The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1917-07-20

1t was certain he would not attempt to
decide the 0 question or TO issue
any order or to suggest that any one
man stand from UNDER until he knew
definitely by word of mouth what Cen
eral Cocktails had to say, as he already
had learned after the same manner
what William Denman had to say.
Facts Difficult to Ascertain.
Washington, generally speaking, has
been inclined to take sides in this ship
building controversy In accordance
with its personal sympathies with the
One mar or the other maj who are
the chief parties thereto. The trouble
in arriving at q decision concerning
the merits of the case has been that
few Of the officials and few of the
prominent nonoffieials know very
much about the factors in the prob
lens. No one Las been able to find
out definitely. apparently. just exactly
how long it is going TO take 10 build
the ships. and how much more quickly
the wooden ships can be made ready
for service.
II was said 1T thc outset Of the row
that the construction Of wooden ships
could not be begun until the timber
for their building had been seasoned
by time" Now comes the statement
hat the timber does not have TO be
seasoned by time. and that If h sea-
soning is necessary, it can be done by
q ~kiln-drying process, which takes only
a few hours or days ut the most.
Argument Of Wooden Ship Men.
There has been insistence by the
partisans Of the wooden ship plan that
it makes little or no difference Wheth-
er the vessels will last a long time or
not. and it Is urged that General
GOethals In making the short life of
the wooden vessels n factor in the
controversy has weakened his case.
The argument Of the wooden ship men
is that il vessels can be built and
made staunch enough to last for Is
years, the fact should be an all-suffi-
cient factor in the solution Of the prob
lem.
It Is urged also that 1t makes little
difference, considering the critical con-
ditions Of commerce, whether the steel
ship will last longer than q wooden
ship or not, because the main point is
to get something hat will carry ear
goes during the continuance Of the
war and to get something ready in
short order. 1t is held by the wooden
ship men that 1t Is better for the gov
rnmen to lose a little money eventual
~ on its ships than to lose the war.
So far as the matter of the price Of
the steel Is concerned, it would seem
that General Goethals has been i'm
properly blamed for his S95-a-ton pro-
n~ouncement. He fixed that, so 1t IS
said. merely as a maximum price. In
truth, he has nc authority to fix prices
at all, and did not do so. and it Is un-
derstood that under existing regula-
tons the government will be allowed
to determine the price matter in its
W behalf when 1t is discovered Just
what the profits or the lack Of profits
are to be.
When Mr.. Daniels made his contract
for steel for the ~battleships, a low
price was fixed, but it was understood
that 1t was for the occasion only and
was not to stand as a precedent. Tn
questionably Mr.. Denman scored a
point when he c%ontrasted the $50 price
with the 800 price. A full understand
ing Of the matter, General Cocktails
friends say, will prove that he was
yielding nothing to the steel makers,
and that despite his mention Of the
high price he knew that the govern
ment would be safeguarded against
anything that looked like extortion.