The record-union., 1894-08-24
special to the REooRp-UN1oN.

remains firm IN his purpose to let the
tariff bill become a law without his sig
nature, although Congress is said to have
represented very strongly that should it
not have the Presidential approval their
position on the stump will be very em-
barrassing.
| Speaker Crisp presented this view. The
bill cannot become q law without the
Presidential autograph until next Mon
day, and the adjournment of Congress
will hardly take place before next Tues
| day.
Speaker Crisp spent some time with the
| President to-day in discussing the tariff
/ situation. He told the members that he
| thought the session would last until Tues
| day.
ARMoR PLATE FRAUDS.
| WASHINGTON, Aug. 22.-Representa-
! tive Cummings, Chairman of the House
! Committee on Naval Affairs, presented
| to-day preliminary report upon the in
vestigation of the armor plate furnished
| by the Carnegie Steel Company.
The committee finds the charges of
/ fraud to be sustained, scores the company
severely and recommends that fifty-nine
suspected plates now i'll use be tested as
the only method of proving their fitness
! or unfitneSs.
The charges against the company were
that the plates aud bolts did not receive
the treatment required by the contract;
| that false reports were made to the Gov
ernment inspectors; that specimens for
! testing were re-treated before being SUBJ
mitted; that the testing machine was
! fraudulently manipulated that substitu-
ton was made in the case OF plate de-
| signed for a ballaStic test, and that the
| (1OVprnnnntG either
or stolen, and used without knowledge
| of the Government Inspectors.
! The report states that the number of
! furnaces used was wholly inadequate to
| fulfill the specifications OF the contract IN
the amount of armor plate turned out
| After the first investigation of the frauds
! the number OF furnaces were increased
| from four to ten. In regard to the Jock
| eying" of the test machines it is asserted
that the company made private tests of
material, and if IL was below the stand
ard, manipulated the machine at the Off
| cial test so that it would show the re-
quired tensile strength
The charges OF re-treating and suhsti-
! tuting plates designed for ballstic tests,
the committee is satisfied are true. The
/ charge of using a duplicate or stolen
Government stamp is not sustained.
| The report says the Government in
! speetion was negligent and defective,
but this is attributed to the fact that there
were not enough inspectors to do the
work. 1t is asserted that the fraud has
been traced home TO the General Superin-
tendent, who is a stockholder in the
Carnegie Company.
Of the feature of criminality involved,
Chairman Cummings says: 'The frauds
which the committee have found are
worthy to be called crimes. The servants
| OF the Carnegie Company whether with
or without the knowledge of the COM
pany) to increase this gain, deliberately
/ continued for many months to commit
acts whose natural probable consequences
would be a terrific loss of men in times
Of war, and perhaps the dearest to the
nation. 70 fine or make mere money
compensation is an inadequate atone-
ment for such wrongs. Your COM
! mittee does not consider it within the
1 province to draft criminal statute, but
| they do feel under obligations to call the
attention of the public to the importance
of protecting the lives of our seamen and
| the safety of the nation by appropriate
| legislation, denouncing as crimes all such
| acts as the frauds practiced upon the
| Government in connection with armor
| plate and other material of war; and max
! ing such acts punishable in ali persons
who commit them or aid their commits
| sion.o
In recommending a test of plates the
| committee says: Notwithstanding all the
| admissions made by the Superintend-
ents employed by the Carnegie Company,
they claim that all the plates paid for by
| the Government are up to the specifica-
| tionS of the contracts. The contract of
! February Is, 1898, states the obligation
! imposed upon the contractors to satisfy
! the inspector that everything has been
| done in strict accordance with the terms
/ of the contract. 1t has been conclusiyely
| shown that the inspectors have been sat-
| istied, and the armor plates passed by the
| most notorious frauds.
| The efforts of the company and all it's
| Superintendents, Cline, Cory and
! Schwab have been to satisfy our commit
| tee that the armor is up to the require
| ments of the contract, Notwithstanding
false reports of inspectors. doctoring of
| specimens, plugging OF plate, fraudulent
| retreating of plates, ana 'jockeying'' of
| the testing machine The unblushing char
| acter OF the frauds to which these men
| have been parties. aud the disregard of
| truth and honesty which they have
! shown in testifylng before your commit
/ tee,. render them unworthy of credence,
| and everything bears against their con-
! tention. 1t is not to be supposed that
/ such manifold frauds we're continued for
| so long time without an important OBJ
! ject TO be gained. AS the>indiyidual plates
| and the groups of plates were passed in
many cases by fraud, the fair conclusion
is that without the frauds they would not
| have passed.
1.-TWO questions remain, however. First,
| whether Notwithstanding the frauds and
| the failure to attain the high standard re-
| ouired by the contracts, the armor is not
good steel and fair armor; second, the ex-
] tent to which the Government has been
damaged by the frauds and irregularities
practiced upon it. The terms of the reso-
luton under which your committee IS act
| ing require them to ascertain the amount
of damages. 1t is impossible for them to
do this with the present powers. Inc
| ONLY way to ascertain the actual strength
| and condition of the armor is to subject
| certain plates of the groups passed by
! ballistic tests. Your committee has no
| more work to do for the information OF
the House in relation to further eontin-
ing this investigation by making such
ballistic tests.
"Your committee have ascertalned the
| whereabouts of fifty-nine representative
plates, alleged to have been falsely
| treated. The plates recommended for
testing are four on the Monterey, eight on
| the Monadnocx, four on the New York.
four on the Ampherite, three on the Ter
ror. three on the Oregon, three on the
1 Olympia (four-inch casements), seven on
the Indiana, four on the Massachusetts,
and one on the Oregon. OF the four-incn
sponsons. there are three on the New
4 York. two on the Columbia. three on the
Minneapolis, three on the Olympia, two
on the Cincinnati and two on the Ra-
leigh"