The Washington herald., 1916-10-02
AND NAVY NEWS

Conclusions of the board of army Of
ficers which meets here today to con-
slider the character and quantity of ma
chine rifles to be supplied for the mill
tary service will be looked forward to
with interest by army officers through
out the country.
The board will recommend the type of
gun which should be procured in case of
an emergency requiring an earlier supply
In possibly limited quantity, than can be
had of the gun which it may consider
as eventually the most suitable, IL there
be any Of which earlier delivery NAV be
possible. The board also will recommend
whether contract should be entered into
for considerable supply of a gun Of
known type in advance Of any test which
1t may conclude to be called for. and IL
SO, to what extent.
The board will submit its report to the
adjutant general of the army.
The Office Of the quartermaster general
of the army. which prepares for the mill
tary committees of Congress detailed
statistics for their guidance in the prep
aration of the army appropriation bill
Is planning a more elaborate and detail
ed tabulation Of items for presentation
at the next session.
A feature will be the reduction of ex-
penses to a per CAPITA basis for all Of
the items, some OF which are brand new
this year. In making this calculation it
was necessary to adopt certain arbi-
trary conditions as a basis. Thus. in the
item which relates to citizens training
camps. provided for in section "a of the
national defense act, containing author
ity to furnish at government expense uni
forms, subsistence and transportation to
individuals. II was necessary to adopt as
an average mileage, round trip, 600 miles,
which may prove to be more liberal
estimate than really is needed. In other
respects this item was calculated on the
basis Of l.O0O men, and the per capita
cost was placed at S65 g.
For the field training Of the reg7,Iar
army reserve, provided for in Section 81
the basis was 100 men for fifteen days
and the per capita cost is $676 6S exclusive
of pay. The per capita cost for the re-
serve officers training CORPS under sec
ton A. based on 1000 men, is Sl5.l5: that
for the six weeks camp of the reserve
ofncers' training corps, under Section Is,
on the basis of loo men, 1896, and that
for the instruction of the Officers re-
serve corps, under Section 80, Tor fifteen
days. based on 1000 men, sll7.2&
In view Of the fact that the recent
national defense act provides for the an
pointment of a board Of general officers
to investigate and report on past awaros
or issues OF the medal OF honor bv or
through the War Department" the 40
jutant general of the army has suspended
the execution OF the act providing FOR
the establishment in the War and Navy
Departments, respectively, of a roll
designated as the army and navy medal
of honor roll"
Those whose names were placed on this
medal Of honor roll were to receive a
pension OF SO a month. Up to June /.
n applications had been acted On
favorably by the War Department ano
the names Of the applicants certified to
the Commissioner of Pensions. The ad-
jutant general has directed that these
certificates be recalled and the work
suspended pending a final settlement of
the matter by a report OF the medal ano
honor investigating board.
National Guardsmen now may receiv.
training as aviators at the army avia-
ton schools according IN annoupcerepr