The Springfield herald., 1913-06-20

- has been immensely proud of 1t as one
of the glories OF the Fatherland
And now to discover that this great industry
has stopped to the bribing of oficias-a fact ad-
mitted by the Krupp firm after the charge had
been made in the rechstag-and that 1t had been
supplying French newspapers with material Tor
war-scare articles. 30 as to induce the German
government to buy more armament from the
Krupps Ia more to Germany than scandal 1t
is catastrophe.
The charges were made in the Eeichstag by Dr.
Llebknecht. the Socialist deputy. and in the col
umns of the Vorwaerts. the Socialist newspaper.
1t 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
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 department for the purpose OF obtain
ing business information" and had bestowed
small present ION certain under officials
1t was on Friday that Liebknecht exploded his
bomb and forced Won Heeringen to reveal that
secret inquiry and on Saturday that the krupps
made their admission of bribery. On Sunday the
Vorwaerts published the text OF the instructions
sent by the DeutBche Munitions una WaHenIaprlk
to its Paris agent to leave no stone unturned
to persuade some popular French newspaper to
publish statement that France .intendedfto dou-
BILE her orders for machine guns. The object was
to get the German government to order machine
guns from the Deutsche Munitions und Waffen-
fabrik.
On Tuesday the popular indignation had risen
so high that Gen. Won Heeringens plea for sus-
pension of judgment until his private inquiry had
done its work was forgotten. The budget commit
~ pl,otac taA tn int RI 1tay
tary commission of inquiry into the scandal This
commission. however. despite the protests of the
Socialists 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 1t
his son. Alfred Krupp who WAS the real
founder of the industry. Friedrich died practical
iy bankrupt in 1926. leaving little more than the
secret Of his caststeel process to his son. and 1t
was 30 years before any striking results were
achieved.
1t in 1910 that Friedrich Krupp purchased
email forge In Essen. where he devoted himself
to the problem OF manufacturing cast STEEL but
though the article was put on the market by MIN
In 1915 1t commanded but little sale. and the firm
was anything but prosperous. He employed only
three workmen.
Alfred Krupp was born April 26. 1872. and at
the time of his fathers death was only fourteen
years old. His mother carried on the works until
Alfred reached his majority SO that twice in the
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 1926.
The Krupps had SO 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 rapidty after his In
fuence felt in their management. BY 1s4s
the firm had expanded that 1922 workmen were
employed
AS late as 1848 the year in which his mother
relinquished the sole management of the works
into his hands, he melted the family plate to pay
his workmen Today the mighty industry fur
nishes employment to majority of the workmen
of three cities and dozen coal and iron mining
towns. The ships built from 1t. equipped with
It's steel, and armed with its cannon are on all
the seas. and wherever steel is used the name of
Krupp is known. The capital OF the firm is
about $6O,000.O00.
1t was in 1S47 that Krupp scored his first real
success when he made three-pounder muzzle-
loading gun Of cast steel. At the great London
exhibition OF 1851 he exhibited solid fawless
ngot of cast steel weighing two tons. thus estab-
fishing the fact that important firm existed in
Germany capable Of turning out samples OF excel
lent workmanship. The Essen works were every
where spoken OF. and the output watched with
the closest interest. The manufacture of wedless
steel tires for railway vehicles was another In
vention which followed after.
The making of heavy ordnance, which has made
not then a prominent part of the business.
One Of the first large orders he got for firearms
came four years after the London exhibition, when