Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1915-12-03
DIR. FELL'S ADDRESS
ON MILITARY COLLEGES
President of St. Johns College
Favors u. S. Aid.
MEETS OFFICER PROBLEM.
Would Cost Less to Train Them Than
it Does at West Point and In
crease The Yearly OUTPUT.

DR.. Thomas Fell. president OF st.
Johns College. delivered an address
last night in Washington, strongly ia
yoring the plan to use the colleges and
universities which include military
training in their curriculum as aids
to West Point in training officers for
the United States Army.
DIR. Fell spoke before the third an
nual meeting of the Association of
Military Colleges and Schools of the
United States, which opened yesterday
in Washington at the New Ebbitt
House. DR.. Fell said in part:
Military critics all agree that we
should have first line of defense of
100000 men, constantly available, with
another 100000 in reserve.
ITO create such a reserve two things
are necessary officers and
willing men. A competent officer is
a highly trained professional man,
whose education and experience must
cover four years at least With good
officers, willing men can soon be made
into an effective military asset. The
problem of differing the reserve is
the real problem, and the one in which
the schools must assist in the solution.
West Point for long time has not
been able to fiji the ordinary vacan-
cies of our regular standing army
Deficiencies have been made up by Civ
ing commissions TO graduates of mill
tary colleges and also to some from the
rank and file of the army, and, finally
to young men from civil life, with a
minimum of fitness and efficiency
"One suggestion as to the manner in
which the problem is to be solved is
that West Point be thrown open to
anybody who wants to enter, just as
Princeton, Harvard and all universi-
ties are now open to- any boy who can
pass the entrance examination, but the
main objection to this is the expense
to the government 1t costs the gov
ernment at present 81 100000 year to
maintain West Point, and as there are
each year approximately 600 cadets in
training. the cost for each cadet is ST.
500 per annum, or, TO educate one off
Ger $4,000 after four-year course.
Brings In Military Colleges.
If under this scheme, each new man
paid the pro rata share of his expense.
only wealthy men could afford to send
their sons there. Moreover, the plant
at West Point would have to be en-
larged and at the utmost it could only
be made to accommodate 200 to l 800
cadets. Beyond this number additional
ground space would have to be provid-
ed, or a new academy in the interior of
the country must be created. The same
result could be accomplished at much
less expense by standardizing the ex-
isting military colleges and by provid-
ing government support for them, as
was outlined in what is known as the
McKellar bill. introduced during the
last Congress-"
DR.. Fell quoted from the report of
the War College to show the military
instruction which would be given in
these colleges if the plan to have them
all adopt uniform course were adopted.
He concludes:
at seems to me that the proposition
is a very fair one and there is moth
ing intrinsically difficult or unreason-
able about it, but do think that if the
colleges and schools can provide this
valuable adjunct to the scheme of ma
tional defense as devised by the Secre-
tary of War, the Federal Government
ought to be willing to aid them with
pecuniary assistance, and by so doing
the enrolment of students at these
schools and colleges could be enlarged
and the annual output of infantry off
GERS would be increased at about one
fifth of the cost which it takes to make
an officer at West Point.
should the Federal Government pay
military student $50 month for nine
months in the year he would cost s720
to graduate after four years of service
in the college.
If he is allowed after graduation a
six months commission for intensive
service he would receive approximate
ly $1,000 in addition. The cost of his
education then would be $4,000, and
when he accepts his temporary commits
sion in the regular army il is under
stood that he would obligate himself
to serve six and a half years in case
an emergency should arise"