The Jersey City news., 1906-04-05

1t is to be hoped that it is such in this
! instance
| Secretaries Taft and Bonaparte repre-
senting the war interests of government,
have written to Chairman Tawney, of
the House Committee on Appropriations.
protesting that TIL. $125 900 provided in
the army bill to establish a powder fac
tory, which would make government
needs independent of the monstrous ex-
actions of the Powder Trust, run by the
'Duponts at Wilmington. DEL, is far from
sufficient, says the Newark Evening
News" 1t is pointed out that a much
larger initial expenditure is necessary
and a permanent appropriation also for
maintaining the plant. Perhaps there is
no corporation monopoly in the United
| States more rotten than the monopoly in
question. more audacious, more directly
in touch with federal affairs. more utter
" uniustifable in that connection. and
more remediable. Interesting details of
this irnbroglo which, if not quite an open
scandal, has been for several years an
open secret, were communicated in our
Washington correspondence of yesterday.
1t is well that public attention should
be called TO this matter. 1t rejects but
| little credit on ether he administrative or
the legislative sides of government that
| so fagrant a robbery has been allowed to
become current fact. The Powder Trust
has been permitted to supply all the
smokeless powder-practically the entire
supply--used by the army and navy de-
partments. receiving ninety cents pound
for what costs not more than twenty.
The preliminary experiments, succeeded
| by patents, which led up to this smoke
| less powder manufacture, were made by
one army officer and two navy officers,
especially detailed for this work, or per-
mitted leave of absence under pay, to
effetc the result. The patents, after hav-
ing been granted, were assigned to the
! United States authorities, which in turn
permitted them to pass into the hands of
rhe Powder Trust They have been made
the instrument Of milking Uncle Sans
treasury TO an unparalleled degree to the
tune of about 450 per cent, and curiously
through the leverage of what belongs to
Uncle Sam himself. The bra8enness of
this performance, the meeknese of the
government in submitting to it. make it
phenomenal.
Some seven years ago the quetsion of
the governmental manufacturer or armor
plate was actively discussed. There was
good reasons for and against that propo-
sition, and after thorough sitting it
was decided to depend on private enter
prise. The profit on armor plate were
found to be no exorbitant, the work in
| spite of sporadic criticism was, and is
well done. and the cost of inaugurating
and maintaining an armor plate mill runs
into the millions. The broad proposition
that government should, as far as possi-
Bile, supply its own special needs, IS
sound one. A case like the one under
notice, where the cost Of plant and manu-
facture is comparatively small and the
alternative of private manufacture Is
wholesale robbery, certainly admits Of no
rational difference Of opinion. Tie mar
vel IS that government should have been
50 long finding out the truth, or, know
ing the truah, should have daredto is
more it. The smell IS sulphurous, smack
Ing Of graft, if one dared say 50.
| 4 general eoroliary Of this at once sug-
sesfs itself. 4 patent taken oat BY gov
ernmsnt oficer in he direct line Of OH
~ II xarlx ha<xft,,is,v 45,arshx, fff r,ran