Lieut. BRETT. If we had called on the Medical Department, they would probably have given us a figure of eight or nine thousand

nurses.

The CHAIRMAN. I do not want to know what they probably would have done. I want to know what actually was done and what information was furnished.

Lieut. BRETT. None whatever.

The CHAIRMAN. Has there been any change in policy now as to the method of obtaining nurses since the original estimates were submitted?

Lieut. BRETT. None.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you know about that?

Lieut. BRETT. So far as I know there has been no change of policy. The CHAIRMAN. Did they submit any figures to you as to the number of nurses?

Gen. SHARPE. Yes, sir; the letter which I have just read.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you know whether, in addition to the number of nurses stated here to be needed, any additional nurses are furnished?

Lieut. BRETT. That I could not state. You mean by the Red Cross or any other organization?

The CHAIRMAN. All the base hospitals now being organized are being furnished with nurses through the Red Cross.

Lieut. BRETT. I do not think so, because two of the nurses of the Regular Army, as I understand it, were killed on that transport going in the first contingent. Those were Regular Army nurses. You see, as to that first estimate, I was summoned at 10 o'clock Sunday morning and told that the estimate must be in the hands of the Secretary of War by 9 o'clock Monday morning, and I do not know whether the Medical Department officers were down there or not, but I know we did not have time to get much information.

ESTIMATES BASED ON ARBITRARY FIGURES.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, are there any other estimates in here that are based upon arbitrary figures?

Lieut. BRETT. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Which ones?

Lieut. BRETT. Commutation of quarters, expenses of courts-martial, foreign-service pay of both officers and men, and the six months' gratuity for officers and enlisted men who die in active service, and a year's pay for those who die as aviators. That is purely guesswork. We have no means of arriving at the number that may be killed in that way.

The CHAIRMAN. In figuring the extra pay for foreign service you base that on a certain number of men engaged?

Lieut. BRETT. I just took it for granted that one-half of all the officers and enlisted men would be on foreign service for an average of one year. I just took the lump pay of the officers and took 10 per cent of one-half and then lumped the pay of the enlisted men and took 10 per cent of that, because they get 20 per cent. We have no means of getting at an accurate estimate of that.

JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT-PAY OF OFFICERS.

The CHAIRMAN. Judge Advocate General's Department: For pay of the officers in the Judge Advocate General's Department, $11,000. Lieut. BRETT. We have no information on that. That would pay about five men.

The CHAIRMAN. Five additional officers?

Lieut. BRETT. They do not have any officer whose pay is below $3,000, and it would only pay about four officers.

PAY OF RETIRED OFFICERS.

The CHAIRMAN. "Retired officers: For increased pay to retired officers on active duty, $400,000.”

Lieut. BRETT. Practically every officer on the retired list who is able to do anything has been called to active duty and his pay restored. He gets one-fourth of his base pay and one-fourth of his service pay restored. I do not suppose that $400,000 is anywhere near sufficient for that purpose.

The CHAIRMAN. Is this based upon the men actually called in? Lieut. BRETT. No, sir. We have get 1,030 officers on the retired list, and I suppose at least 750 or 800 of those have been called.

The CHAIRMAN. You average up the pay of the men on the retired list and take a certain percentage of that?

Lieut. BRETT. For instance, we will take a major. A major's base pay is $3,000, and his maximum pay is $4,000. His base pay is $3,000, and he gets three-fourths of that when he is retired, which is $2,250. In other words, we have taken away $750, and we restore that and he gets one-fourth of his service pay, which is the difference between $3,000 and $4,000, or in other words $250, and we give that back to him, so that that would make just $1,000 for every major.

It is the same with the others. Take majors, lieutenant colonels, and colonels, and their maximum service pay is $1,000. In other words, it is $3,500 up to $4,500 and $4,000 up to $5,000. There was a provision put in the act of May 16, 1908, that whenever retired officers came into active duty they would get an increase of one-fourth of their peace pay, and that increases these officers $1,000 a year. A aptain would get one-fourth of $2,400, which would be $600, and that, with his service pay, would be $960, and one-fourth of that is $240; $860 would be the total for a captain. This is not based on any particular number of officers, but is an arbitrary allowance. It is the policy to call every retired officer into active duty.

