Great Falls daily tribune., 1919-01-04
HOG ISLAND INVESTIGATION

HOG ISLAND INVESTIGATION
There were two promising Investigations from
the standpoint Of the opposition politician nope
full Of political powder to shoot at the admins
tration. One was the airplane construction ana
the other was the government ship Duldlng
plant at Hog Island The first failed to deliver
airplanes in France as soon as the public were
led to expect and spent good deal OF money on
before they got much production going on
quantity basis The Hog Island ship building
plant cost more than twice as much as the es-
Inmates and only turned out four finished shlps
before the end Of the war came. Both Of them
have been thoroughly muckraked IN congress
and in the press and both of them have been
searchingy investigated by keen critics seeking
sensations which they did not furnish. Mr.
Hughes could only find few minor and techn-
cal offenses to prosecute, and his principal crlt
cism was that the management promised more
than they could perform and abandoned one type
Of machine on advices from France that IL dld
not meet their needs after considerable money
had been spent on getting ready Tor quantity
production but he did not place the blame Tor
this on the construction management. The army
aviation authorities changed their mind about
the Bristol machines. In the Hog Island case
the investigators report that there was no evl-
dence of graft, but the work cost too much and
there was waste. Considering the sensational al
legations there is mighty little comfort for the
kickers on the Hog Island investigators report
The estimated cost of that enormous ship
building plant was twenty y-seven million dollars
and sixty-four millions were spent on It. Nine
of these extra millions were spent on extensions
of original plans. But even then, the cost was
/ about twice what was expected However two
thirds of the money spent was Tor materials pur-
chased by Uncle Sam at prices fixed by hlmseH.
1t is not alleged that these prices were above the
market and sometimes they were below what
other people paid for them. There was no graft
IN that part of the expenditures. Nearly twenty
million dollars were spent for wages to labor,
and here it is admitted there was waste and
reckless expenditure. The average number OF
men employed during year was 10000, and to
keep that number up there were lIo,ooo dlffer-
ent men employed. 1t shows the men were quit
ting the job pretty frequently and new men
hired to take their places. The site OF the snip
ward was swamp and at first men had to work
in mud and water up to their thighs With
scarcity of labor all over the country, wages hac
to be raised pretty high to keep men on the job
Skilled men as riveters were terribly scarce, ano
they could demand any old price and get it. This
fact not only delayed construction work, but II
/ raised the cost materially. And the country was
calling for ships in hurry at any cost The life
Of the nation and success of the war depended or
getting them quickly. No wonder the cost went
up The contractors were pounded on the bach
constantly. They worked on the cost plus sys
tenn Extra money spent did not come out Of
their pocket, but out Of Uncle Sans pocket, ane
increased their profits instead Of diminishing
them And Uncle Sam was yelling for speed a
anv price No wonder the cost went up. Nc
wonder now that the pressure is over we flnt
that money was wasted. No sensible man coult
expect anything else under the circumstances
It is most creditable to all concerned that there
was no graft discovered. The circumstances al
favored it. We wasted good deal OF money OF
Hog Island, but we have now got the bigges
shipping plant in the world, capable OF building
fifty ships at once and it is about ready to rusl
, them to completion in record ti1ne