In accordance with Article V, Section i, of the Constitution and By-Laws, the annual meeting was called at 8:05 p. m., on October 12, 1923, in the Board room of the Officers’ Mess, U. S. Naval Academy.
Captain R. M. Watt (CC), U. S. N., senior member of the Board of Control, present, presided.
The reading of the minutes of the last annual meeting was dispensed with, they having already been published in the Proceedings.
The first stated business being the election of officers, the previously appointed tellers submitted report of the voting as follows:
For President:
Rear Admiral W.L. Rodgers, U.S.N. 683
Scattering 24
For Vice President:
Rear Admiral H.B. Wilson, U.S.N. 660
Scattering 30
For Secretary and Treasurer:
Commander H.G.S. Wallace, U.S.N. 549
Lieutenant Commander H.B. Hird, U.S.N. 155
Scattering 2
For members of Board of Control:
1. Commander John Downes, U.S.N. 623
2. Brigadier General George Richards, U.S.M.C. 573
3. Captain R.M. Watt (CC), U.S.N. 559
4. Commander W.R. Van Auken, U.S.N. 556
5. Captain P.B. Dungan, U.S.N. 520
6. Lieutenant Commander M.S. Tisdale, U.S.N. 495
7. Captain Chaucey Shackford, U.S.N. 413
8. Commander C.C. Slayton, U.S.N. 340
Scattering 41
The Chairman then declared the following officers elected for the ensuing year:
For President: Rear Admiral W. L. Rodgers, U.S.N.
For Vice-president: Rear Admiral H. B. Wilson, U.S.N.
For Secretary: Commander H. G. S. Wallace, U.S.N.
For Board of Control: Commander John Downes, U.S.N.
Brigadier General George Richards, U.S.M.C.
Captain R. M: Watt (CC), U.S.N.
Commander W. R. Van Auken, U.S.N.
Captain P. B. Dungan, U.S.N.
Lieutenant Commander M. S. Tisdale, U.S.N.
Rear Admiral Wilson, the newly elected Vice-president, then took the chair.
The Secretary submitted the following report:
Report of Secretary and Treasurer
Mr. President and members of the Institute:
It is fifty years, almost to the day, since the Naval Institute was founded. The first meeting was held on October 9, 1873. There were then thirty-six members. There are now in the neighborhood of 4,600. The history of those years is a record of service to the Navy and to the Nation. I will not, however, go into the history tonight, although interesting, for it has already appeared in the Proceedings of this month, and many of you have, no doubt, already read it. I will take up, rather, the work that has been accomplished during the past year, and the condition of the Naval Institute today.
The past year has brought many changes. Some of these have been in the appearance of the magazine; some in arrangement; some in the administrative and financial policy. It will, I think, be of interest briefly to review a few of these changes.
Membership
First in order perhaps should be taken up the statistics of the membership of the Institute. There has been completed, although the figures are not yet final, an analysis of the membership. So far as any record goes, it is the first time in the history of the Institute that such an analysis has been prepared. Each stencil of a member now bears a tab, the color and location of which indicate at a glance to what classification the member belongs. This will not only facilitate keeping track of the members but will greatly reduce the amount of clerical work involved, and will considerably increase the accuracy of such work. It has made possible the analysis of membership; or, rather, it has made the labor involved in the analysis something that will permanently contribute to the service of the organization. As one instance of its value, I might mention that a great number of addresses have been corrected; and it will be much easier than heretofore to keep them correct. The following is the result:
Regular Members
Commissioned Line Officers 2,068
Staff Corps: Medical 25, Supple 78, Chaplain 7, Math 5, Construction 89, Civil Engineer 50,
Warrant 64, Marine 67, Coast Guard 48 432
Midshipmen 51
Retired Officers: Commissioned Line, 163, Staff 30, Warrant 5 198
Other Regular Members: Ex-U.S.N. 175, U.S.N.R.F. 391, Ex-U.S.N.R F. 499,
Professors U.S.N. 20, Ex-U.S.M.C. 3, Army 2 1.090
Total regular members 3,839
Life Members
Commissioned Line 77
Supply Corps 4
Construction Corps 6
U.S.N.R.F. 4
Ex-U.S.N.R.F. 4
Foreign 14
Domestic civilian 31
Army 1
Marine corps 1
Professors U.S.N.A. 2
Total life members 144
Associate Members
U.S.N.R.F. 41
Ex-U.S.N.R.F 5
Army 14
Coast Guard 10
Domestic civilians 238
Foreign 87
Total associate members 395
Miscellaneous
Honorary members 4
Members suspended for non-payment of dues 261
Total membership 4,643
While subscriptions are distinct from membership, it may be well also to insert in this place statistics regarding them. The figures are as follows:
Domestic subscriptions 288
Foreign subscriptions 303
Total subscriptions 591
Gratis copies are as follows:
Domestic exchanges 23
Foreign exchanges 16
Advertisers’ copies 49
Total gratis copies 85
The total circulation thus amounts to 5,322, including suspended members.
