ADJUST THE SALARIES OF THE NAVAL ACADEMY BAND MARCH 13, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. GAMBRILL, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 10380] The Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives, to whom was referred bill (H. R. 10380) to adjust the salaries of the Naval Academy Band, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the following amendment, and with the recommendation that the bill do pass. On page 1, line 11, strike out the word "assistant" and insert in lieu thereof "second". The bill H. R. 10380, with the proposed amendment, reads as follows: A BILL Adjusting the salaries of the Naval Academy Band Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Naval Academy Band shall hereafter consist of one leader with the pay and allowances of a lieutenant, senior grade, United States Navy; one second leader with the pay and allowances of a warrant officer; and of such enlisted men and in such ratings as may be assigned to that band by the Navy Department: Provided, That the ratings and the proportionate distribution among the ratings of the enlisted men shall be substantially the same as in the Navy Band: Provided further, That the leader, second leader, and the enlisted men of the Naval Academy Band shall be entitled to the same benefits in respect to pay, emoluments, and retirement arising from longevity, reenlistment, and length of service as are or hereafter may become applicable to other officers and enlisted men of the Navy. This proposed legislation has received the very careful and painstaking consideration of the Committee on Naval Affairs and has been the subject of the fullest discussion and deliberations in a subcommittee and on several occasions before the full committee. Prior to April 12, 1910, the Naval Academy Band was on a civilian status; it was then placed on an enlisted status. By an act of Congress of July 11, 1919 (41 Stat. 152; U. S. Code, title 34, sec. 1091) the complement of the band was fixed as follows: 1 leader, with the pay and allowances of a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps. 1 second leader, with base pay of $81 per month. 1 drum major, with base pay of $57.20 per month. 45 musicians, first class, with base pay of $51 per month. 27 musicians, second class, with base pay of $44 per month. By an act of March 4, 1925, "An act providing for sundry matters affecting the naval service, and for other purposes" (43 Stat. 1275; U. S. Code, title 34, sec. 1091), the pay and allowances of the second leader were fixed as that provided for warrant officers, and the members of the band were brought under the joint service pay act of June 10, 1922, in that the act provided, "that the pay and allowances of the members of the Naval Academy Band shall be those provided for the enlisted men of the Navy by the act of June 10, 1922." It will be observed that the status of the leader was fixed by the act of July 11, 1919, as having the pay and allowances of a lieutenant, junior grade, and the status of the second leader was fixed by the act of March 4, 1925. Under the authority of this act of March 4, 1925, the Navy Department made the following allocation of pay to the musicians of the Naval Academy Band: 1 drum major in the first pay grade, or $126 per month. 45 musicians, first class, in the second pay grade, or $84 per month. 27 musicians, second class, in the fourth pay grade, or $60 per month. The act of March 4, 1925, while permitting of some increase in the base pay to the members of the Naval Academy Band, was lacking in flexibility so long as the act of July 11, 1919, restricted the complement of the band, 1 leader, second leader, drum major, and 45 musicians, first class, and 27 musicians, second class. The difficulty in the way of doing justice to the musicians of the Naval Academy Band, one of the outstanding bands in the service of the Government, is best explained by the statement of Commander Wilkinson, United States Navy, when he appeared before a subcommittee of the Committee on Naval Affairs: The Naval Academy Band, of course, has a given number of musicians of specified classes, which makes a very rigid situation, in that no promotions can be made unless vacancies exist, and no transfers to the band can be made unless vacancies exist. It is disadvantageous when it comes to putting good men there, when there is no place for them; we are not able to put them in there. Consequently, when Mr. Gambrill's bill was originally proposed, H. R. 514, in consideration of it by the department it was realized that the interests of the band required a consideration of the pay schedule, and no opposition was interposed to an advance of pay as such. The question was whether such advance could be made best by again perpetuating the rigid distribution in grades, or whether it would be best to propose such a form of bill as Mr. Gambrill has mentioned, wherein the band would be composed of "such enlisted men in such ratings as might be assigned to that band by the Navy Department." That appeared preferable, and it was contemplated that if such authority was granted, the same identical distribution as is at present made in the Navy Band would be used; that distribution would result in almost the same increase of cost, and the only difference is that it might take a year for some people, in the chief petty officer's pay, to pass through the acting period required by law, wherein they get a lower pay, until they would come into the same higher pay. With that understanding, the department forwarded the bill to the Budget with the statement that they had no objection to it in principle but preferred this elasticity of control, and requesting as usual the Budget's opinion. The Budget returned it with the statement that the bill itself and the substitute form of the bill were against the financial policy at present; which debars us now, of course, from approving the bill, but I feel I am free to state our preliminary statement to the Budget. So when the present bill came in, the second bill, H. R. 4896, those terms were identical with the former bill H. R. 514, except for the increase of the leader. Again, speaking of the inequalities in pay between the Naval Academy Band and Navy Band-and the inequality operates against the former band-Commander Wilkinson said: * * because The Navy Department has been forced to allow it to exist, they were limited by the terms of the 1919 act to only have a certain number of musicians second class. Now, if we are given a free hand, it is our intention to make the ratings in the Naval Academy Band parallel those of the Navy Band and with the same pay. Under the present complement of the Naval Academy Band as fixed by the acts of July 11, 1919, and March 4, 1925, there arenot including the leader and second leader-73 musicians who receive an average base pay of $75 a month.