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The cost of production is higher than it should be, for several reasons:

1. As the ground available for exercising the cattle is only 6 acres, there is no chance for them to graze. All cows have to be fed, therefore a dry cow costs as much for subsistence as a cow that is in milk.

2. All litter from the barns to the farm and all products from the farm to the dairy are handled several times, making such work expensive.

The milk produced meets with all the requirements of certified milk.

The price for certified milk in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia is $1 per gallon; in Baltimore, 60 cents per gallon.

Mr. BROWNING. How long have you had this dairy?

Admiral CowIE. In August, 1910, we first authorized it.

Mr. MACON. Is it the policy of the Government now, after it has entered into this dairy business, to charge the cadets and midshipmen with the milk that is furnished to them?

Admiral CowIE. Yes, sir; at a nominal sum.

Mr. MACON. And they pay for it out of their mess account?
Admiral CowIE. Yes, sir.

Mr. MACON. Instead of paying an independent dairyman, they pay the Government?

Admiral CowIE. Yes, sir; that is it exactly, or rather the amount. charged for milk is against the mess fund and credited to the midshipmen's store account.

Mr. ROBERTS. Can you tell us how long they have supplied all the milk required at the Naval Academy from this herd?

Admiral CowIE. I think only within the last six months, or since the present academic year began have they had sufficient cows. They got 60 just before opening and now, I think, they have a sufficient number to supply the needs. I wanted to bring this matter to the attention of the committee, because the midshipmen's store fund, from which it was started, comes under the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, and I consider it of the utmost importance. Paymaster Samuel Bryan, commissary and midshipmen's storekeeper, deserves great credit for having started and carried out so successfully this important movement. (See Report of Secretary of Agriculture.) The CHAIRMAN. The next item is on page 84, Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, "Provisions, Navy." I notice, Admiral, that the language is the same, except as to the amount of the appropriation. Admiral CoWIE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. There is an increase of $321,000?

Admiral CowIE. Yes, sir. The estimate under this appropriation is made up as follows: Fifty-one thousand five hundred enlisted men, Navy (number now authorized), and 2,650 enlisted men, Marine Corps (estimate of marines afloat rationed from provisions, Navy); total, 54,150 men for 365 days, at 37 cents per ration, $7,312,957.50. The CHAIRMAN. By "per ration" you mean a day's ration? Admiral CowIE. The ration for the day. Four hundred and twentyfour officers and 900 midshipmen; total, 1,324, number entitled to commuted rations, at 30 cents. for 365 days, $144,978. Subsistence for 134 female nurses, 365 days, at 75 cents per day, $36,682.50; 1,083 (estimated) general court-martial prisoners, at 25 cents, for 365 days, $98,823.75; labor in general storehouses, $750,000; clerical force in general storehouses, etc., $520,000, making a total of $8,863,441.75.

The increase of $321,113.50 in this appropriation, as compared with the amount appropriated for the fiscal year 1913, is due to two

reasons:

First. An increase of the average cost of the ration from an estimate of .36491 cents for 1913 to an estimated cost of 37 cents for 1914, an increase of approximately one-half cent per ration. The average cost of the ration during the fiscal year 1912, shows as follows: First quarter, $0.3496; second quarter, $0.3552; third quarter, $0.3692; fourth quarter, $0.3654; and average for the year, $0.35989. While the figure used, 37 cents, is over a cent in excess of the average shown for the fiscal year 1912, it has not been thought safe to use this average, in view of the increasing cost shown in the last two quarters over the first two quarters of the year 1912.

Second. An increase of $175,000 in the estimate for "labor in general storehouses," over the amount estimated for 1913.

The estimated expenditure for 1913 was $575,000, while the actual expenditures for 1912 were $686,069.11. In estimating for labor during 1914, $64,000, or approximately 10 per cent, has been added to the actual expenditures for 1912.

I have a memorandum prepared showing the different items under 1910, 1911, and 1912, increases and decreases.

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Men on detached duty..
Sick in hospitals...

Labor in general storehouses.
Miscellaneous: Labor, inspection
and storage of butter, and cold-
storage space at Manila..
Clothing (account ships' stores)..
Material drawn from the naval
supply account: Coal, lumber,
paints, salt, and miscellaneous,
for maintenance of ice plants
and preservation of provi-
sions-

Issued on stub requisitions... Issued on invoices. For chemists and for clerical, inspection, and messenger service in general storehouses and paymasters' offices of navy yards and naval stations.. Profits on sales in ships' stores to be turned into the Treasury... Outstanding on contracts and requisitions (estimated).......

