OPERATIONS OF THE ARMY.

The reports of the officers in command of the several geographical departments show that the year has been tranquil and undisturbed by Indian outbreaks, domestic violence, or troubles on the border. Steady and general effort to improve the service has brought the troops everywhere to a highly satisfactory condition as to discipline, efficiency in military exercises, and soldierly, patriotic spirit. The Army is better fed, clothed, and housed than ever before, and the policy zealously pursued of promoting the personal comfort of the officers and men has resulted in a devotion to the service which is everywhere apparent. It can be said with confidence that never in its history has the present condition of the Army been surpassed.

Late in July, in compliance with the request of the Secretary of the Interior, prompted by dispatches from the governor of the State, a squadron of cavalry and a battalion of infantry were ordered to the Jacksons Hole country in Wyoming to prevent conflict between citizens and Indians, protect the lives of the settlers, and return the Indians, chiefly of the Bannock tribe, to their reservations. None of the reports of conflicts extensively published were verified, and upon the approach of the troops the Indians, who it transpired were engaged in hunting under their treaty rights, quietly retired to their reservations. The only casualties of the affair were the death of one Indian and the wounding of another, who were shot by a local constable and his deputies, from whom they were endeavoring to escape. whatever was done to the life or property of any settler.

No injury

STRENGTH OF THE ARMY.

The full strength of the Army authorized by law is now:

Enlisted men of infantry

Enlisted men of engineers..

13, 125 500

Total enlisted men in companies and regiments........ Enlisted men in detachments and unassigned to regiments..

Total authorized under act June 18, 1874

Enlisted men, hospital corps, act March 1, 1887

Total all enlisted men.

23, 820

1, 180

25,000

706

25, 706

The number of enlisted men in service on October 31 was 25,358. Deducting the sick, those in confinement, recruits not yet joined, those absent on furlough, and others employed in staff departments or on detached service, the effective field strength on the same date was 20,584 of all arms.

For the last two years the Department has steadily pursued the policy of restoring officers to their commands and reducing, wherever possible, the number of those on detached duty. In January, 1893, the number of officers serving with their regiments was 1,013; in September last it was 1,229. On the former date officers on detached duty numbered 402, on the latter date 342. Officers of the line assigned to duty at Washington and at department headquarters have been reduced from 67 to 35, those on recruiting service have been reduced from 98 to 33, while assignments with the National Guard of the States, and as instructors at the military schools and colleges, have been increased from 92 to 128, and the number acting as Indian agents from 5 to 19.

THE RECRUITING SERVICE.

Changes established in the method of recruiting during the past two years have considerably reduced the cost of that service, while perceptibly increasing the effective strength of the Army. Nine recruiting stations have been closed within that time, and the number of officers detached on general recruiting service has decreased from 64 in September, 1894, to 24 in October, 1895. The effort to increase enlistments at posts, and thus reduce transportation, shows very satisfactory results. By the act of August 1, 1894, enlistments were confined to citizens, or those who had declared their intentions to become such, not over 30 years of age, and able to speak, read, and write the English language. This law has greatly improved the personnel of the Army and has not impeded required enlistments. Of the 7,780 men recruited during the year, 5,518 were native born and 2,262 foreign born. The strictness of the examinations, physical,

mental, and moral, may be measured from the fact that 38,240 applicants were rejected.

GENERAL CONDITIONS.

The operations of the Quartermaster's Department during the year as well as for the whole period of the present Quartermaster General's incumbency, about to close, have been conducted with marked economy and efficiency. Excellent progress has been made during the year in the construction of new barracks and quarters. Fort Harrison, at Helena, Mont., and Fort Crook, at Omaha, are already garrisoned, and the established post at Little Rock will be occupied early in the coming year, while new buildings at Fort Myer and elsewhere will soon provide for additional troops. General repairs and care in renovation have put many of the older posts in good condition.

The receipts from the seventy-three post exchanges in operation were $1,518,455, the expenses $1,189,233, leaving a balance of $329,222, of which $255,837 were returned as dividends. Many of the exchanges now have libraries, gymnasiums, and appliances for out-of-door sports. he receipts of the canteens have been reduced from 75 per cent six years ago to 40 per cent during the present year.

