Arizona republican., 1916-03-02
WOULD PROMOTE BY SELECTION
 NUT SENIORITY
Republican A. p. Leased wire1


 WASHINGTON, March 1.-Promo- tion' of naval officers by selection in stead of by seniority, an increase of 50 per cent in officers of all grades. creation of war reserve list and restoration of the popular old rank of commorode are proposed in a bill drafted by the navy personnel board and transmitted to congress today by Secretary Daniels. i'he measure, the result of two years of study and work by the board, is designed to increase the efficiency of the service, put able men in commanding positions at an earlier age, and open the way for rise of subordinate officers now virtually barred from hope of promotion.
 Under the plan, all officers above the rank of lieutenant would be sub ject to promotion by selecting upon passage of the bill. the selections be- ing made from each grade by officers of the ranks aEove.
 The board reported that it was con- vinced the system of promotion and seniority must be abandoned. We believe" the report said. that the principal merit of the system we recommend is that. having accepted the principle that the navy itself should do the selecting. we hare car ried this out in logical manner by requiring in each case that as many officers. of the navy as possible take part in this important work. so that no officer passed over can feel or al- lege that the prejudice of one or two superiors has blasted his prospects, 2 Attached to the report is an ap- pendix dealing with the need of the marine corps brought about by in creases in the navy personnel. This ] proposes that the total number of en- listed men of the marine corps shall be increased to 20 per cent of the to- Ital authorized strength of the navy and that the number of marine corps officers shall be four per cent of the authorized number of enlisted men. The war reserve contemplated in the bill would be established by transferring to the list officers who attain the prescribed age in grade without being selected for promotion. Such officers would be assigned to war stations for mobilization purposes to which they might be detailed for not exceeding two months each year. They would receive graded pay based upon their rank and years of service at the time of their transfer from the active list
 The bill makes 320 new places above the grade of lieutenant and provides that the number of lieuten ants of the senior and junior grades | and ensigns shall be governed only by the, output of the naval academy | The increase from 400 to 720 in thu number of officers senior to lieuten. ant is spread equally over period of. five years and the flow of promo tion regulated to make it unneces- lsary to begin selection prior to Jul, 1, 1921.
 To show the generally nnsatisfac tory results of promotion by seniorit, the board points out that:
 By June of this year the navy vii
 have about $50 junior lieutenants o 1 whom, under the present system, onl tabout Is can be advanced to lieuten lants,, the remainder having no ad
 vancement in prospect before reach
 ing the retired list The average az
 of the captains to be advanced to req
 admirals during the next year
 about 50 years.
 This condition. the board declare.
 sends the higher graded officers t the retired list before they can ac
 quire the necessary training in hand '] ling the fleet that would prepare theI
 to discharge their war duties.