Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-11-08
The Manufacture Of Armor Plate.

The best naval authorities in this
country appear to be pretty thorough
ly united in the opinion that 1t would
be an expensive and unsatisfactory ex-
pertinent for the United States govern
ment to undertake the construction
and maintenance of the immense plant
necessary to manufacture it's own
armor plate, The fact Is recalled that
the poorest and most costly ships built
for our navy in years past have come
from the government navy yards. I:
will be remembered that on the 18th Of
last July, at the special session of
Congress. the question of armor plate
came up for discussion, in connection
with a Senate amendment to the gen.
eral deficiency bill. That amendment
provided that the secretary Of the navy
should be authorized in his discretion
to contract with any one or more
bidders for the furnishing of the entire
amount of armor plate for the three
battleships. authorized by act of Jure
10, 1896, but that no contract for such
armT plate should be made at an
average rate to exceed $500 per ton Of
224O pounds. Representative w. A.
Stone of Pennsylvania offered an
amendment to this fixing the maximum
price which the secretary of the navy
might pay for such armor plate at
$500 per ton. 1t was upon this pro-
posed amendment that Congressman
Boutelle, the distinguished chairman
of the naval committee, made what was
easily the ablest speech of the day.
This speech, as our readers will recall,
was published in full in these columns.
and the facts it embodied are well
worthy of careful consideration in con-
nection with the proposal to establish
a government plant for the manufact-
ure of armor plate. From it we learn
that, in his annual report for 1896, Sec
rotary Herbert expressed the opinion
that $500 per ton was s. fair and equi-
table price to pay for the armor for the
Wisconsin, Alabama and Illinois" In
pursuance of that report the naval
committee inserted in the annual ap-
preparation bill a provision that the
total price of armor for those three
ships should not exceed certain fixed
lump sum, but indicating no particular
price per ton. This was amended in
the Senate so as to provide that no
more than $500 per ton should be paid
for armor plate, and prohibiting the
secretary of the navy from making any
contracts in excess of that sum. This
action was brought about largely
through the assertion that large
manufacturing establishment in Illinois
stood ready to supply armor for $24o
FER ton. The bill thus amended by the
Senate passed both branches of Con-
gress and became a law. Secretary
Herbert at once advertised for bids.
The responses to that advertisement
came in under the present administra-
ton. They were opened by Secretary
Long and found to contain no bids.
There were letters from the Bethlehem
Iron Company and the Carnegie Steel
Company stating that it would be ut
terly impossible for them to supply
modern armor plate for $500 per ton,
and refusing to bid on that basis.
There was also letter from the
Illinois Steel Company from which it
appeared that there was very large
sized string attached to it's $240 per ton
| offer, the existence of which had not
even been limited at in the House and
| Senate debates. It's bid was mOdestly
conditional 1t asked first, a contract
with the government to manufacture
all the armor plate it would require for
| twenty years to come! Second,
| pledge that the government would pur-
chase at least 5000 tons of such armor
plate per year, and third, 27O per ton
at the start with a gradual reduction to
$24O per ton. This practically bound
the government to build new about
fifty great battle ships in the. next
twenty years-as fully that number
would be required to dispose of the
12O, 900 tons of armor plate which the
Illinois Steel Company demanded to be
permitted to make in case it entered
into contract with the government.