CONGRESS, CONGRESS, CERTIFIED CHECKS WITH PROPOSALS AND CONTRACTS FOR NAVAL SUPPLIES. MARCH 9, 1906.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Mr. DAWSON, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany S. 1804.] The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1804) providing for the use of certified checks to secure compliance with proposals and contracts for naval supplies, have examined the same and report: The report of the Committee on Naval Affairs of the Senate, hereto appended, is adopted and the passage of the bill is recommended. The Senate report is as follows: The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1804) providing for the use of certified checks to secure compliance with proposals and contracts for naval supplies, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass. The bill has the approval of the Navy Department, as will appear by the following communication: NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, December 6, 1905. SIR: By act approved May 25, 1896 (29 Stat. L., 135; 2 Supp., 474), the Secretary of the Navy is authorized to accept, in lieu of the written guaranty required to accompany a proposal for naval supplies and in lieu of the bond for the faithful performance of a contract, a certified check for the full amount of such proposal or contract. This statute, which has been in operation about nine years, has proved satisfactory in its application to contracts representing small amounts. In such cases bidders usually find it no hardship to deposit certified checks covering the full amounts of the contracts. With respect to the larger transactions, however, the reverse is true. It does not seem necessary or reasonable to require persons submitting proposals or entering into contracts involving large sums to comply with this requirement and it is not to the advantage of the service, inasmuch as the Government doubtless indirectly pays interest upon the sums thus obligated and temporarily withdrawn from business activities. A certified check affords the Government practically as complete security as an individual or a corporation bond. It is recommended, therefore, that the Secretary of the Navy be authorized to accept such a certified check in amounts substantially the same as would be named in the guaranty or bond of a person offering or contracting to furnish naval supplies. It may be added that the guaranty accompanying a proposal need be no larger than is necessary to insure the acceptance of an award, and that with respect to the larger contracts the delivery of supplies and the performance of the work under them is, as a rule, necessarily extended over a considerable period of time, payments being made by installments as the contract is performed, and that therefore it is unnecessary that the Department should exact and hold such form of guaranty or surety in amounts more than 25 to 50 per cent of the proposal or the contract, respectively. The draft of a provision authorizing the use of certified checks in the manner herein before outlined is inclosed, with the hope that it will receive favorable consideration by the committee. Very respectfully, Hon. EUGENE HALE, CHARLES J. BONaparte, Chairman Committee on Naval Affairs, United States Senate. Secretary. DENTAL SURGEONS IN THE NAVY. MARCH 9, 1906.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. COUSINS, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 13851.] The Committee on Naval Affairs, having had under consideration the bill (H. R. 13851) authorizing the appointment of dental surgeons in the Navy, report the same without amendment and recommend its passage. A bill substantially the same as this was recommended by the Navy Department in the following letter: NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, March 2, 1904. SIR: Referring to the Department's letters of May 29, 1902, January 26, and February 8, 1904, reporting upon bills for the employment of dental surgeons in the Navy, and recommending the enactment of a measure authorizing the Secretary of the Navy to employ under contract not more than 15 such surgeons, I have the honor to state that alter further consideration of the matter the Department withdraws its previous recommendations in the premises and recommends instead the passage of the measure of which a draft is inclosed. The main points of difference between the bill heretofore suggested and that now proposed are that the latter authorizes 30 instead of 15 dental surgeons, and provides that they shall have the rank and pay of acting assistant surgeons, instead of being employed under contract at not to exceed $1,800 per annum. Acting assistant surgeons, of whom 25 were authorized by the act of May 4, 1898 (30 Stat., 380), to be appointed by the President for temporary service, have the rank of assistant surgeon sand receive the pay provided for the latter by section 1556 of the Revised Statutes, namely: During the first five years after date of appointment, when at sea, $1,700; on shore duty, $1,400; on leave or waiting orders, $1,000; after five years from such date, when at sea, $1,900; on shore duty, $1,600; on leave or waiting orders, $1,200. Very respectfully, Hon. EUGENE HALE, W. H. MOODY, Secretary. Chairman Committee on Naval Affairs, United States Senate. At present there is no provision of law under which the Department can employ dental surgeons except one for service at the Naval Academy. Surgeon-General Rixey informs this committee that the dental operations performed by the hospital stewards "are limited to simple procedures and urgent cases," that "this arrangement is a makeshift unsatisfactory to the Bureau," that "the necessity of the care of the teeth of the enlisted men existed and its importance to the health of the Navy is appreciated," and therefore this makeshift was resorted to "until legislation could be obtained giving advantages to the enlisted men of the Navy similar to those which the Army has had for several years." To show the estimate of the importance and value of the service rendered by the dentists in the United States Army the SurgeonGeneral submitted copies of reports of army officers, from which we quote the following extract from the report of the Surgeon-General United States Army: The energies and resources of the Dental