By the unanimous vote of the board, Gen. Charles Dick, member of Congress, was selected to make the address to the graduating class at the graduating ceremonies on the morning of June 12. The board having notified the Superintendent of the Academy, Colonel Mills, of its organization, the following communication was received in reply, and the programme of the examination submitted: HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY, Gen. CHARLES F. ROE, President Board of Visitors, West Point, N. Y. West Point, June 2, 1902. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of this date, notifying me of the organization of the Board of Visitors. I shall be happy to afford the board every facility for a thorough inspection of the workings of all the departments of the institution, administrative as well as academic, and in general to do everything possible to assist the board in its labors. A programme of the examination has already been furnished each member. Under the authority of the honorable Secretary of War examinations this year were begun on May 29, instead of June 1, as usual. Notice will be given from day to day of such military exercises as are ordered for the Board of Visitors. Capt. Fred W. Sladen, Fourteenth Infantry; Capt. Edward Anderson, Seventh Cavalry; Capt. Gordon G. Heiner, Artillery Corps, and First Lieut. George T. Summerlin, Fourth Cavalry, have been detailed to attend upon the Board of Visitors during their stay at the Academy. I hope the board will communicate with me freely, both personally and officially, upon any subject connected with the Military Academy which may be of interest to its members in connection with their official visit to West Point. I desire to call officially upon the Board of Visitors at the hotel at 4.20 o'clock p. m. to-day, with the members of the academic board and associate professor, the chaplain, and my military staff, to pay our respects to the Board of Visitors and to conduct them to a review of the corps of cadets given in their honor. At the close of the review it will give me pleasure to receive the members of the board, their families, and friends, at my quarters, to meet the officers and ladies of the post and prominent citizens residing in this vicinity. Very respectfully, A. L. MILLS, Colonel, United States Army, Superintendent. The army officers referred to in Colonel Mill's letter above quoted were then introduced to the members of the board by General Roe. The grouping of the subjects to fall within the compass of the deliberations and investigations of the various committees having been discussed, the following memorandum of their arrangement was suggested by the chair and adopted: Committee No. 1, increase of plant, and on buildings, grounds, and hygiene. Committee No. 2, examinations, instruction, discipline, and athletics. Committee No. 3, armament and equipment. Committee No. 4, fiscal affairs, supplies, and expenditures. "The future of the Academy" to come under the discussion of the board as a whole. The chair then made up the committees as follows: Examinations, instruction, discipline, and athletics.-Prof. W. R. Harper, Maj. R. W. Young, Mr. Montgomery Schuyler, Hon. A. C. Howze. Armament and equipment.-Gen. Ell Torrence, Hon. Charles Dick, Gen. Charles F. Roe. Increase of the plant and also on buildings, grounds, and hygiene.— Mr. Montgomery Schuyler, Hon. E. W. Pettus, Hon. F. H. Gillett, Hon. William Sulzer, Hon. Charles Dick. Fiscal affairs, supplies, and expenditures. Hon. J. V. Quarles, Mr. Geo. W. Childs Drexel, Hon. F. H. Gillett, Hon. William Sulzer, Hon. A. C. Howze. The board then proceeded to the discharge of its duties, attending the examination of the different classes, inspecting the buildings devoted to the use of the institution, witnessing the drills and evolutions in the several arms of the service-infantry, cavalry, and artilleryand the practical exercises in engineering. The chair read the following letters which had been delivered to the board: HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY, The PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS, West Point, N. Y. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following for the consideration of the Board of Visitors: The Military Academy has as a part of its equipment an excellent astronomical observatory, fitted with very valuable scientific instruments sufficient for much scientific research. The instruments referred to consist of one equatorial, one transit circle, one photographic telescope, one prime vertical instrument, and one spectrometer, all large and well mounted. The observatory is under the immediate supervision of the professor of natural and experimental philosophy, and to assist him in its management until the present time a line officer of the Army has been detailed for this special purpose. This policy has worked fairly well in the instruction of cadets, but as the assistant referred to is not permanently detailed, the policy is one which has necessarily failed to give the return to science and to the Academy that should be had from such a powerful and valuable equipment as the one named. In the opinion of the professor of philosophy, in which I concur, the permanent detail of an army officer at the observatory is not desirable. In order, however, that the latter may make the return it is capable of doing, I respectfully suggest to the Board of Visitors the advisability of considering the wisdom of employing a civilian, as astronomer in the observatory of the United States Military Academy, and, if the board approve the project, I would suggest that such a recommendation be embodied in its report. From inquiries made, I believe a competent civilian could be employed at a salary of $2,000 per year and quarters, and he would be of great assistance to the professor of philosophy in the course of practical astronomy, which cadets are required to take. In addition to this work, he could take up a series of astronomical observations in some field of pure science, and by prosecuting them diligently, secure valuable data for a