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14 MARINE REVIEW. [July 3 NAVAL APPROPRIATION BILL. This year's naval appropriation bill is, on the whole, more of a source of dieipbe htment to the naval service at large and to the officials of as department than any similar measure has been for many ae ae There is cause for gratification to the personnel, however, in the fac te several important provisions failed which were aimed to asians retired list from becoming overcrowded through large numbers of volun- teer retirements, and the repeal of a section allowing officers with certain service to retire with the rank and pay of the next higher grade, which: lately has led many to relinquish active service. The bill fails (o oe any increase in the staff corps so urgently recommended, except in the construction and civil engineer corps, which receive only slight increases. The usual annual increase in the number of enlisted men, however, 1s made so that with the present authorized strength the total number of os with apprentices allowed the navy is 25,000, or a number equal cae standing strength of the army a year preceding the Spanish war. . e marine corps benefits to the extent of securing an increase of 700 men, while the commandant is promoted to the rank of major-general. No additional officers, however, are provided. For several years past there has been a tendency on the part of con- gress to increase the enlisted forces of both navy and marine corps, while studiously refusing, however, to authorize a single additional officer in the line or cadet at the naval academy, with the result that there are not decided that the immense amounts asked this year should not be granted, and allows the entire subject to go over until next session. The program of increase contained in the bill is what we te mended by the secretary of the navy, but does not accord Me - -- of the average naval officer regarding the number of ships that ee have been provided for. The president would have readily acer pro- vision for a larger increase, since last session no additional ships were authorized. Under the bill two battleships of at least 16,000: _ _ armored cruisers of 14,500 tons and two 1,000-ton gunboats are the tota number authorized. These ships, however, are to be constructed at once and upon plans already accepted by the experts. The battleships se monsters and about 300 tons larger than any warship now afloat or build- ing. The bill strikes a blow at the submarine boat, which has been the subject of much controversy all session, and contains no provision for their construction, although the senate conferees sought to have the. amendment providing for five accepted. The navy is directly responsible for the defeat of this type and waged a war so incessant against any being provided that the senate conferees finally yielded to the house. The corps of constriction and civil engineers are increased by six officers each, but no provision is made for increasing the corps of surgeons or paymasters. No change is made in the present system of examining cadets for admis- sion to the naval academy and no provision is contained for expenses of the board of visitors to the naval observatory. Hos The bill provides that one battleship shall be built in a government (Photograph by J. D. Givens, San Francisco, Cal.) UNITED STATES TRANSPORT BUFORD. In the San Francisco-Manila Service. sufficient officers for the ships. While the enlisted force has steadily grown from 12,000 men a few years ago to double that number, the line officers remain the same with the present large navy, as the naval register showed fifteen years ago, exclusive of the additions received from an amal- -gamation with the engineers under the personnel act. Relief is to be afforded through an increase in the annual output of the naval academy, where the corps of cadets is to be enlarged by two additional appoint- ments from each state and five more at large appointments credited to the president. This will afford an increase of ninety-five cadets and bring the total authorized number to nearly 500. For the first time since the civil war congress allows in a naval ap- propriation bill additional cadets, the effect of which will be to gradually increase the strength of the lower grades of commissioned rank and in time provide the number of offfcers required by the navy. "(Midshipman," a term dear to the hearts of every naval officer and abandoned twenty years ago for the meaningless title of naval cadet, is again restored by the bill. Congress for ten years steadily declined to change the name for no reason that was ever accepted as logical. Hereafter the young men sent to Annapolis will be known by the title which Dewey, Sampson and Schley bore when they first started on their naval careers. There is to be found in the present naval bill the distinct enunciation of a policy against expenditures of large sums for the establishment of naval plants in the colonies through the refusal to provide for the location of a naval yard at Subig bay and extensive improvements at Cavite, San Juan and other naval stations abroad. The committee having charge of the bill yard. The house provision was that one battleship, one cruiser and one gunboat should be built in the navy yards. The senate struck this out and provided that the two battleships, two armored cruisers and the two gunboats authorized should be built by private contract. The compromise as noted was to build one battleship by the government. PROPOSE TO ENLARGE THE ROACH SHIP YARD. Mr. Osborn Congelton of No. 25 Broad street, New York, in reply to a letter regarding the reorganization of the Roach Ship Yard at Ches- tr Pa., under the title of the Delaware River Ship & Engine Building G., say 6: "The officers of the company are Mr. John B. Roach, president; Mr. Osborn Congelton, vice-president; Mr. D. E. Ford, treasurer and general manager; and Mr. E. L. Levy, secretary. It is the purpose of this com- pany to enlarge the capacity of the yards immediately and to install the most modern tools for the construction of ships. Work will begin im- mediately on a new sectional dry dock capable of taking any ship afloat. The keel of a sister ship to the City of Memphis we lay this week and immediately thereafter, as quickly as preparations can be made, the yard will be placed in full operation." The Clyde line steamer Apache is now at Cramps, Philadelphia, wee she is to be lengthened 52 ft. and supplied with two new additional oilers,