The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-09-12
WORK ON THE NAVY
Shipbuliding Has Been Lag.
ging for Years.
IT, MUST NOW BE EXPEDITED
Secretary Herbert Eas Given Orders
That Work on all Vessels Must
Be rushed Forward.

Washington, Sept. 10. eyes"
said Secretary Herbert today, sit is
true that I have given orders that
work ON vessels under construction for
the navy shall be expedited. The or
der not only embraces the work on
navy yard ships but also the work on
vessels being built under contract. All
have been urged to increased diligence.
''The ships building in the navy
yards have been tagging for years.
For long time delay was for want of
armor, but armor is now being fur
nished promptly. The Texas and
Maine, the former of which has just
been put in commission, and the latter,
which will be in a few days, really
ought to have been in service months
ago. Officials at the navy yards nat
urally desire to keep regular force
steadily employed, and the disposition
is to take workmen from the ships
which are building and do repair work
with them, putting them back when
the repair work is completed. Not
only have the Texas and Maine been
delayed by this practice, but also the
monitors, the Terror, the Monadnock
and the Puritan. ALI the ships ought
to be now in commission, and I have
ordered that they he pushed to COM
pletion. Precisely the same reasons
which have operated to delay the build
ing of ships at navy yards naturally
influence contractors. They are some
times tempted to neglect government
work and use part of the force on the
government ships to do outside work
as it comes in"
The secretary deprecates the practice
which congress has fallen into of re-
lieving shipbuilders of penalties in
CURED. He said:
''The contractors all provide penal
ties for failure to complete work on
them. Penalties for delay have fre-
quenty been imposed upon contractors
by the navy department, but unfortu-
nately, congress has in almost every
instance, when it was asked, relieved
them of these penalties. The effect of
such action is necessarily demoralizing.
It is to be hoped that these penalties
will be allowed to stand.
sThere is nothing about shipbuild-
ing that now renders it difficult in the
United States. No good reasons can
BIZ given why such ships, authorized by
congress, should not be completed with
reasonable dispatch, and am simply
insisting on prompt compliance with
contract obligations. We have already
shown that we can build ships and
guns equal toany in the world, and
hope our shipbuilders, who are now
looking for contracts abroad, will
demonstrate to the world that ships
can be built not only as we'll, but as
rapidly in the Unite1 States as any,
where in the world
The secretary also said that he was
pushing along the manufacture of ord
nance and all other works in progress
under his direction.
In his annual report upon the public
building and grounds in Washington,
Colonel Wilson says that he has thor
oughly overhauled and repaired the
White House. 1t was found that the
flooring in front of the state dining
receptions, had become weakened and
sunk. The beams were found to be
giving way, and these were renewed
and strengthened.
Tne pension appeal of John Godfrey
has been rejected by Secretary Rey-
nolds Godfrey served in Company F,
Third Kansas volunteers, which was
called into service by the governor OF
the state. The secretary says no other
person than the president has author.
ity to call the state militia into the
service of the United States.
If we would feed more clover hay tc
swine in winter we should find that
our swine feeding was more economi.