The new "Forms of Procedure for Naval Courts and Boards" were approved by the department on January 7, 1910, and copies thereof have been issued to all navy-yards, naval stations, marine barracks, courts and boards, ships in commission, and to the Superintendent of the Naval Academy for the instruction of midshipmen. In addition, copies have been issued to individual officers, as deemed desirable.

NAVAL PRISONS AND PRISON SHIPS.

The same naval prisons and prison ships have been in use as described in the last annual report of the Judge-Advocate-General, and, from reports received in this office, they appear to be in efficient condition.

The following recommendations, in which I concur, were made in the report of this office for the fiscal year 1909, concerning improvements to naval prisons, for which no appropriation has yet been made:

NAVAL PRISON, PORTSMOUTH, N. H.

It is very desirable that this prison be extended and be made as nearly complete in itself as practicable. The second wing should contain workshops for the indoor employment of the prisoners when the outside improvements shall have been completed.

NAVAL PRISON, CAVITE, P. I.

Inasmuch as there will in all probability be a United States naval force in Philippine waters for some years to come, it would seem advisable that a new prison be constructed, with cells and accommodations for about 60 general court-martial prisoners, and that alterations be made to the buildings now used for prison purposes, making them more sanitary and fitting them as a place for the confinement of summary and deck court-martial prisoners.

NAVAL PRISON, MARE ISLAND, CAL.

The following improvements are recommended by the commanding officer of the prison and appear to be desirable:

The addition of another wing to the prison, as provided for in the original plans, which will allow the prison to be absolutely independent of the marine barracks.

*

The installation of a laundry, * * * and mess hall in the prison. *
Larger lavatories, especially as regards bathing facilities.

LEGISLATION RECOMMENDED.

The status of bills relating to the personnel transmitted by the department to the naval committees of Congress with recommendation that such bills be enacted into law, but upon which final action has not been taken, is shown below:

Naturalization of alien enlisted men. S. 3782, H. R. 127, and H. R. 22763. The bill last named is pending before the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization and embodies the department's views on the subject.

Death gratuity, amendment of provision relating to. No action taken by either committee, except that Senate committee thought it best to leave the matter to be disposed of in the new personnel bill.

Naval Home, deposit in Treasury unclaimed moneys of deceased inmates of. S. 3781 and H. R. 15683. Senate bill passed April 5, 1910; referred to House Committee on Naval Affairs April 6, 1910.

Chiefs of bureaus, retirement of, with rank and three-fourths pay received as chief of bureau. This included Captain Barton's case. The provision affecting all chiefs of bureaus was not introduced by either committee.

Constructive service, to provide for, in the case of commissioned and warrant officers appointed while serving in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps. S. 4019 and H. R. 15686, also H. R. 19870 (Fairchild bill). The House bills just mentioned have been recommended to be modified by the department's letter to the House Naval Committee of June 8, 1910, but no action was taken thereon.

Surgeon of the fleet, changing title and repealing statute defining duties of. No action taken in the matter by either committee.

Mail clerks, amendment of law so as to include marines as well as enlisted men of the navy. Letters sent to both naval committees on December 13, 1909; no action taken by either committee.

Frauds, etc., investigation of; amendment to section 183, Revised Statutes, to permit officers of the navy to administer oaths. S. 4239 and H. R. 15685; no action upon either measure.

The

Additional numbers, to permit the voluntary retirement of officers who are. original bills relating to this matter (S. 4238 and H. R. 15684) are now pending before the respective naval committees. (See next entry.)

Engineer officers, former, to make additional numbers. Š. 4744 and H. R. 16910 pending before respective naval committees. (See next entry.)

Officers performing engineering duty only, to make additional numbers, and to provide for retirement of additional numbers. S. 7397 is a combination of the two foregoing measures, with certain modifications; pending before the Senate Naval Committee; no action by House committee.

Acting assistant paymasters and acting second lieutenants, to establish grades of. S. 4240 and H. R. 15687. Passed Senate May 6, 1910, and now pending before House Naval Committee. House bill favorably reported by the House Naval Committee and now on Union Calendar, No. 183.

Physically disqualified for promotion, officers of navy who are; to provide for retirement in next higher grade. S. 4746, which passed Senate May 6, 1910, and H. R. 16893 now pending before House Naval Committee.

Acting assistant and assistant surgeons, to equalize pay and allowances of. S. 4745 and H. R. 16892. Passed Senate June 23, 1910, and now pending before House Naval Committee. House bill favorably reported by the House Naval Committee and is now on Union Calendar, No. 184.

Examining boards, change in composition of, for examination of warrant officers. S. 4743 and H. R. 16890. Pending before respective naval committees.

