in the line of the Navy he would then hold if he had remained continuously in the line, said temporary commission to terminate upon his reappointment to the line of the Navy or upon his failure to pass the said examinations: Provided, That the permanent commissions of officers given temporary commissions in the line of the Navy shall not be vacated. Upon the termination of such temporary commissions, by failure to pass professional examinations for permanent appointment in the line of the Navy, such officers shall revert to the grade from which temporarily appointed.

(3) Any officer transferred to the line of the Navy under the provisions of this act shall be an extra number in the grade to which reappointed, and to which he may thereafter be promoted.

(4) Request for reappointment to the line of the Navy shall be made within six months from the date of this act.

TO AUTHORIZE THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY TO DISPOSE OF MATERIAL TO THE SEA SCOUT DEPARTMENT OF THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA (H. R. 15577)

L11-3/P8-2(1)(281128) L.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, December 18, 1928.

The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: There is inclosed herewith a copy of a letter, together with a copy of a proposed bill to authorize the Secretary of the Navy to dispose of material to the sea scout department of the Boy Scouts of America, this day forwarded to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Sincerely yours,

CURTIS D. WILBUR,

Secretary of the Navy.

NAVY DEPARTMENT,

Washington, December 18, 1928.

The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. SPEAKER: I have the honor to transmit herewith a draft of a proposed bill to authorize the Secretary of the Navy to dispose of material to the sea scout department of the Boy Scouts of America.

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to permit the Secretary of the Navy to render such assistance to the sea scout department of the Boy Scouts of America as may be practicable without cost, or at ättle cost, to the Navy Department.

The act of March 3, 1901 (31 Stat. 1440; U. S. Code, Title 34, sec. 1128), authorized the President, on application of the governor of any State having seacoast line or bordering on the Great Lakes, to direct the Secretary of the Navy to furnish to well-established military schools in the State, desiring to afford its cadets instruction in seamanship, a full equipped man-of-war's cutter for every 50 cadets, and such other equipment as may be spared and deemed adequate for instruction in elementary seamanship. The act of March 3, 1911 (36 Stat. 1353; U. S. Code, Title 34, sec. 1121), authorized the Secretary of the Navy to furnish a suitable vessel with all equipment, provided the same could be spared, to be used for the benefit of nautical schools established at the ports of Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Baltimore, Detroit, Saginaw, Mich., Norfolk, and Corpus Christi, upon condition that a nautical school should be maintained at those ports, and the vessel was requested in writing by the

governor of the State. The act of February 14, 1927 (44 Stat. 1096; U. S. Code, Supplement No. 1, Title 34, sec. 546a), reads as follows:

That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized in his discretion to dispose of without charge, except for transportation and delivery, to properly accredited schools, colleges, and universities for use in aeronautical course, any aircraft, aircraft parts, instruments, or engines which have been declared obsolete by the Navy Department; and provided that such aircraft, aircraft parts, and engines will not be used in actual flight.

On May 15, 1927, the Secretary of the Navy authorized all force commanders, commanding officers of ships, commandants of districts, navy yards, and stations, to cooperate, as far as circumstances permit, whenever an application bearing the approval of the national headquarters of the Boy Scouts of America is received from a duly accredited representative of the organization of the sea scouts department. Individual officers, both active and retired, were requested to lend their aid and encouragement. Attention was invited, however, to the fact that no provision of law permitted the loan of property or the expenditure of naval funds.

This legislation is desired in order to be able to cooperate more effectively. The sea scouts, a division of the Boy Scouts of America, have become well established. The Navy Department recognizes the potential value of this organization as a source of supply of desirable personnel for the Navy and the Naval Reserve. Recently one reserve division was filled by enrolling ex-sea scouts, and another reserve division includes almost a complete troop of ex-sea scouts. The proposed legislation will not result in any increased cost to the Government.

In view of the foregoing, the Navy Department recommends that the proposed legislation be enacted.

Sincerely yours,

CURTIS D. WILBUR,
Secretary of the Navy.

[H. R. 15577, Seventieth Congress, second session]

A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Navy to dispose of material to the sea scout department of the Boy Scouts of America

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to dispose of without charge, except for transportation and delivery, to the sea scout department of the Boy Scouts of America, such condemned or obsolete material as may not be needed for the Navy, and such other material as may be spared at prices representing its fair value to the Navy.

TO PROVIDE FOR THE ELIMINATION FROM THE ACTIVE LIST OF THE NAVY OF CERTAIN OFFICERS OF THE STAFF CORPS WHO HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR PROMOTION (H. R. 11331)

QN/A18(280810) L.

NAVY DEPARTMENT,

Washington.

The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Referring to my letter dated February 21, 1928, printed as Committee Document No. 215, Seventieth Congress, first session, recommending a proposed bill for the elimination of officers of the Staff Corps who have not been selected for promotion, which was introduced as H. R. 11331, now pending before the committee of which you are chairman, I have the honor to suggest that the first proviso of section 3, which now reads:

Provided, That in computing the retired pay of an officer retired under this act, lieutenant commanders and commanders who are retired after less than twenty-one or twenty-eight years, respectively, of commissioned service shall be credited with not less than twenty-one or twenty-eight years of such service respectively:

* * *

be changed to read as follows:

Provided, That in computing the retired pay of an officer retired under this act, officers first commissioned in the Navy subsequent to March 4, 1913. and in a rank above that of ensign, shall be credited with three years additional to their number of years of service counted for pay purposes at the time of retirement.

The purpose of the proposed change is to provide a more equitable method of computing the retired pay of staff officers, commissioned subsequent to March 4, 1913, in a rank above that of ensign, in cases where such officers with the rank of lieutenant commander and commander are retired after more than 18 years' or 25 years' service, respectively. If they were retired upon reaching those respective lengths of service as intended, in general, by the bill, the change would not be necessary. In that case the officers in question would receive credit for the three years' constructive service. But there may be times when, because of infrequent selection boards, or some other reason, an officer may not be twice passed over before attaining as much as 20 years' or 27 years' service. In such a case, as may be readily seen, under the former wording, the officer in question would not receive credit for the three years' constructive service as was intended.

For your convenience, I am inclosing herewith a copy of a bill as it would be worded after making this change.

As stated in my original letter, there would be no increased cost to the Government by reason of the enactment of this proposed legislation. The retirement of an officer of the staff corps does not create a vacancy in the sense that it is filled by promoting an officer from the grade below. All promotions in the staff corps are made upon the promotion of their running mate in the line. A (323)

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