The Washington herald., 1920-04-12
HOUSE SEEKS
PEEP IN ATTIC" :
OF WAR OFFICE

PEEP IN ATTIC
OF WAR OFFICE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.
a profit over the cost to the govern
ment follow:
Toel. worth ssoe, 90, 900.
From 100000. 900 to $500. o.ooo. 900
worth Of machine tools Of standard
makes that would prove of i'm
mense value to hundreds Of indus
tries that are endeavoring today to
meet the increased demand with
increased production. These tools
of no use to the War Departmen mt
except IN the event of another war
-are In many instances In open
storage
Eight hundred thousand kegs of
nails bought py the government at
. price averaging SO a keg. The
market price today is $3.50 a keg.
and the demand cannot be met.
Sixty million feet OF lumber,
enough to build three cantonments s
the size of the existing national
army camps. All bought on a lowt
er market than the short" one OF
today.
Fully 100. 900 desks and the ac-
companying typewriters, adding
machines. mechanical devices used
by, desk warriors in the period from
April 6, 1917. to November IL. 1918.
Hindered BY Officers. Too.
In addition to these specific in
ton" efforts to dispose of govern
ment property have been further
hampered IN cases where the War
Department officials have attempted
and often succeeded in "reserving
from a going plant. material whics
some officer thought might be use
Fful. and turning the demolished or
ganization over to the division OF
sales to be sold as scrap.
A typical instance reported to
Congress was in connection with a
chemical plant. completed Just be-
fore the armistice, which the divi-
sion of sales had a good chance Of
selling as a going concern. An Of
, ficer of the general staff informed
members Of the division Of sales
that he wished to reserve parts OF
the plant for the War Department
vocational training work. He was
told that IT was all highly special
any of 1t would cripple the chances
of selling the whole.
Didn't Know what He Wanted.
What do you carer" the officer
asked, and then when he was
pressed for information as to the
specific material he needed he said:
I'VE don't know; just whatever we
think we need when we see It"
The reservations" in this instance
were blocked and the plant sold as
going concern.
Plants which could not sbe saved.
and which were partially wrecked,
the pieces sent to Rock Island ar
senal where they are in storage
and the remnants sold as junk.
were the Heppenstall Knife and
Forge Plant Pittsburg; the Stan
da-d Steel Forge Company at In.
dian Harbor. Ind; and the steel
buildings Of the picric acid plant
at Grand Rapids, Mich.
The reservations" inquiry has
convinced members of Congress,
not only are keeping of the mar
ket material that would be of in
calculable benefit to both producer
and consumer. but is costing the
taxpayer at least $50,0o0,o00 in
storage charges.
Need Civilian Caretakers.
Materials of all sorts are piled up
at the Morgan General Ordnance
Depot, South Amboy, N. j.; the
Rock Island Arsenal; the Watervliet
Arsenal; the Symington plant. Chi
cago; Dodge Brothers Storage De-
pot, Detroit: and storage warehouses
at Schenectady, N. Y, and New
Cumberland, Md. The task of car
ing for this material, as 1t Is being
cared for even, already is beyond
the powers of the phesent enlisted
personnel. There is not an arsenal
of storage depot where civilian Ia
Dor does not predominant.
Similar conditions exist at the
war plants which the army still
holds. The Old Hickory Powder
Plant at Nashville, Tenn, is cost
ing the government $1,000.000 q
year. Merely protecting the govern
ment plant at Muscle Shoals, where
nitrate Is to be manufactured, is
costing thousands Of dollars a week.
The payrolls for civilian labor at
the sixteen national army canton
ments swels the totals, and in ad-
dition the government has retained
Camp Humphreys, Va, for the en-
gineers; Camp Benning, Ga, for an
infantry school; Camp Bragg, N. c..
for an artillery school, and Camp
Knox, KY, for artillery.
Houses Dumped Beside Road.
Visitors to Camp Humphreys. just
outside Of Washington, can, with
out effort, see more than $4,000
worth of portable houses lying
along the roadway Just where they
were unloaded more than a year
ago. They have never been erected
nor placed where the weather can
not affect them and probably never
will be.
The army viewpoint is that this
material win be needed In the event
Of another war, and for existing
needs. Congress wants to know IL
It win not be cheaper to buy on
the spot In many instances, than to
ship from the points of storage. In
stances where the theory has, al
ready failed are at hand. In one
case steel billets in New York State,
In the face of an offer above the
market price, were loaded, shipped
and unloaded at government ex-
pense to storage in the Pittsburg
district. where. after being kept five
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