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the school of application will be rated as eligible in time of war to commission as ensign in the NAVY or the NAVAL FLYING CORPS, or as second lieutenant in the MARINE CORPS, as the case may be, will be added to the reserve officers' list, and will remain thus subject to call into service at the discretion of the President of the United States for a period of five years from the termination of the second three months' course of study.

That men who have satisfactorily completed three courses of three months each in the Naval Academy, the flying schools or the school of application will be rated as eligible in time of war to commission as lieutenant, junior grade, in the NAVY or the NAVAL. FLYING CORPS or first lieutenant in the MARINE CORPS, as the case may be, will be added to the reserve officers' list, and will remain thus subject to call into service at the discretion of the President of the UNITED STATES for a period of five years from the termination of the third three months' course of study.

That during the three-months' course of study authorized above, students shall receive a ration, but no pay or allowances; but instruction shall be free, and the Secretary of the Navy is empowered to furnish such students with quarters if they be available, under such regulations as he may prescribe.

That for purposes of obtaining admission to the reserve officers' list, one year served as deck officer or engineer or as cadet in actual sea service in the merchant marine shall count the same as one course of study at the above-mentioned schools, two years as two courses, or three years as three courses.

That to obtain admission to the reserve officers' list with a rank higher than that of lieutenant, junior grade, in the NAVY, in addition to the three courses above outlined or their equivalent in the merchant service, the candidate must have served at least one year as deck or engineer officer at sea in an ocean-going ship.

That from and after the passage of this act, no candidate shall be issued a license as first officer in the American Merchant Marine unless such candidate take oath of allegiance and accept eligibility and liability to call into naval service as an officer in time. of war.

That the Secretary of the Navy is empowered to add to the reserve officers' list such master mariners who may apply and who can show such professional, physical and moral qualifications as the Secretary of the Navy may prescribe, as eligible to com

mission in time of war, up to and including the rank of lieutenant commander in the navy.

That no officer on the reserve list other than former or retired officers of the regular NAVY shall be carried on such list as of eligible to higher rank than lieutenant commander.

Be it further enacted, That in case of war or threatened war, when in the discretion of the President of the UNITED STATES it becomes necessary to call the reserve of the NAVY, the naval flying corps or the marine corps into active service, all members thereof shall receive the same pay and allowances as men of similar ratings in the regular establishment, pay and allowances to begin from and including date of reporting at mobilization center and to terminate with mustering out of active service.

That the number of authorized officers of the NAVY, MARINE CORPS and NAVAL FLYING CORPS, and their respective reserves, shall be governed by the percentages laid down in the act of August 29, 1916.

That all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the above are hereby repealed, provided that nothing in this act shall be construed to reduce the pay and allowances of any person now in the service.

VI. THE DOOR OPENS

Gentlemen of the NAVY, would you willingly return to the old days the days when a glimpse of your uniform on the street or of your sword-case when travelling provoked immediate derision of the passer-by; the days when you felt it impossible to understand or be understood among shore-going men of your age when any question of our national life arose in conversation; the days when your whole prayer was, When war comes, let me live long enough to hold 'em back till the country is ready?"

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You would not. The intimate acquaintance of America with her soldiers and her sailors is too precious to all of us to give up. If we know that ashore, working away at their own business, which is the country's prosperity, there are hundreds of thousands of lads that know our life and speak our language and stand ready. at the blink of an eyelash to rush to us as a rallying point, with knowledge of their duties worthy of their bravery and sacrifice, we can go cheerily about our post-war business of police and preparation with light hearts.

Will this key unlock the door which has shut us away from the life of our own people in the past? Or have you another, better one?

Brothers, upon our thoughts and plans of to-day the far-flung sea-borne life of our beloved AMERICA may depend in future years. Let us be ready, when the beast is caged and peace returns to a tattered, but glorified world, to meet the problems that peace will bring. By our solution will our children's children judge us.

[COPYRIGHTED]

U. S. NAVAL INSTITUTE, ANNAPOLIS, MD.

SOME EXPLOITS OF THE OLD DUTCH NAVY

By LIEUTENANT H. H. FROST, U. S. Navy

To-day we are fighting what we confidently believe to be the last battle in Europe against autocracy and tyranny. A little over 300 years ago the first great battle in the cause of democracy and freedom was being fought. The United Netherlands under the skillful guidance of that great patriot, William the Silent, and later of the great military leader, Maurice of Nassau, and the great statesman, John of Olden-Barneveld, was fighting the great military power of that day, Spain. First Elizabeth and then Henry of Navarre came to the aid of the Dutch, but always in such a half-hearted way that the bulk of the fighting fell upon the sturdy Netherlanders, who were equal to every demand which a most cruel and bitter war could make upon them. The estimate of the situation made by the English Council in the year 1584 was so strikingly similar to that which our leaders might well have made in January, 1917, that I think it will have some interest for you. It ran as follows: "The conclusions of the whole was this. Although her Majesty should hereby enter into a war presently, yet were she better to do it now, while she may make the same out of her realm, having the help of the people of Holland, and before the King of Spain shall have consummated his conquests in those countries, whereby he shall be so provoked by pride, solicited by the Pope, and tempted by the Queen's own subjects, and shall be so strong by sea, and so free from all other actions and quarrels,yea, shall be so formidable to all the rest of Christendom, as that her Majesty shall no wise be able, with her own power, nor with the aid of any other, neither by land nor sea, to withstand his attempts, but shall be forced to give place to his insatiable malice, which is most terrible to be thought of, but miserable to suffer."

There were many other points of similarity between the two wars which I might point out to you. The Duke of Palma, a man of great military genius, was the Hindenburg of that time. There was a great siege of Antwerp; Brussels was captured; and a great victory was won by Prince Maurice on the very dunes of Nieuport where the battle line on the western front to-day meets the North Sea. It is not only in our war that great and startling inventions were used. Listen to the words of the Duke of Palma: "They are never idle in the city. They are perpetually proving their obstinacy and pertinacity by their industrious genius and the machines they devise. Every day we are expecting some new invention. On our side we endevour to counteract their efforts by every human means in our power. Nevertheless, I confess that our merely human intellect is not competent to penetrate the designs of their diabolical genius. Certainly, most wonderful and extraordinary things have been exhibited, such as the oldest soldiers have never before witnessed." Even Elizabeth's words of advice to the Dutch Ambassadors have their value to us now: "In the next place, as you know that I am sending, as commander of the British troops, an honest gentleman, who deserves most highly for his experience in arms, so I am also informed that you have also on your side a gentleman of great valour. I pray you, therefore, that good care be taken lest there be misunderstanding between these two, which might prevent them from agreeing well together, when great exploits of war are to be taken in hand."

But it is not of the Dutch victories on land and in the council chamber that I wish to tell you. They are well known. It is of the exploits of the Old Dutch Navy that I wish to talk, for the Netherlanders on the sea surpassed even their comrades in the army and in the diplomatic service; and their deeds of valor and skill, although they can be seen but dimly as we look back across the centuries, still have their lesson for us to-day. Admiral Mahan and Julian Corbett have just recently brought to our attention the histories of the British and French navies, and these able historians have also covered the later history of the Dutch Navy, so that we are all quite familiar with the fine figures of Tromp and De Ruyter and the Netherland Navy of their time. But of the early days of the Dutch Navy little is known by English-speaking peoples. To bring this home to you, I beg leave to give you a short examination. I admit that perhaps a few of you have heard

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