The sun., 1919-10-30

holdings adjacent to the road under dis
| oussion. Mr.. Ryan looked but momen
| on that map and then stigmatized II NJ
| q Campaign map" which emphasized
minor and neglected major items. 81 dc
! not wish TO have my testimony based
on that map" he said.
The witness testified that speed ant
production, rather than expense, was tn,
paramount war policy. "Thc British
aircraft officials told me they would hav,
| TO have 10000, 900 feet OF spruce Q
month at any cost or their entire all
service was 10 be lnperilled. They coult
not get Il from British Columbia. w,
Increased our production up to $4,000 ,o0C
feet a month ana then TO the ma ximun
OF s0.o00.000.
Remember we had to ship this across
the country and to England and &c
France" he pointed out, "and we had &c
allow for shrinkage ot 100000 feet
Mr.. Steinbrink endeavored to show
that that was enough for 1880 air
planes, 1000 feet TO each, and that nc
such number OF airplanes was under
construction.
"why, leaving out Italy altogether
England, France and the United States
were turning out 10 1000 planes month.
Mr.. Ryan asserted.
When the examination sought to probe
into why drafted men were used to build
the railroad In the northwest and why
they were paid IS a day, Mr.. Ryan said
instantly; THAT was done before took
charge, but let me say now that 1 ap'
proved II and I approve II now"
The Siems-Carey Kerbaugh Company
contractors who built the road. were
draining other necessary Industries oi
labor, he explained. and labor was short
In addition an I. w. w. foment was al
high pitch on the coast. you'll have to
remember that atmosphere" Mr.. Ryan
said, with the I. w. w. strike and
enemy alien influence rife. It was only
through the genius of Col. Disque that
patriotism was Awakened bv the forma-
tlon OF a. Loyal Legion OF workmen. II
was essential that the soldiers and the
workers should be on the same basis
You couldn't have men working shoulder
to shoulder with such a difference In
ware. And the whole point is this; You
couldn't supply soldier labor on soldiei
pay to one contractor without supplying
soldier labor TO every contractor
"Dld you ever have any part in the
financing OF the railroad or the spruce
contract?" asked Mr.. Stsinbrink.
IT did not Those arrangements were
made by the War Credit Board" Mr.
Ryan said.
He Defends Col. Disau-.
In explanation of why he recon.
mended that Col Disque be made a
Brigadier-General, Mr.. Ryan declared
that 'it was ridiculous to have a mar
In charge Of an enterprise as extensive
as spruce production with the rank Of q
Colonel" Imputations that this was
part OF Dieuue's reward for engineering
things TO the advantage OF the Mil
waukee, Mr.. Ryan said was shown tC
be false by records available in Wa sh-
ington He praised Col. Disque highly
as one Of the ablest executives he had
encountered.
His relations with the America inter
national Company, OF which he is a al.
rector. Mr. Ryan explained at length
and said that had that firm been party
to any OF the financing scheme for the
spruce project he would have had tc
cancel the contracts. The fact that Col
Disque is now president of a subsidiary
of that firm with a $4,000 salary does
not have the significance which the COM
mittee endeavored to establish, he said
"I had nothing TO do with that" said Mr.
Ryan. "other than telling the presiden,
OF the American international that
Disque was an exceptionally capable man
when I was asked for my opinion OF
him."
When Mr.. steinbrink quoted from the
record q statement purporting to have
come from Col. Disque saying that Presi-
dent Byram of the Milwaukee wanted
the 100000 road built, Mr.. Ryan
said: THAT is patiently an unintentional
error Of Col DisQue." The Milwaukee
was not interested in that road, he re-
II Grated
Mr. steinbrinR, skipping from topic 10
topic In the search for tangible sup
porting evidence. asked II the 81. oo0, 600
road was not harder TO build than the
shorter, cheaper one which the commit
tee Is alleging should have been con
structed. The tunnels" remarked the
lawyer
Building tunnels Is slow but not
hard" Nj Ryan replied.
Representative w. w. Magee inter-
vened to criticise Col. Dlsque and said
that officer was very unpopular among
lumbermen. ~ met hundreds and hun
dreds of lumbermen and not one single
man had anything but the highest praise
for Col. Disaue." Mr.. Ryan retorted.
Later Mr.. Magee asked II the Gov
ernment could not have produced plenty
OF spruce by organizing the producing
mills in the West without building the
railroad, and again Mr.. Ryan was en-
phatic in saying that the mill production
was then at maximum. under Govern
ment ALLEGATION, and yet insufficient.
Production Was the Issue.
In explanation of what the aircraft
administration accomplished. Mr.. Ryan
gave facts and figures not hitherto