2d Session.

No. 1234.

ARMY CHAPLAINS.

FEBRUARY 26, 1904.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. PARKER, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the

following

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 2424.]

The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2424) to recognize and promote the efficiency of army chaplains, report the same back to the House with the following amendments, and with the recommendation that, as amended, it do pass:

Section 1, line 5, after the word "service," insert the words "in the grade of captain.

Strike out in line 7 the words "and department" and insert the words "or district."

Strike out in line 8 the words "have served" and insert in their place the words "may be serving."

Insert in line 8, after the words "as chaplains," the words "approved through regular military channels."

Amend line 12 by striking out the word "the" and inserting the word "active," so that it may read "total number in active service." Amend line 11, section 1, by inserting after the word "major" the words "every such promotion being made with a view to active service until the statutory age for the compulsory relinquishment thereof except in cases of physical disability incurred in the line of duty." Insert at the end of the section, line 14, after the words captain mounted," the following:

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after they shall have completed seven years of service: And provided further, That all persons who may hereafter be appointed as chaplains shall have the grade, pay,

and allowances of first lieutenant, mounted, until they shall have completed seven years of service.

On page 2, line 6, after the word "transfers," insert the words "and that nothing herein contained shall be held or construed to increase the number of chaplains as now authorized by law or to reduce the grade of any now serving."

These amendments make the act read as follows:

That hereafter the President may, from time to time, select from among the chaplains of the Army any chaplains having not less than ten years' service in the grade of captain, who shall have been commended as worthy of special distinction for exceptional efficiency by the regimental or district commanders with whose commands they may be serving as chaplains, approved through regular military channels, and may, with the advice and consent of the Senate, promote such regimental or artillery chaplains to be chaplains with the grade, pay, and allowances of major; every such promotion being made with a view to active service until the statutory age for the compulsory relinquishment thereof except in cases of physical disability incurred in the line of duty: Provided, That the total number in active service so promoted shall not at any time exceed fifteen, and that the remaining chaplains shall have the grade, pay, and allowances of captain, mounted, after they shall have completed seven years of service: And provided further, That all persons who may hereafter be appointed as chaplains shall have the grade, pay, and allowances of first lieutenant, mounted, until they shall have completed seven years of service.

SEC. 2. That all officers provided for in this act shall have a uniform designation in official address as chaplains of their respective regiments or of the Artillery Corps. SEC. 3. That nothing in this act shall be construed as depriving any chaplain of his commission in the Army or as interfering with existing law pertaining to regimental and corps assignments or transfers, and that nothing herein contained shall be held or construed to increase the number of chaplains as now authorized by law or to reduce the grade of any now serving.

SEC. 4. That all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

This bill provides a deserved recognition of the heroic services of chaplains now in service, both in the Spanish war and Philippine insurrection. It creates a scheme of moderate advancement for faithful service, which exists to a much greater degree in every other staff corps. It is an act of simple justice. It is also necessary in order to obtain the best men for this work. As is well remarked by a leading bishop:

There has been a strong feeling of late regarding the selection of the best clergymen that can be obtained as chaplains in the Army, and there has been a corresponding improvement in the chaplains themselves.

There is advancement for clergymen in every other sphere open to them, and it is not to be expected that the best class of wholesome, manly, and energetic clergymen will offer themselves if the same opportunities are denied them in the service of their country.

Before 1901 there were only 34 chaplains in the Army. In that year the number was increased to 57, providing 1 for each regiment and 12 for the Artillery Corps of 18,000 officers and men. The act of that year also provided that they must be under 40 years of age when appointed and must pass a rigid examination.

We thus obtain a good class of young active men, averaging about 35 years of age, who can give nearly 30 years active service to the Army before their retirement at 64.

But to secure and keep such men, there must be some promotion for service and efficiency, whereas by the present law there is none. All are captains at $1,800 a year besides length of service pay, and they

alone of all staff officers are not mounted, although their duties require them to be.

The Senate bill proposed to allow the appointment of not over 15 majors at $2,500 each by selection of the most efficient chaplains who have held the rank of captain at least ten years, and to give the rest mounted status and pay at $2,000 a year besides length of service pay in each case.

The House amendments modify this bill by providing that all new appointments shall have the grade of first lieutenant, mounted (pay, $1,600), and shall hold that grade for seven years. This is like the medical corps, except that surgeons are promoted to captain in five

years.

Other amendments provide that promotion to major shall only be made on recommendation by the regimental or district commander; that the chaplain is worthy of special distinction for particular efficiency, such recommendation being approved through all the various headquarters (regular military channels), and that such promotion shall be with a view to active service until the age of 64, and therefore not used as a means to voluntary retirement with increased grade.

The bill, as stated in the Senate report (No. 303), is very simple. It does not modify the regimental assignment or duties of chaplains. It creates no corps or chaplaincy in chief or line of command, and it leaves them equal in authority with the same title of "chaplain" made uniform and obligatory.

The House amendments provide for entrance at a lower grade, with fair promotion for service and a moderate recognition of long-continued and exceptional devotion and efficiency, when certified through army headquarters, so that after seventeen years of such distinguished and exceptional service the chaplain may possibly have the grade and pay of major.

This recognition is urged by former Secretary Root and Secretary Taft, by about all the army general officers, and by bishops and ministers of all churches, Catholic and Protestant, and it is demanded by the self-sacrifice and earnest devotion of chaplains in the service, whose work amid the wounded, the sick, and the dying or dead, in battle or in the hospitals of Cuba and the Philippines, has gained them the love and respect of officers and men and made this slight acknowledgment of their service a necessity.

