[No. 7.] HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. Lemuel P. Padgett (chairman) presiding. STATEMENT OF MAJ. GEN. GEORGE BARNETT, COMMANDANT UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. We have with us this morning Gen. Barnett, Commandant of the Marine Corps. We also have with us Gen. McCawley, quartermaster, and Gen. Richards, paymaster. Turn to page 103, "General pay of the Marine Corps." there is an increase asked for there. I see that Gen. RICHARDS. I have, in explanation of the items asked for commencing on page 103 and ending the middle of page 108, the detailed calculations of these estimates for the total sum asked for, $22,153,370.64. I submit first the official explanation of this estimate, dated September 20, 1917, to the Navy Department, with these detailed calculations explaining how this figure is arrived at. In addition thereto I have here a tabulated statement or analysis which shows for "Pay, Marine Corps," the amount expended in every detail of the appropriation for the year 1917; also I have segregated the various items which were appropriated under "Pay, Marine Corps, for the year 1918, and set out against all items therein what we estimate will be needed for the year 1919. I think these tables may answer almost every question to be asked. The CHAIRMAN. You will just insert those and then we will take them up. This appropriation of $3,975,437 is made upon what basis? Gen. RICHARDS. That item is for pay of officers, and it contains an increase due to the increase in the number of commissioned, warrant, and appointed officers authorized by the act of May 22, 1917, also to an increase in longevity pay due to promotions. There is also an additional amount necessary to cover an increase in the number of officers for the Marine Corps Reserve, and the Naval Flying Corps, and Naval Militia, Marine Corps branches, all of which increases were authorized by the act of August 29, 1916. The CHAIRMAN. Does it also include additions to the present authorized strength? Gen. RICHARDS. No, sir; on that proposition I have prepared a statement of costs of proposed increases based upon multiples; that is to say, any increase that may be decided upon by this committee or the Congress, the cost may be calculated from these tables. I have one statement showing pay necessary for 40 officers and 1,000 men; another, 200 officers and 5,000 men; and another, 400 officers and 10,000 men. The CHAIRMAN. Do you have a unit for each 1,000? Gen. RICHARDS. Yes, sir; that is a unit. Each 1,000 men will have 40 officers of different grades. The CHAIRMAN. Just insert that in the record. The next item is "Pay of officers on the retired list." Gen. RICHARDS. That is a mathematical calculation. We have had a number of changes in the list, a number of officers added to the retired list and a number have died. I wish to explain here that every retired officer who is capable of doing any duty whatsoever is now doing active duty; for that reason we have asked an increase in our usual sum for contingencies of that sort for additional pay, full duty pay, of retired officers detailed to active duty. The CHAIRMAN. Let me ask you this question in connection with that: Where you have a retired officer called back into active service, performing active duty, is he paid three-fourths out of this and one-fourth out of active pay? Gen. RICHARDS. No, sir; it all comes out of the item for pay of retired officers. The CHAIRMAN. How do you arrive at his pay? Gen. RICHARDS. The whole pay of the Marine Corps is one lump fund, the $22,000,000. You will see in this item for pay of retired officers that there is the sum of $17,105.06 asked for. This is the onefourth that these retired officers get when on active duty. They get full-duty pay while performing active duty; it all comes out of the pay for the retired list. The CHAIRMAN. All of it comes out of that? Gen. RICHARDS. Yes, sir. But, Mr. Chairman, it makes no difference, because the whole $22,000,000 is specifically provided for by law as one lump fund. The CHAIRMAN. I understand that, but I just wanted to know whether you had it embraced here and in the other. Gen. RICHARDS. It is embraced in the $218,907.56. Mr. BROWNING. What work are these retired officers doing in the Marine Corps? Gen. BARNETT. The retired officers are almost all on recruiting duty. Their duty has been most important and they have done it remarkably well, so well that the Marine Corps, as you know, was filled to its strength the 10th of August. They made excellent time, and so fast, in fact, that it was hard work housing and clothing them, and that left the active officers for duty outside. The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, Pay of the enlisted men of the active and reserve list. The language is the same, and you are asking for $17,266,879, as against about $9,000,000 last year. Gen. RICHARDS. The increase in the pay of the enlisted men, active and reserve men, of eight million odd dollars is due not only to the increase in the strength authorized by the act of August 29, 1916, and May 22, 1917, respectively, but also to the addition of 5,000 men to the Marine Corps reserve list, authorized by the act of August 29, 1916, and to cover the pay of the National Naval Volunteers, or Naval Militia, Marine Corps branch, during the present war Gen. BARNETT. And another thing, Congress doubled the pay of the privates last year. We did not ask for that last year because it was done