The Sentinel=record., 1918-01-03

Washington. Jan. Army supply contracts given through the supplies committee of the council of national defense, to concerns in which mems bers are interested, were inyesti- gated today by tn senate military committee.
 Charles Eisenman, vice chairman of the supplies committee. and a re- tired clothing manufacturer of Cleye- land, and Samuel M. Kaplan of New York, one of the dollar a year vol- unteer members, were the principal witnesses. The latter's testimony was confined almost entirely to a contract with the Base Sorting Plant, Incorporated of New York, in which his brother. Ira F. Kaplan, has a third interest, for sorting army clothing scraps, which was said to promise profits of sf00,000 annually The contract recently was cancelled.
 Work of the supplies committee was praised by Mir. Eiseman, who said 1t had ngotiated orders for supplies val ued at $SO0,OOO,00O for the quarter master generals office. He defended the committees practice of approving contracts with firms of members, eX- plaining that such interested com mitteemen were excluded from the negotiations.
 Senator McKellar wanted to know if this was not an evasion of the law, but Mr. Eiseman insisted that the committees practice was followed to conform to the law. The committee members, Eisenman stated, were se- lected from men in the business who had proven successful and that con- tracts with their firms were made be- cause the manufacturers facilities We're necessary.
 Senator McKellar admonished Mir. Eisenman, who emphatically resented having his motives impugned, to speak respectfully, and Senator Weeks heatedly declared he was about as impudent man" as he had ever seen.
 Statements of Quartermaster Gen. eral Sharpe that shortages of army clothing were due 10 failure to re- ceive cloth ordered through the sup plies committee were contradicted by Eisenman He asserted that sup plies of cloth were delivered on time and faster than it could be manufac- tured by the factories under General Sharpe
 Eisenman told the committee he had recommended, and the quarter master general had approved, reduc- ing the woolen oyercoats, blankets and other clothing and substitution of wool substitutes or "shoddy," saying the quality was not impaired and that as good or better garments were ob- tained
 /. The scrap sorting contract, both Fisenman and Kaplan asserted, was intended to give the contractors a profit of only a half cent a pound, all over that to be returned to the gov ernmeat He protested against it's re- cent annulment
 Eisenman Kaplan and other mem bers of the supplies committee will be recalled later Tomorrow the com- mittee will hear Michael E Driscoll, superintendent of the Raritan, N J, Woolen Mills. regarding cloth con tract negotiations with the committee.
 Mr. Eisenman detailed how he had been unable to hold prices to a fixed basis for four or five months on army cloth He reiterated that he had made deliveries of oyercoat cloth to the quartermaster general in time and was not responsible for overcoat shortages
 Senator McKellar inquired regard ing Mr Eisenmans business connec- i tions at Cleveland and whether Sec retary Baker whose home is there recommended his appointment Eisen- man answered in the negative and said he was a director and stock