BOARD OF VISITORS TO THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY AT WEST POINT, 1877. APPOINTED BY THE PRESIDENT. Prof. CHARLES O. THOMPSON, of the Free Institute, Worcester, Mass. The Right Rev. CHARLES T. QUINTARD, S. T. D., LL. D., Bishop of Tennessee General DAVID B. HILLIS, Keokuk, Iowa. APPOINTED BY THE SENATE. Hon. JAMES G. BLAINE, Maine. Hon. SAMUEL B. MAXEY, Texas. APPOINTED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Hon. HENRY B. BANNING, Ohio. Hon. THOMAS C. PLATT, New York. Hon. GILBERT C. WALKER, Virginia. REPORT OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS. 1877. SIR: The Board of Visitors to the Military Academy at West Point for the year 1877 have the honor to submit the following report: The board was organized at West Point on Monday, the 4th day of June, 1877, by the election of a president and secretary, and the appointment by the president, in accordance with the vote of the board, of the following committees: 1. On fiscal affairs.-Hon. A. E. Stevenson, General Hyde, and Representative Platt. 2. On buildings and grounds.-Senator Blaine, Colonel McCalmont, Senator Maxey, Representative Bauning, and Representative Walker. 3. On discipline and drill.-General Hillis, General Hyde, and Senator Maxey. 4. On commissary and mess.-Senator Maxey and Hon. A. E. Steven son. 5. On the corps of cadets.-Bishop Quintard and General Hyde. 6. On the course of study.-Professor Thompson, Bishop Quintard, and Rev. C. S. Richardson. 7. On the religious condition of the post. Rev. C. S. Richardson, Bishop Quintard, and Colonel McCalmont. All the members of the board were present excepting Representative Walker. The committees of the board proceeded at once to an investigation, as careful and minute as possible, into the subjects respectively assigned them, and reported to the board in writing. These reports, after full discussion in daily meetings, were unanimously adopted, and the president and secretary were instructed to embody the results of these investigations in the report of the Board of Visitors. Every available means has been used for getting full and trustworthy information on every topic committed to the care of the board. The first evening after the organization was spent in a conference of the whole board with the Superintendent. The committees held repeated and prolonged conversations with the commandant of cadets, with all the members of the academic board, with the quartermaster, the surgeon, the Army officers stationed at the Academy as instructors, and with personal friends in the corps of cadets. The researches of different members gave the board the advantages of European experience in military schools, and of all published histories of the Academy, with many of the reports of previous boards. The adjutant furnished carefully-prepared statistics. All the books and records of the post were freely submitted for inspection. The board enjoyed a signal advantage in finding in its membership two graduates of the Academy, Colonel McCalmont (1842) and Senator Maxey (1846), whose clear and distinct recollection of the condition of the Academy in former times was of great assistance in forming a judgment of its progress. Members of the board dined with the cadets on brief notice, inspected their quarters at unexpected times, sat in the office of the commandant of cadets during the administration of discipline, inspected their quarters, the quality of their food and the method of preparing it, and the hospital. They attended the examination of the first class, and those of the lower classes at such hours as could be spared from committee-work, and scarcely an hour passed in which some member was not present. During the examination of the first class, which began on the 1st day of June and closed on the 9th, some sections of the lower classes were engaged in ordinary recitations. This opportunity was not neglected. In short, the board took advantage of the absolute "freedom of the city" tendered by the Superintendent to satisfy themselves on every point that was raised concerning the management of the corps of cadets. Nothing could exceed the considerate courtesy which was shown to the members of the board by every officer of the Academy in the prosecution of their inquiries. From these sources of information the board derived a general impression that the Academy is educating the officers. of the Army in a thorough and effective manner. All the recommendations of this report are in the direction of a possibly higher degree of efficiency in certain points and greater economy of expenditure. Every suggestion and recommendation is based on the personal observation and knowledge of members of the board. The Military Academy has rendered a service to the country in giving tone and elevation to education, and in furnishing stimulating examples of fidelity and self-denial in the discharge of duty, which are of scarcely less importance than the skill in the art of war which has shone on so many fields. The history of education abounds in illustrations of the indebtedness of the science of pedagogy to the professors at West Point, especially to the illustrious inventor of the blackboard. Of the more direct results of the work of the school it is easy to judge. Indeed, not the least interesting and valuable feature of West Point is the younger Army officers who are assigned to duty in the different departments. These instructors, selected by the heads of departments on account of their conspicuous merit, after two years' experience in the Army, ordinarily remain at West Point at least four years. Under this arrangement, the effectiveness of their instruction is not impaired by too close proximity to contemporary students, and they enjoy all the advantages of a residence at the Academy as post-graduates. These advantages they highly enjoy and improve, so that multitudes of officers under this system advance their studies into the higher realms of knowledge. Free intercourse with these gentlemen convinces the board that the anticipations raised by the academic career of cadets are largely fulfilled in their Army life. Before passing to a detailed account of their investigations, the board desire to record their sense of the great value to the Academy of the presence of a major-general of the Army at its head. As the office is now filled, certainly harmony of action is secured in the academic board, and the morale of the corps of cadets kept at a high pitch. FISCAL AFFAIRS. A tabular statement of the appropriations made by Congress for the current fiscal year is appended to this report, Table A. The appropriations are disbursed through the office of Capt. R. F. O'Beirne, the disbursing officer. The books are kept on a simple and ingenious plan evoked by the recognized need of the