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The estimates submitted by the Department call for an appropriation of $23,643,177, but inasmuch as we are now at the present time 4,500 short of our quota of 34,500 men, the committee came to the conclusion that the Department, judging from past experience, would not be able to enlist any more than enough to make up this shortage and an additional 1,500 men which are allowed in this bill. This will make the number of men authorized 36,000 men. To man the active fleet as it will stand when the vessels now authorized are built will require 37,283 men, the first reserve 3,309, and on shore stations 1,219, making a total of 41,814.

The appropriation for Pay, miscellaneous," has been increased by $25,000 over that of last year, while that for contingent of the Navy remains the same, $65,000.

A provision inserted in the bill "for hire of quarters for officers serving with troops where there are no public quarters belonging to the Government, and where there are not sufficient quarters possessed by the United States to accommodate them, or commutation of quarters not to exceed the amount which an officer would receive were he not serving with troops," is recommended by the Secretary in the following letter:

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, December 22, 1906.

SIR: The Department is in receipt of a communication from the Bureau of Navigation, inviting attention to the fact that under a decision of the Comptroller of the Treasury (Comp. Dec., vol. 12, p. 291), rendered November 13, 1905, officers of the Navy serving on shore with troops are held not to be entitled to commutation of quarters.

The Bureau says:

"The effect of this decision is to work a special hardship on officers who are ordered on shore duty for service with enlisted men, as the deprivation of commutation of quarters, to which such an officer has hitherto without question been entitled, will result in a considerable pecuniary loss. The Department will itself be subjected to some embarrassment in issuing orders of this character, owing to their undesirability, and to correct what it considers an injustice to certain officers, the Bureau urgently recommends that Congress be requested to insert the following language in the estimate for 'Pay of the Navy,' after the words 'including boatswains, gunners, carpenters, sailmakers, warrant machinists, pharmacists, and mates, and also naval constructors and assistant naval constructors:'

"For hire of quarters for officers serving with troops where there are no public quarters belonging to the Government, and where there are not sufficient quarters possessed by the United States to accommodate them, or commutation of quarters not to exceed the amount which an officer would receive were he not serving with troops.' "No increase in the estimate need be made, as the effect of the new provision will only be to restore the conditions existing before the decision of the Comptroller, and permit the allotment to an officer serving on shore duty with troops of quarters to which his rank and duty entitle him."

Concurring in the views expressed by the Bureau in the foregoing letter, the Department commends this request to favorable consideration by the committee.

Very respectfully,

Hon. GEORGE EDMUND Foss,

V. H. METCALF, Secretary.

Chairman Committee on Naval Affairs, House of Representatives.

The following provision is inserted relative to retired officers of the Navy above the grade of captain who served with credit during the civil war:

Provided, That officers of the Navy above the grade of captain who served with credit in the regular or volunteer forces during the civil war, prior to April ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, otherwise than as cadets, and were retired prior to June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, on account of wounds or disability incident to the service, or on account of age, or after forty years' service, shall receive the same pay and allowances from June twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and six, as are or may be provided by or in pursuance of law for the retired officers of corresponding rank in the Army.

And provided further, That commodores coming under the provision of this section may, in the discretion of the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, be placed on the retired list of the Navy, with the rank and retired pay of rear-admiral (junior grade), from June twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and six.

A further provision is made relative to retired officers ordered to active duty, as follows:

That retired officers of the Navy who have retired for disabilities resulting from an incident of the service shall have for active duty the rank, pay, and allowances of officers of the active list of like length of active service, and if actively employed for an aggregate period of three years after retirement shall, when defached from duty, retain the rank and highest retired pay of the grade they then hold: Provided, That the time of service of the retired officer, for the purpose of fixing his rank, pay, and allowances, shall be made up of the period of service before retirement, to which shall be added the time engaged in active service, under the order of the Secretary of the Navy, while on the retired list: Provided further, That the present rank and pay of any officer on the retired list shall not hereby be reduced.

BUREAU OF NAVIGATION.

The following table is a comparative statement of the appropriations for 1907, estimates for 1908, and the amounts recommended in this bill:

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The appropriation for transportation has been increased by $20,000. That of recruiting, contingent, and gunnery exercises remains the same as last year.

