The Washington times., 1917-12-30
fNnroc,.occ What It Did
NO1lSAC00 Yesterday
The Future Of the Country and Railroads How Gt at Great
Gatsways Is to Be Overcome Changing the Business Nap Of
the United States Averaging for Official Prices Millions in
Rags and Oddy-An Explosive Subject.

the main purpose Of encouraging
production, rather than encouraging
the consumer to hope for cheap coal
in large quantities, for the purposes
Of superheating his furnace or stove
in cold weather. We are Just getting
to that now by request from "the
average consumer"
The star witness at the Capitol
yesterday was Mr.. Alexander II. Ks-
minsly, Of New York. Before the
Senate Committee on Military AZ
fairs, he followed Quartermaster
GeAeral Sharpe and Capt. A. E.
Pereless, Of the quartermaster divi-
sion. In about five minutes Mr.. .Ka-
minsky had Illuminated an entire sit
uation- It was the rag, soap. and
shoddy situation, as shoddy is now
the almost universal American sub
stitute for ~all-wool" goods in mems
clothing.
With Quartermaster General
Sharpe on the stand, the committee
went into the whole question of, con-
trolling the wool market since the
Council Of National Defense began
operating. 1t wrunR from the reiuc-
tsnt quartermaster general repeated
admission that the council was vir-
tually. in full control. He knew
nothing about wool in the market,
because he had always bought wool.
ems, under competitive bidding, when
raw wool prices were the contrac-
tors business. His business was only
to see that the cloth delivered was
what cloth ought to be. Questions
followed suggesting that a corner in
wool was operating on or about the
time competition was set aside in
Quitting the army. Then the rela-
tions Of shoddy TO wool and of rags
to shoddy in a regulated" restrict:
ed" arranged or "cornered" mar
ket followed.
Mr.. Kaminsky's testimony had all
the earmarks Of truth stranger than
ictien." 1t was the complete story
of the Base Storage Corporation, Of
New York, already divulged in part.
The company bad $4,000 cash. It
was specially organized for making
about 100000 sorting rags for the
United States at 6 cents a pound, un-
der the auspices Of the Council of
National Defense. Mr.. Kaminsky
told with INDIGNATION how he had
been assured that the company would
in no case be allowed more than a
half a cent a pound profit by the
He was ready to bring
forward capitalists to do the work
at a profit of from / y cents to
cents a pound. But for a time he
was deceived. He thought that it
was patriotism, taking control on the
scrap and rag business. Under en-
bargoes and so forth, the rag mar
ket was being demoralized, until
worthy people were on the verge Of
When they found that
patriotism was expecting 6 cents a
pound for sorting rags with net prof
its Of several hundred per cent at
their expense, they refused to go on
suffering calmly. They threw off
the voluntary censorship. They told
and wrote all they knew. |
AS Mr.. Kaminsky repeated the
story Of their sufferings on the
stand, he showed the enormous busi-
ness done in rags and scraps ground
between shoddy and woolen manu-
facturers and patriots in control Of
the rag market. Mr.. Charles Eisen-
man, Of the Council Of National De-
tense, "had the wool pulled over his
eyes," the witness said. The Kaplan
combine" were in a fair way to
realize a percentage on scraps never
dreamed Of by the unpatriotic.
Then Mr.. Ksminsky went to Mr..
Charles Eisenman about it. Mr..
Eisenman thought it was nobody's
business except the Council of Ma
.ional Defense's. The first explosion
,ame soon after. There have been
several since. There are more to |
follow.
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