although they do contemplate a smaller number of drills in excess of the minimum than permitted by the current appropriation.

This is a very difficult appropriation for which to estimate, as service is purely voluntary. A determined effort is being made to rid the fleet reserve of those who do not manifest a proper degree of interest. The committee is watching this situation because it feels sure that the Congress does not wish to put a single dollar under this head, which the Navy could well use in other ways, where there is not a measurably adequate return.

RESERVE AVIATION

The amount carried for reserve aviation, including $235,000 for new aircraft and equipment under the appropriation "Aviation, Navy," is $1,048,329, divided as follows:

Pay and allowances, including travel and subsistence..
New aircraft and equipment...

Maintenance and operation of planes and stations..

Pay and subsistence of transferred reservists (former enlisted men)..

Total......

$398, 013

235, 000

329, 888

85, 428

1,048, 329

The current appropriation is $826,462. As previously pointed out the objective of this organization is 612 officers and 1,352 men. At the present time about one-third of the officer strength is available or will be by the end of the fiscal year, and something under one-fifth of the enlisted strength. The estimates provide for giving training to 280 officers and 270 men, and to 66 student aviators, cutting down, however, on the flight training of the officers from 45 to 281⁄2 hours. As to the wisdom of this the committee will not attempt to express an opinion. If detrimental, it would seem to be more than compensated for by the plan to send 50 reserve aviators to the fleet to serve in the capacity of aviators for a period of one year. The committee heartily indorses this plan. It may lead ultimately to the solution of the question of regular service officer pilots.

VOLUNTEER NAVAL RESERVE

The Volunteer Naval Reserve is composed of officers and men divided into various subclasses in accordance with the duties they will be called upon to perform in the event of war. Officers and men of this class are not entitled by law to receive pay for drill attendance, but they are entitled to receive pay and allowances while performing active training duty, the same as members of the fleet reserve.

There were 2,507 officers and 11,011 men in the Volunteer Naval Reserve on September 30, 1926.

A number of these officers and men, qualified for general detail in the event of war, are permitted to associate themselves with divisions of the fleet reserve for the purpose of bringing the reserve crews up to full strength and for voluntary training; since they receive no remuneration for drill attendance, very little is expected of them in this connection; however, there are many of these who desire to make the training cruises with the fleet divisions, and they

are permitted to do so, provided there are funds available, either through an allotment being made for this specific purpose or through their taking the place of some member of the fleet reserve who is unable to cruise at the time designated for his division. Within the limits set by the Budget for this appropriation, it is desired to give training duty to 349 officers and no men of this class.

TRANSFERRED MEN

This class is composed of men who have completed 16 or 20 years' service in the Navy. If transferred after 16 years' service they receive annually one-third of their pay plus all permanent additions at time of transfer, and if they transfer after 20 years' service they receive annually one-half of their pay plus all permanent additions at time of transfer. The estimates provide for 4,904 of the 16year men and 3,326 of the 20-year men. The appropriation necessary is $7,953,961.36. Under the act of February 28, 1925 (43 Stat. 1080), no transfers can be made before the completion of 20 years' service by men enlisting subsequently to the date of approval of such act.

The committee can not state with accuracy, but believes investition will disclose that many of these transferred (virtually retired) men served their entire enlistments in clerical capacities, i. e., in ratings calling for the performance of duties of a clerical nature. It suggests further consideration of the legislation touching the Naval Reserve with the view to confining its benefits to men in those ratings which it is apparent it would be difficult to fill in time of emergency.

PAY, SUBSISTENCE, TRANSPORTATION, AND RECRUITING, NAVAL

PERSONNEL

It will be noticed, commencing on page 27 of the bill, that the committee has merged the three appropriations entitled "Pay of the Navy," "Provisions, Navy," and "Transportation and recruiting," placing the single appropriation under the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, under which the two appropriations first named have been carried heretofore. At the present time the appropriation "Transportation and recruiting" is carried under the Bureau of Navigation. There is a close relationship between these three appropriations. They all deal with personnel and the same personnel program should be the basis of the estimate for each. Handled separately, an underestimate in one necessarily would interfere with the other two and this same situation would be brought about in the case of the subsistence item should there be any appreciable advance in food costs that would cause a higher ration rate than contemplated by the appropriation. Placing all three together would overcome these objections, and yet, as merged, the identity of each is preserved and no change results in bureau jurisdiction. The Bureau of Navigation will continue to administer the transportation and recruiting section.

There follows a comparison of the 1927 appropriations, the Budget estimates for 1928, and the amounts proposed in this bill for these three objects:

Of the reduction indicated in "Provisions, Navy," $378,000 represents a transfer to the appropriation "Maintenance, Bureau of Supplies and Accounts," because the figure indicated covers the pay of civil personnel and, under the merger program, should be divorced from naval personnel. The remainder of the reduction ($74,000) has been made because the Veterans' Bureau will reimburse this appropriation in the amount indicated on account of the care of its patients in naval hospitals.

The amount proposed under "Transportation and recruiting" is in agreement with the Budget estimate. The Bureau of Navigation indicated to the committee that a larger amount would be necessary for an enlisted strength of 82,500 men, but the committee has reason to believe that the amount allowed will be entirely adequate under the plan of combining the three appropriations.