In connection with the question of membership, Succeeding secretaries have, for many years, commented on the fact that the Proceedings are gotten out at a loss each year. They have repeatedly urged that the membership should be increased, claiming that, as the overhead and publishing cost, as well as the cost of articles, would then be distributed over a greater number of copies, the cost per copy would be less. To me, it seems that that is an erroneous viewpoint, and that to follow it too blindly would be unfortunate. It has resulted, for example, in a too hasty acceptance of members. Not a few have joined, thinking that they were merely subscribing to a magazine for a limited period. This has, in the past, resulted in many misunderstandings. There has resulted also from the desire to expand, the continuing of a not inconsiderable number of members who were apparently reluctant to remain, and who had finally to be dropped, owing a considerable amount of dues. In the past year, there have been dropped for non-payment of dues, 166. The amount of dues so owed was $1,040. The total bad dues, not counting those still outstanding, has amounted in three years to more than $11,500. The total number of members so dropped in the same length of time was 1,342. It goes without saying that the retention of such members is a liability and not an asset. The amount of clerical work involved in the Sending of repeated bills is very great. To my mind, it is eminently desirable that membership should be restricted to those having an interest in the objects for which the Institute was founded, and I feel that, by clearing out the deadwood, even if it should involve a considerable reduction in the membership, only good to the Institute could result. Certainly any desire for expansion should arise from other considerations than a reduced cost per copy.
It should further be pointed out that there is a limit in membership which cannot be exceeded without increasing the clerical force. Thus, the reduced cost per copy is by no means all gain; for with the increased membership comes' either an increase in overhead, or else an increased number of errors, or both. The resulting net loss to the Institute is obvious. It is also a distinct loss to the Institute when a member resigns, having a feeling that he has been unjustly required to pay back dues for copies of the Proceedings which have never been received; or, in the event that he never does pay the dues, and eventually is dropped from the rolls, there is another loss, separate and distinct from the financial loss due to the sum of money involved.
The net change in membership of the Institute since the meeting a year ago is as follows:
Deaths 31
Resignations 226
Resignations effective December 31, 1923 60
Total 317
New members 239
Net loss 78
Members dropped 166
Total decrease 244
Proceedings
An effort has been made during the past year to improve the Proceedings both in the character and interest of articles, and in the appearance of the magazine itself. A different paper has been adopted. This, though comparatively thin and not a high gloss paper, is capable of satisfactorily taking engravings. A number of typographical changes have been made. It is believed that the Proceedings is well up to the standard, typographically and in other ways, of similar publications published elsewhere. Errors, of course, creep in. These are to be regretted; but with the amount of time that the editor is able to devote to the Institute, they cannot be entirely eliminated. For those that remain, I would ask from the members of the Institute their kind indulgence.
While on the subject of the appearance of the Proceedings, it may not be out of place to mention the cover. This now bears two seals; one the seal of the Naval Academy and the other the seal of the Naval Institute. As a matter of fact, neither seal is correct; and steps are already under way to substitute the correct seals at an early date.
The labor of supervising the affairs of the Institute has been a very great burden. This has been made much greater by reason of the change caused by the death, after a number of months of ill health, of Mr. James W. Conroy, the Trustee of the Institute for nearly forty years. As one of the steps in reorganization there has been appointed, with the authority of the Board of Control, an assistant editor, Lieutenant Commander Roy C. Smith, Jr. This additional officer has removed some of the burden from the shoulders of the Secretary and Treasurer.
The cost of getting out the Proceedings has been computed. On the basis of 65,800 copies, the number printed last year, the cost per copy, including payments to authors, but excluding overhead was $21,600 or .3283 per copy. The total overhead amounted to $18,100, sixty-four per cent of which is chargeable to the Proceedings, making an addition of $11,584, or .176 per copy. The total cost per copy thus averages .5043. It thus appears that for a number of years, the Institute has been permitting subscriptions to the Proceedings at considerably less than the actual cost. As a means of correcting this, the Board of Control in the past year raised the subscription price to $5.00. The membership dues, however, remain unchanged.
The net loss to the Institute for the publication of the Proceedings in the past year, including overhead, has amounted to $14,584. This has in part been offset by the book publishing business which, on a total business amounting to $43,900, has resulted in a profit of $10,757. From this profit there will have to be deducted certain amounts, not yet computed, for textbooks and other publications discontinued or practically obsolete.
Royalty to Writers
A few years ago, there was a certain amount of criticism, not without justification, regarding the royalty paid to authors of certain textbooks used by the midshipmen. This resulted in a plan adopted last year whereby all such royalties were eliminated. As a secondary result, the conditions governing the contracts were such that the Institute at the same time relinquished the greater part of its own legitimate profits, to which it is entitled for the risks involved in the book publishing business.
