The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1914-05-05
Can SAVE s3,0OO,OOO
ANNUALLY DONATION
Tavenner Tells Of Saving to Result
From Government Owned
Armor Plant
CITIZENS TO BE BENEFITED
Believes Time is Here When Battle
ships Should be Built When Needed
and Not to Assist Corporation
BY r. F. Wilson

by II. II. watson
Washington, May 5.-Declarin,
that according to the estimates o
the Secretary of the Navy, the gov
eminent would save 100000 an
naully by manufacturing it's own ar
NOR plate, Representative Clyde H
Tavenner of Illinois offered al
amendment to the Naval bill provid
ing for a preliminary appropriation
Of S 100000 for the beginning o.
the construction of such a govern
ment plant.
For twenty years there has been z
movement on foot for a government
armor plant" said Mr.. Tavenner
''Time after time amendments have
been offered to the naval bill provid-
ing for such plant, and time after
time points of order have been raised
by gentlemen who do not want the
government to manufacture armor,
and the amendments have been
stricken out. The result has been
that year after year the armor plate
ring--and I use that term advisedly
has been permitted to go on draw
ing down hundreds and thousands
and even millions of dollars in extor-
tomato profits.''
els it the gentleman's purpose in
this effort asked Representative
Hensley of Missouri, "to take the
profit out of war;"
'That is exactly what l desire to
= accomplish. replied Tavenner. II
am not so much concerned whether
we have one battleship year or two
battleships a year, so long as the
government does the manufacturing,
because then when we appropriate a
dollar for battleships we will get a
dollars worth of battleship, but
now no one knows how much we get.
Many gentlemen want large num-
der of battleships simply in order
that private manufacturers may
make huge profits in building them.
When the government manufactures
all munitions of war, then we will
be able to discuss the number of bat
tleships needed on the merits of the
question.
1--WE do not know to what extent
we are overcharged for armor plate,
but we do know that Mr.. Carnegie,
who was one of the first to go into
the armor business, boasts Of having
made millionaires out of rs men, and
he is now going through life giving
his millions away right and left, and
death is going to overtake him with
untold millions still on his hands. So
there must be huge profits in the ar
NOR plate business, and the govern
ment ought to save some of these
millions of profits to the taxpayers. "
Mr.. Barton of Nebraska interrupt
ed Congressman Tavenner to ask: els
it not true that we have paid en-
ormous prices for armOr plate that a
committee of Congress, and that the
courts themselves, have found was
faulty, worth about $50 ton, and
that we have paid $500 a ton for it %
EYES, declared Tavenner, land
have seen affidavits of employees of
the Bethlehem Steen Company, who
stated under oath that they were in
structed to patch up defective plates
in order to fool the government in
spectors. During the time that war
with Spain was imminent the three
armor plate concerns declined tC
manufacture any armor until they
got their price of 500 ton more
than the price Congress had deter.
mined upon after investigation as 9
fair price. But the love of country
possessed by these companies did moi
prevent them from selling armOr t.
Russie at $249 ton while they were
charging the United States $616.14 {
ton. The secretary of the Navy re-
commends an appropriation for al
armor plate factory in his annual re
port, and L submit Con gress ought tt
heed this recommendation which will
save the government 100000 (
year at the very lowest estimate, ant
permit this amendment to be votet
upon on it's merits.''
The point of order against thu
amendment was sustained, and Tav