Medals of honor, to provide for award of, to officers of the navy. S. 4742 and H. R. 16891, pending before respective naval committees.

Administration of oaths, to amend law relating to, and to provide for same by boards of inquest. S. 4741 and H. R. 16911. Senate bill passed April 5, 1910, and is now, together with House bill, pending before the House Naval Committee.

Medical department of navy, to increase efficiency of. S. 6576 pending before Senate Naval Committee; not introduced by House committee.

Naval landing forces, to provide for administration of discipline in. S. 7047 pending before Senate Naval Committee; not introduced by House committee. (This bill was combined with the next succeeding measure.)

Administration of justice, to amend act relating to. S. 7166 passed Senate April 5, 1910, and now pending before the House Naval Committee.

Reserve personnel for navy and marine corps. S. 7644 and H. R. 24942 pending before respective naval committees.

To secure uniformity in time of commencement of pay of next higher grade upon promotion. No action taken.

Personnel bill. S. 7909 and H. R. 22319 pending before the respective naval committees.

Retirement of enlisted men after 16, 20, and 25 years. S. 7765 favorably reported and now on Senate Calendar, No. 704. No action by House Committee. S. 6589 was also recommended favorably in case S. 7765 failed to receive the favorable action of the Senate Naval Committee. H. R. 57 was also reported upon earlier in the session and commended to the House Committee on Naval Affairs, though a draft identical with S. 7765 was later transmitted.

Vice admirals, to provide for appointment of. H. R. 15674 pending before House Naval Committee.

The following public measures, affecting the personnel of the navy, which were referred to the department for recommendation in the premises during the second session of the Sixty-first Congress, received the department's approval, but have not yet become law: Naturalization of alien enlisted men. S. 2628 pending before Senate Naval Committee. Assistant paymasters, to provide for promotion of after three years' service. S. 825 passed Senate May 4, 1910, and now pending before House Naval Committee. Hospital corps, to reorganize and increase efficiency. S. 1017, S. 6575, and H. R. 6184. The Senate bill, S. 6575, has received the department's approval, and is now pending before Senate Naval Committee.

Dental surgeons, appointment of, in navy. S. 1015, H. R. 6741, S. 8154, and H. R. 26189. The two measures last named are approved by the department, and now pending before naval committees.

Naval militia, to promote efficiency of. S. 8160 and H. R. 17759. This bill is favored with certain modifications; it has been reported by the House Naval Committee and is now on the Union Calendar, No. 307. No action taken by Senate Naval Committee.

Midshipmen, to commission upon graduation from Naval Academy. H. R. 9961 passed House May 16, 1910, and now pending before Senate Naval Committee. Revenue-Cutter Service, time served in, to be counted in computing pay of officers in Army, Navy, or Marine Corps. H. R. 19632 pending before House Naval Committee. Wilkes, Rear-Admiral Charles, to erect a monument to. S. 6876 and H. R. 25981. Senate bill passed Senate on June 23, 1910, and, together with House bill, is pending before the House Committee on Naval Affairs.

Revolutionary war, compilation of records of. S. 6991 and H. R. 22007. The Senate bill was favorably reported and is now on the Senate calendar, No. 736; no action by House Committee on Printing.

Naval Observatory, to establish and define duties. H. R. 22685. Passed House March 30, 1910; now pending before Senate Committee on Naval Affairs.

Retired enlisted men, advanced for creditable civil war service. S. 6440. No action taken.

Pharmacists, to be commissioned chief pharmacists. Amendment intended for H. R. 23311, appropriation bill, which amendment was not included therein.

Commissions for officers retired or advanced on retired list with increased rank. S. 7687 and H. R. 24256. House bill failed of passage; Senate bill pending before Senate Committee on Naval Affairs.

Uniform of United States, to protect. H. J. Res. 171 and S. 7131. Pending before respective committees.

INCREASED WORK OF OFFICE.

The business of this office has grown from time to time with the increases made in the personnel of the naval service, and such further growth may be expected in the future. In this connection it may be mentioned that while the institution of the deck court relieved commanding officers to a certain extent from the necessity of ordering summary courts-martial, the fact that commanding officers now have recourse to deck courts in cases where they formerly assigned a punishment within their own legal powers has increased considerably the business of this office, as the deck court requires a record which must be received, revised, and recorded here, and these cases entail considerable correspondence upon this office in connection therewith. Furthermore, it will be noted, by a reference to the statistics given above, that the number of trials by summary courts-martial has increased instead of decreased, notwithstanding the institution of the deck court.

Respectfully submitted.

The SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

ROBT. L. RUSSELL,
Judge-Advocate-General.

REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS.

