The herald., 1898-02-27

section OIL l1t OultCu otosNS N~-> o
tons representing boom town couhcus
boards of trade and ambitious cross road
villages have been pouring into Washlng
ton during the last few months. bent upoi
the capture of the proposed armor pat
factory for the respective locality eaci
committee represents. The navy depart
ment has been flooded with of1ers OF ire
sites for the armor factory. ana each piaS
seeking the prize has the best natural ad
.vantages in the couIry-according to tn
numerous claimants Although the posi-
bility of the government building
plant to produce armor Plate Tor the Unit
ed States naval vessels is very remote NJ
less than 215 cities, towns and villages nave
set out to secure it, and seventy-nine oner'
of free sites have already peeh fhaue II
the navy department.
Every state in the union has from one tt
a dozen places scrambling for the locator
of the armor plant "in their midst. ano
the navy department officials are ahtlc4'
pating offers next from the hiohu -he
where gold can be substituted for nlcke
steel plates: or from Honolulu, as soon as
Hawaii becomes one of us. Many con
gressmen who wish to show they nave the
advancement of their district at heart
have pledged support to the government
armor plate proposition, and in demoil-
strating this may. by their votes, commit
the government to a colossal blunuer' lol
such would be the result from the report Oh
the navy department ordnance ana en-
gineering experts who investigated 'he
subject. ~
negative views of the experts. the depart
ment can select site in any of the toiiow-
ing places offered by committees Visiting
Washington:
Virrinia-Richmond Alexandria, Roam
oke. Basic City. West Point. PETERSBURG
Bradford. Norfolk, Portsmouth, care
mont st. Helena Craney Island. Wes;
Virrinia-Morrison Island, Western Port,
Cherry Run, Piedmont. Grub District
Huntington. Moundsvile. Tennessee
Hartman. Knoxville, Chattanooga, BIS
tol. Elizabethton, Morristown. Alabama
Birmingham. Sheffield, Gadsden, Anns-
ton, Flomaton. Kentucky-Middlesb Dor
ough. Texas-New Birmingham JeHer-
son. Waco. Georgia-B!ythe Island. New
York-Buffalo, New York city. New Jer-
sey-New Orange. Maryland-Sparrows'
Point, Drum Point, Curtis Bay. Pennsyl-
vania-Johnstown. Wiliiamsport. Carroll
Township Rankin. Scranton, Erie, Ches-
ter. Reading. Ohio-Lorain. Columbus
Fairport Harbor, Dayton. Youngstown
Cleveland, Toledo. Indiana-Marlon' Men
igan City, Anderson. indianapolis In
nos-Waukegan Moline chicago; WIS
consin-Appleton. Merasha. kanosha. SUI
perior. Michigan-Muskegon Marquette,
Detroit. Bay City, Saginaw. Benton Har-
bor. Minnesota-Duluth. Missouri-St.
James Washingt Tacoma,
Port Townsend.
Congress will determine in the near fu-
ture whether or not the armor plant is to
be built.
James NJ. Swank, who is recognized the
world over as the highest statistical au-
thority in matters pertaining to the iron.
steel and allied industries. has Just COM
pleted summary of American armor plate
history. which bears particularly on the
conditions leading up to the movement Tor
u government works of this kind. Mr.
Swank says ii may be taken for granted
that congress will not order the erection
and equipment of a factory. as the report
recently submitted to congress by the
naval armor factory board is virtually a
condemnation of the project The cost OF
the plant as estimated by the board, about
81 900 900, has staggered the advocates OF
the scheme who believed that it could be
built for 81 800 900. The erection of an ef-
1icient plant for this work will necessitate
the building of war vessels constantly on Il
scale requiring an enormous annual appro-
priation in order to keep it fully employed {;
otherwise it will deteriorate, and the
losses will offset any saving the govern
ment might make by the possession of a
plant.
From Mr.. Swanks review of the armor
plate matter it appears tnat very little
reason exists for the suppostion that the
government could manufacture plate
cheaper than it can be obtained from pr-
vate contractors. Considering that the
two steel factories now with idle armoI
mills on their hands invested millions of
capital in the business at the request of the
government. it seems to be a breach of
faith now to attempt to force them to ac-
cept Improbable prices or go without busi-
ness entirely.
Three battleships, Nos. Z. and g. the
Alabama. Illinois and Wisconsin, now
building at Philadelphia, Newport News
and San Francisco. will require armor
plate within a short time. Congress is
confronted with the question of where the
armor for these battle ships is to be OBJ
tanned, inasumch as the two steel manu-
featuring concerns in this country having
the facilities to manufacture it will not
supply the material al the price limited by
the act of July 49, 1897. which provided that
not more than $500 per ton should be paid
for the 5000 tons of plate needed for the new
ships. Should the completion of the ships
be delayed through the failure of congress
to provide armOr an immense bill for
damages will be presented to the govern
ment. 1t is improbable that the armor
can be obtained from European makers at
the price offered.
Mr.. Swank, in reviewing the armor-plate
Price controversy, dissents from the belief
that the aimor contractors have made un-
usual profits. and shows conclusively by
cX-SeCretarY Hcrbcrt's estimates of tho
cost of manufacturing as submitted al
the last special session of congress. that
such would certainly not be the case if the
manufacturers are compelled to sell armoI
a Stih npr MIR Harl.rf as Il I I,
S4O0 per ton would allow large profit tc
the manufacturer, on the assumption tha.
the output of the plant. which he estimated
as costing Sl,500,000, would be 1000 tons q
year. However, as MIR. Herbert subse-
quently reported in the case of the Carne.
gle Steel company, the plant actually cost
about $3,00OOOo, exclusive of land and the
contracts on record show the OUTPUT !,
have been hardly 200 tons per year. Thus
the maintenance at 10 per cent, as allowed
by Mr.. Herbert in his estimates. places S11t
per ton on the cost. which, added to tho
cost of labor and material, amounting tc
SIG, would make the total cost of manu-.
tacturlng armor $3G6 per ton. This Woul(
leave on armor sold at $4O0 per ton a profit
OF $34 per ton, amounting on 2O00 tons pc,
year to S6S,O00 or IL per cent on the capita
invested.
Senator Chandler thought Mr.. Herbert,
allowance of 10 per cent for maintenance,
was too liberal and estimated that 6 ne,
cent would be sufficient. This would re-
duce the maintenance charge per ton tr
$40, making the total cost 1896 per ton o,
armor, or profit of $9i which on an an.
nual output of 200) would be $1SS. O31. or 4
per cent on the investment Mr. SWAMI
refers to the fact, which he thinks has beer
overlooked in the demand for lower armo,
prices. that the American manufacturer.