Evening star., 1894-03-26

II
much moment, to have the President revise
its decision.
An Appeal to the President.
ION the Goth day of December. 1se2
Messrs. Carnegie, Frick, Hunsiker, Knox,
attorney for the company, and the Score
tary of the Navy, appeared before the
President Mr.. Carnegie and Mr.. Knox
argued the question involved at length.
The President took the matter under ad-
Visement considered the questions at great
length, and upon a careful consideration Of
all the facts, decided that the damages
ought not to begin until the Sd day of No
Vember' lSo&, at which time our proofs of
the irregularities began, ami that they
ought not TO be assessed upon rnor manu-
factured after the 10th day Of September
1888, the date upon which Mr. Frlck eau
TONED The superintendent TO extra care
W hen the ultimate decision came to be
MADE, L called TO mind ami stated to the
PRESIDENT that our own proof tended TO
show that the Irregularities ut the works
ceased about the time Mr.. Frick mad writ
ten his letter to Alr. Schwab. That about
this time the department mad selected ac-
cording to agreement with the informants
skilled and uusty steel worker who was
to go to the Carnegie WORKS and be shown
the Irregularities in the work as il pro-
81 essed. After this workman had been Sc
lected and instructed now TO proceed word
came from the informauts that * would be
useless TO send him, as the irregularities
had ceased. or, at least, they were no longer
apparent The President, having himself
first examined the question with great care
after a long conference With he Secretary
of the Navy, made the following decision.
The Presidents Decision.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, January 10, 1894.
Hon. II. A. Herbert, Secretary of the
Navy
Dear Sir: have examined with care
the report of the board appointed by you
to investigate the alleged Irregularities in
the construction of steel arInor at the Car
nesie steel and iron mills and their ASSESS
ment of the damage sustained by the gov
ernment on account of deficiencies in the
quality of the armor which was affected by
such Irregularities. / have also examined
the evidence and the documents which
form the basis Of the governments Cam
for damages.
~ am satisfied that a large portion Of
the armor supplied was not Of the quality
which would have been produced if all DOS
sible care and skill had been exercised in its
construction. L am of the opinion that under
the terms Of the contract between the gov
ernment and the company this constituted
a default emitting the government to dam
ages.
1t is, however. an exceedingly difficult
matter TO extract from the facts developed
a satisfactory basis for the assessment Of
such damages; aald inaSmuch as my lecis-
ion of the matter is final, | am naturally
anxious TO do justice to the company and
TO avoid presumptions against it not fully
warranted.
The award of the board although ex-
hibiting an honest desire TO meet the case
fairly, does not satisfy my inclination to
give the company all reasonable benefit OF
the lndehniteness OF the proofs obtained.
1t appears that the first Irregularities of
construction discovered
day OF November, 1892. On the 10th day OF
September, 1888, some inJimation Of such
Irregularities reached the managers Of the
company and a letter is produced, written
by one OF the superintendents, enjoining
greater care in the preparation of the ar
NOR.
~ am willing TO assume that the faulty
construction began on the Sd day of No
vember, lSS2, and was corrected on the 10th
day OF September, 1898. on all the armor
manufactured by the government between
these dates l think 10 per cent from the
price should be deducted
The amount 50 manufactured is reported
10 be 2G4I,931 tons, and its value 81 ,4O4 Sg4
Ten per cent OF this value is sl40 4S9, and
this amount in my opinion. should be for
feited by the company to the government
(Signed '' GROVER CLEVELAND.
A Settlement Effected
Mr.. Frick was notified and came again 70
Washington. and a settlement was effected
according to the terms Of the agreement
The Carnes.e Steel Company, Limited. paid
into the Bank of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
TO the credit of the informants S35l2l. and
1t credited vouchers for armor furnished to
the government with SlO5,360, which youch-
erS are now on file in the department No
money whatever passed through the hands
of the department.
Throughout this whole transaction IL
VIII be seen that every step was taken with
care ana delloeration, ana the department
was very much gra tined to find that il was
the opinion Of the officers engaged in MAX
ing these Investigations that, although a
portion or the armor delivered by this COM
pahy was not IN all respects equal to the
very best armor that could be rnanufactur-
ed, under the new and improved processes
which have been adopted, yet that the ar
NOR was all good, and in all cases the
thoroughly and equally distributed through
the mass, and that the defects resulting
from blow holes, and the failure TO anneai
ana temper In all respects it should have
been done, TO have it the best that IL was
possible 10 make. nevertheless left the ar
NOR at least > per cent better than the loIV-
est limit of tolerance.
The department is gratifed 10 be able to
state that all these Irregularities occurred
while the company was still engaged lnon
hght armor and before their heavy forging
plant was placed in operation for the
manufacture OF the heavy armor Of the
What the Contractor Must Do.
AS the object of he contract Will be
the production Of first-class armor plates
the contractor must furnish and maintain
the most improved modern plant for such
work, which must be conducted according
to the best methods. He IS to use every
endeavor and incur all expense necessary
TO produce the most resisting and eudur-
ing plates, and he is 20 regard the tests
herein set forth merely as minimum limits
OF quality, which he is bound TO excel, as
much as practicable. by the use of the
means which should be within the reach of
hrst-class establishment
Inc department deems II proper to state
that throughout the whole of this transac-
ton nothing occurred to show that any Of
hcer OF the navy had been guilty of CON
nlNlng at any OF these Irregularities Neither
Is there anything whatever to show that ary
director OF the company had any knowledge
OF the transactions herein set forth
The department has redoubled its Wig
lance at all points. and wherever night
work Is being done for the government in