MISCELLANEOUS BILLS HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS SEVENTY-NINTH CONGRESS ON H. R. 4896 TO PROVIDE FOR PAYMENT OF TRAVEL ALLOWANCES AND TRANS- S. 1812 TO PROVIDE REIMBURSEMENT FOR PERSONAL PROPERTY LOST, S. 1854 TO ESTABLISH THE CIVILIAN POSITION OF ACADEMIC DEAN OF H. R. 5121 AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY IN HIS DISCRETION S. 1862 TO REPEAL SECTION 1548 REVISED STATUTES (34 U. S. C. 592) S. 1872 TO PROVIDE FOR THE RANK OF ORIGINAL APPOINTMENTS IN THE 84434 MARCH 5, 1946 Printed for the use of the Committee on Naval Affairs UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1946 COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS DAVID I. WALSH, MILLARD E. TYDINGS, Maryland RICHARD B. RUSSELL, Georgia HARRY FLOOD BYRD, Virginia PETER G. GERRY, Rhode Island CHARLES O. ANDREWS, Florida ALLEN J. ELLENDER, Louisiana JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, Arkansas JAMES O. EASTLAND, Mississippi WARREN G. MAGNUSON, Washington FRANCIS J. MYERS, Pennsylvania Massachusetts, Chairman CHARLES W. TOBEY, New Hampshire OWEN BREWSTER, Maine EDWARD V. ROBERTSON, Wyoming LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, Massachusetts WAYNE MORSE, Oregon M. E. GALLAGHER, Clerk CONTENTS Whiting, Capt. C. J., Chief of General Law Division, Office of the Judge Advocate General, Navy Department. Hopwood, Adm. Herbert G., Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Weitzel, Frank H., Assistant to the Comptroller General; and Ma- MISCELLANEOUS BILLS TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1946 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS, Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10: 30 a. m., in room 212, Senate Office Building, Senator David I. Walsh (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Walsh (chairman), Gerry, Byrd, Saltonstall, Brewster, Robertson, and Tydings. H. R. 5121 The CHAIRMAN. We will come to order, gentlemen. We will first take up H. R. 5121, Docket No. 180, a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Navy in his discretion to deliver to the custody of the State of Arkansas the silver service presented to the United States for the battleship Arkansas. (H. R. 5121 is as follows:) [H. R. 5121, 79th Cong., 2d sess.] AN ACT Authorizing the Secretary of the Navy in his discretion to deliver to the custody of the State of Arkansas the silver service presented to the United States for the battleship Arkansas Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Navy is authorized in his discretion to deliver to the custody of the Governor of Arkansas for the Arkansas Historical Museum, for preservation and exhibition, the silver service which was presented to the United States for the battleship Arkansas by the citizen of that State: Provided, That no expense shall be incurred by the United States for the delivery of such silver service. Passed the House of Representatives February 18, 1946. Attest: SOUTH TRIMBLE, Clerk, The CHAIRMAN. Our witness on this bill is Commander Nash. Commander, will you come forward? STATEMENT OF FRANK C. NASH, COMMANDER, UNITED STATES The CHAIRMAN. You may proceed, Commander. The U. S. S. Arkansas silver service was donated to the ship in 1919 by the State of Arkansas. It was kept on the ship until time of war when, under the Navy's strip-ship policy, it was removed and was |