treatment and 
sympathy extended by Hon. J. A. T. Hull, Chairman of the House 
Committee on Military Affairs. Many members of both houses of Con¬ 
gress have expressed their interest in the effort to secure an efficient 
veterinary organization for the army and their willingness to aid when¬ 
ever the opportunity offered. 
Your committee has endeavored in its work to show the importance 
of having an organized veterinary service which should extend to the 
artillery and quartermaster’s department, as well as to the cavalry. It 
has also tried to make plain the fact that a few veterinarians holding 
inferior positions in the cavalry regiments, necessarily scattered over 
the country, having no connection with each other and without means 
of concerted action, could not be expected to meet the more serious vet¬ 
erinary problems with which the War Department is often confronted. 
Such veterinarians in the past have reported that they could neither 
obtain proper medicines nor instruments ; that they had no authority to 
cause the treatment which they prescribed to be carried into effect, that 
not being consulted in the purchase of horses, animals with contagious 
diseases were often introduced, and much damage was frequently caused 
before the contagion could be controlled. 
The present veterinary service of the army is undoubtedly a disgrace 
to an enlightened and progressive country. It is a service which to ac¬ 
complish anything must be able to carry its directions into effect, and 
yet, it is without rank or authority ; it is a service which requires in¬ 
struments and supplies of a special character, and detailed instructions 
as to the manner of meeting the various emergencies which are liable to 
arise, and yet it is without a head.; the veterinarian must endure all the 
hardships and face Ml the dangers of the service, and yet neither he nor 
his family have an3^ prospects of a pension in case of disabilitj^ or death 
in the service. 