Corps have been taxed to their fullest extent in caring for those officers and enlisted men who have sought their services for the relief of suffering, and this has made it necessary in some instances for the dental surgeons to operate daily from 8 a. m. to 5 or 6 p. m. The great amount of service that has been rendered by the dental surgeons could not have been accomplished but for these long hours of work and the assistance accorded them through the extra details of members of the Hospital Corps. The tabulation of diseases and injuries of the mouth and jaws, of the teeth and gums, and of operations and treatment which follow shows that a large part of the time and skill of the dental surgeons was expended in giving relief from the suffering caused by dental caries, pulpitis, pericementitis, alveolar abscess, pyorrhea alveolaris, and gingivitis. The comparatively large number of teeth extracted is due to the great prevalence of dental caries of a severe type among the enlisted men who are serving or have served in Cuba, Porto Rico, or the Philippines. The services of the dental surgeons have been highly appreciated by the officers and enlisted men of the Regular and Volunteer armies, and have proved very satisfactory to the Medical Department, because they have been able to relieve a great amount of acute suffering and to conserve a large number of teeth and restore them to a healthy condition, thus almost immediately returning to duty many cases that were previously carried for several days upon the company's sick report. This has resulted in greatly reducing the loss of valuable time to the service. [Extract from the Surgeon-General's indorsement of Senate bill 5420.] The dental surgeons appointed in accordance with the act of February 2, 1901, are rendering excellent service and their services are highly appreciated by the officers and enlisted men of the Army, especially in the Philippines and at the large military posts in the United States. A larger number could be utilized to good advantage, and the permanent retention of dental surgeons as part of the military establishment will, in my opinion, be in interest of the service. In my opinion, after careful investigation, the principal needs of the service, with respect to dental surgeons, are: First, more dental surgeons; second, a suitable operating room at each post; third, some positive and practicable methods compelling enlisted men to give proper attention to personal care of the teeth. I believe that there should be three dental surgeons assigned to this Department, if possible, but not less than two under any circumstances. It is well known that the Philippine climate has a deleterious effect upon teeth, and every regiment, before being sent to the Philip pines, should have careful attention given to dental requirements, while those regiments returning should be no less carefully attended to in this regard. [Extract from a letter from Col. Marion P. Maus, U. S. Army.] The MILITARY SECRETARY, HEADQUARTERS TWENTIETH U. S. INFANTRY, War Department, Washington, D. C. (Through military channels.) SIR: I have the honor to invite attention to the importance of dentists in the Army, especially at remote stations, in order that officers and enlisted men may have proper treatment. While in command at Camp Marahui, Mindanao, certain officers, including myself, and a number of enlisted men suffered very much from the want of such service. Later, however, a dentist was provided, and great relief and benefit were realized. There are times when the service of a dentist are as necessary as that of an army surgeon. From my experience in the service, including all parts of the United States and dependencies, I can testify to the importance of this branch of the service and to much suffering from the want of it. It would, perhaps, be desirable to have dental surgeons assigned to certain regiments in the same way as chaplains. * * * I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, There exists in the Navy as much, if not more, urgent need of the service of dental surgeons than exists in the Army, and quite as potent reasons, both humane and economic, for supplying the need. First, because of the early age at which a large percentage enter the naval service; second, because of the longer periods those at sea are inaccessible to competent dentists. The apprentice boys in training schools and on ships, who February 1, 1904, numbered 4,519, are taken in the service when the care of the dental surgeon is necessary to protect them from the effects of dental disorders, which either immediately or later, in the absence of such care, affect for life their general health, comfort, longevity, and efficiency. The Government assumes, in a sense, the guardianship of these boys when it receives them for life service in the Navy, therefore for humane reasons nothing so vitally affecting their health and comfort should be neglected. The attention of this committee was called to charts made by a doctor of medicine and dental surgery, employed as a hospital steward in the naval service, which show the condition of the mouths and teeth of 50 boys now, or recently, in training at the naval-training station at Newport. One apprentice, but 16 years of age, had lost every one of the teeth from his upper jaw; another, aged 18 years, exhibited cavities in his 14 upper teeth; another, aged 16 years, had lost practically all of his molar teeth, and the few remaining teeth were imperfect; another, aged 17 years, had lost 7 teeth, and another, aged 18 years, had lost 7 molar teeth. Several others of the 50 cases from 16 to 18 years of age, had lost from 3 to 6 teeth. It was said of these cases, in general, that they presented either ordinary cavities of decay; dead teeth; inflamed gums; chronic abscesses discharging pus in the mouth; pus-producing diseases of the teeth, gums, and underlying bone, or germ-laden foreign matter in contact with the gums and teeth. Such conditions cause gastric and intestinal disorders, impair vitality, and make one more susceptible to infectious diseases. Experts in dentistry inform us that, under present conditions, a large percentage of the cases exhibited from this one station must inevitably lose their teeth at an early age, which may render them pensionable under existing law. |