The morning call., 1892-12-31
NAVAL CONTRACTS.
Wide Discretion Vested in
the Secretary.
PHILADELPHIA IS FAVORED.
Instances Where He Has Not Awarded
Them to the Lowest Bidder.
An Urgent Petition.

Washington dispatches relating to q Ques-
tion in which San Francisco is so vitally
interested, the award OF contract for the
S ,OOO, 600 cruiser TO the Union Iron Works,
as to the limits of the discretion which
rests in the Secretary of the Navy in ignOr-
ing the bid of one contractor and awarding
IL TO another. even though the bid of the
first party was the lower.
The Cramps of Philadelphia were un-
doubtedly the lowest bidders on the Brook
lyn and Iowa, and the Union Iron Works
were next. The Cramps claim that. being
the lowest bidders, they were consequently
entitled to the contracts for both. and that
the Secretary of the Navy has no discre tion
in the matter has been asserted with much
confidence and persistence: but a perusal OF
the reports OF the Secretary submitted to
Congress proves that he not only regards a
wide discretion as existing in his powers,
but that he has exercised such discretion on
several occasions. In his report for the
year 1890 he refers TO the case OF the two
small gunboats Maehias and Castine. for
which $. l.. Moore 4 Son of EliZabethpOrt,
New JERSEY, were the lowest bidders, being
$4,000 below that Of the Bath Iron Works
Of Maine, Notwithstanding which Secretary
Tracy awarded contracts for both gun
boats to the latter company, on the ground
that i, l.. Moore X Son could not build them
In The time required.
In another Instance the Bath Iron Works
made bid for Cruiser f3 for So, $50, 600
Cramps were the next lowest for 81, $4,000,
yet the Cramps were awarded the contract
at their price for the reason, according to
the Secretary's report of 1891, that the
facilities of the Bath Iron Works would not
allow them TO complete Cruiser Is IN two
years. the time allowance. In speaking OF
this award the Secretary says: my own
judgment and observation being that the
Bath Iron Company could not construct her
in less time than three and a half years
These are not the only instances where
the SECRETARY of the Navy has acted upon
what he believed TO be his discretionary
rights 10 the awarding OF contracts.
Said one merchant yesterday: "It Is
surely not the intention of Congress to
create or encourage a great monopoly in
the building of the new navy. O- TO favor q
concentration of all work in one corpora
tion 10 the Encouragement or destruction
of ali other competitors, but the contrary.
war Is always possibility, and the safety
of any one section OF the country may be
menanced at any time. Suppose the Cramps
did succeed in creating monopoly in naval
building, and suppose that Philadelphia
was captured, what recourse would there
be from escaping from a,-humillating de-
feat?'
An Eastern paper gives the total amount
OF worK now under way at Cramps ship
yard for the Government. Without the
Brooklyn and the Iowa their contracts with
the Navy Department amount to S14 500. 900.
With these two vessels added the immense
total of S20.696, 900 for this one yard Is
reached an amount that no one ship
building concern in any country or at any
time ever approached before. But, addi-
tI0nal to these contracts, the Cramps have
others on hand, which, while not purely
Government work, is practically so, as,
without the existence of the Government
postal-Gubsidy bill this work would never
have been attempted in this country. The
Cramps are building for the Inman line of
steamships two ocean steamers OF $500 tons
displacement. 500 feet long, of twenty knots
speed two 600 feet long, of i, 600 tons dis
placement and twenty-five knots speed.
and one zoo feet long, of a speed OF twenty
hye knots and horsepower OF $4,000. Alto
gether the Cramps have not less than
s30,0O0,000 worth of work contracted for,
and q doubt arises as TO their ability TO
undertake the construction OF the Brooklyn
and Iowa in the required time. In fact, it
is said there is no doubt about il. They
cannot possibly do it."
Therefore, the position is such that Sec
retary Tracy may exercise the same discre-
tion in this case that he has repeatedly eX-
ercised before.
As il Is Pennsylvania has an actual mo-
nopoly oil building ships, and ia the manu-
facture of hull plates. armor plates. shafts
and guns, and ought To be satisfied with giY-
Ing the rest OF the country chance.
That the mercantile community is alive to
the importance OF encouraging the industry
OF shipbulding on this coast is evidenced by
telegram which was forwarded to the
President and Secretary of the Navy az
Washington yesterday, of which the follow
ing is 4 copy. The movement was started
by prominent banker, and hundreds OF
other and equally influential signatures
could have been added if time had admitted {:
Respectfully believing that In increasing z
the navy the national policy should be To
sustain upon the Pacific Coast an establish
ment for shi pbuilding purposes, and that
contracts, therefore, should be dlstrI buted
geographically as near as may be If the
same can be done without serious detri-
ment 10 the Government, and in view OF
the fact that this port in. the payment 4
customs stands second in America, and be-
cause the quality of the work of the Union
Iron Works and the performance OF vessels
built by it have fully met the approval and
Endorsement not only of our country, but
that OF other nations, we respectfully urge
for your favorable consideration the claims
OF the Union Iron Works for tie awarding
to il Of a contract for the construction OF
one of the cruisers about TO be built by the
Government, namely, Iowa and BROOKLYN.
"T. g. Phelps, Collector of Customs; X j.
Danforih. Naval Officer; Samuel w.
Backus. Postmaster; Alaska Commercial
Stein. Simon & Co., Golden Gate and
Miners Iron Works, George A. Newhall.
w. w. Stow, Murphy, Grant & Co., John
j. Naient tine, Goodyear Rubber Company.
Noyo Lumber Company, Whittier, Fuller
d Co., AbDer DOble & Co., w. 7. CARAT &
CO., Charles +. Croker, T. T. IL III. A.
Hooper, X. Dunsmuir 81 Sons, Welch
& Co.. Risdon Iron and Locomotive
Works. San Francisco GasIight Company,
Bank OF California, the Anglo-Californian
Bank Oimited), Bank of Sisson, Croker d
Co.. Donohoe- e-Kelly Banking Company,
American Bank and Trust Company OF San
francisco, the Crocker- " oOlworth National
Bank OF San Francisco. tile Hibernia Say
| lngs and Loan Society, Wells, Fargo & Co.,
5. q. Murphy, Daniel Meyer, the SatheI
| BANKING Company, the German Savings
and Loan Society, California Safe Deposit
| aud Trust Company, the Nevada Bank oil
| San Francisco. Pope IL Talbot. W. ID. Eng
| lish, Wilson & Wilson. William Babcoek
Levi Strauss & Co.. John ID. Spreckels &
| Bros. Co.; GoOdall, Perkins q Co., general
agents Pacihc Coast Steamship Com
| paby and superintendent of ocean di.
| vision Of Union Pacific Railway Coin.
] pany: Williams, Diinond & Co., +
| w. Hopkins, Huntington Hopkins Co.
! John A. Roebiing Sons Company, Geo
| w. Gibbs Company. Pacific Rolling lis
| HolbrOok, Merrill IL SteisuD, Miller, Slos:
d Scott, Baker & Hamilton, w. w. Monta
que q Co., Dow Steam Pump Works. Dun
| ham, Carrigan and Hayden Company, Pacific
| Steam Whaling Company, Carolan & Co.
| Oregon Improvement Company. Starr 4
| Co., Mount Shasta Manufacturing Com.
| pany, Western Fuse and Explosive Com.
| pany. The Judson Dynamite and Powder
| Company. Pacific Coast Dredging and Rec
! lamation Company. Fort Bragg Redwood
! Company, Union Lumber Company"
l