The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-08-24
THE DAY IN THE HOUSE.
One Lone Item of Interest From the
Proceedings of the Session.

PROCEEDINGS of the Session.
Washington, Aug. 23.-The one item of
interest in the proceeding of the House.
to-day was the Animated colloquy between
Mr.. Cummings, dem, of New York and
W. A. Stone, rep, of Pennsylvania
over the report of the committee on naval
affairs upon the investigation into the al
legged armor plate frauds.
The report was accompanied by a Joint
resolution. which was agreed to, direct
ing the Secretary of the Navy to have
the plates now on certain ships removed
and subjected to ballisUic tests to deter
mine their quality. These are the plates
in which defects were shown in the in
veStigation to have existed, and the tests
were suggested to determine whether or
not they are up to the contract require
ments.
Stone asserted that the Carnegie com
pany, while just as anxious for the inves-
tigation and tests as the House or com
mittee, had not been accorded fair play
in the investigation.
Mr. Cummings made a spirited response,
declaring that the Carnegie companys
interests had been more carefully at
| tended to in the investigation than had
| those of the navy department, which had
also he said, been on trial.
One or two private bills were passed,
and, at 10 o'clock, the House adjourned
until tomorrow.
COMMITTEE ON ARMoR FRAUDS.
The special committee of the House
which has been investigating the charges
affecting the reliability of the material
for the new ships furnished by the Car
negie company of Pittsburg laid their re-
port before the House to-day.
The report shows that the contract
with the company covered a period of
two years and three months, from No
vember, 1890. to February, 1898. The
amount of armor plate contracted for was
| S,97S TONS costing IS, AL, 920
The report severely criticises both the
United States inspectors and the con-
tractors. The inspectors, it says, were
not corrupt, but the work of inspection
was negligent and defective. The in
spectors assumed that the company was
watching its superintendents and en-
ployes The company on the other hand
relied upon the inspectors, asking in this
connection, What were they for2'
Both the company and the inspectors,
| the report states, were culpable. The
manufacture of armor was going on night
and day, Sundays included. The inspec-
tors were on duty eight hours q day.
| Their inspection covered only forty-eight
out of the hundred and siXty-eight hours
a week. The frauds are characterized by
the committee as crimes for which no fine
or money compensation can adequately
atone. The committee do not feel the
| necessity of drafting a criminal statute,
but the interests of the treasury the
lives of our seamen, and the safety of the
nation demands that such acts shall be
| severely punishable in all persons CON
nected with them.
The efforts of the company and of it's
! superintendent, Cline Corey and
| Schwab,' the report concludes, have
| been to satisfy the committee that the
armor is up to the requirements of the
contract, Notwithstanding the false re
ports of inspectors, dOcJoring of speci-
mems, plugging of plates etc. The un-
blushing character of the frauds to which
these men have been parties, and the dis
regard OF truth and honesty which they
! have shown before the committee, render
them unworthy of credence."
The only way TO determine the actual
condition and strength OF the armor is by
subJecting certain plates of the groups,
passed by fraud to ballistic tests. The
| committee can 20 no further into this ia
vestigation without knowing the actual
ballistic resistance of the plates passed
by test of plates that did not really rep
resent these groups. These tests should be
made by the government If the company
will not pay the expense. The committee
nave SeleCJed the plates WnlCh, IN their
opinion, ought TO be tested. They recon-
mend that the money necessary for such
tests be taken from any heretofore appro-
priated for the increase of the navy I'M
der the head Of "armor and armament
A Joint resolution is presented, car
rying into effect the recommendations OF
the committee
The resolution was agreed TO by the
House, and was ordered printed in the
Record as document. The resolution
specifies plates TO be tested from the
Monadnock, Oregon, Indiana, Massa-
chusetts and Monterey