office, and give to any inspector a clear and satisfactory account of the manner in which each specific appropriation is expended. The specific accounts with the members of the corps of cadets are kept in the office of Lieut. S. M. Mills. The board notice with great pleasure the discreet method of purchase and distribution of supplies, which promotes the comfort of the cadets in many ways. These duties Lieutenant Mills performs in addition to his work in charge of the cadets' mess. A cadet receives no money at any time prior to graduation. He is credited with his pay, and all articles he is permitted to have are charged to him. The accounts are so kept that he can see at any moment how he stands. With one or two exceptions, the cadets are out of debt, and they appear to be learning the great lesson of living within their means, which is inculcated by judicious rules. The present reduced pay has been found sufficient, since purchases of all articles of food and clothing are made on the most advantageous terms in open market. It will be seen by reference to Table B, appended to this report, that the amount of business thrown upon the officer in charge of the cadets' mess is quite large, and that the clerical work required in this office is of such a nature that an enlisted man could rarely be found to perform it in a satisfactory manner. The board therefore recommend that Lieutenant Mills be allowed a clerk, whose compensation shall not exceed one thousand dollars per annum. GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS. The board find, after thorough personal inspection and conferences with the quartermaster, that the chapel, the academic hall, the messhall, the library, the superintendent's office, the riding-school, and stables are in good condition, and need no change, addition, or repair. The barracks for cadets require enlargement. The rooms are constructed for the accommodation of two cadets each, and cannot be occupied by more with due regard to health, convenience, and proper facilities for study. Yet, in several cases, three cadets are compelled to occupy one room. An addition could be made to the present barracks at very reasonable cost, and in perfect harmony with its architectural design. The windows in the barracks are filled with very small panes of glassseventy-eight to each window. The glass is of inferior quality, and the supply of light utterly inadequate. Larger panes of better glass are indispensable to an adequate supply of light in the study-rooms. The new hospital, the construction of which was begun in 1874 and arrested a year ago by lack of appropriations, is greatly needed for the proper care of the health of the cadets. Though its construction is well advanced, it is now an unsightly, unfinished building, utterly valueless as it stands, and constantly deteriorating. Whatever sum may be needed to complete it will be most wisely expended, and an appropriation for the purpose is respectfully urged upon Congress. The old hospital building is in every respect inadequate and unfit for the purpose; but it could be turned to good account for officers' quarters, of which there is a decided lack at the post. Nothing is more needed than a plentiful supply of good water and an effective system of sewerage; but the water-supply at West Point has been precarious for many years, and, at seasons when most needed, altogether insufficient. An inexhaustible supply of pure water is obtainable by bringing it from a mountain lake less than four miles distant from the post. A committee of the board having carefully examined the present and proposed sources of supply, the board have no hesitation in saying that the plan of bringing water from the lake should be adopted. The system of sewerage, now well advanced in portions of the post, should be extended over the whole and made entirely thorough. As matters now stand, there is great danger that diseases traceable to sewage-contamination may break out in the undrained portions of the post. The board would not make any recommendation tending to increase the mere luxury of living, but pure water in abundance and effective drainage are essential to health, especially in a place so densely peopled as, West Point, and no reasonable expense needed to secure them should be withheld. Additional facilities are needed for the manufacture of gas. A few years since Congress appropriated $25,000 for this purpose, but, before it could be used, the law covering unexpended balances into the Treasury went into effect, and the improvement was not made. It is now recommended that the appropriation be renewed. The evidence submitted to the board as to its necessity was entirely conclusive. THE COURSE OF STUDY. For purposes of instruction, each class is divided into small sections, usually of not more than ten each. Each section is taught by one of the assistant professors, who are all directly supervised by the professors in the respective departments. These instructors in every case have been absent from the Academy on service in the Army at least two years, and the evil of adventitious authority over contemporaries in school is largely averted. This method of imparting instruction is the secret of the extraordinary results of the West Point course. It probably requires the support of military discipline to be thoroughly satisfactory, but with that support it certainly works well. It is obvious that a large part of the labor of these instructors must be concentrated upon the more backward scholars. Whether this is a wise expenditure or not, the board do not feel clear enough to express an opinion. The increased accomplishments of the more brilliant officers, who would appear as a consequence of concentrating the force of instruction upon the upper sections, is perhaps completely balanced by the useful career of officers taught on the existing plan whose graduating rank was low. A large percentage of graduates from a thorough school is a test of the economy of expenditure of its educational force, the standard remaining unchanged. Table C of the appendix shows what the number of cadets would have been from the beginning had the quota of each State been kept full; Table D, the number appointed and rejected from each State since 1838; Table E, the percentage of graduates and specifications of reasons for rejections; it also gives statistics of the class of 1877. These tables will repay attentive study. It appears that, of the whole number of cadets between 1850 and 1877, inclusive, 52.1 per cent. have graduated, and of the total membership of the class of 1877, 61.8 per cent. graduated. Statistics given in the reports of the United States Commissioner of Education show that the percentage of graduates to membership in the polytechnic schools of this country falls below thirty. |