INSPECTION OF THE BRANCHES OF THE NATIONAL HOME FOR DISABLED VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS.

WAR DEPARTMENT, INSPECTOR-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, December 6, 1902.

SIR: I have the honor to report that under instructions conveyed by letters from the Secretary of War, dated June 6 and October 10, 1902, I have made the annual inspection of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, its records, disbursements, management, discipline, and condition, as required by the act of August 18, 1894. The inspection comprised the several Branches of the Home, including the uncompleted Mountain Branch near Johnson City, Tenn., and the newly authorized Battle Mountain Sanitarium at Hot Springs, S. Dak., and the offices of the president of the Board of Managers and the general treasurer. The inspection extended from July 15 to October 22, 1902, and the inspections were made in the following order and on the dates named, to wit:

Eastern Branch, Togus, Me., July 16 to 21, 1902.

Battle Mountain Sanitarium, Hot Springs, S. Dak., August 4, 1902.
Pacific Branch, Santa Monica, Cal., August 7 to 10, 1902.

Western Branch, Leavenworth, Kans., August 18 to 21, 1902.
Northwestern Branch, Milwaukee, Wis., August 22 to 24, 1902.
Danville Branch, Danville, Ill., August 25 to 28, 1902.

Marion Branch, Marion, Ind., August 28 to September 2, 1902.
Central Branch, Dayton, Ohio, September 2 to 6, 1902.

Mountain Branch, Johnson City, Tenn., September 8 and 9, 1902.
Southern Branch, near Hampton, Va., September 22 to 25, 1902.
I was accompanied on this tour to the Branches, except the Battle
Mountain Sanitarium, by Mr. William T. Kent, accountant of the
Inspector-General's Department, who rendered valuable assistance in
the inspection of the accounts and disbursements.

ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.

The Home is composed of ten distinct Branches, situated in as many different States. Of these the Mountain Branch, in Tennessee, will soon be ready for occupancy, and the Battle Mountain Sanitarium, in South Dakota, is expected soon to be under construction. The other eight are in actual operation, and some of them have been so for many years. The first Branch (Eastern) was established by act of Congress of March 21, 1866, and the last (Battle Mountain) by the act of May 29, 1902, thus covering a period of thirty-six years. The Branches were established in the following order: Eastern, Central, Northwest

ern, Southern, Western, Pacific, Marion, Danville, Mountain, and Battle Mountain.

By enactment of Congress the government of the Home is vested in a Board of Managers, the members of which elect the officers of the board from among themselves. The officers consist of a president, two vice-presidents, and a secretary. Except the president and secretary, allˇmembers of the board serve without compensation. The board also elects certain general officers, to wit: An inspector-general, two assistant inspectors-general, a general treasurer, and an assistant general treasurer. These officers are not members of the Board of Managers. The headquarters of the Board of Managers is in New York City, N. Y., where the president and general treasurer have their offices. Each Branch of the Home has a member of the Board of Managers assigned as its local manager, and all Branch officers are also appointed by the board, which also prescribes rules and regulations for the government of the entire institution. The board holds quarterly meetings and special meetings from time to time at various places, as they may decide, and seven members of whom the president or either of the vice-presidents shall be one constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business at any of these meetings.

PERSONNEL.

Since the previous inspection Gen. William J. Sewell, first vicepresident of the Board of Managers, was unfortunately removed by death. He had long been connected with the Board of Managers of the Home, and had served as president of the board, and had contributed greatly by his invaluable services through a long series of years to bring the entire Home up to its present high standard of efficiency and usefulness. He served as president of the Board of Managers for only a short time, resigning the position on account of more pressing calls upon his time; but whether as president of the board, or simply as a member of it, he rendered services that were extremely valuable, and can not soon be forgotten.

Gen. A. L. Pearson, a member of the board, was made first vicepresident after the death of General Sewell; and Capt. Henry E. Palmer, of Omaha, Nebr., was elected a member of the board to fill the vacancy occasioned by the expiration of the term of General Franklin. The Board of Managers is now constituted as follows; viz:

In addition to the foregoing 11 active members, the President of the United States, the Secretary of War, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are ex officio members of the board, making 14 mem

bers in all. The active members are elected from time to time by Congress for a term of six years.

Since the last inspection some changes have also occurred in Branch officers, which will be found in the subjoined reports on the respective Branches, together with various other statistical matter concerning the Branches.

GENERAL CONDITIONS.

The condition and administration of the Home, with all its Branches, continues to be very satisfactory, beyond any formerly observed. The Board of Managers continue to discharge the duties of their trust with fidelity and ability. A gratifying interest is displayed, and efforts were apparent by the officers of the different Branches to make each Branch the best. So long as this friendly and proper rivalry obtains between the Branches good results will necessarily follow. The plan of arranging a spirit of competition between the companies at each Branch, with limits consistent with the age and strength of the men, to promote discipline and provide a community interest and diversion has grown beyond the Marion Branch, where it was first inaugurated, and has developed to a successful standard.

LEGISLATION.

The sundry civil act, making appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, approved June 25, 1902, provides that

Hereafter the officers of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, and officers under the Board of Managers thereof, shall be appointed, so far as may be practicable, from persons whose military or naval service would render them eligible, if disabled and not otherwise provided for, for admission to the Home, and they may be appointed, removed and transferred from time to time, as the interests of the institution may require, by the Board of Managers.

