The times., 1898-04-25
BENEFIT OF MILITARY SCHOOLS
Thousands of Their Graduates Capa-
BILE of Commanding Volunteers.

While ii is not expected that the Presi-
dent will have any need to use more
than the force of the Regular Army and
of the organized militia of the States
for the prosecution of the war with Spain
to a successful issue. it is a reassuring
fact that there are thousands of young
men in the country, outside of the Regu-
lar Army and of the State Guard. who
have received a military training in State
institutions. and who would be entirely
competent to act as officers for the COM
mand of volunteers.
The military colleges 0 fthe United
States are the outgro%th Of the Fedora!
Governments experience in The civil war
During the dark days of the rebellion the
the Federal Government felt sorely in
need of trained officers for the volunteer
force and it was the desire TO guard
against a recurrence of such a condition
in any future national eXigency that there
was enacted in July, 1862, a law which
granted to each State then existing, and
to every new State when admitted into
| the Union 10000 acres of public land, or
| scrip in lieu thereof, for each senator and
| representative to which the State was
| entitled, for the purpose of endowing
and supporting and maintaining at least
| one college in each State where the lead
| ling object should be the teaching of
| agriculture and the mechanical arts, in
| Guiding military tactics" Under this act
! TO- 23O,0 900 acres of land, or scrip were
granted to the States.
| Subsequently the agricultural colleges
which were benefited by this act were
given further aid under the laws OF
| March 2, 1887, and August So 1890 known
as the Hatch act and the Morrill, act re-
| spectvely. The former granted an an
| nual subsidy of $4,000 to each of these
colleges for the maintenance of an agri-
| cultural experiment station, and the lat
! ter $4,000 with an annual increase of
| $1,000 until the appropriation should be
$4,000 for the complete endowment and
| maintenance of these colleges for the
| benefit of agriculture and the mechanical
| arts From the above source the forty
| two agricultural colleges, to which army
officers are now detailed, derived an in
come during last year or 81, 49l, 4S9, or an
| average of $3.50 each.
| While the law of 1862 made the instruc-
tion in military tactics compulsory on
the colleges benefited by the act the de-
! tail of the army officers as instructors
! was not legally authorized until after the
close of the civil war by the act of July
&c, 1866, which marked the beginning of a
! system of military instruction under the
auspices of the Government, which has
become popular and successful. The de-
tail of officers to these colleges has grown
| from twenty in 1866 to 102 army and ten
naval officers at the present time. OF the
| 102 officers of the army who performed
this duty during the past year ninety
seven were detailed from the active list
and eighty-one of them were graduates of
| West Point. Thirty-one were captains
| and seventy We're first heutenants. 1t
can be understood from this statement
that the instruction given has been of the
| very best.
| The number of scholars a these State
| colleges who were enrolled In the mill
| tary departments was 1S 416. The great
| est average was in the State of Cali
| fornia, which had COS students under mil
itary instruction. The lowest average
was at the Ohio Academy, which had
| only twenty cadets enrolled. The in
| spector general in his last report says
| that there We're in the year 1897 1900
! graduates of the military departments of
| these institutions, many of whom, he
| says, are fairly we'll prepared to assume
| the functions of officers of volunteers
| AS an indication of the benefit to the
| army OF the United States which may
| be expected in the coming war with
Spain from the instruction of these youns
| men in the military science, ii may be
stated that one of the Oldest of these col
| leges is said TO have furnished from it's
| alumni for the civil war twelve general
| officers twenty-five colonels, forty field
officers and 1893 company officers.
AT twenty-one of the schools the dis