The Washington herald., 1916-09-17
The -Armor Plate Plant Site


Secretary of the Navy Daniels faces the task
of selecting site for the proposed sII,oooooo
amor plate plant He was given this task By
ongfess and may perform it without the curb
of restrictions. He has sites in practically every
section Of the United States tofch moose Hosh ard
hb only problem Is to sclect that site which
possesses most advantages Tt b - be pfesiiucd
that sentiment will not figure in The seleetiSn and
THAT the site viii be chosen in the that
a business corporation would select site for a
factory y M a nF \
|. About ten years ago, large, business CORPORA
ton, the Washington Steel and Ordnance Som
pany, faced the same task that today ~confronts
Secretary Daniefs|he sselection of p site fer a
plant This companykwas engaged 10 the manu-
faeture offprojectiles and hadfs' plant in -Rus-.
burgh. The company handled the selection
of site in the same ywayI that st hsndled all
business problems An Investigation of all Sayail-
able sites was made, the advantages Of the
various sites were carefully examined and
site was chosen for the sole reason that it was.
the best site That could be found.
This site is on that tract of land known
Giesboro Manor on the Potomac, widths the
District of Colpmbia and just across the river
from Washington proper, The plant has been
located son this site for about~ten years and it
is mo- secret that the operation of the plant has
beehive successful. There was no sentiment
attached to the selection of the site It isSprob-
able, that the sentiment attached 70 the name OF
the National Capital did not occur to- the men
who selected the site. - = II
The site was chosen for scientific economic
and business reasons. The same reasons that
brought the ordnance plant to Washingtou should
bring the big armor plate plant to Washington.
The strongest argument perhaps, in favor
Of Washington as site, is that there sAisA no
strong argument against it. It is stated by
navy officials that the plant must be built where
ii wiz be safe from attack. Washington today
is regarded as reasonably safe against any
enemy and it j, to be supposed that the city's
defenses viii be greatly strengthened after all
of the lessons of the European war. ! Such al
nation as the United States Il, not likely to leave
its capital in danger and every dollar that will
be spent to safeguard Washington viii serve
the double purpose of protecting the armor
plate plant Is ~
Next to the question of safety, perhaps the
most important factor is that of the cost of
operating the plant--The economical operation
Of steel making plant under all kinds of con-
didons here has been found possible by the
plant on Giesboro Manor and at the navy yard
gun factory The residential advantages of the
National Capital will attract the best workrnen
In stne country 10 & Uasnington II posftions are
offered and the chances of not being able to
procure labor are practically nil "r'Eht - - 4
If navy officials seek an advantage that
Washington alone can offer they will find it
in the fact that the armor plate plant should
be located where it can be under the close
supervision of all government experts interested,
in the work In this fact Washington has an
argument that IS unanswersble, an argument that,
may be- relied upon to bring the plant shere 1un-
less there is some reason. not yet known. which
alone is sufficient to eliminate this city as
site
If there is such reason Alexandria prob
ably will be selected for the site. Practically
ali of the arguments fsyoring Washington apply
with equal force to Alexandria and supporters
of Alexandria's assert that in some re-
spects the Virginia city has advantages over
II Alexandra has advantages over
Washington these advantages may be offset, in
the minds of navy officials, by the fact that the
plant, if located within the District of Columbia,
would be in territory governed by Congress IN
stead of under the Virginia Legislature.
"A study of all the; faets-thus far presented.
at the Navy Department seems to indicate that
if Washington should not be selected as a
site Alexandra has better chance than any
other of the more than 100 cities IN the fight.
A New Order by the Excise Board ]