The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1915-10-14

| Butd urlng this period the ar
NOR manufacturers Of the world
met in Paris, and since then there
has been little or no competition
worthy of the name. The armor
manufacturers asked themselves
why they should cut each others
Threats and why it would not be to
their advantage to receive $500 or
$500 a ton instead of 5000 or
$500.
In his report III. Doc. vol. So,
p. %, Gath Cong.) Secretary Of
the Navy under Cleveland, Hon.
H. A. Herbert, in commenting on
the question of trust says:
II am informed upon authority
which l believe to be good that
about, or perhaps before, the time
of the last contract of the Bethle-
hem company with Russia, there
was meeting in Paris of the re-
personalities of the principal, if
not all, of the armor manufacture
ers Of Europe and America"
This was in 1894; and COM
menting upon the prices charged
in Europe and America, he says,
on the same page:
''These facts seem to lead to
the conclusion that there is at
least a friendly understanding or
agreement among the principal
manufacturers Of the world that
prices shall be maintained at
about the same level"
Here we find evidence 90 years
old of worldwide Armor Plate
Trust.
In the naval hearings for 1914,
page 62l, the present Secretary
of the Navy, Josephus Daniels,
used the following language in
referring to an advertisement for
bids for armor plate for the
dreadnaught Pennsylvania:
when we came to the armol'
we rejected all the bids, and were
then absolutely in a situation
from which it appeared there was
no relief. Though you can not es-
tablish it in black and white,
there is no doubt of all -Armor
Plate Trust all over the world.
That is to say, the people abroad
who make armor plate will not
come here and submit bids, be-
cause they know if they do our
manufacturers will go abroad and
submit bids. They have divided
the world, like Gaul, into three
parts"
There are tricks in all trades.
II the peoples of the several pow
ers can be melted to mutual dis
trust, suspicion, and hatred, for
instance, it means increased divi-
dends for the stockholders of the
war tratfickers in each country.
The several leading powers aim
tn increase their naval strength
in the same proportion. If one of
the powers can be induced to take
on an additional superdread-
naught il is used as an argument
as to why the other leading pow
ers should do the same. 1t works
as an endless chain. with the war
burden ever and ever increasing
on the backs of the taxpayers Of
the world. AS the armOr and pow
der makers of the world work
hand in hand. it is to the interest
of the War Trust of one country
to have foreign nation increase
its building program.
Ii new design can be worked
out, that. too, means more Srlst
for the shipbuilders. 1t calls for
the speedy "scrapping" of the
vessels already on hand as cob
s"lete," 'scrapping" meaning
throwing on the scrap heap as old
junk. So the life of the battleship
is ever lcssening.
Another trick in the trade Of the
war traders which is obviously
profitable, otherwise it would not
be continued, is the hiring of re-
tired Army and Navy officials and
eX- Members of Congress by the
powder armor, and shipbuildin9
concerns. These eX-otficials know
the inner workings Of the mill
tary branches of the Government.
know the personnel in an init
mate way. and by private CONVEX
sation, by correspondence. and
in various ways are in a position
to obtain much useful mforma-
ton. They know how to go about
things for results. Through these
ex-otficials the War Trust has be-
come thoroughly intrcnched in
the governing power.