The age-herald., 1898-06-04
WAR SHIPS
 ARE CHEAPER.

oA eAAS hdii dAfu AldCHlu6lJS anu hob bhene VI the armor plate or the armament, and there is also the cost of maintenance, which is no inconsiderable sum.
 There has been fall in tha price of bat- tleships since we began building them eight years ago. Our policy has been to build all of our war ships in this country, and since that policy was inaugurated the price of construction has fallen, until now 1t Is little If any greater than the prices charged for similar work abroad; while, indeed we be- lieve that there is no similar work. and that American-buift battle ships are the best in the world.
 The new appropriation made by the pres- ent congress provides for three battle ships, whose cost, not exceeding armament, shall be not more than sS OOOO 900 each This figure is ample. The belief of the navy depart ment is that when the bids are opened it will be found that they are well below that sum, and this in spite of the fact that there are only three shipyards in the country that can build such vessels, and one is likely to be awarded to each These yards are To- cated in Philadelphia. San Francisco and Newport News.
 AhO HI Se ol OoI feSSclS Ol lulS CidSS Wcio the Indiana, Massachusetts and Oregon, the contracts for which were awarded in 1890. The first two of these were built at Phila- delphia, and the Oregon at San Francisco Then such work was new to American ship builders, who had no experience in battle ship construction. Each vessels was of a gross tonnage of 5,2S9 tons; the Indiana and Massachusetts contract price was sSO20,OoO each, and that of the Oregon 8 1S0 000 This was a cost of $57O per ton for the first two and $601 a ton for the Oregon. Three years later a contract for another battle ship was awarded. This was for the Iowa. Cramps agreed to build it for $SO10,0O0 and as the gross tonnage was 6,29I tons, this was at the rate of $479 ton-a decrease of Is per cent. In 1896 contracts were awarded for the Ala bama, Illinois, Kentucky and Kearsarge. - Oramp agreed to build the Alabama for $2,650,000, and the Newport News Company to construct the other three for $2,5 900 for the Illinois and $225oOOO each for the Ken lucky and Kearsarge. The first two of these had a gross tonnage of 6s02 and the latter of 6,S31 This meant price of $3SS for the Alabama per ton, sSS1 per ton for the Ill., nois, and $S29 for the Kentucky and Kear- sarge. Taking the highest price, we find that the cost of construction had decreased in the three years since the building of the Iowa by 19 per cent. It is reasonable to suppose that when the new contracts ara awarded a further decrease will be shown.
 There are many reasons for the reduction in the cost of the construction of our battle ships. The decrease in the price of steel is 0f fhp grpataSt TmnrOvpd mlth- ods of manufacturing steel have reduced the price so that shipbuilders now pay only about PIE or cents pound for steel for which they paid 5 cents eight years ago. Steel can be bought in the United States just as cheap as it could be bought if It were imported from England duty free, and as steel eats up about one-half the cost of the construction of ships it can be easily seen what saving there has been in this respect.
 Not only Is the ma serial cheaper, but the labor is cheaper. This does not mean that wages have been decreased. As a matter of fact, skilled naval constructors are paid more than they were when we first began to construct battle ships But the labor Is more productive. With the increase in wages there has been an increase in produc- tivMy, it being an exemplification of the well-known economic principle that the best paid labor is the cheapest in the end. Tho result is that in spite of the higher wages paid in this country we can now . manufacture war ships for about the same price as we would have to pay if our ships were built abroad.
 Another important item is that the ship builders are more used to the work. They have the plans-thousands of them-that were used in the construction of the other battle ships. Many of thfm can be used or need but slight notifications. If, as has been stated by the naval department of- icals Sn the diSpatchea of Monday, the new ships are to be of the same typelas the Illinois and Wisconsin, there need be but small expense for new plans. And its true that the shipbuilders, having greater prac- tice in their work, are able to figure more closely on the cost of the work that, they will have to do.
 When the American shipbuilders first be- gan fhe work of building the new navy they had to overcome great difficulties They were without experience, and they were forced to learn the trade,from the begin- ming. There was nothing to do but expe- iiment. It is delicate work to construct one of these great engines of war, and the waste of time, labor and material was great. But today they proficient and Cramp is building war ships for Japan, and is said to haveja contract to build some for Russia. These contracts were won in open competition with the great shipbuild- CTS of all the rest oftthe world
 Ships cannot be quickly built. We have shown that merchant vessel-can be con- verted into gunboat in few days. But this is not true of the building of battle ships. Three years is the time allowed for the construction of one of these. How quickly could we do this in time of war? The system of governmental inspection is at present the greatest cause of delay All the materials used must be subjected to nu. merous, long and expensive tests. One set of inspectors inspects the work of other in- spectors, and there is a good deal of red tape-much more than there ps in any other country This Is we'll enough in time of peace, but in time of war commercial n- spections would answer and "details might be left largely to the contractors, who would certainly use care in their work. One of thei government naval constructors has estimated that at least one-half of the time could be saved by doing away with the present numerous inspections and the abo- ltionpf red tape. This is now done in Eng land. It would reduce the time to eighteen months. and under pressure it would there- fore be safe to say that if war with for-