Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1913-07-18

has been Immensely proud OF IL rs one
Of the glories OF the Fatherland.
And now to discover that this great industry
has stopped to the bribing of oficials-a fact ad
mtted by the Krupp firm. after the charge had
been made In the reichstag-and that 1t had been .
supplying French newspapers with material for
war-scare articles, to induce the German
government to buy armament from the
Krupps, is more to Germany than scandal. II
is catastrophe
The charges were made in the reichstag by DIR.
Liebknecht, the Socialist deputy, and in the col
umns of the Vorwaerts, the Socialist newspaper
| It is coincidence that 1t was that newspaper
which ten years ago printed another scandalous
| story about the Krupps which caused the death
of the then head of the works Friedrich Alfred
Krupp
1t was impossible to refute him, because the
minister Of war. Gen. Won Heeringen, was Obliged
| to admit then and there that an inquiry was going
on which had already revealed that "one Of the
Krupp officials had bribed officers to reveal GER
tain information. The following day the Krupps
issued statement In which they admitted that
their representatives in Berlin had maintained
friendly relations" with their former Comrades
OF the war department for the purpose Of obtain
ing business information" and had bestowed
small present ION certain under officials"
1t was on Friday that Lebknecht exploded his
bomb and forced Heeringen to reveal that
secret inquiry and Saturday that the Krupps
made their admission Of bribery. On Sunday the
Vorwaerts published the text OF the instructions
sent by the Deutsche Munitions und Waffenfabrik
to its Paris agent TO leave stone unturned"
to persuade some popular French newspaper to
publish statement that France intended to dou-
BILE her orders for machine guns. The object was
to get the German government to order machine
guns from the Deutsche Munitions und Wanen-
fabrik.
On Tuesday the popular indignation had risen
so high that Gen. Won Heeringens plea for a sus.
pension Of judgment until his private inquiry had
done its work was forgotten The budget commit
tee of the rechstag voted to appoint parlamen.
tary commission of inquiry into the scandal This
commission. however despite the protests Of the
Socialists was not vested with power to send for
persons and papers
Although the Krupp works date from 1910, when
Friedrich Krupp established his forge at Essen. it
was his son. Alfred Krnpp, who was the real
founder OF the industry. Friedrich died practical
ly bankrupt in 1926, leaving little more than the
secret OF his caststeel process to his son, and IL
, was 80 years before any striking results were
! achieved
1t was in 1910 that Friedrich Krupp purchased
a small forge in Essen, where he devoted himself
to the problem of manufacturing cast steel, but
: though the article put the market by him
In 1916 1t commanded but little SALE and the firm
was anything but prosperous. He employed only
!. three workmen
Alfred Krupp was born April 26, 1912, and at
the time of his fathers death only fourteen
years old. His mother carried the works until
Alfred reached his majority that twice in the
t history of the works have they been managed by
+ women The present head of the industry Is
' Bertha Krupp, the granddaughter OF the woman
who became its manager in 1925
I The Krupps had little money that Alfred on
his fathers death, was compelled to leave school
to assist his mother. He displayed phenomenal
aptitude for the foundry business, and the works
developed with increasing rapidly after his in.
huence was felt in their management By 1913
!. the firm had expanded that 1872 workmen were
: employed
AS late as 184S the year In which his mother
: | relinquished the sole management of the works
into his hands, he melted the family plate 10 pay
his workmen. Today the mighty industry fur
nshes employment TO a majority Of the workmen
: Of three cities and dozen coal and iron mining
towns The ships built from it, equipped with
its steel, and armed with its cannon. are on all
the seas, and wherever steel is used the name oil
d, Krupp is known. The capital Of the firm now Is
n about 100000 900.
II was in 1s47 that Krupp scored his first rea
success. when he made three FOUNDER muzzle
loading gun OF cast steel At the great London
exhibition Of 1851 he exhibited solid aawless
g. ngot of cast steel weighing tons. thus estab
fishing the fact that important firm existed II
lie Germany capable OF turning samples Of excel
lent workmanship. The Essen works we're every
where spoken Of and the output watched with
the closest interest. The manufacture OF Neidiesi
steel tires for railway vehicles was another IN
# vention which followed after.
- The making of heavy ordnance. which has madt
the name of these works famous the~world over
5" not then prominent part Of the business
a. One OF the first large orders be gof for firearms
came four years after the London exhibition. wheI