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY,

BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS,

Washington, D. C., September 28, 1910. In obedience to the instructions contained in the department's letter of July 28, 1910, I have the honor to submit a report of the operations of the Bureau of Yards and Docks for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910.

The expenditures during the year from appropriations under the cognizance of the bureau aggregated $7,172,736.37, of which the sum of $4,932,227.32 was for works of improvement for which specific appropriations were made by Congress. The remainder, $2,240,509.05, was applied to the maintenance and repair of navy-yards and stations. under the cognizance of the bureau, for the civil establishment, contingencies, etc., as follows:

The repair and preservation of the yards and stations, covering the outlays upon the real estate and improvements, cost $642,619.30; their maintenance, covering general operation and outlays for and upon movable property, cost $1,303,081.24; the classified service cost $264,881.38; and contingent and other expenditures amounted to $29,966.05.

During the year 76 contracts were made for public works under the cognizance of the bureau, involving obligations amounting to $6,178,853.99.

Except at Pearl Harbor, no extensive improvements have been made at the insular stations, and, as noted in previous reports, the bulk of expenditures at such stations has come from the bureau's current appropriations, already insufficient to take care of the general maintenance and repair work at the home navy-yards.

PUBLIC WORKS FOR THE BUREAU OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY.

During the fiscal year the bureau prepared and completed plans and specifications for and supervised the construction of public works for the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery amounting to $1,271,798.06. It was also engaged in the preparation of plans and specifications for additional public works for that bureau amounting to $623,450. Various studies and preliminary plans for projected works, estimated to cost approximately $600,000, were also made. and the construction of works for which plans and specifications were completed prior to the beginning of the fiscal year was supervised, the contract price of which amounted to $518,254.08. Certain work was also done by day labor, aggregating $146,500, making a total of $3,158,502.14.

PUBLIC WORKS FOR THE MARINE CORPS.

Under date of June 22, 1910, the department approved instructions under which the design and construction of public works for the Marine Corps, including repairs and alterations which involve considerations affecting engineering or architectural features, shall be performed under the supervision of this bureau. The quartermaster

of the Marine Corps will determine when any particular work is to be undertaken and indicate to the bureau whether it is to be done. by contract or by day labor, the limit of cost, and the appropriation to be charged. In case the work is to be done by contract the necessary plans and specifications will be prepared by the bureau for the approval of the quartermaster, who will procure proposals, open bids, and secure the execution of the contract after award is made by the department. In case the work is to be done by day labor, the local civil engineer will furnish the necessary data as to labor and material required, which will be procured under the direction of the quartermaster of the Marine Corps. The local civil engineer is to have supervision of the work, whether done by contract or day labor.

The work of the bureau will be considerably increased under these instructions, and a corresponding increase in the force will be necessary for the expeditious and economical discharge of such additional work.

DRY DOCKS

Prior to the naval act of June 26, 1906, the largest battle ships for the navy were limited to a maximum trial displacement of 16,000 tons; in that year the appropriation act made possible the construction of a ship of 20,000 tons displacement.

That the rapid increase in size of vessels was unprecedented and liable to outstrip the docking capacity of the navy-yards can readily be understood when it is realized that in a period covering fifteen years, from 1890 to 1905, the average yearly increase in tonnage of individual vessels did not exceed 4 per cent, whereas in the three years from 1906 to 1909 the average yearly increase was nearly 20 per

cent.

The docking facilities on July 1, 1906, had just been increased by the completion of a dry dock at the navy-yard, Portsmouth, N. H., and one at the navy-yard, Boston, Mass. The dry dock at Philadel phia, Pa., was nearing completion, and the one at Mare Island, Cal., was practically being commenced over again by the second contractor, to whom the work was let after the Government had been forced to cancel the original contract. These four docks were those originally authorized by the act of March 4, 1898, as timber docks. The docks authorized at later dates, the one at the navy-yard, Charleston, S. C., and the one at Norfolk, Va., were progressing satisfactorily. The new dock for New York had been contracted for a few months previously, and it was seen that the contractor would have difficulty with the treacherous soil at the site.

At the stations outside the continental limits of the United States there was no government dock available. At the Guantanamo Station work had been started on the excavation of the dock site to the extent of the funds available. At the Asiatic Station the floating dry dock Dewey arrived at Olongapo, P. I., a few days after July 1, 1906, becoming then the only dock possessed by the Government outside the United States proper.

The above-mentioned docks were appropriated for during a period when the growth in tonnage of the heaviest type of vessels was very gradual, and it was therefore seen that the great augmentation in tonnage of the battle ships, following the act of June 29, 1906, would shortly necessitate much larger docks than any at that time avail