[55] Most of the ships of the navy have been constructed by contract with private ship-building companies, but several experiments have been made of government construction in the navy yards. Thus the battleship Louisiana and several others were constructed by the government in its own shipyards. [56] For further information concerning the naval academy, see p. 338. _Ranks._--Until 1862, the highest official rank in the navy was that of captain, although the title commodore was popularly applied to officers in command of a squadron. The following table is a list of the officers of the navy, beginning with the highest, together with the corresponding ranks in the army: _Navy_ _Army_ Admiral. General. Vice Admiral. Lieutenant General. Rear Admiral. Major General. Commodore.[57] Brigadier General. Captain. Colonel. Commander. Lieutenant Colonel. Lieutenant Commander. Major. Lieutenant. Captain. Lieutenant, junior grade. First Lieutenant. Ensign. Second Lieutenant. [57] The rank of commodore no longer exists except for its survival on the retired list. There are some twenty-five or thirty rear admirals. The act of 1899, under which Dewey was appointed admiral, provided that the office should cease to exist with his death, but in 1915 the rank of admiral and vice admiral was reëstablished and the former rank is now held by the commanders of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Asiatic fleets. _Marine Corps._--Officers in the Marine Corps have the same ranks as in the army. While serving generally under the direction of the secretary of the navy, the corps may serve with the army by order of the President. =Bankruptcy Legislation.=--The Constitution confers upon Congress the power to pass uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States. Bankruptcy is the condition of a person whose liabilities exceed his assets, and a bankruptcy law is one which provides for the distribution of the assets of such a person among his creditors and for his discharge from further legal obligation to pay his debts, thus enabling him to make a new beginning in business. The discharge is only from the _legal_ obligation; the _moral_ obligation remains, and should be fulfilled in case of ability to do so in the future.