Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-03-20

.
tent, to the European war. This con-
dition was rapidly changed however,
/ by the very large orders for steel pro-
ducts placed in this country by the
various European governments and
I by an Increased demand for domestic
. consumption. This combined foreign
and domestic demand has created an
unusual condition in the steel indus
try, and to-day there exists an actual
shortage OF steel-making capacity in
this country. These conditions, cou-
| pied with the difficulty of obtaining
certain ray materials and an increase
in the price or labor, have resulted in
n rapid increase in the price of steel
products.
All Departments Busy
With the recent extraordinary
market for all classes of steel products
and for ships the various pants of
your corporation enter the year 1916
with all departments, with one eXcep-
tion, running at full capacity.
That exception is the armor-plate
department. Bethlehem Steel Com
pany has practically completed deliv
cries to the Government on all pend
ing armor contracts Contracts for
the current year have not been
awarded.
Your attention is called to the fact
that bill is pending in Congress and
has, with the support OF the Sec
rotary of the Navy, been recommend
/ ed for passage by the Senate commit
tee on naval affairs, providing Tor the
| building by the government at an eN
pense of S11,0O0,00 of an armor plant
with a capacity of 10000 tons a year.
| This capacity provides for more
than double what have been the aver
age actual requirements Of the United
/ States for armor over the past twenty
years. and if such bill is passed Ine
value of existing armor plants in this
country Will be virtually destroyed.
/ bethlehem Steel Company has more
than S7,000,000 now invested in it's
I plants, devoted to this use-and use
less for any other purpose.
Willing to Meet Government
Recognizing that though the in
/ terests of your property should be
carefully conserved by your officers,
on matter of this kind, your corpor-
auon also has an important obligation
TO the nation of which it is a citizen,
your officers have appeared before the
senate committee on naval affairs and
urged the defeat of the pending meas
ure. As it is frankly declared that the
sole purpose of the proposed enter
prise Is that the government may Sc
cure its armor at a lower price, your
officers have submitted the following
II I.
We will agree to permit any we'll
known firm of chartered public ac-
cOuntantS 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 ar
NOR 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 possi-
| bly, manufacture armor on it's own ac-
count, after taking into account all
proper charges. As a concrete work
ing basis for such negotiations, Beth
lehem Steel Company has offered to
manufacture one-third OF the armor
plate required for the contemplated
fVe-year naval program ESTIMATED at
approXil .ately 10000 tons), for a
price of 1895 per ton for side armor,
as compared with the price of S425
per ton now obtaining.
Cheaper Than in Europe
TT may be added that while all
other steel prices have greatly in
creased, the foregoing figure at which
we now offer to make armor for the
United States is not only a lower price
than has been paid by the government
for more than ten years, but it is
also a substantially lower price than
is paid for armor by Japan, Austria,
Germany, France or England.
Bethlehem Steel Company entered
upon the manufacture of armor plate
at the request of the United States
government. 1t has during all these
years co-operated with the govern
ment to the end that the United States
should have the benefit of the highest
development of the art.
Although aside from the financial
interests of your corporation, we, as
citizens, and in the light of our ex-
perience, should regard it as extremely
unfortunate If the United States
should enter upon a policy which
should prevent their being placed con-
tinuously at its disposal in this i'm
portant detail of national defense, the
experience, the enterprise and the ini-
tiative of the steel manufacturing in
dustry of the country.
Assuming that manufacturers are
willing to accept as low a price as the
government may properly exact, we
earnestly hope that Congress will not
| feel it necessary to embark upon the
proposed policy.
Buys Pennsylvania Steel
"Since the close of the fiscal year
covered by this report, but prior to
this writing, agreements have been
executed under which II is proposed
that Bethlehem Steel Company, or a
subsidiary company shall acquire all
the assets of the Pennsylvania Steel
| Company (of Pennsylvania) and
Maryland Steel Company and all the
other assets of Pennsylvania Steel
Company (of New Jersey for SAL
941,63O subject to existing liens ex-
cept the SS,500,000, face value of
bonds of Pennsylvania Steel Company
! (of New Jersey, which are to be re-
/ tired out of the proceeds of this sale.
The liens, subject to which the proper
ties are to be purchased, aggregate
approximately s17,3OO,OOO. This pur-
chase brings to your corporation
plants already In operation that will
! take the place of those which for
some time your officers and directors
have been planning to construct"