This act also appropriated the sum of $3,723,969 for the maintenance of the Home during the fiscal year 1903, and this amount included new constructions, etc., as follows:

At the Central Branch: Extension of the electric-light plant; greenhouse.

At the Eastern Branch: New barrack, new boilers, guard barrack. At the Southern Branch: New water-tube boilers, new frame barrack.

At the Western Branch: Completion of chaplains' quarters, extension of electric-light plant, extension of boiler house, additional boilers, one combination barrack, extension to laundry, headquarters building, open feed shed for cattle.

At the Pacific Branch: Addition to general dining room, repairing and completing attics over hospital and in four barracks.

At the Marion Branch: Heating plant; combination barracks.
At the Mountain Branch: General construction.

This does not include the special appropriation for the construction of the Battle Mountain Sanitarium, which is treated in detail in the special report on that Branch in the Appendix.

The act of Congress approved July 1, 1902, provides that

Hereafter any balance of pension money due a member of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers at the time of his death shall be paid to his widow, minor children, or dependent mother or father in the order named, and should no widow,

minor child, or dependent parent be discovered within one year from the time of the death of the pensioner, said balance shall be paid to the post fund at the Branch of said National Home of which the pensioner was a member at the time of his death, to be used for the common benefit of the members of the Home under the direction of the Board of Managers, subject to future reclamation by the relatives herein before designated, upon application filed with the Board of Managers within five years after the pensioner's death.

POPULATION.

The total number of members, present and absent, at the several Branches of the Home on June 30, 1902, was 27,205, of whom 19,404 were present and 7,801 absent a net gain of 764 during the year. The gain and loss, by Branches during the year were as follows:

The large apparent gain at the Danville Branch is due to the fact that it is a new Branch, and just now in the process of filling up with members. The loss at the Southern Branch was occasioned by the overcrowded condition, which necessitated the stoppage of admissions, and the transfer of many members to other Branches.

The average number of members cared for during the year was 27,079, of whom 20,501 were the average present and 6,578 were the average absent, and the total number cared for was 32,767. As compared with the preceding year the gain in the average present was 490 and the gain in the total number cared for was 883. The maximum number present during the fiscal year 1902 was reported as 22,018 and the minimum as 18,298, thus giving an extreme range of 3,720 members, as against 3,433 for the preceding year an increase of 287. The average age of all the members cared for during the year was reported as 63.90 years, while the average age of those admitted during the fiscal year was 60.62 years.

At the date of inspection the civilian employees of the Home numbered 413, of whom 293 were males and 120 were females. As compared with the previous year this was an increase of 20 males and 24 females.

SPANISH WAR VETERANS.

Up to the time of my preceding inspection of the Home 343 Spanish war veterans had been admitted as members, of whom 275 were then present. At the time of my most recent visit there were 398 of them present, a gain of 123 during the year. One hundred and seventyseven had died or been dropped or discharged during the year.

DISCIPLINE.

It was found that punishments for similar offenses vary at different Branches-governors punishing differently for the same offense.

There should be a standard of discipline, and the same punishment should everywhere be meted out for the same offense. These matters appear to be left too much to the discretion of the various governors. The same order or instructions should be issued to all by the Board of Managers prescribing the limits of punishment for offenders tried before the governor. Some of them now consider all previous offenses in trying a man, without reference to time, and others consider the time that has elapsed since the prisoner last offended.

Improved discipline is reported at all the Branches where competition has been tried, and it should be tried at all of them.

BRANCH OFFICERS.

A decided lack of familiarity with the Home regulations was observable, and a system of recitations on this subject would be very desirable. The necessity for this publication was very apparent for a long time, and now that an excellent compilation has been made, published, and distributed, the officers who are to use them should be tested in their knowledge of them. If these officers are thoroughly familiar with the regulations, it is not doubted that the correspondence between the central office and some of the Branches would be diminished.

Some of the new treasurers delegate too much of their duties to clerks, and do not seem to learn their duties readily. Unfortunately in the case of several old chief clerks, they take advantage of the situation, and do not do their duties so satisfactorily as when under an experienced treasurer.

It is believed that a deputy governor should be appointed at the Central Branch, where the population is so large and the duties so varied and numerous as to make more work than any one governor should be required or expected to attend to, but at no other branch, unless it should reach a membership of 5,000, which would be unfortunate, as it would be too large for the best administration.

As a rule there was harmony among the officers of the various Branches, though at some of them there was said to be room for improvement in this respect.

The governors and all the other Home officers gave every facility for making the inspections.

COMPETITION, UNIFORM METHODS, ETC.

The matter of competition between companies, which has already been referred to, is said to have had none but good results wherever tried, and it has extended to several of the Branches. A very evident increase of interest among the members is thought by the governors of these Branches to be due to these competitions. Much credit, however, is due the central office for more uniform methods of administration and of referring irregularities pertaining to each Branch to the governor of that Branch for correction. This has had a decidedly beneficial effect; but, doubtless, the competitions have had considerable influence for good as well.

The ceremony of saluting the flag at least once each week is recommended for all the Branches, as it is believed that this would have a very good effect.

CLOTHING.

An improved condition of clothing, as compared with the preceding inspection, was observed at nearly all the Branches.