The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-08-24
THOSE ARMOR FRAUDS.


Amos Cummings forced the House yes
terday to agree to resolution ordering
certain designated plates to be taken
from certain designated war vessels of
the United States and put to practical
test These are the plates which Car
negie employees declared were fraud
ulently fixed so as TO pass inspection
and which they claim are weak and un
fit TO be included in the armor of a war
ship.
The process of manufacture is such
that each plate can be traced from the
workshop to the ship and TO its exact
location on the ship. The men who
testified concerning the frauds practiced
by certain superintendents of the Car
negie company proved many of their
claims, having preserved duplicates of
the original reports on each plate.
In addition to the armor for whose
imperfections the Carnegie Company
paid an enormous sum back to the Gov
ernment in the shape Of settlement for
damaged material, they now claim
that certain armored vessels are 'pro--
tected" by these defective plates, and
Mr.. Cummings, for the investigating
committee, insisted upon testing the
plates designated 10 see if the claims
are true
In ailuding to this subject the Boston
Journal says:
Substantially all of the allegations as
TO the defective quality of some of the
heavy armor Hates supplied by the Car
negie Company for the new warships are
sustained. but neither the company
itself nor the naval officers who
served as United States Inspectors
in the Homestead mills are impli-
Gated in this dastardly attempt to rob the
Government. That disgrace, at least, is
spared the country. The frauds were
committed by certain superintendents
and leading employees in the Carnegie
works whose pay depended upon the
amount of armor they could manage
TO produce within given period.
Unknown to their superiors and appar-
emily unknown to the inspectors, who
were on duty only one hour out of four,
these men rushed things with ven
geance, and 10 conceal the results of
their haste and bungling forged and fall
sified the records and sent specially
manipulated armor to pass the Govern
ment tests
THE News cannot agree with The
journal that the Carnegie company is
not implicated in this outrage.
The men who were guilty Of this at
tempt not only to swindle the govern
ment, but also TO place the lives OF her
sailors in peril, have not been discharged
by the company which profted by their
swindle, but are retained ,in the works,
though the Carnegie people have had the
decency to place them in charge of other
work, not contracted for by the Govern
ment.
For its own honor the company should
have discharged these men. but it has
not done so. 1t should have at once
offered to stand all expenses of making
the tests that will now be made, and Of
replacing the poor material with
good. That would have been max
ing the amende honorable. But
instead il begged the President
to cut down the damage estimated by
the Secretary of the Navy TO ridiculous
figure, and as soon as this was done, and
the money paid over, the head of the
firm, who for years was an ardent
protectionist, suddenly turned and be-
came an equally enthusiastic free trader
at a time when such conversion would
materially benefit the Administration.
Ii this is not an admission of com
plicity, what is it?
These armor frauds should be stripped
to the bone, and not a single plate should
be allowed to remain on United States
war vessel that might in the time of
need cause the sacrifice of noble lives to
the greed of corporation which still
profits by its frauds.