The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-01-22
Threaten Ruin to Preparedness
Program, Says Daniels.
Making Money More Important
to Them Than Patriotism.
NEED GOVERNMENT FACTORIES
Many Firms Manipulate Prices
at Their Pleasure.
Little Attention Paid to the
Quality of Shells.

Washington. Jan. GIN vlSor-
Gus attack upon American munition
makers, Secretary of the Navy Dan
iels declares that only relief by gov
eminent munition manufacture will
prevent the imperiling of the entire
preparedness program. The secretary
has issued a public statement replying
to criticisms directed against the
award of recent shell contracts to the
British firm of Hadfield & Co.
The statement criticised in no un-
certain terms the attitude of certain
American manufacturers declaring
that their action lent color to the Oft
repeated charge that preparedness is
a synonym for profits and not patriot
ISM"
The secretary declared that Ameri-
can concerns had failed to either i'm
prove their product or reduce their
prices as they should have. In his
statement he said:
1.-THE department wishes to give all
its orders to American manufacturers
| whenever they quote reasonabl
prices and furnish shells that meet
navy requirements. Nothing but the
utter failure of the most patient ne
! gotiations and appeals to the patriot
| ism of the little group of steel man
ufacturers which has a practical mon
opoly of this business has made 1t i'm
perative for the government to build
l
to a foreign bidder. The Bethlehem
! Steel company, controlled by Mr..
| Schwab which has been filling the pa
pers with advertisements criticising
| the navy department admits in its lat
| est advertisement that tho it was two
| years ago awarded a contract for 81, -
| 100000 of shells, it has not yet made
shells to meet the requirements of the
I navy department.. Until it is able to
| fill its. contracts it does not become
= <1rff
icise the navy department for award
ing contracts to manufacturers who
can make shells that meet tests"
Make Little Progress.
| Secretary Daniels expressed deep
disappointment that the American
manufa cturers have failed to profit by
| past experiences.
81 regard the attitude of these com
panies in this and other matters as
most unfortunate he said, and were
there no relief, thru competition
| either by the government or by other
more patriotic firms, 1 would feel, that
| they were putting our entire program
of preparedness in peril. In urging
necessity for our tremendous program
| of naval development in congress l
| found the most serious obstacle to
content with was the feeling of many
congressman that the whole matter of
preparedness was a deliberately or
| ganized campaign on the part of
manufa cturers of war materials to OBJ
tain enormous contracts at fabulous
prices. L did not share this opinion.
THE splendid action on the part of
some other manufacturers in forego-
ing the chance to obtain war profits
from the material needed in the con-
| struction of our new program has
! justified my belief that other manu-
/ facturers of war materials will per-
| sist in extracting the last penny of
! profit from our urgent necessity gives
| a certain color to the arguments of
those who believe that preparedness
is synonym for profits and not for
patriotism
Manipulate Prices.
The secretary asserted that the cam
paiSn of the American munitions max
ers to boost prices for the 14-inch
shells, the big gun shells of the mod
ern dreadnaught, crept up towards
the $500 mark, only to tumble back
to S315 when the knowledge came to
the American firms that Hadfield
Limited, was ready to make such a
bid. Thereafter, according to the sec
| rotary, the Americans held down their
that the European war eliminated
foreign competition when they raised
their bid to $3.50 per shell
Secretary Daniels pointed out as an
additional reason for accepting the
British arms bid, that the Bethlehem
Steel company's percentage of accept
able shells out of test lot of thirty
four submitted to the department was
only S.8. The Crucible Steel company,
he said, produced a better average
with 37.7 per cent of passed shells