For "Pay of the Navy," the amount proposed is $3,890,000 in excess of the current appropriation and $547,000 less than the Budget estimate. The increase in the estimate over the current appropriation is due to longevity, a larger retired list, a greater number of fleet reservists, and the recent law, equalizing the pay of officers retired prior to July 1, 1922, is responsible for an increased demand of $247,000. The largest increase ($2,119,783) is due to the need of again commencing to appropriate for clothing outfits. Since the war it has not been necessary to appropriate any money on this account, but from now on it will be necessary to do so each year. The committee has not disturbed the Budget allowance. The reduction of $547,000 represents the valuation of services to be rendered incident to the care of Veterans' Bureau patients in naval hospitals. That sum will be reimbursed to "Pay of the Navy" by the Veterans' Bureau and there does not seem to be any sound reason for appropriating the money in two places.

FUEL AND TRANSPORTATION

For fuel and transportation the Budget estimate is $12,000,000, as against $13,950,000 for the current fiscal year, a reduction of $1,950,000. There has been a modification of the steaming plans upon which the current appropriation was based and there has been a reduction in the average price of fuel oil from $1.5599 per barrel to $1.41339, and in consequence of both a sum approximating $937,000 of the current appropriation may be turned back. In view of this surplus the reduction proposed in the Budget actually is around a million dollars. The committee is proposing the Budget estimate.

The break-up of the 1928 estimate will be found on page 340 of the hearings. It will be noticed therefrom that a further decline is in prospect in the average price of fuel oil, the figure being $1.33228 per barrel. This means, excluding other than fuel-oil factors, that on the basis of using the same quantity of fuel oil in 1928 as the revised estimate indicates will be used during the present fiscal year an appropriation somewhat under $12,000,000 would suffice. In fuel oil the difference is over 245,000 barrels, or several thousand barrels more than enough to meet the estimated consumption of the aircraft carriers, which will impose the only new demands of any

consequence.

The committee has hesitated to write into the bill any restrictions on the amount of steaming that might be engaged in by any class of vessels. It is firmly of the opinion that in some instances the steaming programs are laid out without due regard to the resultant harm from excessive operation. It is recognized that a proper amount of steaming is necessary if for no other than the very important reason of familiarizing personnel with the functioning of these masses of floating mechanism, but there is a point where wear must enter the equation and should have the serious attention of the proper officials.

Attention is invited to the change which has been made in the preparation of the supporting data for the fuel estimates. Previously there had been no actual relation between the supporting data submitted to Congress and the fleet employment schedules considered by the committee. The Bureau of Supplies and Accounts has cooperated in fine spirit in getting this estimate up in a way that may be given more intelligent consideration. (See Hearings, p. 337.)

BUREAU OF ORDNANCE

The committee is not proposing to disturb the naval items under this head as they have come from the Budget. In the aggregate they show an increase over the current appropriations of $1,003,000.

For "Ordnance and ordnance stores" there is an increase of $825,000. This sum, plus $175,000, to be diverted from prior year channels, has been provided partially to construct new antiaircraft batteries for the Tennessee and California. This project will cost slightly more than $2,000,000. Upon the completion of the work, about two fiscal years hence, our five most modern battleships will have been equipped with these new and superior defense weapons.

The increase of $228,000 in the item of "Smokeless powder" grows out of the disastrous fire and explosion which occurred at the naval ammunition depot, Lake Denmark, N. J., on July 10, last as the result of detonations induced by a stroke of lightning. The resultant damage was very great and in addition to the injury sustained by practically all the buildings on the station stores and materials were destroyed of an estimated value around $40,000,000. A deficiency appropriation has been presented to cover expenditures for repairing buildings and providing covering for material which the disaster left exposed. All the surplus powders in the 4-inch and 5inch calibers were destroyed in the fire and explosion with the result that in order to carry on target practice in these calibers it will be necessary to manufacture powder for the purpose. The sum of $228,000 will manufacture or purchase about 450,000 pounds of

powder, which is approximately the amount expended for target practice in these calibers.

The committee questions the wisdom of the cut of $50,000 in the item of "Torpedoes and appliances," but has not changed the estimate in the hope that the situation will improve through larger recoveries resulting from the equipment of torpedoes with airblowing heads, from the employment of aircraft in tracing torpedoes discharged in practice, and from the diminution in the amount of torpedo shooting put into effect this year.

AVIATION

Subsequently to the approval of the appropriation act for the current fiscal year on May 21, 1926, an act was approved on June 24, 1926, designed to provide the Navy with 1,000 useful airplanes upon completion of deliveries under orders placed in pursuance of appropriations for the fiscal year 1931. While the act of June 24, above mentioned, did not become law prior to the current appropriation act, it was understood that the appropriations carried by the latter should apply toward the accomplishment of the program laid down by the former. With respect to the current appropriation and to the appropriation proposed in this bill for new construction of aircraft and equipment, the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics made the following statement to the committee:

As the committee is aware, no special appropriation has been made toward this program. The bureau, however, being most anxious to effect every possible economy, has gone carefully over the ground, has revised its wastage and procurement figures, and believes that, with funds already appropriated, it will go a long way toward completion of the first program increment during the current fiscal year; and, if these revised wastage figures prove correct, that it will be able to complete the program on practically the same annual appropriations for new construction as have been available for the past two years.

The 1,000-plane program was based on a wastage of 33% per cent annually. More recent studies suggest that approximately 23 per cent would be more nearly accurate.

The total amount proposed in the Budget for aviation is $19,790,000, plus a contract authorization for new construction and procurement of aircraft and equipment of $5,000,000. The current appro

priation is $19,065,288, plus a contract authorization of $4,100,000. There is an increase, therefore, of $724,712 in the direct appropriation and of $900,000 in the amount of the contract authorization. The committee is proposing the Budget estimate, a detailed comparison of which with the current appropriation follows: