unnecessary posts, and the massing of the troops at important and
accessible stations all promise to promote the usefulness of the Army.
In the judgment of army officers, with but few exceptions, the operation
of the law forbidding the reenlistment of men after ten years' service
has not proved its wisdom, and while the arguments that led to its
adoption were not without merit the experience of the year constrains me
to join in the recommendation for its repeal.

It is gratifying to note that we have begun to attain completed results
in the comprehensive scheme of seacoast defense and fortification
entered upon eight years ago. A large sum has been already expended, but
the cost of maintenance will be inconsiderable as compared with the
expense of construction and ordnance. At the end of the current calendar
year the War Department will have nine 12-inch guns, twenty 10-inch, and
thirty-four 8-inch guns ready to be mounted on gun lifts and carriages,
and seventy-five 12-inch mortars. In addition to the product of the Army
Gun Factory, now completed at Watervliet, the Government has contracted
with private parties for the purchase of one hundred guns of these
calibers, the first of which should be delivered to the Department for
test before July 1, 1894.

The manufacture of heavy ordnance keeps pace with current needs, but to
render these guns available for the purposes they are designed to meet
emplacements must be prepared for them. Progress has been made in this
direction, and it is desirable that Congress by adequate appropriations
should provide for the uninterrupted prosecution of this necessary work.

After much preliminary work and exhaustive examination in accordance
with the requirements of the law, the board appointed to select a
magazine rifle of modern type with which to replace the obsolete