The health record of the Army for the year is the best annual statement ever consolidated from the returns of the medical officers, for while the death rate is a fraction higher than the lowest ever recorded, the other rates are by far lower than they ever have been in the history of our service. The death rate from disease was 4.55, compared with 3.95 in 1889, the lowest rate recorded, and 5.64 the average for the last decade. The number of admissions to hospital per 1,000 mean strength was 845, compared with an average of 1,121 for the last ten years. The rate of nonefficiency was 34, compared with 42 for the last decade, and the average number of days lost by each man was 12.6, compared with 15.5 for the decade. Alcoholism, as a cause of nonefficiency, has notably declined in the past few years.

The trials by general court-martial for the year ended August 31, 1895, were 1,728, compared with 2,189 for the previous year; of inferior courts-martial 10,997, compared with 15,086 last year, thus corroborating the reports from all officers of a noteworthy improvement in the morale and discipline of the Army. Authority is again asked from Congress to compel civilians to testify before general courts-martial when such evidence is necessary.

PAY DEPARTMENT.

I concur in the recommendation of the Paymaster-General that the entire amount of pay earned by each enlisted man be paid to him monthly. The existing statutes which require a retention of a small part of each soldier's pay were enacted at a time when Army garrisons were scattered throughout the remote frontiers and the needs of the discharged soldier to enable him to reach the place of enlistment were much greater than now. At the end of five years each man would have due him $72 of retained pay. The term of enlistment is now reduced to three years, and the retention during a first enlistment is only $12, a sum that the soldier does not need to enable him to reach his home, and which he could better use from month to month as earned. I also concur in the further recommendations of the Paymaster-General to the effect that there be established a uniform rate of commutation for subsistence and clothing of all retired enlisted men, and that credit sales of subsistence stores to enlisted men, except when serving in the field, be discontinued.

A considerable reduction by Congress of the estimates of the Pay Department, which failed to take into consideration various contingencies, and the enactment of extraordinary legislation increasing temporarily the demands upon the pay appropriation without making adequate provision therefor, left the Paymaster-General without sufficient funds to meet the Army pay roll for the last month of the year.

The situation threatened much hardship among officers and men, who usually rely upon their monthly salaries to pay current expenses. It was averted, however, by an unofficial arrangement under which the necessary amount was advanced to meet these accounts in full, and the assignments of the same are held by the National City Bank, New York, the Secretary of War having assumed the personal responsibility of guaranteeing their payment. A deficiency appropriation of $24,000, or so much as may be necessary to extinguish the debt, is recommended.

BATTALION FORMATION.

By far the most essential need of our Army to-day is the adoption of the three-battalion formation. The reasons for this change and a way to provide it were stated in the report of the Department for 1894, which I here repeat in substance:

I earnestly recommend that Congress enact the legislation necessary to establish in the Army the battalion formation now adopted

by the armies of every other civilized nation. As necessary to effect that change I recommend the removal of the limit of 25,000 men fixed by the act of June 18, 1874, and a return to the limit fixed by the act of July 15, 1870. Legislative approval of these two propositions will restore to the effective force about 4,000 enlisted men, bringing the actual, strength of the Army up to the nominal strength now fixed by law. By these changes the Army will be increased in efficiency 20 per cent, in numbers about 163 per cent, and in cost of maintenance only about 6 per cent.

In brief, it is proposed that two companies be added to each of the twenty-five infantry regiments, so that each shall consist of three battalions of four companies, and that two foot batteries be added to each of the five artillery regiments. No increase in the cavalry is proposed.

The organization of the line of the Army has undergone no material change since the close of the civil war. During this period of thirty years every large foreign army has been completely reorganized. Changes and improvements in arms, ammunition, and equipments have forced upon the leading strategists and tacticians of the great -armies of the world the necessity of a broad departure from the old systems. All have adopted the battalion as the tactical unit for infantry and artillery serving as infantry, and nearly all the equivalent of the squadron as the cavalry unit. The light artillery battalion has a similar composition. Should our Army ever be brought into collision with disciplined foreign troops, our present formation would prove so defective as to probably turn the scale against us in a conflict on terms otherwise equal.

For some years the Secretaries of War, the generals commanding the Army, and the most eminent authorities in military science in this country have urged the adoption of the battalion formation, and our most progressive and best informed officers believe that the organi zation of our small Army should embody this universally approved result of modern military thought.

Four companies are as large a body as it is now possible for one officer to lead and control in action. Formerly and down to a recent date, the colonel could see and direct the movements of all the men of his regiment, who marched and fought in double rank with touch of elbows. Under such conditions a regiment of 1,000 men occupied a front on the battle line no greater than would now be covered by a small battalion of one-third that number. A few years ago small-arms