CONGRESS. (NAVY PERSONNEL.) 



211 



sels, or any property hereafter captured, con- 

 demned as prize, or providing for the payment 

 of bounty for the sinking or destruction of vessels 

 of the enemy hereafter occurring in time of war, 

 are hereby repealed: And provided further, That 

 no provision of this act shall operate to reduce 

 the present pay of any commissioned officer now 

 in the navy; and in any case in which the pay of 

 such an officer would otherwise be reduced he 

 shall continue to receive pay according to exist- 

 ing law: And provided further, That nothing 

 in this act shall operate to increase or reduce 

 the pay of any officer now on the retired list of 

 the navy. 



" SEC. 14. That upon the passage of this act the 

 Secretary of the Navy shall appoint a board for 

 the examination of men for the position of war- 

 rant machinists, 100 of whom are hereby author- 

 ized. The said examination shall be open, first, 

 to all machinists by trade, of good record in the 

 naval service, and if a sufficient number of ma- 

 chinists from the navy are not found duly quali- 

 fied, then any machinist of good character, not 

 above thirty years of age, in civil life shall be 

 eligible for such examination and appointment to 

 fill the remaining vacancies. All subsequent 

 vacancies in the list of warrant machinists shall 

 be filled by competitive examination before a 

 board ordered by the Secretary of the Navy, and 

 open to all machinists by trade who are in the 

 navy, and machinists of good character, not above 

 thirty years of age, in civil life authorized by the 

 Secretary of the Navy to appear before said 

 board, and, where candidates from civil life and 

 from the naval service possess equal qualifica- 

 tions, the preference shall be given to those from 

 the naval service. 



" SEC. 15. That the pay of warrant machinists 

 shall be the same as that of warrant officers, 

 and they shall be retired under the provisions 

 of existing law for warrant officers. Warrant 

 machinists shall receive at first an acting ap- 

 pointment, which may be made permanent under 

 regulations established by the Navy Department 

 for other w r arrant officers. They shall take rank 

 with other warrant officers according to date of 

 appointment, and shall wear such uniform as 

 may be prescribed by the Navy Department. 



" SEC. 16. That hereafter the term of enlistment 

 of all enlisted men of the navy shall be four 

 years: Provided, That section 1573, Revised Stat- 

 utes, be amended to read : ' If any enlisted man 

 or apprentice, being honorably discharged, shall 

 re-enlist for four years within four months there- 

 after, he shall, on presenting his honorable dis- 

 charge or on accounting in a satisfactory manner 

 for its loss, be entitled to pay during the said four 

 months equal to that to which he would have 

 been entitled if he had been employed in actual 

 service; and that any man who has received an 

 honorable discharge from his last term of enlist- 

 ment, or who has received a recommendation for 

 re-enlistment upon the expiration of his last term 

 of service of not less than three years, who re- 

 enlists for a term of four years within four 

 months from the date of his discharge, shall re- 

 ceive an increase of $1.36 per month to the pay 

 prescribed for the rating in which he serves for 

 each consecutive re-enlistment.' 



" SEC. 17. That when an enlisted man or ap- 

 pointed petty officer has served as such thirty 

 years in the United States navy, either as an 

 enlisted man or petty officer, or both, he shall, by 

 making application to the President, be placed 

 on the retired list hereby created, with the rank 

 held by him at the date of retirement; and he 

 shall thereafter receive 75 per cent, of the pay and 



allowances of the rank or rating upon which 

 he was retired: Provided, That if said enlisted 

 man or appointed petty officer had active service 

 in the navy or in the army or Marine Corps, 

 either as volunteer or regular, during the civil 

 or Spanish-American War, such war service shall 

 be computed as double time in computing the 

 . thirty years necessary to entitle Kim to be re- 

 tired: And provided further, That applicants for 

 retirement under this section shall, unless phys- 

 ically disqualified for service, be at least fifty 

 years of age. 



" SEC. 18. That from and after the date of the 

 approval of this act the active list of the line 

 officers of the United States Marine Corps shall 

 consist of 1 brigadier general commandant, 5 

 colonels, 5 lieutenant colonels, 10 majors, 60 cap- 

 tains, 60 first lieutenants, and 60 second lieuten- 

 ants: Provided, That vacancies in all grades in 

 the line created by this section shall be filled as 

 far as possible by promotion by seniority from 

 the line officers on the active list of said corps: 

 And provided further, That the commissions of 

 officers now in the Marine Corps shall not be 

 vacated by this act: And provided further, That 

 vacancies in the grade of brigadier general shall 

 be filled by selection from officers on the active 

 list of the Marine Corps not below the grade 

 of field officer. 



" SEC. 19. That the vacancies existing in said 

 corps after the promotions and appointments 

 herein provided for shall be filled by the Presi- 

 dent from time to time, whenever the actual needs 

 of the naval service require it, first, from the 

 graduates of the Naval Academy in the manner 

 now provided by law ; or, second, from those who 

 are serving or who have served as second lieu- 

 tenants in the Marine Corps during the war with 

 Spain; or, third, from meritorious noncommis- 

 sioned officers of the Marine Corps; or, fourth, 

 from civil life: Provided, That after said vacan- 

 cies are once filled there shall be no further ap- 

 pointments from civil life. 



" SEC. 20. That no person except such officers or 

 former graduates of the Naval Academy as have 

 served in the war with Spain, as hereinbefore 

 provided for, shall be appointed a commissioned 

 officer in the Marine Corps who is under twenty 

 or over thirty years of age; and that no person 

 shall be appointed a commissioned officer in said 

 corps until he shall have passed such examina- 

 tion as may be prescribed by the President of 

 the United States, except graduates of the Naval 

 Academy, as above provided. That the officers 

 of the Marine Corps above the grade of captain, 

 except brigadier general, shall, before being pro- 

 moted, be subject to such physical, mental, and 

 moral examination as is now, or may hereafter 

 be, prescribed by law for other officers of the 

 Marine Corps. 



" SEC. 21. That upon the passage of this act 

 not more than 45 of the captains, 45 first lieuten- 

 ants, and 45 second lieutenants herein provided 

 for shall be appointed; 15 captains, 15 first lieu- 

 tenants, and 15 second lieutenants to be ap- 

 pointed subsequently to Jan. 1, 1900. 



" SEC. 22. That the staff of the Marine Corps 

 shall consist of 1 adjutant and inspector, 1 quar- 

 termaster and 1 paymaster, each with the rank 

 of colonel; 1 assistant adjutant and inspector, 2 

 assistant quartermasters and 1 assistant paymas- 

 ter, each with the rank of major: and 3 assistant 

 quartermasters with the rank of captain. That 

 the vacancies created by this act in the depart- 

 ments of the adjutant and inspector and pay- 

 master shall be filled first by promotion accord- 

 ing to seniority of the officers in each of these 



