The sun., 1919-09-22
TO FORCE SALE OF
$4,000 MOTOR CARS
Reavis Charges War Depart
ment Blocks Sale Of Sur
plus Army Vehicles.
BUYING STILL GOES ON
$175,000,OO0 for Wheeled
Equipment Since Armis-
tice, Says Chairman.
Special De.patcn to TEE SUI.

WASHINGTON, Sept. Il. Action 10
force the War Department to place on
the market the $1,000 surplus motor
vehicles II has held since the signing OF
the armistice will be. taken shortly by
the House committee Investigating War
Department expenditures, Representative
Reavis (Neb.), chairman OF the sub
committee on quartermaster's supplies,
announced to-day.
A resolution will be reported to the
House by the committee ordering the
War Department to dispose of the sur
plus at once, Mr.. Reavis said. II will be
similar to the resolution passed by the
House after the War Department kept
its surplus food of the market for many
months, and which finally forced its sale
in few weeks.
Mr.. Reavis charges that the cars have
been withheld to protect the manufao-
turers. as was done in the case OF food'
In addition, he charges that the War
Department has accepted $175,000, 900
worth of motor vehicles from the manu-
facturers since the signing of the arrnis-
tice.
1T do not know whether the War De-
partrnent is going to sell these surplus
cars or not" said Mr.. Reavis, but IN
the immediate future the committee OF
which am a member will report TO the
House the condition which now exists ana
ascertain whether Congress will take ac-
ton on the conduct of the War Depart
ment in holding for eleven months mil
lions of dollars worth of automobiles
which are rotting and rusting and going
to ruin.
Fails to Eject Sales.
Gen. Drake, chief of the Motor Trans
port Corps, an excellent officer and a
very frank witness. testified that 41o
communications had gone from his Of
Ace TO the sales department Of the War
Department pleading for and ordering
the sale of these machines and that
notwithstanding that fact only few OF
| them were sold.
II know that the War Department
| has received from the factories since the
signing of the armistice automobiles ag-
gregating in value approximately slis,-
OOO, 900 and that within an hours rae
| of washington there are new Cadillacs,
Dodses, Bucks, Chambers and Hudsons
piled five high in the crates from which
thew have never been taken, covering
acres of, ground.
At krow that the War Department
has many thousands of motor vehicles
that have been standing from Novem-
| Der last until now in open storage with
no covering on them until the upholstery
|
and fallen and the radiators are so COW
cred with rust that you can scarcely
see the enamel"
Mr.. Reavis pointed out that in the
last deficiency appropriation bill the
War Department was authorized to pur-
chase one additional motor car while at
the same time 1t had on hand surplus
of $1,000 motor vehicles.
70 oo MoforcxcJe. on Hand.
! 'SThere are about 10000 War Depart
ment motorcycles at Camp Holabird
Md" Mr.. Reavis continued. There are
$500 trucks at the same camp. many OF
them with the beds or bodies of and
with all their mechanical parts exposed
to the weather. Army officers testify
that their value has greatly deteriorated
The Motor Transport Corps parked
500 passenger cars. including many
l!mousines, in the open last February
and notified the sales department they
would be disposed of. In the latter part
of July after receiving the 40 communi
cations from Gen. Drake, the sales de-
partment sent all these back. The com
plant has never been answered. There
Is no question in my mind that the sales
department Is pursuing identically the
same policy with reference to automo
biles that 1t pursued with reference tC
food l have no doubt that it can dis
pose of the surplus.
THE War Department recently had 6
sale of 100 automobiles at Cana Hola
bird. My committee recently examined
these and many of them were broken t.
pieces. Others have no motors in then
and the glass and other parts have beer
smashed. They have been standing ex
posed to the weather since the armistict
| with nothing to protect them.'