The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1913-06-21

has been immensely proud OF II as one
OF the glories OF the Fatherland.
And discover that this great industry
has stopped to the bribing OF offcials-a fact ad
mitted by the krupp firm. after the charge had
been made in the rechstag-and that it had been
supplying French ewspapers with material for
war-scare articles, SO to induce the German
government to buy more armament from the
krupps, is more to Germany than scandal. 1t
IS a catastrophe.
The charges made in the rechstag by DR.
Lebknecht, the Socialist deputy. and in the COZ
umns of the Norwaerts. the Socialist newspaper
1t is coincidence that it 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 refute him. because the
minister OF war. Gen. Heeringen, was Obliged
TO admit then and there that inquiry 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 "on certain under officials"
1t was on Friday that Liebknecht exploded his
bomb and forced Heerngen to reveal that
secret inquiry and on Saturday that the krupps
made their admission of bribery On Sunday the
Forwaerts published the text of the instructions
sent by the Deutsche Munitions und Wafenfabrik
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-
Sabrik
On Tuesday the popular indignation had risen
30 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 reichstag voted to appoint parliament
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 krupp, 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 1t
was 80 years before any striking results
achieved
1t was in 1910 that Friedrich Krupp purchased
a small forge in Essen, where lie devoted himself
70 the problem OF manufacturing cast steel, but
though the article was put on the market by him
In 1915 1t commanded but little sale. and the firm
Vas anything but prosperous He employed only
three workmen.
Alfred Krupp was born April 2s, 1872 and at
the time of his fathers death 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
mis- 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
nuence was felt in their management BY 1SiS
the firm had expanded that 122 workmen
employed.
AS late 1s4s. the year in which his mother
relinqushed 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 a dozen coal and iron mining
towns. The ships built from 1t, equipped with
fits steel and armed with its cannon, are on all
krupp is known The capital OF the firm now is
about 500, 900 900
1t in 1s47 that Krupp scored his first real
success. when he made a three-pounder muzzle
loading gun Of cast steel. At the great London
exhibition of 1851 he exhibited solid fawless
8ngot OF cast steel weighing two tons, thus estab
fishing the fact that an 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 weldless
steel tires for railway vehicles another in
vention which followed soon after.
The making Of heavy ordnance, which has made
che name OF these works famous the world over
was not then prominent part OF the business
One OF the first large orders he got for firearms
came four years after the London exhibition. when