-In the Navy Band there arenot including the leader and chief buglemaster-74 musicians who receive an average base pay of $87 a month, and the Marine Band has not including the leader and second leader-65 musicians, who receive an average base pay of about $115 a month. The committee was impressed by the facts brought out in the hearing, and from a knowledge possessed by many of the members individually that the Naval Academy Band was one of the major bands in the naval service, and that by the restrictions of the act of July 11, 1919, and the act of March 4, 1925, it had not been accorded the pay to which it was entitled. Therefore, the committee decided a bill should be submitted to Congress placing this band on an equality with the Navy Band, both as to the ratings of the enlisted men of the band and the proportionate distribution among the ratings. The complement of the Navy Band is as follows: 1 leader, with the pay and allowances of a lieutenant, United States Navy, senior grade. 1 chief buglemaster, base pay $126 per month. 31 bandmasters, with base pay from $99 to $126 per month (these band- 11 bandmasters (P. A.), base pay $126 per month. 23 first musicians, base pay $84 per month. 20 musicians, first class, base pay $72 per month. If this bill (H. R. 10380) becomes a law, the complement and pay of the Naval Academy Band will be substantially the same as the Navy Band, and the increased cost to the Government will be between ten and eleven thousand dollars. After full and exhaustive hearings it was the conclusion of your committee that legislation was necessary to give more elasticity to the composition of the Naval Academy Band, for the band does not come fully under the law regulating enlisted men in the Navy, because with the 1919 restrictions as to membership there are only certain legal rates of pay that could be made. Moreover, your committee had in mind that this legislation is necessary to remove the restrictions imposed by the act of July 11, 1919, even though the joint pay committee, recently created by this Congress, might propose a joint pay bill, as the function of that committee would be to fix the pay basis for each rating rather than propose legislation necessary for the appli cation of those ratings in a given case. Before your committee, by a unanimous vote, agreed to report H. R. 10380 it had under consideration two other bills, previously introduced and designed to accomplish the same object, as follows: (H. R. 514, Seventy-first Congress, first session] A BILL Adjusting the salaries of the Naval Academy Band Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Naval Academy Band shall hereafter be composed of one leader, who shall receive the pay and allowances now or hereafter provided by law for a lieutenant, junior grade; one assistant leader, who shal receive the pay provided by law for a warrant officer; one drum major (bandmaster, permanent appointment), with base pay of $126 per month; eleven bandmasters (permanent appointment), at base pay of $126 per month; twenty-one bandmasters (acting appointment), at base pay of $99 per month; twenty-one musicians, first class, at base pay of $84 per month; and nineteen musicians, second class, at base pay of $72 per month: Provided, That enlisted men of the band shall have the same credit for longevity pay as now provided by law. [No. 16] ADJUSTING THE SALARIES OF THE NAVAL ACADEMY BAND (H. R. 514) The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Replying further to the committee's letter of April 23, 1929, transmitting the bill (H. R. 514) adjusting the salaries of the Naval Academy Band and requesting the views and recommendations of the Navy Department thereon, I have the honor to advise you as follows: The purpose of this bill is to provide that the Naval Academy Band shall hereafter be composed of 1 leader, who shall receive the pay and allowances now or hereafter provided by law for a lieutenant, junior grade; 1 assistant leader, who shall receive the pay provided by law for a warrant officer; 1 drum major (bandmaster, permanent appointment), with base pay of $126 per month; 11 bandmasters (permanent appointment), at base pay of $126 per month; 21 bandmasters (acting appointment), at base pay of $99 per month; 21 musicians, first class, at base pay of $84 per month; and 19 musicians, second class, at base pay of $72 per month. By the act of July 11, 1919 (41 Stat. 152; U. S. C., title 34, sec. 1091) the composition and pay of the Naval Academy Band was prescribed in the following words: "Naval Academy Band: The Naval Academy Band shall hereafter consist of 1 leader, with pay and allowances of first lieutenant in the Marine Corps; 1 second leader, with a base pay of $81 per month; 45 musicians, first class, with a base pay of $51 per month; 27 musicians, second class, with a base pay of $44 per month; 1 drum major, with a base pay of $57.20 per month; and the said leader of the band, second leader of the band, drum major of the band, and the enlisted musicians of the band shall be entitled to the same benefits in respect to pay, emoluments, and retirement arising from longevity, reenlistment, and length of service as are or may hereafter become applicable to other officers or enlisted men of the Navy. The act of March 4, 1925, entitled "An act providing for sundry matters affecting the naval service, and for other purposes" (43 Stat. 1275; U. S. C., title 34, sec. 1091) raised the second leader to the pay of a warrant officer and brought the members of the band under the joint service pay act of June 10, 1922, as follows: "That the pay and allowances of the members of the Naval Academy Band shall be those provided for enlisted men of the Navy by the act of June 10, 1922, except that the second leader shall receive the pay and allowances provided in said act for warrant officers of the Navy of corresponding length of service: Provided, That nothing in this act shall operate to reduce the pay that any mem |