The age-herald., 1900-04-17
HOUSE DISCUSSES
 THE ARMOR PLATE Hard Struggle Over Naval Ap-
 prOpriation Bill. 1T CARRIES S13,OOO,OOO Underwood Asked if MT. Foss Would Permit Vote on Establishment of
 Government Armor Plants
 Question Evaded
CARRIES S13,OO0,OOO

entered upon the consideration of the na- val appropriation bill with the prospect of a severe struggle ahead over the question of armor plate, building ships in govern ments yards and the provision in the bill for the coast and geodetic survery. The bill carries s1S,OOO, 900 more than any pre- vious naval bill. Today MT Foss, the act ing chairman, and MT. Cummings, the ranking minority member of the commit tee, defended the bill The latter declared himself in favor of paying s545 for Krupp armor, at least until all the ships author ized were built, and said that the commit tee had information, the source of which | he was not at liberty to reveal, showing that we could obtain Krupp armor at price lower than any other country in the world.
 MT. Foss said that except as to the Maine, Wisconsin and Missouri the com- mittee had concluded to leave the armor plate question to the house. The commit tee deemed it unwise to recommend the establishment of a government armor plate factory. He quoted Admiral O'Neils opinion that such establishment would | cost $4.S72, GOO and that he did not believe | the government should manufacture its | armor plate.
 Underwood Wanted a Vote | MT. Underwood of Alabama asked If MT. Foss would permit the house to vote upon the direct question of establishing ar nor plate factory
 MT. Foss evaded direct reply.
 MT. Foss said the committee had been | largely moved in deciding against the building of ships in the government yard by the opinion of Secretary Long that il would cost to build them in government yards twice as much as in private yards. MT. Cummings of New York, the rank ing minority member of the committee, said that the people in all sections of the country recognized that the navy was vital to the United States, as to all other na- tions, and what was being done? he asked Three battleships were on the stocks with out arrnor. Three were authorized with a string attached. They were not even to be contracted for unless the armor could be | procured for $500 a ton. The bill recom- mended two more. Was a string attached to that? It would be like voting for a dec- laration of war and then refusing to pro- vide ammunition.
 "Why buy rotten armor plate?" inter- rupted MT. Ridgeley. ''Why not make our own armor?"
 Rather Armor Plate
 Rotten armor plate," calculated Mir. Cummings indignantly. "You paid s400 ton for it after proved it was full of blow holes. I spent three months in yon- der committee room night and day taking testimony, Investigating the subject, and my report was unanimously endorsed by this house. But it was buried in the sen- ate. It is time that the senate should un- derstand that the lives of our sailors and marines are endangered by the action of this house and the senate. The men who fought with Dewey are entitled to the best protection that can be given especially as they are no longer to obtain prize money"
 Why not make our own armor plate?" persisted MT. Ridgeley.
 'The same old story,' replied MT Cum mings, "authorize ships and then instead of building them go to work to build an armor plate factory. That would delay the ships from five to eight years.'
 But you said the armor we bought was rotten"
 Not the Krupp armor The Krupp ar IilOr uaS peeH teSteu Dy own experts. If our experts do their duty we will have done our duty by the men behind the guns."
 MT. Cummings announced his personal belief in sheathed ships. The committed he said had taken the word of Dewey regarding battleships and gunboats, but it had refused to take Dew ey's word regarding sheathed ships Dewey had attributed the loss of the Charleston to the fact that she was not sheathed
 Paying Less Than Any Nation
 Later on MT. Cummings, reverting to the question of armor plate made this state ment:
 'It was demonstrated to the committee in a way that cannot be revealed here that in paying $545 for Krupp armor we are paying less than any nation in Europe or Asia. England is paying s5S7 for the same armor; Russia, $565; France, s650; and Ja- pan, $7o0 Until the ships already author ized are supplied, am in favor of buying Krupp armor at $545. When we are even up l will be willing to talk about an ar nor plate factory"
 MT. Kitchin of North Carolina. a mem Der of the committee who signed the mil nority report, argued that unless the gov ernment was independent "of it's own ar- nor plate factory, the steel companies could hold up the government in the fu- ture as they had in the past. A govern ment factory was the only relief from ex- tortion. Krupp armor, in his opinion, could be manufactured as cheaply as Har- veyized armor could five years ago. "I am in possession of inforpation," in- | terrupted MT. Wheeler of Kentucky, ''the source of which I am not at liberty to disclose, which shows that Krupp armor l can be manufactured $10O cheaper than Harveyized plate."
 "The secretary of the navy says that Is impossible" observed MT. Barber of Penn- sylvania-
 "The secretary of the navy" retorted Mir. Wheeler, Knows no more about it than the man in the moon."