The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-18
REITERATESCHARGE
sIR. LILLEY TEsTIFIEs BEFORE
 SPECIAL COMMITTEE
Says Chiefs of Navy Bureaus and Naval Officials Are Competent Hut Are
 Very Poor Business

whose resolution a special committee of the House has been investigating the Electric Boat Company, reiterated his charges today before the commit tee that the company has made excess sive profits on the contracts 1t has secured from the United States gov ernment and most rigid cross examina- ton by members of the committee. as- sisted hy Martin Lttleton, attorney Tor the Electric Boat Company, failed 10 make him retract. $
 Mir. Howard. Mt. stevens and MT. olmsted manipulated the probe re- lentlessly and vigorously. the latter two especially. trying to get the author of the charges to admit that the sec retaries and other officials of the Navy Department were incompetent and that they were fooled and duped into enter ing into contracts with the Electric Boat Company.
 MT. Stevens devoted more than an hour to a remarkably earnest effort to have Mir. Lilley charge the sec retary of the Navy and his predeces- snrs within the last six or seven years the chiefs of the navy bureaus and naval officials generally, in whose hands are the construction of vessels and the letting of warship contracts. with gross ignorance, inemciency ana incompetency," In that they were re- sponsible for the awarding of contracts to the Electric Company which netted that concern, aIlegedly. more than $f.- 000.ooo of excessive profit at the gov ernment's cost.
 MT. LiIley steadfastly refused to fla ther such a charge. He maintained that to the contrary. he believed these men were highly competent Tin their line and so, far as their information carries them." but he insisted that 4h hna m the poor bargains they made proved that and 10 none others than shrewd able business men should be entrusted the letting of government contracts.
 An attempt by MT. Stevens to have MT. Lilley testify that on the shoulders of the President should be placed the responsibility for the alleged incompe- tency of naval officials. elicited the reply that the policy which has brought into office five secretaries of the navy in as many years. is poor policy. as 4@
 Tn the course of his testimony rel alive to possible influences having to do with the awarding of contracts to the Electric Boat Company. Mir Lil- ley said he had Reason to know Slere has been a good deal of nervousness in the executive offices and the navy and war departments" and that this may have persuaded the government officials that they should procure sub marines at any cost"
 Mir. Liiley assured the committee that no person connected with the Lake Company in any way. shape or form ever had the slightest intfmation from him that he intended. to introduce his resolution. After the resolution was introduced. he said. he thought it would assist the committee if he se- cured information from every available source and he welcomed any sugges- tions from Mfr. Nen or MT. Thurston.
 In reply to a question by Mir, How ard as to how much information Mir Lilley had at the time he brought his | charges and how much additional in- formation he expected at that time to get from the Lake Boat Company in order to prove them, Mir. Lilley re- piled:
 'I did not expect to get anything at the time frcrn the Lake Boat Com pany. I thought had sufficient evil dence or could procure sufficient evil dence myself to substantiate these charges"
 MT. Howard: "At the very outset the charges themselves were dra wn by the attorney for the Lake Boat Com- pany."
 Mir. Liney: "A great many of the charges were suggested by me. Sem
 
 Regarding the production of the books of the Electric Company. Mir | Lilley said he thought they would 1 show that a very large sum of money had been expended by this company some such fund as the yellow dog fund developed during the insurance l investigation in New York" Mir. Lilley claimed that if the wit nesses had been called in the order | suggested by him. they would not have | knowledge in advance of his infor- matioH and it might have been possi- ble to bring out something from tho officers of the Electric Boat Company"
 You men by that the testi- mony that has been delivered has been false testimony" asked Mir. Howard.
 'I do not mean to say anything about 1t. I think they had a. chance | to cut their cloth according to my knowledge"
 Are you friendly to the Lake Boat people," asked Mir. Howard.
 T am friendly to every human be- ing" replied MT. Lilley,
 ''I have no personal feeling against i the Electric Boat people notwith stand ing the fact that I have been told some of the officials of the company 1 have said Hobson and I are black | mailers."
 Before the committee adjourned for the day MT Lllley, in reply to Chair man Boutell said that he did not charge corruption on the part of any official of the Navy Department in the matter of this alleged excessive profit.
 Then" said MT. Boutell. we are perfectly in accord now that you are still convinced that there has been l million dollars excessive profit not withstandinE the testimony of Admiral Capps and Secretary Metcah. but that l you think 1t Is due to the practical l business inefhciency of officials of the l Navy Department"
 Practical business deficiency and lack of competition-solely to that" l responded Mir. Lilley.
 50 far as the duty of the committee is concerned in investigating the cor ruption charge. they are at an end are they not?''
 Yes"
 The committee adjourned until morn ing.
 Mrs. Peeden, MusseI Shoals.
 Florence April 17-(SpeciaI )--News