Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1909-1915, 1913-10-10
WANTS PLAN
! | |: ARM|0R
House Bill !. Calls / !. For Expendi.
ture| Of ST 100000.
AIMED AT AL Legged 7RUS

-
petitor Would Not Produce al sf It's.
Own Plate Increase In Prices Has.
Been Felt. n 35 ~
Washington. Seven million dollars
to provide for a government armorit
plate plant is asked for In s bill Intro
duced by Representative Britten Of Il-sJ
linois. The bill was introduced coinci-
dent with the announcement BY the.
navy department that bids for So, DOtJ
900 worth Of armor for battleship No.
80 had been rejected because they are
identical. Although Representa- tive.
Br1tten ~ a Kepu Dlican. mis- BILL irnl q. s::
lows generally the ideas OF Secretary.
Daniels who has reported that xs
trust evidently exists in the arnlnr..
plate business and that the govern
ment should have q plant Of Its own
not to make all its arlnOr, but to pro:
vide enough to make competition willis
the private mills. III
In addition. Representative Britte.sl
IL about to take up with several sena-
tors the advisable of changing tt,e.;
Underwood tariff bill so as to admit
armor plate free Of duty, KS 5sss .
Representative Britten's bill provides
for the acquisition Of site, the cree
ton Of suitable buildings and the pro
curing of necessary machinery and
supplies for the establishment and
maintenance of the plan. Active OPP
eratiOns on the plant are to be begun
within six months after the passage OF
the BILL s.3i j. a Is Is & 55s5
In discussing his bill Representa- i've
Britten said that he had had in mind
for some months the introducing Of
'.plan that would break up if possible
the trust now controlling the armor-:
plate situation In this country. II
4 be opening Of the bids Of the navy
department for 100000 worth Of ar
NOR for battleship No. 80. appropriated
for last year. in which the bids Of the.
three armor producing companies ins
the United States correspondent exacr-
" and giving the same amount per tons
as last year said Mr.. Britten. shows
ccnclusiyely the COLLISION existing in
the bidding regardless Of the fact that
each bidder attests in an a fidavit SUBJ
smitted with his respective bids that
the & company is not engaged in any
such agreement Improves conclusive
" that competition for this enormous
amount OF government business is a..
farce, s ,$ 81. Al Il n 3#5 # s.
'".The only way to procure armor
plate at anything like d reasonab le
price is for the government to enter.
Into direct compe ition in Its manu-
sfacture with the companies already
engaged in this work. I am not ms
favor Of entering into the field to-
such an extent as ito put the other ar
NOR producing companies out Of bnsi-
ness, but to manufacture a sufficient
amount Of this commodity SO as to-
force them into competition and COM
pei them to offer us their armor att
least alta fairly reasona BILE cost.
Inyestigat recently made in this
direction have shown that in a govern
ment plant capable Of turning out
10000 tons year, which is about ha!s
of the armor needed on a two battle
ship program, the cost of the arnsSF
will not exceed 1914 a ton. The differ
!ence between this and the amount BID
last Tuesday. which was exactly the
same per ton as the bids submitted.
last year. $454;; on 10000 tons, at a 4
saving OF, S140 per ton over the price
now paid, the government would save
81, 100000 per annum. Deducting the
interest on the money used In building
the plant, the government will still
save considerably over $1,000 900 a
year. which amount In a very short
time will completely cover the cost Of !
the plant, and at the same time We.
will be independent Of this branch Of
the steel trust. As a business PROPOSE
ton the plant would net the govern
ment more than II per cent 81 the en-
tire Investment after allowing 8 per cent
on the total expenditure Tor ST 200. OOOl.
In 1906 the price Of armor plate was.
$346 "a ton. in l907 the trust Jumped It..
to S420 Il ton, and last year It was rails
ed to s454 q ton. The price goes up
constantly and REMAINS up. and the
evidence issIior lacking that the price.
at the present time is based more upon
what the companies think they CAN get
than what it costs.
*s@ ONE Yea RS ago we were confronted
with wi he same problem in the purchase
OF powder for the llse OF the army and
the navy We built d powder plant,
entered into direct competition with
the powder companies and today are
saving $26s so on each ton Of powder
$:s I'VE manufacture our own powder I'M
part, We nafactnre our own gums
and llrlt there sis no ftrson III the world
Why We should not manufacture a8B
part Of our owl, armor plate. The cost:
$ 5'f the plant is not prohibitive. and the
cost Of operation vii not be d severe
obstacle.
ss5' am convinced that the govern
sm nt should erect d plant large enough
20 manufacture a gootli portion OF the
a arr plate CURED and give the rest