regular series of publications from the observatory. In this way, and in this way only, can this very valuable equipment be made to give the return the country and science should have from it. I believe this return will fully justify the additional expense it will entail. A. L. MILLS, Very respectfully, Colonel, United States Army, Superintendent. HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY, The PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS, West Point, N. Y. SIR: In 1882 the department of modern languages of the Military Academy was organized, to include within its scope a chair of French, one of Spanish, and one of English, with a single professor to fill them all. Prior to that date the chairs of Spanish and French had been filled by different professors. From consideration of administration, of the relation of these courses to the others of the curriculum, and of the necessary correlation between the courses themselves, the present organization of the department of modern languages is, I believe, still much superior to the old, an opinion which is concurred in by all the members of the academic board who have individually submitted to me their statements on this point. The work of the department, however, has increased since its organization, and now, consequent upon changes in the curriculum, is still more increased. At its last session Congress very wisely freed the Military Academy from the longexisting restraint of an entrance examination fixed by statute, by placing the entrance requirements for the future under the control of the Secretary of War. Following this action a very much needed revision of the Academy's curriculum has been made and has been submitted for approval to the War Department. Among the changes secured is a desirable increase in the course of English, and on account of the country's newly acquired foreign possessions a more extended course in Spanish has been provided. These extensions, together with the considerable increase in the strength of the corps of cadets since 1882, institute conditions greatly increasing the demands on the professor of modern languages and necessitate measures being taken to afford him relief. A fuller appreciation of the matter will be obtained by a consideration of the following: Course in English 232 hours, from September 1 ̊to June 1; course in Spanish 296 hours, from January 1 to June 1; course in French 436 hours, from September 1 to June 1; number of cadets to be instructed daily, 248. I believe the proper administration of the department, together with personal supervision of instruction in the mother and two foreign tongues, is beyond the power of one man, and I am of the opinion that to secure the efficiency desired the professor should have associated with him an assistant, to be known as the associate professor of modern languages, who could give personal supervision to instruction in either Spanish or French under the general direction of the professor. Such an assistant will in no way affect the present organization of the academic board, but it will give the personnel necessary to the efficient interior administration of this department of instruction. The following important and necessary changes would be accomplished by the proposed addition: 1. The administrative head of the department of modern languages would have to give personal attention to instruction in only one foreign tongue, and yet there would be the necessary correlation between the different subjects of the department by virtue of their being under one administrative head. 2. The associate professor would be of much assistance in carrying out the administrative details within the department and would supervise the instruction of cadets in one foreign language. The matter is respectfully submitted for the consideration of the Board of Visitors, and if approved by the board it is requested that the board recommend in its report that provision be made for an associate professor of modern languages, to be regularly detailed from the Army, and to have while so serving the pay and allowances of a major. The increased pay recommended should be given in order to make the position an attractive one and because the officer selected for it would fill a higher position than the assistant professors in the department who, under the law, have the pay of captains mounted. I do not believe the appointment of an officer permanently as associate professor of the department would operate for the best interests of the Military Academy. Very respectfully, A. L. MILLS, Colonel United States Army, Superintendent. HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY, The PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS, West Point, N. Y. SIR: In reply to your inquiry of this date, I have the honor to report that the equipment of the Military Academy for the practical instruction of cadets in their duties is complete with the exception of a model seacoast battery mounting the latest types of ordnance and completely equipped with all the needful appliances for thor-. ough instruction. Such a model battery should comprise one 8-inch B. L. R. on a disappearing carriage, one 8-inch B. L. R. on nondisappearing carriage, one 6-inch R. F. gun on pedestal mount, one 15-pounder R. F. gun on balance pillar mount, and one 12-inch B. L. mortar on spring return carriage, the whole to constitute a single continuous battery occupying approximately the site of the present siege battery. The emplacements for this model battery should be complete in all details, with the latest appliances for serving the guns and with a complete light and power plant as follows: Emplacements for two 8-inch B. L. R. with single magazine and separate ammunition service; emplacement for one 6-inch R. F. gun with magazine; emplacement for one 15-pounder R. F. gun with magazine; emplacement for one 12-inch B. L. mortar with magazine; one fire commander and two battery commanders' stations; electric generating plant; electric storage battery, one 30-inch electric controlled searchlight. A. L. MILLS, Colonel