Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1915-08-27
Extract From
Congressional Record
By Congressman Clyde Fl. TaYenner,

BY Congressman Clyde IL. IaYenner,
When Mr.. Daniels, for many
years editor and publisher Of the
Raleigh IN. c. News and Observer,
was SWORD in as Secretary of the
Navy and had time to look about
him, he found that the peoples
money was being wasted by the
payment of excessive prices FIR
armor and practically all articles
required for the Navy. Through
out his two years in the Cabinet
| he has been earnestly endeavorlng
to rescue the Public Treasury from
the patriots for war, who year IN
and year out have been helping
themselves, seemingly at will, from
the public crib. Secretary Daniels
has saved the Government some
So 900 900, which is but a drop IN
the bucket to the amount he could
save if he could obtain Government
manufacture of everything.
In his first annual report for the
year 1913 Secretary Daniels asked
for an appropriation for an armor
plate factory. | quote from that
report:
Il desire to recommend the pas
sage at the earliest moment of a
sufficient appropriation to begin
the construction of a Government
amor plant to relieve situation
which, in my estimation. is lntoler
able and at total variance with tie
principle of economy in spending
Government money. Only three
firms in this country manufacture
armor plate, and these firms have
pat in bids for armor plate seldom
varying over few dollars, and in
instances being Identical to cent.
Asked for reasons as to the un'fnr-
nifty of these bids, two of the firms
replied frankly t''.r as the co.. =
tract would be DIVIDED amongst
them anyway liz, effect of com
petitive bids woud be to reduce
the profits male by the three
firms.
"By manufacturing armor plate
in its own plant the Government
will be able to keen for its own use
any improvements in the manufac-
ture or composition of its armor
that may be developed. The list
word has not been said in armor,
and past history shows that great
improvements in the manufacture
and design of armor plate have
been made. The greater part OF
these improvements were suggest
de by actual experience gained by
naval officers. Under our present
system of obtaining our armor
plate from private companies such
improvements become the pro-
perty of all the world and can be
obtained by anybody who cares to
buy them. Even now the improve
ments in amor and the designs
worked out by the navy have been
embodied in the warships of
another nation recently finished by
the Bethlehem Steel Co., and put
into commission. This is not an
argument lightly to be disregarded
in favor of a Government armor
plant, nor has it been overlooked,
for instance, by Japan, which has
erected it's own armor- making
plant and surrounded it vi h such
secrecy that none of the other ma
tons are able to tell whether or
not at this minute the japanese
armor may not be superior to any
other in existence. In addition to
Japan. the French Government,
after experimenting with a factory
capable of producing only the
lighter weights of armor, is en-
largiDg its~Government plant so as
to permit of the production OF
thick plates. and Russia has had
its own armor plate factory for
some time.