New Britain herald., 1916-03-22
STEEL BARONS BACK
 DOWN AND TENDER
 !. 5. BARGAIN PRICE
Their Threats Ignored, Armor ~ Manufacturers Agree to Lower
 Price Instead Of Increasing It
FEAR THEY WILL LOSE THEIR
 PLANTS AND BIC INVESTMENT

In Desperate Straits. They Offer to TuIfu All Contracts at ssa5 Per Ton, Although Prevailing Price Is $425--TIis Being Unsatisfactory, They Will Let Arbitration Commit tee Fix Price.
 Washington, March 22.-When the Mouse naval committee today received the Ti!1man bill for a government arnlor plate plant, which passed the senate yesterday, it also received e proposal from tfc Bethlehem Steel Go. to cut thc price of armor from ale present price Of $425 a ton 10 $395.
 This offer previously was made to the senate committee and ignored Tn ti3e face or threats after the senate committees refusal to entertain the proposal, that the armor makers would Eaise the price if the bill passed, the company $ TbuoWeu OlLSI cduSou IIluCIl surprise. The proposal was submitted by President Grace of the Bethlehem company who repeated his statement that if the government erected a plant, private works worth more than twenty million dollars would be made useless.
 Obligations as Citizen.
 President Grace's proposal con- tinued
 "The Bethlehem Steel Co.,, alto gether aside from it's financial inter ests recognized it's obligations as a citizen and in order that it's position may be clearly understood, now de- sires formally to submit the follow ing proposition to the federal govern ment: we will manufacture One-third or such additional quantity as may be awarded to us of the armor plate re- uuired for the contemplated five-year naval program, estimated at approXl- rnately 120, 900 tons, at price of $395 per ton for side armOr, as compared with the price of $425 now obtaining.
 "The proposed price is lower than has been paid by the government for more than ten years
 < Guarantee Satisfactory Price.
  factory we will agree to permit any we'll known firm of chartered ac- countants, or the federal trade com mission to inventory our plant and make careful estimates of the cost or manufacture: with that data in hand we will meet the secretary of the navy and guarantee to manufacture armor at a price which will be entire Y satisfactory to him, as being quite as low as the lowest price at which the government could possibly manu- facture armor on it's own account after taking into account all proper Charges.
 we make the foregoing proposi ton rather than have our plant put out of existence. We have invested, as actually inventoried today over S7,O00,OOO in that plant. This figure does not take into account the large expenditures, certainly S2,000, 900, for the, plants and equipment which have been abandoned on account of be- coming obsolete.
 I've are today selling armor to the United States government at a lower price than England, Germany, France Austria and Japan are pay ing, even where the government itself (Japan) has embarked in the busl- ness. NOC only IS IIldL true, ouI tho specifications of the United States are much more rigid, and the wages paid are very much higher than those pre- Yai1ing in any foreign country.
 Lowest Price in Twenty-ninc Years.
 "Steel prices are continually going sJp, and they are today much higher than has been the case for many years. In spite of that we offer to make armor at a lower price than the United States has paid for twenty nine years, and we agree to accept this price for the next five years. We also call attention to the fact that Enough since the war began, we have been able in Europe to get almost any price we chose to ask for ordnance, we have during the period made no addition whatever to the selling price to the United States government for any Of the ordnance products which we manufactured Government Appropriates $11,000,000
 Washington, March 22-The Till man bill, appropriating $11,000,OO( for the acquisition of a government hrmor plate factory, passed by the senate late yesterday, went to the house today. There the measure all. tomatically goes to the naval com z nnittee which had set apart the day