United States Army, Superintendent. Very respectfully, HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY, The PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS, West Point, N. Y. SIR: In compliance with the request of a member of the board, I have the honor to inclose herewith a tabular statement of the appropriations made by Congress for maintaining the Military Academy during the past ten years; also the total amount of appropriations for buildings during the past fifty years. When this memorandum has served its purpose, I beg to request that it be returned to me. Very respectfully, A. L. MILLS, Colonel United States Army, Superintendent. Upon invitation Colonel Mills, Superintendent of the Military Academy, appeared before the board and gave in detail his views concerning the matters presented for discussion, namely, the conditions connected with the entrance examination, the recent additions to the curriculum, the advisability of a regularly established preparatory school, the precedence given to the various departments of study in the grading of the cadets, the percentage of those appointed who qualify and graduate, and the existing method of teaching the languages, etc. The following members of the academic board also appeared before the board upon invitation and gave their views and explanations upon matters brought to their attention: Professor Edgerton, Professor Fieberger, Professor Wood, Professor Tillman, Professor Larned, and Professor Gordon; also Captain Franklin, treasurer, who explained the workings of the treasury department of the Academy and the manner of making charges to the cadets on their individual accounts. Believing that a more practical result would be attained by acting as a homogeneous body-all the members contributing through their several committees their individual share of observations on the condition of the institution and their views upon its management, the whole to be embodied in one report-it was decided to prepare the report in this manner and so present it. The board is of the opinion that the enlargement of the entrance requirements accomplished under the recent Act of Congress should be commended. That the acceptance of certificates of graduation from high schools and normal schools, and of candidates having a college standing without conditions, and duly certified examination papers of candidates on competitive examination, should be commended, with the reservation, however, that certificates of graduation from high schools and normal colleges should be accepted only where the institution issuing the certificate has an accredited standing, a policy which has been adopted by most of the leading universities. That inasmuch as the several States and Territories are now quite generally supplied with high schools and colleges, and inasmuch as West Point is a technical institution of the military art and science, the entrance requirements should be enlarged from time to time as rapidly and extensively as practicable, with the purpose of permitting an extension in instruction on purely military subjects and of lessening the strain which now exists owing to the large amount of elementary teaching crowded into the four-years' course. The board is not prepared to favor the suggestion that a fifth year should be added to the course, or that a preparatory school should be located in the vicinity of West Point, having a one year's course. The board favors a change in the law, under which the number of cadets shall be substantially increased. The board commends most heartily the results of the method employed at the Academy in dividing the classes into small sections for purposes of instruction. The board approves the changes that have been made in some of the departments of the Academy, under which written examinations are substituted in whole or in part for the system of oral examinations formerly prevailing. The board approves either of the separation of the department of modern languages into two departments, one of which shall have either Spanish and English or French and English, and the other the Spanish or French separately; or, as an alternative, the modification of the law permitting the detail of an officer as associate professor of modern languages, with the temporary rank and pay of a major, whose duty it shall be to assist the professor of that department; also, that no officer be required to teach more than one foreign language. Furthermore, that officers to be detailed to teach either Spanish or French be ordered abroad for the purpose of familiarizing themselves thoroughly with the language they are to teach at least one year prior to their detail to the Academy, and should be ordered to visit French and Spanish-speaking countries respectively during their vacations. The board approves of the recommendation contained in the report of the board of visitors of 1901, as follows: "While in the Academy the cadet should have time and opportunity for the study of general history, military history, military ethics, military hygiene, and English literature. He should also have an opportunity to pursue the oral study of modern languages. The United States is now a world power, and its Army and Navy officers will find themselves in countries where languages other than English are spoken. There is, therefore, an increasing necessity for an acquaintance with modern languages. By this we do not mean a class-room acquaintance, nor a stuttering, stammering acquaintance, but a practical acquaintance that would enable a West Point graduate to make himself understood in any of these modern tongues without subjecting himself to ridicule." The board approves the recommendation of the Superintendent that a civilian be employed as an astronomer, at a salary not exceeding $2,000 per annum, who shall have charge of the observatory under the professor of natural and experimental philosophy, and shall assist as instructor in that department. It is the opinion of the board that the professors and instructors of the Military Academy should visit, under orders, other institutions of |