We believe that the House amendment which makes them enter as lieutenants will gain just as good men and make promotion in the service more regular and attractive.

The expense is trivial. The annexed Schedule A, from the War Department, shows that the present pay of chaplains is $111,600. Under the Senate bill it would be $133,700 immediately upon the law going into effect. This is $22,100 more than at present. With the House amendments the pay would be $125,960, or an increase of $14,360 over present pay.

It is fair to say, however, that owing to the appointments made since 1901, 32 of the present chaplains have served less than five years. As a rule, even allowing for appointments to fill vacancies caused by death and resignation, as well as by retirements for age, there would usually be not more than 20 with less than five years' service. These,

however, would be lieutenants, who would each get at least $200 less a year, and the saving would be considerable.

We estimate that in ordinary practice the House plan would cost about $16,000 more, and the Senate plan $25,000 more than under the present law.

On the other hand, the present retired list includes 25 officers, having been built up under the old system of appointment without limit of age, and the number may be expected to be much less in future and the cost will also be less, even with the proposed bill in force.

The scheme has been carefully worked out and perfected, both in the Senate and in this House. It is necessary to the welfare of our soldiers, and due to the brave men who have distinguished themselves in their work for the Army and the country.

We append a copy of the Senate report, as part hereof; and also as Schedule A, the calculations of the War Department, and as Schedule B, a careful letter included in Senate Document No. 215 of the last Congress.

[Senate Report No. 303, Fifty-eighth Congress, second session.]

The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2424) to recognize and promote the efficiency of Army chaplains, have given the same careful attention and report it back with the following amendments:

In line 7 strike out the words and parentheses "(or post)," and in line 12, before the word "number," insert "total," and in the same line, after the word "number," insert the words "in the service so," making the proviso read:

Provided, That the total number in the service so promoted shall not at any time exceed fifteen, and that the remaining chaplains shall have the grade, pay, and allowances of captain, mounted.

And as amended your committee recommend that the bill do pass. Your attention is respectfully invited to Senate Document No. 215, Fifty-seventh Congress, second session, and the following statement and exhibits, which are made a part of this report.

Under existing law the chaplains of the Army, 57 in number, have the rank and pay of captain, and no advance in grade or emoluments is possible, no matter how long or distinguished may be their service nor how strongly their claim to special recognition may be presented in the official recommendations of their commanding generals.

They constitute the only class of commissioned officers in either the Army or the Navy to whom no recognition can be given for heroic conduct or unusual devotion to duty.

Among the officers who have so distinguished themselves since the Spanish-American war began as to be thought worthy of promotion the chaplains have not been an exception, although the present law is prohibitive in their case alone so far as the reward of promotion is concerned.

The aim of this bill is to correct this unfair and unwise discrimination against the chaplains by awarding a very moderate advance (from

the present grade of captain to that of major) in cases of conspicuous efficiency and devotion.

The provisions of the bill are very simple.

It makes no change in the regimental assignment of chaplains.

It does not modify their duties.

It does not provide for a chaplaincy in chief.

It does not create a corps or bureau.

It does not change the title by which chaplains have always been known and addressed, as the uniform title of "chaplain" is made obligatory by the bill.

It does not place the chaplains in line of command.

It does not even provide such promotion as obtains in the Navy, where one-sixth of the corps of chaplains have rank corresponding with the army grade of colonel.

But it provides that the chaplain, now occupying the grade of captain, whose efficiency is exceptional shall no longer be classed with the one who is more nominal in his service, but may be advanced one grade, and only one grade, in recognition of his established record and worth.

It assures this moderate recognition to the man who wins it.

The bill bases promotion absolutely upon the established record of a chaplain in the military service, which record is made upon commendations for unusual merit from his regimental commander (district commanders in the corps of artillery being considered as holding an equivalent relation in regard to chaplains), and a concurrence in this opinion and commendation on the part of the department commander. Of the 15 chaplains to be promoted by the bill, only 14 could be immediately benefited. Their service ranges from ten to nearly thirty years, and averages about eighteen years.

The recognition of efficiency is one of the principles of justice which the bill proposes.

The stimulation of efficiency always results from the possibility of recognition and promotion, and the service of any class of officers is sure to be improved by the knowledge that advancement depends entirely upon a record for particular efficiency.

It is believed also by military men and by eminent bishops and clergymen that the recognition provided by this bill will attract to the position of chaplain a superior grade of ministers.

The bill has the approval not only of the Secretary of War and the Chief of Staff, but of the newly appointed Secretary of War, Hon. William H. Taft, and more than thirty general officers and colonels to whom it has been submitted, viz, Generals Otis, MacArthur, S. S. Sumner, Breckinridge, Bliss, Brooke, Merriam, Merritt, Corbin, Davis, Weston, Greely, Bell, O'Reilly, Humphrey, Áinsworth, Grant, Loyd Wheaton, Frank Wheaton, Schwan, Ludington, Sternberg, Ovenshine, Burt, Hood, Joseph Wheeler, Fitzhugh Lee, E. V. Sumner, James H. Wilson, and Cols. William P. Hall, C. R. Edwards, A. L. Mills, E. S. Dudley, Merritt Barber, and others.

It has also been indorsed by many archbishops and bishops, clergymen and laymen, representing practically every shade of religious belief and resident in every State in the Union.

A few of these indorsements are presented herewith.

The wisdom and justice of this bill are asserted by Roman Catholics and Lutherans, Baptists and Episcopalians, Methodists and Unita