Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-04-08
KlNGSBURY ON LJLLEY
President of Bridgeport Co h.
 terviewed By Journal.

The following article relative to the Lilley and submarine boat con troyersy is taken from the April mum bcr of the Manufacturers Journal and speaks for itself:
 Frederick Kingsbury, Jr., president If the Bridgeport Brass company, was seen at his home, 445 Humphrey street, and asked to make statement In reference to the dispatches from Washington in reference to the Lilley submarine boat inquiry {. MT Kings bury said hls concern acted in q per fectly sincere manner, that it had no intentions that were not perfectly lbove-board and that Representative Lilley implicated the Bridgeport Brass company in the affair without Iustifiable cause.
 "The dispatches say that Mir Lilley gave the names of several Connecticut manufacturers. whom he claimed. ap- preached him to ask that he vote for m appropriation for submarine legis- lation. Among these names is that of Charles Ferry of the Bridgeport Brass company, of which Kingsbury Is president.
 'Mr Kingsbury stated that Mir Ferry was in Washington several weeks ago approximately for two or three days. He said that he went with a number of other representa- lives of brass concerns situated in the Naugatuck valley. All of these gentlemen, he said, saw MT Lilley in tue matter of submarine legislation.
 gro say that we could be impli- cated in any corrupt legislation or any attempt to force corrupt legislation Is obviously false he said, and I am willing to be questioned in the matter by anybody and everybody, for we have nothing to conceal in the affair. I would go down and proclaim the whole affair publicly on the green and the Bridgeport Brass company would be none the worse off in the public eyes,
 "Mr Kingsbury then explained the situation. He said that Mir Ferry went to MT Lilley to make him aware of the business that any appropriation for submarine legislation would mean to some of his constituents. The other gentlemen from the Naugatuck valley did the same. Mir Ferry was far from having any interests in the Electric Boat company; nor had the Bridgeport Brass company. The con- cern just wanted MT Lilley to know that if such an appropriation went through 1t would possibly mean bus mess for one of his constituent cor porations The company was not certain that submarine appropria- tion would have meant business for it. though 1t does manufacture tubing and brass fittings indispensable for submarine boat construction. Indeed, said Mir Kingsbury, I have good req son now to believe that there would be none of our customers who con- struct boats who would undertake the work possibly. That shows how far from being implicated in the affair we were
 "'On the other hand, why was it that Mir Lilley silently listened to Mir Ferry and the other Naugatueli valley representatives ? He said nothing to them at the time about his suspicious that the bill as pre-. scnted was an evil one. He did not say: See here, this bill that you would like to see passed because of the business it might possibly bring you as my constituents is all wrong He simply heard us in silence and now he makes the suggestion. that we were in with the Electric Boat company to get some graft out of it.
 "In connection with the matter Mir Kingsbury was asked if he knew of any boat construction company within Mir Lilley's territory which might possibly he so fixed as to be able to make bids on the construction of the submarine boats. He said he did not know of any unless it was possibly the Eastern Construction company of New London which built the big freighters for Pacific trade some years ago. And he did not think they were prepared for such work. He was certain they had not approached Mir Lilley in the inter ests of any possible business the matter might bring to them if the bill passed congress"