PAY OF RETIRED ENLISTED MEN.

The CHAIRMAN. For pay and allowances of retired enlisted men on active duty you estimate $50,000.

Lieut. BRETT. That is fixed in the same way.

The CHAIRMAN. How many enlisted men have you called in? Lieut. BRETT. I do not know, but a great many of them. We have about 4,300 enlisted men on the retired list, and every man that has any service left in him, especially if he has shown any ability as a noncommissioned officer, is called for active duty. The act of June 3

allows us to assign these men to educational institutions and to the National Guard for various duties and as instructors.

PAY AND ALLOWANCES OF REGULAR ARMY RESERVISTS.

Under the act of

The CHAIRMAN. For pay and allowances of Regular Army reservists on active duty you estimate $17,000. How many reservists are there? Somebody said there were only a few. Lieut. BRETT. I think there are over 4.000. August 24, 1912, every man enlisted on and after November 1, 1912, went into the reserves at the end of four years unless he applied to be kept on active duty; so that, beginning with November 1, 1916, or four years after the law went into effect, we began rapidly to get the reserves. Prior to that time we only got such men as asked to be placed in the reserves. They were men who had had long service, and we only got a few men. Now we get them into the reserves very rapidly.

The CHAIRMAN. How is this estimate reached?

Lieut. BRETT. He loses his $24 a year, or $2 per month, under the act of June 3, 1916, and gains the pay of his grade.

COMMUTATION OF QUARTERS.

The CHAIRMAN. For commutation of quarters and of heat and light to commissioned officers, members of the Nurse Corps, and enlisted men on duty at places where no public quarters are available, including enlisted men of the Regular Army Reserve and retired enlisted men when ordered to active duty, you ask $1,000,000. Lieut. BRETT. We have no means of arriving at that.

The CHAIRMAN. You have had for this purpose $1,500,000? Lieut. BRETT. Yes, sir. That is arbitrary. Every officer on duty where the Government has no public quarters is entitled to commutation for quarters, beginning with the second lieutenant with two rooms and increasing one room in each grade, at the rate of $12 per

room.

The CHAIRMAN. You have appropriated $1,500,000.

money be used during this coming year, or any of it?

Will this

Lieut. BRETT. I think a great deal of it will be used this year.
The CHAIRMAN. Before the 31st of December?

Lieut. BRETT. There are many officers on duty in cities where the Government has no quarters, and those officers are drawing commutation for quarters.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you any information as to how much will be paid cut this month for this purpose?

Lieut. BRETT. No, sir; we could not give the amount paid this month. The accounts for the Philippine Islands would leave there about the 10th of August, and they would not get here until the 20th of September. Then, they would not be analyzed until 60 days after that. It would be at least three months before we could get anything reliable for the month of July.

NOTE. The cost for commutation of quarters reported on our books for the nine months ending March 31, 1917, is $746,458.61, or at the rate of $995,298.15 per year. It must, however, be borne in mind that that amount covers a period antedating the time when the Regular Army was increased by four

increments, and the National Army was being created. These and the large increase in the National Guard, necessitating the stationing of many officers and detached enlisted men away from the field in places where no Government quarters are available, will greatly increase the cost under commutation of quarters.

MILEAGE TO COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, ETC.

The CHAIRMAN. The next item is:

For mileage to commissioned officers, members of the Officers Reserve Corps when ordered to active duty, contract surgeons, expert accountant, Inspector General's Department, Army field clerks, and field clerks for the Quartermaster Corps, when authorized by law, $750,000.

Lieut. BRETT. We received a letter this morning from the chief of the finance division, Col. Lord, stating that they will want $2,649,000 more than this, making $1,909,000 that they will want in addition to this. The chief of the finance division, which handles the disbursement and allotment of this money, says that they are going to require for the balance of this fiscal year $2,649,000 more than you have already appropriated. Of that $2,649,000 we have estimated here $750,000, leaving an apparent deficit of $1,909,000. That is the status of the mileage appropriation.

