Evening star., 1916-03-16
Senator Weeks Criticises Till
man Measure for Establish
ment of Government Plant.
SAYS SUCH COMPETITION
WOULD BE UNAMERICAN
Denies Any Favoritism Is Shown
Special Interests-Would Close
Big Market.

Senator Weeks of Massachhu-
setts TODAY attacked the Tillman
bill for the establishment of a
government armor-plate factory.
Addressing the Senate, Mr..
Weeks denied that condition lit
tie short OF scandalous' existed
through the dealing of the gov
ernment with the armor-plate
manufacturers, as charged in the
report submitted by Senator Till
man. He denied there was any
connection between the protective
tariff and the alleged favoritism
shown the manufacturers, as was
charged.
| Senator Weeks contended that it
| would be un-American for the govern
ment to go into competition with it's
, own citizens in the manufacturing
business, and said that such a step
country going into foreign markets
with armor plate in the future. In part
he said:
Denies Favoritism Shown.
rs it favoritism to special interests
| for this government to buy what 1t
needs of its own citizens. of plants rep
| resented by large numbers Of stock
| holders and employees, and is 1t scan
| dalous for them to consult with the
Navy Department about the contracts
| which they are asked to take? If such
| a condition is true, 1t opens up very
| interesting proposition. II 1t is 80, why
| does not the party now in power repeal
| the provisions which prevent the Sec
retary of the Navy buying from for
| eign manufacturers and open this par
| ticular product to the competitions of
f; the world? 1t is apparent that there
are two reasons for not doing this, one
being that it would not be fortunate
political move, and another being that
| 1t would be contrary to every reason
able public policy to allow the citizens
of other countries to manufacture
those things which are vital to our
preparation for national defense.
This report goes on to say that from
1887 to 1915 investigation has followed
investigation without result. Why has
| tneTe Deen no result IL IL mas DeeH
visable to make a change. Congress
] has been in the hands of the democratic
party three times since the first date
mentioned. If it has been desirable to
make a change why has not the change
been made? The reason Is that here
| tofore those who have believed that
| better results might be obtained If the
government manufactured armor plate
| have on investigation failed to find
sufficient reasons for making any
a ha a f.
tempt. It has remained for the present
committee on naval affairs, without
sufficient knowledge and with no really
accurate basis for it's conclusions. to
propose to put the government into the
manufacture of this material.
Big Market in Prospect.
ct is true that there Is only one Gus
toner in the United States for this
product-the government; but 1t is not
true that there are no other customers.
as is evidenced by the fact that sales
already have been made abroad, that
we recently obtained the building OF a
| battleshp for the Argentine govern
| ment and American armor was used for
that purpose, that the possibility of
| developing this business is very ma
| terial. possibility which. however.
| would at once be eliminated IL we turn
|
| turing of armor instead of continuing
| to purchase of private producers. No
I foreign government would consider for
| a minute the question of purchasing
| armor from another government manu-
| facturer.
THE government needs armor plate,
| and there are three manufacturers pre-
| pared to furnish 1t, any one of whom
| can very nearly manufacture the en-
| tire requirement. and certainly any two
4 tha, ,tch oil
that the government needs or will need
| under the building program which is
| in contemplation.
| THE government is obliged to pur-
| chase, and the three manufacturers are
! likely to substantially agree on the
| price to be asked. Under these condi-
tions the obviously sensible thing to
| do is for the government to enter into
| a contract with these companies for a
| limited time, with a right of renewal
| on the part of the government, and
with specified provisions for so doing.
| under which agreement the government
| guarantees to take minimum tonnage
| of armor and the companies agree to
| supply maximum tonnage
| The government should guarantee
| to the companies a stated profit. Ex-
| pert accounting has now become a
| science, 80 that profits can be deter
Facts Of Industry Obtainable.
There Is no difficulty in obtaining
the actual facts about armor making
in this country. Under the present law
the trade commission may go through
any of the armor plants, or all Of
them, and obtain this information for
the benefit of the government, OF
course, without its being made public
Therefore, coming here without facts
as does this report. stating propositions
based on theories or prejudice, ane
without actual knowledge. is unfaiI
and unbusinesslike in the extreme"