REPORT OF THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF THE ARMY. WAR DEPARTMENT, INSPECTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, D. C., October 1, 1895. SIR: Since the rendition of my last annual report of the operations of this department the inspection service has undergone several important changes, inaugurated in the interest of economy, efficiency, and equalization of work. Under the provisions of General Orders, No. 18, Headquarters of the Army, 1895, six independent inspection districts were established and each placed in charge of an inspecting officer with headquarters at an important commercial center, whence a tour of inspection could be readily made. The change to districts carried with it a reduction of nearly one-half of the commissioned personnel of the department, and there is now but one officer attached instead of six at the close of the preceding year. The new system began under good auspices, with the assured support of higher military authority and the well-recognized zeal and efficiency of the subordinates of this department. Last year I had the gratification of reporting a complete inspection of the military establishment and all that pertains to it, but this year there was an unavoidable interruption during the period of instituting inspection districts and arranging the details thereof, which occurred at a time usually devoted to the inspections in the southern half of the United States. This condition of affairs was recognized by all as merely transient, and no great injury seems to have resulted. In reality it amounted to a postponement of inspections into another fiscal year, and it is gratifying to state that they are at this time well under way. I venture to say that a year hence this Department will have accomplished all imposed upon it by law, orders, and regulations. MILITARY COLLEGES. The year just closed witnessed another stride in the dissemination of military knowledge by officers of the Army and evidences the progressive spirit of our institutions of learning. There are now 104 collegesan increase of 6 over the number reported at the close of the preceding year-at which military science and tactics formed a prominent feature of the curriculum. At 4 colleges the military department was discontinued near the beginning of the scholastic year, at 4 others it was reopened after a temporary interruption, and at 6 it was organized for the first time. Changes of this nature are influenced by a variety of circumstances and are hardly avoidable, but nevertheless there is a constant gain in the number of institutions favorable to military instruction and discipline, and this year's results show a great improvement over the work previously accomplished during any similar period. The summary here presented may hardly convey an adequate conception of the good accomplished by the Government in fostering military instruction. The colleges deserve all the aid now given them, and the military professors generally deserve credit for their devotion to their duties and the results attained. The young students show a marked aptitude for military instruction and manifest considerable interest in the various drills and exercises, and the lessons impressed upon their receptive minds are sure to remain and serve them and the nation well in the future. Inspections. During the year every institution having an army officer as military professor was visited by an inspector, though at one time it looked as if this important duty would suffer. One of the officers lately on duty in this department, who has bestowed much attention upon educational institutions, remarks that "the careful and discriminating inspections of these institutions by officers of the Inspector General's Department, who so fully understood their needs, difficulties, and surroundings, contributed in no small degree to the progress and popularity of these military departments." The beneficial influence of uniform, stematic, and well-conducted inspections upon the military departments of these colleges can hardly be adequately expressed; but it is the consensus of opinions of college presidents as well as military professors that they are of vital importance to efficiency and progress. The inspection of these institutions was originally ordered in 1886 at the suggestion of the InspectorGeneral, and the first was made in 1887. Since then the number of colleges at which military instruction is given has nearly trebled. Military professors. In addition to the 100 officers of the Army authorized and detailed under the act of November 3, 1893, there were 4 retired officers so detailed under the same act as amended by the act of August 6, 1894. At the close of the previous year there were no retired officers performing this duty. TL details from the active list are represented by 21 officers of the cavalry, 14 of the artillery, and 65 of the infantry, and average 2.5 per regiment. In the artillery 50 per cent of the details have been taken from one regiment (the Fifth), while the Second is not represented at all. In the cavalry the combined details of the Eighth and Tenth regiments form over 50 per cent of the whole, and the Fourth and Fifth have no details. In the infantry the contrast is less marked; here the maximum number of officers taken from any one regiment does not exceed 5, and there is but one regiment (the Fifteenth) which furnished no military professor, though the proportion of infantry officers is greater than that of the other two arms. In the former it is about 9 per cent and in the two latter about 6 per cent each. Seventeen of the military professors rank as captain-an increase of 6 over the number reported last yearand 83 as lieutenants. Six of these captains are cavalry and 11 are infantry officers. The military professors are almost without exception members of the faculty in full standing and the highest in command in their department. They are generally fairly well supported in their work by the college authorities, though in some instances they meet with antagonism from |