The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1917-06-18
G0ETHAL 'SP[AN
FORSTEELF[EET
GETS SETBACK
Chairman Of Shipping Board
Opposes Price of Steel
$95 A TON TOO MUCH
Cost $40 More Than Navy Is Paying
MAY Result in Resignation of
General Goethals as Head.

washington, June ll.-Wllllan
Denman, chairman of the shipping
board, announced tonight he has re
fused to approve contracts for steel
ships made by General George Goeth
ais, general manager of the emergen
cy feet corporation. He says $95 a
ton for steel is an extortionate price
for General Goethals to pay when the
navy is able to buy it for $65.
This is the first open break between
Mr.. Denman and General Goethals
since the shipping board squabble be-
gan to come to head week or more
ago.
The ground for Mr.. Denman's action
is mainly on the price for steel. He
says he can see no reason why the
emergency fleet corporation should
pay $50 more a ton for steel than the
navy does. The fact that General
Goethals has said s95 ton is only a
basic price for letting contracts, in
Mr.. Denman's opinion, is not sufficient
reason for approving the contracts.
Mr. Denman's announcement brings
the crisis to head This is the first
time any member of the board has in
terfered in General Goethals' ship
building plan. When the canal build
er assumed his duties as head of the
corporation, he was told to go ahead
and build ships. He was given cart
blanche In the making OF contracts,
approving of designs and all that has
to do with the building of ships, he
received free rein. He did not con-
suit members of the board, but accept
ed full responsibility for the ships. In
this way he was able to cut the origi-
nal program, which called for one
thousand wooden ships, to about one
fifth that number, although Mr.. Den
man always has wanted the quick
wooden ships.
Now the chairman has apparently
thrown down the gauntlet to General
Goethals, close observers here believe
that it will lead to either the resigna-
tion of General Goethals or his desig-
nation as the one authority having
power to build ships. This will mean
the shipping board will confine its
work to operating ships after they are
built.
Decision in this point probably will
be decided within the next two or
three days when President Wilson
designates who shall have authority
to expend the $500,000,000 appropriate
ed last week by congress for ship
building purposes.
There is one hope for compromise,
but 1t is not so bright today as last
week 1t is believed General Goe-
thals will agree to set aside portion
of the appropriation made by congress
for building wooden ships and that
this work will be placed in the hands
of some man to be named by the wood
en- ship men.
Such prospect seemed probable
last week because it is said to have
originated with friends of General
and not with those consider
ed his enemies. Now it Is said this
hope has gone because as one of these
friends put it: "The general has his
back up and means to fight. He will
not order a wooden ship, except from
those who have had ship yards for
years. OF course that eliminates the
quick ships, because the men who
have wooden ship yards are not the
men who can build them in large
The only men able to pro-
duce wooden ships on a wholesale
basis are the general contractors of
the country"