after our hearing. Mr. HICKS. I would like to ask you in this regard, you would like to have a provision put in this section providing for the additional pay of marines serving on a man-of-war as firemen ? Gen. BARNETT. I have that in my hearings. I will put that in my general statement, and I have what I would like in the proposed changes in the wording to effect that. There are one or two things like that. I will have them in my general hearing. The CHAIRMAN. Does that item embrace only the existing authorized enlistment? Gen. RICHARDS. This is for the enlisted authorized strength and does not include anything necessary for any proposed increase to the Marine Corps. The CHAIRMAN. The next item is for pay and allowances prescribed by law of enlisted men on the retired list. Gen. RICHARDS. That is mathematical and there is a decrease this year over what was asked for last year. The CHAIRMAN. Undrawn clothing. You are asking for an increase of $28.000. Gen. RICHARDS. No, sir; we have decreased that item by over $21,000, and that was due to the saving on the clothing allowance during the war. Gen. BARNETT. Formerly we gave a man a clothing allowance which a careful man saved money on and careless men had to draw extra clothes and pay for them. So, when the Army did away with the clothing allowance at the outbreak of the war, recognizing the fact that in the trenches the clothing allowance would not be sufficient, we did away also with the clothing allowance. Mr. Hicks. Irrespective of what it amounts to? Gen. BARNETT. Yes, sir; and we have repair stations to repair the clothing. Mr. HICKS. Is a man asked as to why he lost his suit? Gen. BARNETT. Very decidedly; yes, sir. The clothing is absolutely Government property. We take just the same care of it as we do of the guns or revolvers. Mr. VINSON. What about the old clothes? Gen. BARNETT. We take them all back and clean them and overhaul them. Mr. BRITTEN. Does this clothing scheme operate irrespective of his assignment? Gen. BARNETT. Yes, sir; it would be impossible otherwise. He would go to France to-morrow and it would make bookkeeping almost impossible. Mr. VINSON. Where do you send clothes for repairs? Gen. BARNETT. We have repair shops of our own. Mr. OLIVER. That does not apply to enlisted men in the Navy? Gen. BARNETT. No, sir. Mr. that this has worked satisfactorily? Gen. BARNETT. It has only been in force a short time. I think it would have been a great and undue hardship for our men with the old allowance. They could not have gotten along at all. Another thing, where we have cantonments the men have to have more blankets. We issued more blankets because it was necessary Mr. BUTLER. Any complaints because of the change of this system? Gen. BARNETT. No, sir. Mr. BRITTEN. Will you be prepared a year from now to tell us just what effect that has had on the cost as compared with the old system? Gen. BARNETT. Yes, sir; we can tell you to a dollar. The CHAIRMAN. The next item is "Mileage." Gen. RICHARDS. That is an increase, due to the increased number of men in the service. The same explanation applies to the next item, "for commutation of quarters.' The CHAIRMAN. The enlarged activities and more men and expansion of the service? Gen. BARNETT. We did not have much more than one-half of our officers a year ago. The CHAIRMAN. How many officers have you now? Gen. BARNETT. One thousand two hundred and thirty. I think there are 1,236 to be exact; I have the list here [referring to list]. The officers are 1,191 regular officers, 30 reserve, and 9 national naval volunteers, making 1,230. Mr. BUTLER. That is about 40 to 1,000 men? Gen. BARNETT. Exactly. We can not go beyond that. That is the number allowed by law. Mr. BUTLER. Why do we compute it as 40 to 1,000 men? Gen. BARNETT. We are so split up that we find 4 officers to 100 men is absolutely necessary. That is less than they have in the Army, but if you remember when we came before the committee last year, I quoted you a report I made with reference to the necessity of 4 officers to 100 men because I had found by years of experience that 1,000 men as a regiment was the best organization for expeditionary service. Therefore, we said we would be able to carry on the duty even if it was less than the Army. The CHAIRMAN. And we put it in the law. Gen. BARNETT. Yes, sir. Gen. RICHARDS. The law provides that there shall be 4 commissioned officers in the Marine Corps to 100 men. Mr. BUTLER. Are we going to increase the regiments in this emergency? Gen. BARNETT. The regiments have been increasing. You have not allowed us any officers for the temporary increase above the rank of major. Mr. BRITTEN. Have you that change in your estimates? Gen. BARNETT. Yes, sir: I have. The CHAIRMAN. We will take that up when we come to the legislative part of it. The pay of the civil force- I notice that you have here "special assistant to the Major General Commandant" $2,750. That is a new office? Gen. BARNETT. A new office created. You remember last year you allowed the whole Navy certain increases in clerical force. We followed the Navy custom and created the position of special assistant and gave him that pay, because the pay and the responsibility had so largely increased, and the part the Marine Corps was allowed out of that sum was $11,500, and we use that partially for this assistant and in getting additional men. Mr. BUTLER. He is a military man? Gen. BARNETT. No, sir; a civilian. Mr. BUTLER. How can a civilian help you now? |