Total expenditures and obligations...

Unobligated balance..

Total debits..

$7,110, 284.31 $7,471,070.97 $7,430,000.00

130,038.29

186,889.38

133, 676. 42

1,070, 618.45 1,373, 479.52 1,455, 678.68 $82,199.16

$41,070.97

53, 212.96

8,310, 941.05

9.031, 439.87

9,019, 355. 10

82,199.16

94, 283.93

6,758,372.877,258,001.12 499,628.25

14.221.24

5,981, 256.08

615, 133.30
170,058.60

495, 585.80

193,613.35

674, 977.91

171, 465.82

214,739.85

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The CHAIRMAN. We shall be glad to have you insert that with your answer. I would like also to have you insert in the hearings the composition of the ration.

Admiral CowIE. Yes, sir; I have that right here.

NAVY RATION LAW.

The following is an extract from the naval appropriation act passed on June 29, 1906:

Provided, That sections fifteen hundred and eighty and fifteen hundred and eightyone, Revised Statutes, be amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 1580. The Navy ration shall consist of the following daily allowance of provisions to each person: One pound and a quarter of salt or smoked meat, with three ounces of dried or six ounces of canned or preserved fruit, and three gills of beans or pease, or twelve ounces of flour; or one pound of preserved meat, with three ounces of dried or six ounces of canned or preserved fruit and eight ounces of rice or twelve ounces of canned vegetables, or six ounces of desiccated vegetables; together with one pound of biscuit, two ounces of butter, four ounces of sugar, two ounces of coffee or Cocoa or one-half ounce of tea and one ounce of condensed milk or evaporated cream; and a weekly allowance of one-quarter pound of macaroni, four ounces of cheese, four ounces of tomatoes, one-half pint of vinegar or sauce, one-quarter pint of pickles, onequarter pint of molasses, four ounces of salt, one-half ounce of pepper, one-eighth ounce of spices, and one-half ounce of dry mustard. Seven pounds of lard or a suitable substitute, shall be allowed for every hundred pounds of flour issued as bread, and such quantities of yeast and flavoring extracts as may be necessary.

"SEC. 1581. The following substitution for the components of the ration may be made when deemed necessary by the senior officer present in command: 'For one and one-quarter pounds of salt or smoked meat or one pound of preserved meat, one and three-quarter pounds of fresh meat or fresh fish, or eight eggs; in lieu of the articles usually issued with salt, smoked, or preserved meat, one and three-quarter pounds of fresh vegetables; for one pound of biscuit, one and one-quarter pounds of soft bread or eighteen ounces of flour; for three gills of beans or pease, twelve ounces of flour or eight ounces of rice or other starch food, or twelve ounces of canned vegetables; for one pound of condensed milk or evaporated cream, one quart of fresh milk; for three ounces of dried or six ounces of canned or preserved fruit, nine ounces of fresh fruit; and for twelve ounces of flour or eight ounces of rice or other starch food, or twelve ounces of canned vegetables, three gills of beans or pease; in lieu of the weekly allowance of one-quarter pound of macaroni, four ounces of cheese, one-half pint of vinegar or sauce, one-quarter pint of pickles, one-quarter pint of molasses, and one-eighth ounce of spices, three pounds of sugar, or one and a half pounds of condensed milk, or one pound of coffee, or one and a half pounds of canned fruit, or four pounds of fresh vegetables, or four pounds of flour.

66 6

'An extra allowance of one ounce of coffee or cocoa, two ounces of sugar, four ounces of hard bread or its equivalent, and four ounces of preserved meat or its equivalent shall be allowed to enlisted men of the engineer and dynamo force who stand night watches between eight o'clock postmeridian and eight o'clock antemeridian, under steam.""

The naval appropriation act passed March 2, 1907, modified this law as follows:

Any article comprised in the Navy ration may be issued in excess of the authorized quantity provided there be an underissue of the same value in some other article or articles.

Mr. ROBERTS. I would like to inquire, Admiral, if this estimate of $8,863,441.75 covers the 1,000 additional enlisted men being recommended at the other end of the Capitol?

Admiral CowIE. No, sir; I have no information as to any additional men being required.

Mr. ROBERTS. I saw in the papers a statement to the effect that a thousand additional men were to be provided, and I wondered if your estimate covered them.

Admiral CowIE. No, sir; simply those now authorized by law.

85873-13-2

Mr. ROBERTS. What would be the increase if the thousand additional men were granted?

Admiral CowIE. $135,050 would be the cost of the rations for 1,000 additional men for the year.

