The Monte Vista journal., 1917-10-06

plant fitted to build si1teen-inch guns.
can orders which we may receive for
this plant pay even a fair return Oh
the investment.
Considera BILE comment has been made
upon the fact that British manufac
turer recently bid less than American
manufacturers for sixteen and four
teen-inch shells for the navy.
l am unable to state the basis upon
which the English bid was made. IL
should be remembered, however, tina,
this bid was for specific shell, sam
Piles of which are being sent over for
tesla test not yet made.
Two years ago we took an order for
240O fOurteen-inch armOr-p piercing shells
at contract price Of S76s,0OO, to be
delivered within a certain time or we
had to pay large penalty.
The only specifications for making
these shells are that they shall be
Of a certain size and must pierce
armor-plate at certain velocity on i'm.
exact conditions Of the tests
We had made large quantities OF shells
In the past which had been accepted
But In placing this particular order the
Department altered the angle at which
the tested shells must pierce armor-
plate. The result, however, has been
absolute ina ability on our part to pro-
IN hal htnh x.,tll
meet these novel tests. In fact. we
know Of no process Of pro1ectilemak-
Ing through which it is possible to pro
duce In quantities shells which will
conform to the requirements. =
The result Is that up to now on that
contract Of $76S, 900, we have put into
actual operating expense SAT ,SSl.. and
have been penalized for non-delivery
s495, ,744., total Of $943,625., with no
receipts whatever.
Such was the experience In the light
Of which we were called upon recent
ly to bid for sixteen-lnch shells.
We bid on these shells at approx
mately the same rate per pound as
that of a fourteeninch shell contract
Of one year ago upon which the Gov.
ernment awarded contracts.
We have not the slightest Idea what
profit there will be In the making OF
these shells. We do not know that
there will be any. There Is no certain
ty that it would be possible for us to
deliver shell to meet the test.
For officers In the Navy to assume
that any bid made under such condi
tions is "exorbitaut" Is utterly unfair.
We bid on the new battle-cruisers
sums which Navy department experts.
after examination OF our books. found
would yield profit OF less than ten
per cent We agreed to assume risks
for increased costs Of materials and la
Dor, that made 1t possible that these
contracts might yield no profit what
ever.
The costs run beyond the amount ap.
propriated by Congress on the basis OF
the cost estimates made year ago.
And because shipbuiders could not
alter the mex orable cost facts and re
duce bids to early estimates of the
Navy Department, the prices are called
"e1orbitant."
1t would be a real advantage to be
relieved Of this naval construction. The
profit from 1t cannot possibly amount
to much, and the responsibility is enor
nous.
We have determined to make this
offer to the American Government.
"If you will build two Of the battle
cruisers In Government navy yards,
we will build the other two at the ~
certained cost OF building the ships in
the Government yards without add
uonal expense or commissions OF any
kind. We will also contract to have
our ships ready for service ahead Of
the Government ships"