later, because the material and labor are at hand on the Isthmus. The policy seems to be settled that marines will be stationed on the Isthmus as part of the military guard of the Canal Zone, as well as for expeditionary purposes.

BUREAU OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY.

The following table is a comparative statement of the appropriations for 1913, estimates for 1914, and the amount recommended in this bill:

Small increases have been made in the bureau to provide for the increase in the enlisted personnel and can not be reduced.

The committee recommends that the following provision be inserted, amending section 4810, Revised Statutes:

Section 4810 of the Revised Statutes of the United States is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 4810. The Secretary of the Navy shall procure at suitable places proper sites for Navy hospitals, and if the necessary buildings are not procured with the site, shall cause such to be erected, having due regard to economy, and giving preference to such plans as with most convenience and least cost will admit of subsequent additions, when the funds permit and circumstances require; and shall provide, at one of the establishments, a permanent asylum for disabled and decrepit Navy officers, seamen, and marines: Provided, That hereafter no sites shall be procured or hospital buildings erected, or extensions to existing hospitals made, until after Congress shall have approved estimates therefor regularly submitted to Congress through the Treasury Department."

The maintenance of Navy hospitals and the erection of the buildings have been in part maintained by appropriations from the Treasury and in part from the naval hospital fund. The naval hospital fund is a fund created by law to which every officer, seaman, and marine in the Navy and Marine Corps is compelled to contribute 20 cents per month. It has come to the attention of the committee that this fund has been unduly overobligated at times by reason of large contracts being awarded for hospital buildings, and in some cases work has been delayed by reason of lack of money to meet the obligations. There is no provision of law at present which requires the Secretary of the Navy to submit to Congress estimates for sites or buildings for naval hospitals procured through this fund, and although the fund is contributed to by the officers and men of the service, Congress has been called upon from time to time to make additional appropriations for hospitals, and the committee deems it proper that the expenditure of this fund for the purposes of procuring sites and buildings for naval hospitals should be scrutinized by Congress.

BUREAU OF SUPPLIES AND ACCOUNTS.

The following table is a comparative statement of the appropriations for 1913, estimates for 1914, and the amount recommended in this bill:

The committee recommends a rewording and new distribution of the funds of the two working appropriations of this bureau in order to facilitate the proper bookkeeping and accounting for expenditures. It was learned that the wording of these appropriations was not proper to carry on the work efficiently and a change is recommended as set forth in the bill. The total of these two appropriations has been increased, due to the increase of the average cost of the rations during the past year and for an increase of $175,000 for labor in general storehouse.

A reduction of $25,000 is recommended for freight.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR.

The following table is a comparative statement of the appropriations for 1913, estimates for 1914, and the amount carried in this bill:

A reduction in the working appropriation of this bureau of $229,144 is recommended. An appropriation of $300,000 is recommended for a wrecking pontoon to be used principally for the testing of submarines. It is believed that this appropriation will tend to reduce the cost of submarine boats, as the testing by the contractor is so expensive that it is a material item of cost in the bids submitted. The use of one of these pontoons will secure a more efficient test of the submarines and will be of economic value in the care, repair, and testing

of submarines now in the service. Small appropriations are recommended for machinery and tools at the repair plants in the principal working navy yards.

BUREAU OF STEAM ENGINEERING.

The following table is a comparative statement of the appropriations for 1913, estimates for 1914, and the amount recommended in this bill:

The working appropriation of this bureau has been reduced $250,000, but the committee recommends the insertion of a clause reappropriating unobligated balances for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1912 and 1913, not exceeding $250,000, in order that a type of heavy oil engine, suitable for use in one of the fuel ships now under construction, may be developed. It is believed that the time has now arrived for this Government to experiment with the heavy oil engines suitable for naval purposes, and the committee recommends that this provision be incorporated in the bill.

The experimental work and testing work done at the experiment station, Annapolis, Md., has proved to be of such value in working economies and the maintenance of our Navy afloat, that the committee recommends an increase of $20,000 for that station and an appropriation of $26,000 for the equipment of the building.

NAVAL ACADEMY.

The following table is a comparative statement of the appropriations for 1913, estimates for 1914, and the amount recommended in this bill:

The appropriations for the maintenance of the Naval Academy are practically the same as last year, but the committee recommends a slight increase in the appropriation "Maintenance and repairs," and that these two appropriations be consolidated for the more efficient administration of the affairs of the academy.

The committee recommends that a clause be inserted in the bill providing that no commissioned officers of the Navy shall be detailed for duty as instructors at the academy to perform duties which were performed by civilian instructors on January 1, last. The Navy Department desired to displace civilian instructors in the elementary branches of English studies, modern languages, and other elementary work by causing seagoing officers to perform this work of instruction. It is the opinion of the committee that such a change would neither work to the greater welfare of the institution nor to the welfare of the officer detailed as such instructor.

The committee also recommends that a swordmaster at the academy shall be commissioned as a first lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps as an extra number not in the line of promotion, but no person is eligible for such an appointment who has had less than 25 years' continuous service as a swordmaster at that institution.

The committee recommend a change in the law relating to the Board of Visitors to the Naval Academy, so that the board shall be composed of members of the Naval Committees of the Senate and House. The board is authorized to visit the academy during the sessions of Congress, and the appropriation for the expenses of the board is reduced from $3,000 to $500.

The committee recommends that the present law, which expires June 30, 1913, giving to each Senator and Representative in Congress two appointments to the Naval Academy be extended for a period of six years from July 1 next. The provision recommended gives 10 appointments at large per year, instead of five, and also gives authority to the Secretary of the Navy to fill vacancies in the lowest commissioned grades of the Staff Corps of the Navy and Marine Corps with graduates of the academy.

MARINE CORPS.

The following table is a comparative statement of the appropriations for 1913, estimates for 1914, and the amount recommended in this bill:

The appropriation for the Pay Department of the Marine Corps has been increased by $166,175, the greater part of which is due to a full year's appropriation for the increase of the corps authorized last year, longevity pay, and is almost a mathematical calculation and can not be reduced.

The committee recommends slight increases in the pay of the civil force and a slight increase in the number of clerks.

The appropriation for the Quartermaster's Department is increased $16,080, due principally to the increase of the corps authorized last

year.

For better administration of the Quartermaster's Department the committee recommends a provision by which for accounting purposes all the appropriations of that department constitute one fund, to be administered in accordance with the limitations of the appropriations as set forth for that department and by which the total can not be exceeded.

INCREASE OF THE NAVY.

The following table is a comparative statement of the appropriations for 1913, estimates for 1914, and the amount recommended in this bill.

As stated at the outset of this report, the committee recommended a building program of 2 first-class battleships, 6 destroyers, 4 submarines, I supply ship, and 1 transport, involving an expenditure for