Capt. DALY. Those figures are based on reports submitted by the chiefs of the various bureaus as to the mileage that will be required by them.

Lieut. BRETT. That report of $2,649,000 that they are going to require can be reduced a little by the laws that have been recently passed that is, that travel in connection with the Ordnance Department shall be paid from ordnance appropriations, that travel in connection with the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps shall be paid from aviation funds. Travel in connection with the engineering works and Quartermasters Corps works is in a bill which has not yet become a law. There is a provision in a House bill that their travel expenses shall be paid from their appropriation. That will reduce the apparent deficit by several hundred thousand dollars.

The CHAIRMAN. It is estimated that $2,600,000 will be required in addition to the $1,250,000 already appropriated?

Lieut. BRETT. Yes, sir.

ADDITIONAL PAY OF OFFICERS ON FOREIGN SERVICE.

Mr. SHERLEY. The next item is, "For additional 10 per cent increase of pay of officers on foreign service, $9,966,055.70." What basis is that figured on?

Gen. SHARPE. That is figured on one-half of the officers being abroad.

Mr. SHERLEY. For the period of a year?

Gen. SHARPE. Yes, sir; for the period of a year.

Mr. SHERLEY. That is just an arbitrary assumption?

Gen. SHARPE. Yes, sir; it is an arbitrary assumption.

Mr. SHERLEY. Was there any discussion had or conclusion arrived at, other than this arbitrary assumption?

Gen. SHARPE. No, sir.

Lieut. BRETT. That is just taking the pay of the officers and tak ing one-half of that, and computing 10 per cent on it.

Mr. SHERLEY. What is the total pay of officers?

Lieut. BRETT. $102,605,570.

Mr. SHERLEY. This really represents 5 per cent on that?

Lieut. BRETT. Yes, sir; just exactly that. You have given us $250,000.

ADDITIONAL PAY OF ENLISTED MEN ON FOREIGN SERVICE.

Mr. SHERLEY. The next item is, "For additional 20 per cent increase of pay of enlisted men on foreign service, $79,265,805.20." How is that arrived at?

Lieut. BRETT. In the same way that the 10 per cent for officers was arrived at, except that the enlisted men get 20 per cent instead of 10 per cent. The officers get an increase of 10 per cent and the enlisted men get an increase of 20 per cent. For pay of enlisted men the appropriation is $800,658,052.

Mr. SHERLEY. What reason have you for making that assumption any more than any other?

Lieut. BRETT. None.

Mr. SHERLEY. It does not represent even a conclusion, then?
Lieut. BRETT. No, sir.

Gen. SHARPE. There is no way of knowing the number of troops that will be abroad. We just had to assume some figure.

Mr. SHERLEY. Of course, presumably there are some people in the department that have something more than a guess as to the number of troops that will be abroad during the year. As I understand you, your estimate does not reflect any judgment at all, but it is purely an arbitrary assumption that may or may not have any relationship to the actual fact?

Gen. SHARPE. Yes, sir; that is true.

Mr. SHERLEY. Has any question been raised as to whether, in view of the increased compensation paid enlisted men, the 20 per cent increase for foreign-service pay was not to be allowed as heretofore? Gen. SHARPE. No, sir.

Lieut. BRETT. The Quartermaster Corps submitted a draft of legislation doing away with or modifying what is known as foreignservice pay by providing that foreign-service pay shall not accrue to enlisted men drawing what is known as war-service pay.

Mr. SHERLEY. In the act of May 18, in section 10, we provide the pay that men should receive.

Lieut. BRETT. Yes, sir; but there is nothing in there, as you can see, that disturbs the allowance for foreign service.

Mr. SHERLEY. There is nothing directly stated that does; but I was wondering if the question had been raised of whether constructively this section 10 of the act of May 18 in any way changed or modified the provision of 20 per cent additional pay for foreign

service.

Lieut. BRETT. It has been raised and settled by the comptroller in this way: The question was asked the comptroller whether the 20 per cent increased pay for foreign service should be based on these increased rates, and the comptroller came back and said no, that the foreign-service pay was based on the peace pay. So that indirectly the question has been settled by the comptroller.