The appropriation for outfits on first enlistment is increased to $600,000 by reason of the increased cost of materials which enter into the manufacture of the outfits.

The provision for the maintenance of naval colliers has been changed so as to read "maintenance of naval auxiliaries." This will include provision ships, ammunition ships, and a water ship, five vessels in all, which hereafter will be provided with civilian crews, which will be a saving to the Government.

The appropriations recommended for the naval training stations in California, Rhode Island, and the Great Lakes, and the Naval War College are the same as those of last year, and there is a slight increase in that for the Naval Home in Philadelphia, as will be seen from the above table.

BUREAU OF ORDNANCE.

The following table gives a comparative statement of the appropriations for 1907, estimates for 1908, and the amounts recommended in this bill:

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a This appropriation was under the head of "Reserve powder and shell."

The appropriation for ordnance and ordnance stores has been increased by $500,000. This might be termed the working appropriation of the Bureau. A large part of this appropriation is for target

practice; probably a million and a half will be used for that purpose. Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars is recommended for ammunition and other supplies for new ships. This appropriation has been formerly carried in another part of the bill under "Armor and armament," but upon the recommendation of the Bureau it is placed here under the Bureau of Ordnance.

The appropriation for smokeless powder is the same as that of last year, as is also that for new and improved machinery for ships at the Naval Gun Factory, Washington.

The committee recommend the modernizing of the batteries of the Iowa, Monterey, Monadnock, and new turret sites for four monitors, as well as a new battery for the Brooklyn. The committee also recommend an appropriation for $300,000 for fire-control instruments for battle ships, cruisers, and monitors, and $100,000 for the manufacture, purchase, repair, and maintenance of a reserve stock of mines and mine appliances, and $300,000 for 18-inch torpedoes and for modernizing torpedo boats.

An appropriation of $2,000,000, the same as that of last year, is recommended for the reserve supply of powder and shell, and an appropriation of $750,000 for reserve guns, ships of the Navy, the same as that of last year.

An appropriation of $250,000 is recommended for the purchase and manufacture of reserve torpedoes and appliances. The Chief of the Bureau is of the opinion that he can manufacture 21-inch torpedoes for $3,500 each, which would be a saving of $1,500 on each torpedo, and as we require a large number of them, the committee have thought it would be economy to allow him to make the trial. The other appropriations under this Bureau are practically the same as that of last

year.

BUREAU OF EQUIPMENT.

The following table gives a comparative statement of the appropriations for 1907, estimates for 1908, and the amounts carried by this bill:

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The appropriations for the Bureau of Equipment are the same as those of last year, with the exception of the first item of $3,250,000, which shows an increase of $250,000 above that of last year. This is the working appropriation of the Bureau and is due to the increase in the number of ships of the Navy. A provision is inserted authorizing the Secretary of the Navy to inquire into cost of anchors, cables, chains, etc., with a view to determining the comparative cost and the relative merits between those manufactured by the Government and those by private concerns.

BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS.

The following table gives a comparative statement of the appropriations for 1907, estimates for 1908, and the amounts carried in this bill:

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I electrician, increase from $1,400 to $1,600. Navy-yard, New York, N. Y.

12, 026.61

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12, 261. 17

23,396,89
366.00

13,750.00

12,061.17

23, 196.89

306.00 12,442.00

1 electrician, increase from $1,400 to $1,600. Naval station, Sacketts Harbor, N. Y Navy-yard, League Island, Pa........

i electrician, increase from $1,400 to $1,600..

1 messenger, civil engineer's office, at $2 per
diem (new).

Navy-yard, Washington, D. C..

1 electrician, increase from $1,400 to $1,600..

1 stenographer and clerk, at $3.04 per diem (new).

Navy-yard, Norfolk, Va...

1 electrician, increase from $1,400 to $1,600..

1 pilot, increase from $707.38 to $900..

Navy-yard, Pensacola, Fla..

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1 requisition and time clerk, civil engineer's office.

7,498.32

I clerk, increase from $1,200 to $1,300.

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As will be seen from the above table, there is an increase of $100,000 in the appropriation for maintenance of yards and docks. This year the Bureau is asking for a deficiency of $50,000 over that of last year,

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