The sun., 1893-10-17
Army Omcera in Colleges.

Mr.. CULTIVATE has introduced into Con.
gress bill for increasing to 100 the number
Of army officers who may be detailed by
Congress ms military instructors In colleges
| Ten navy officers may also DO detailed, SO
that the aggregate Of possible instructors
under this measure would reach ITO. exclu-
sive of the retired officers who voluntarily
undertake such duties.
In approving the bill. tien. SCHoF1ELD
gives it rs his judgment. that "thls Is the
most important detached service which OFF,
GERS OF the army can render in time OF
peace" That Is strong language. but the
facts seem to warrant it.
The colleges and schools In which military
instruction Is given are scattered all over
the country. and contain many thousands
Of students The reports made by the OIL
GERS annually detailed to inspect these insti-
tutions show very high average OF drill In
them. Such phrases as perfect steadiness
in ranks" "soldierly appearance and set
up" and well instructed In infantry tac-
tics " are Of frequent occurrence. These
thousands OF young men are taught by
officers selected for special ability as mill
tary instructors. who. for this purpose.
are relieved from all duties in their own
commands. In nearly or quite all the
schools the organizations wear uniforms: !:
nearly all have at least three drills week.
and some have four, five, or six. A few are
specifically called military academies, and
in them the instruction Is carried to q
greater extent. but in the majority. artillery
as well as infantry instruction is given, and
several have artillery target practice. Many
employ text books Of various sorts. in addi-
ton to the official Drill Regulations" and
lectures are given not only on such subjects
as guard duty and Notifications, but in
general on the art and science Of war.
1t is plain that this steady military train
ing OF SO many thousand young inen. year
after year. must have an important bearing
upon popular military service. In these
schools some teachers are educated whose
influence. in turn, is likely to be thrown In
the direction Of military training for Ameri-
can youth. No doubt some Of the lads in
due time join the militia in order to keep
up their military training; or perhaps they
may be the means Of starting militia Or
ganizatons where none exist. But the
great gain is that every year thousands Of
young men receive q rudimentary military
of service to the country on a sudden and
urgent call for troops
Gen. SCHoFIELD is right. therefore. in his
opinion that OF the duties performed by
officers Of the army on detached service. no
others equal in Importance those which are
concerned with this mode Of popular mill
tary instruction. II we compare the Ma
tional Guard system with it, we shall recog-
nize that the school drills are more frequent
and are made more essentially a part OF
routine daily duties. The school system Is
almost intermediate between the occasional
armory practice which the citizen soldier
secures during his ordinary business years
and the entire devotion to military SER
vice exacted Of the professional SOL
der. 1t may therefore be considered,
within it's very limited sphere. as the
partial substitute furnished in this country
for the enforced military instruction GUS
tomary in some other lands. 1t has grown
steadily in Importance since it was started.
and the mere proposition to detail no fewer
than 100 officers from our small army to this
single service shows the value attached to
it. A token Of its consequence Is also given
in the fact that the Army Register"
WHICH oIu0EWlbo bO JtdlOu6ly lUS
pages to officers and men of the regular
service. publishes each year the names Of
the most distinguished pupils in the mill
tary departments Of these schools.
Whether the increase of instructors au-
thorized by the pending bill would be wise
is matter that involves other considera-
tions. The primary duty of the officers Of
the army iu the way OF instruction is to
train and drill their own men. No detail
even for SO useful a purpose as that Of in
structing the students OF the colleges Is
justified II it will injure the military
establishment. On this point. however.
Gen. SCHoFIELp reports to Secretary La
MONT that the demands upon the army
for detached service Of all kinds are now
very great. and yet I think they have not
quite reached their limit. l think no
harm would result by extending the limit
OF officers to be detailed for duty at edu-
catiOnal institutions to 100 as proposed by
Mr.. CULTIVATE" II this opinion Is cor
rect. Congress may safely pass the pending
measure, since there would be no obligation
on the Secretary OF War to detail 100 officers
or even TO- the number that could be spared
from their commands being then as now
wholly within his discretion.