The condition was further complicated by the fact that the annual sales of such textbooks have been considerably reduced, and will be further reduced in future, from the practice of turning in second-hand books to the Midshipmen’s Store for re-issue to succeeding classes. The size of editions will therefore be much smaller, the prospective yearly demand problematical, and the risk of being left with a considerable proportion of the edition after a textbook has been dropped from the curriculum, considerably increased.
A new policy has recently been adopted whereby the authors will receive a reasonable compensation for their labor, depending on the size and character of book and work involved, but limiting the amount of such compensation which may be received from the midshipmen; retaining, however, a reasonable royalty on all outside sales. The details of the plan are too long to go into here. Suffice it to say that the interests of the Institute have been looked out for, and the compensation to be received by authors is more nearly commensurate with the labor involved than formerly obtained. A number of new contracts have been drawn up, embodying the new feature, and so far, without exception, the authors have been as well, or better, satisfied. I might add that when an author ceases to receive royalty on books sold to midshipmen, the amount of royalty so relinquished is applied to reduce the cost to midshipmen on subsequent sales of the book.
The future, of course, will have its own problems to solve; but 1 believe that the book publishing business is now established on a firm basis, instead of being, as formerly, headed toward bankruptcy.
New Books
A number of new books have been printed during the past year, and others are now in course of preparation. Among the former are: Reciprocating Engines and Auxiliary Machinery, Barton, Stickney, McCloy and Beneze; Personnel, Soule; and Physiology (revised edition) Heiner. Among those in preparation are: Manual of Radio Telegraphy and Telephony (revised edition) Robison; Naval Construction (revised edition) Robinson; and Handling Personnel. The last named book will be a compilation largely from the essays submitted to the Institute in competition for the prize awards. If the book serves the purpose for which it is intended: viz., to give the midshipmen a thorough understanding of that vitally important subject, it will be of great value, not only to the Naval Academy, but to the service at large; and few are the officers who cannot be benefited by its perusal.
Changes During the Year
Among the changes which have taken place from time to time, with the approval of the Board of Control, might be mentioned the following: The number of gratis copies of the Proceedings has been greatly decreased; the amount of advertising space taken by the Institute, where such space seemed to bring in little or no return, has been either cut down in amount or entirely eliminated; the membership of the Institute in the Audit Bureau of Circulation has been discontinued, as there seemed to be no way in which the Institute might receive any return for money expended; the bound copies of the Proceedings will be discontinued, commencing with January 1, 1924; all foreign members, including life members, will, in future, pay the necessary additional amount for foreign postage.
Changes in Net Worth
During the past year, without taking into consideration any change in the market value of bonds owned by the Institute, except in the case of actual sale, there has been an increase in net worth of $2,876. From this should be subtracted the interest on money and investments of the Institute, amounting to $6,703, leaving a net loss for the year of $3,827 on the actual business done. Before the year is done, there will be a few items to charge off, which will further increase this loss. I feel, however, that, considering the matter from all points of view, the Institute is on a Sound financial basis.
Changes in Investments
There has been adopted by the Board of Control a financial policy to regulate future investments of the Institute. A considerable change has been made in the holdings of the Institute, which change, without departing from the high quality of investments necessary to an institution of this kind, nevertheless brings in a bigger return. Advice has also been sought of the most competent investment authorities of the country, and if the practice be continued, and the policy as adopted be adhere to in the future, there is little doubt that the investments of the Institute will continue to be sound, and at the same time will bring in a good return.
The Future of the Institute
By all means let us increase our membership, and let it include all those interested in the object for which the Institute was founded; namely, “the advancement of professional, literary and scientific knowledge in the Navy.” It is difficult to See how any officer, interested in his profession, can afford not to belong, for professional reasons as well as sentimental. Let the membership include any civilians who are likewise interested. The wider the circulation of the Proceedings, the better. It is now included in a number of libraries. It will bring the Navy to the people.
As an instance of the affectionate regard in which the Institute is held by many of its members, Mr. William Boerum Wetmore, a life member since 1889, unhappily deceased, has left to the Institute a legacy of $2,500. There is another instance of an officer, a member for over forty years, but long since retired from active service, and with eyesight now too poor even to read the Proceedings, who continues his membership and pays his dues each year. To us who are still in the forefront of the battle, such sentiment must be an inspiration.
The arduous labors of the Institute’s early years are gone. The future lies ahead. With fifty years of loyal service in the past, and with a firm foundation, the Institute may look forward with confidence to the future
The report of the Secretary was approved, and upon motion the Secretary was given a vote of appreciation for his very thorough and complete report.
A general discussion then ensued, which will be found recorded in the annual minute book of the Naval Institute.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:05 P. M.
H. G. S. Wallace,
Commander, U. S. Navy,
Secretary and Treasurer.