The Washington herald., 1921-01-09
COurt-martial Urged for
Muscle Shoals Ex-
trayagance.
OFFENDERS NAMES
TO BE FURNISHED
BOrah and Lenroot to OPP
pose Any Further
Appropriations.
By ROBERT BARRY.

army omcerS responNDle Gor wantoh
waste Of public funds in the erec-
tion OF nitrate plants at Sheffield
and Muscle Shoals, Ala, was de-
manded in the Senate yesterday dur
ing consideration of the bill to ap-
propriate additional sums for com
pIetion of the project.
Senators william z. BOrah, of
Idaho; William S. Kenyon, of Iowa.
and Irvine L Lenroot, of Wisconsin,
all Republicans, revealed extrav-
agance on a scale that made the
recent Shipping Board disclosures
appear downright penurious. They
opposed any further appropriations
Revelations made during the de-
bate gave every indication that
Muscle Shoals would stand out as
the worst of all the examples of ad-
ministrative disregard of account
ability for public moneys, Verit-
able orgy of waste and loose meth
DDS unrivaled by any other Fed
eral activity brought to public
notice by Congressional inyestiga-
tion. Senators, Irrespective Of
party, were amazed at the manner
in which army officers played fast
and loose with public funds dis
tributed by or through them.
LenrOot Calls Halt.
Lenroot voiced the sentiments OF
Republican Senators when he said:
1t is pretty near time that we
stop all expenditures if they are
to be made or controlled by men
~,
course, there should have been
some court-martials. A private SOL
dier has received as high as twenty
years for being absent without
leave even when there were miti-
eating circumstances, but so far as
l know there have been no court
martiaIs in the case of these peo>
pie" e.. --s-.---.
In response to an inquiry by
Senator Lee S. Overman, Democrat,
Of South Carolina, as to whether
the officers responsible still were in
the military service, Senator Len
root replied he was informed they
were. BOrah at once demanded
their names. LenroOt said they
would be furnished.
BOrah declared that if the ex-
travaganCes practiced at Muscle
Shoals were known to a lot of peo-
pie, people in moderate circum-
stances, who invested their savings
in Liberty bonds, it would be i'm
possible to imagine what would
happen"
May Bar Army Omeers.
Resentment against the army Of
ficers in charge of the work became
so great in the Senate that pas
age is virtually assured of an
amendment to be offered by Sena-
tor James W. WadswOrth, jr., of
New York, chairman of the military
affairs committee, to bar army on
ficers from the directorate of the
proposed governmental corporation
to manage the nitrate plants for
production of munitions in time of
war and fertilizer during periods
of peace.
Senator Borah, after reading
from sworn testimony of unheard-
of extravaganza, quoted from off,
Cial records to show the Senate the
manner in which army officers
viewed their responsibilities for
public funds. Expenditures de-
scribed as most extraordinary and
unjUstifable" to the amount Of ST.
S52,259 were made for housing
alone. at Sheffield, even greater at
Muscle Shoals.
Elaborate Hou.esksuIIt.
Although the plants were to be
largely experimental, the officers
of the Ordnance Department, re-
fusing tOTeside in comfortable bar
racks, constructed an elaborate
residential section, with houses Of
perm" nent construction, and ex-
pensive driveways.
The officers houses are grouped
about a large circle of parked
ground, most expensive walks and
terraces and cost from $4,000 to
$4,000 each" Borah stated. "A
Iieutenant's house cost $4,000 and
that Of a lieutenant colonel $4,000,
with further provisions made for
more expensive houses should higher
ranking officers be sent there. In
order to make the ordnance officers
at Sheffield more comfortable, a
permanent clubhouseNpf the most
durable construction, with thirty
suites Of rooms, each suite having a
private bath and all sorts of recep-
tion rooms, was built at a cost of
100000. At Muscle Shoals a club
house for officers was built at a cost
Of .S34I,S66. small building ar
the gate was built of the finest ma
terials. finished splendidly, and cost
probably $4,000 to construct.
Charges wastage of Labor.
Borah cited instances of excessive
employment OF workers. Skilled
carpenters were engaged to perform
common labor, thirty or forty being
assigned to the task of unloading a
car of brick at carpenters wages.
Large numbers of employees were on
two payrolls. Skilled mechanics
were used to shrovel slack OUT OF
railroad cars. Men punched their
time cards, then returned to their
hunks
Seven electricians were employed
to connect a motor, six inches in
diameter, with a ten-foot run OF
sEire. They consumed an entire day;
the motor was not connected prop
efly and electricians had to be paid
time and a half to do the work on
Sunday.
Senator Borah disclosed an anaz-
ing destruction of valuable material
and equipment;a electric cranes and
delicate electrical machfnar0 bainp