Mr. ROBERTS. Can you put into the hearings what the increased amounts would be for the thousand additional men in case they were authorized?

Admiral CowIE. Certainly.

Mr. ROBERTS. Covering everything, not only the rations, but the outfit on first enlistment and everything that goes with it?

Admiral CowIE. Yes, sir. Cost of outfit for 1,000 additional men will be $60,000 and pay $455,998, estimated by Bureau of Navigation. The CHAIRMAN. Can you also state or put into the hearings the present status of the enlistment of the 4,000 men authorized at the last session of Congress?

Admiral CowIE. I think you could get that from the Bureau of Navigation more properly.

The CHAIRMAN. I notice you have inserted "to be available until the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1915." Why is that language inserted?

Admiral CowIE. This was inserted for the purpose of allowing the appropriation to go over and to be used for things that are purchased in this fiscal year, but really are not used until the next fiscal year. For instance, butter.

The best butter is made during the 90 days from April 15 of each year, as the richest milk is obtained while the grass is green and fresh, and in order to secure the most favorable prices it is necessary to make the butter contracts in February or March before the opening of the churning season.

A contract can not be made in the absence of an appropriation, and when made is chargeable to the appropriation which is available at the date of the contract.

Deliveries to the cold-storage warehouses begin in May and continue up to the middle of August, and it is necessary to make payment upon delivery to the warehouses after proper inspection and verification of weights.

All of the butter delivered under the last contract was paid for from appropriation "Provisions, Navy, 1912," and yet probably none of the butter was consumed during that fiscal year.

By making the appropriation available for two fiscal years this objectionable feature will be removed, as it will be clearly available for expenditure in the year in which the purchase is made, and also for the following year in which the butter is used.

Heretofore we have been paying for it from the current appropriation and later transferring the charge to the next year's appropriation. I want it arranged so that we can do it without any transfer of the appropriation.

This year I have not made the transfer, and the appropriation for provisions will be about $622,465.30 short. That is one of the reasons. The increased cost of the ration is the other. I am not positive about the amount of the deficiency, because there will be a number of adjustments made, but it will be large. Heretofore they have been working it in that way. I think it should be so that we can use the money for either year or under an appropriation for 1914-15.

The CHAIRMAN. Making the appropriation available for two years instead of one?

Admiral CowIE. Yes, sir. They have that in the Ordnance Department of the Army and find that it works to great advantage in many cases. Of course "Provisions, Navy," is practically not limited; according to law we have to either incur a deficiency or transfer from one year's appropriation to another, and it might as well be made available for two years as one.

The CHAIRMAN. If this language should not be inserted, under the provisions of the general law as you have been operating, explain fully how you purchase and pay?

Admiral CowIE. We make these purchases. As stated before, in the case of the purchase of butter, which is quite a large amount, the purchases are made in the springtime and, naturally, the people wish to make deliveries as early as possible. This butter, although purchased out of this year's appropriation, is not used until the next fiscal year. The CHAIRMAN. In other words, you purchase a wholesale supply of butter at one time?

Admiral CowIE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And that is placed in cold storage?
Admiral CowIE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You make a contract for purchase in the spring of 1912, and it is chargeable to the appropriation for 1912? Admiral CowIE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And it is not delivered until just before the expiration of the fiscal year 1912 and is not used until during the fiscal year 1913?

Admiral CowIE. Yes, sir; exactly.

Mr. BUTLER. And not paid for, as I understand, until delivered? Admiral CowIE. Paid for when delivered. What I want to do is to pay for it from the appropriation for the year in which it is used. The CHAIRMAN. Is it paid for when delivered or after delivery upon audit? In other words, does the payment accompany the delivery at the time, or is the bill sent in afterwards and passed upon and audited? Say that your delivery is made in June, would that be paid for in June or would it go over and have to be audited so that the actual payment of the money would be made after the 1st of July?

Admiral CowIE. As a rule, they have it delivered so the great bulk of the payments come before June 30. That is the trouble, although the butter is not used until after July 1. We try to make payment as promptly as possible on the delivery of all goods and after proper inspection and audit.

The CHAIRMAN. If that be true, what is the trouble? You get your butter and pay for it and use the money before the expiration of the fiscal year.

Admiral CowIE. It really creates a deficiency in the appropriation for that year, while the butter has really not been used.

The CHAIRMAN. In other words, you are using the appropriation for 1912 to supply 1913?

Admiral CowIE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And then you would use the appropriation for 1913 to supply 1914? After you made up the deficiency one time, would it not work automatically?

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