Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-03-21
BETHLEHENrS OFFER

lis too much to hope, we suppose
i that Congress will pause in it.
headlong plunge toward govern
ment-owned armor plants to consider
the offer of the Bethlehem Steel Com.
pany to manufacture armor plate a
the governments own figures; in Other
words, to sell to the United States al
the theoretical figure which govern,
ment experts say they can manufac
ture plate in the plants which Con
gress would build at an expenditur,
of many millions of dollars. The
offer of the Bethlehem Company, a.
set forth in its annual report, pub
lished in the Telegraph of yesterday
is well worth careful reading. 1t fol
lows in substance:
Your attention is called to the
fact that a bill is pending in Con-
gress and has, with the support of
the the secretary of the Navy, been
Senate committee on naval affairs.
providing for the building by the
Government at an expense of SILL
OOO,OOO or an armor plant with u
capacity of 10000 tons a year.
This capacity provides for more
than double what have been the
average actual requirements of the
United States for armor over the
past twenty years. and if such
bill is passed the value of existing
virtually destroyed. Bethlehem
Steel Company has more than ST.
100000 now invested in its plants,
devoted to this use-and useless for
any other purpose.
Recognizing that though the in
terestS of your property should be
carefully conserved by your officers,
on a matter of this kind your COR
poration also has an important OBJ
legation to the nation OF which it is
a citizen. your officers have ap-
peared before the Senate commit
tee on naval affairs and urged the
defeat of the pending measure. AS
it is frankly declared that the sole
purpose of the proposed enterprise
is that the Government may secure
its armor at a lower price. your of
ficcrs have submitted the following
proposition to the Federal Govern
ment:
We will agree to permit any
well-known firm of chartered pub
lie accountants to inventory our
plant and make careful estimates of
the cost of manufacture; with that
data in hand we will meet with the
Secretary of the Navy and agree to
manufacture armor at price which
will be entirely satisfactory to the
Secretary of the Navy as being
quite as low as the price at which
the Government could possibly
manufacture armor on it's own ac-
count, after taking into account
all proper charges.
All the arguments are in favor o
this offer. The United States Gov
ernment is not interested in armo
plate making, save that it desires al
unlimited supply upon which to draw
and a price that is reasonable. o
the first it is assured and the latte
Bethlehem guarantees. 1t is the eX
perience of the country that govern
ment plants cost more to operate thaI
privately owned enterprises, so tina
we are by no means assured of an
saving even if the government doe
build its own mills with money tha
is badly needed for other purpose.
We can ask nothing better than armo
plate at the governments own price.
and If Congress does not accept tn
Bethlehem offer it not only label
itself as unbusinessliSe, but convict
itself of utter inefficiency-if not c
insincerity. The company is not q
present interested in creating NOR
places for jobholders, even in armo
plants. What it wants is preparedness
quickly and at reasonable cost