The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1921-02-12
SCHWAB'S "HONoRABLE,'
CAREER,

CAREER.
Elsewhere we print the story of the
| attempt of house committee to win
| dicate' Charles NJ. Schwab. The CON-
mittee seeks to justify it's conduct by
| declaring that "Mr. Schwab:s long
and honorable business career and his
devotion to the government entitle him
to this mark of respect.''
That raises an interesting question
Of fact, and justifes the following ci-
tation from history:
Mr.. SchWab's fdevotion to his gov
ernment' is described at length in a
certain musty government document
stored away in the archives of con.
gress. It is styled "Violation of Armor
Plate Contracts and is known as
House Of Representative Report No.
1868, Fifty-third congress, second SEES.
sion.
The report followed an investigation
IN 1894 by the house committee on
naval affairs Of charges against Car
negie, Phipps & Co., later the Carnegie
Steel company and now the principal
constituent Of the United States Steel
Corporation. The evidence of fraud
| upon the government by the Carnegie
company was large and convincing. The
testimony showed that armor plates
| containing 'blowholes' were palmed
OF on the government, and later used
on battleships of the American navy,
and that these cavities were secretly
"plugged' and kept concealed'' from
| the government inspectors.
Mr.. Schwab was then general super
lntendent of the Carnegie company and
also substantial stakeholder. When
questioned concerning the plugging OF
bloWholes, he confessed that he had
ordered that plates containing elbow
holes' should not be rejected.
William D. Corey, now president Of
the Midvale Steel and Ordnance COM
| panv, and one of our leading spa
triots,' was shown to have been in
charge Of the armor plant when the
frauds were committed.
When Corey was testifying he was
asked {page soy:
"Did anybody above you-did any
! superior officer-know that YOU were
doing this job'
Eyes, sir.
"Who was it
Mr.. Schwab knew about it in a
general way.
"Did anybody else?'
"No, sir.''
! In making it's report Of the inves.
tigation the house committee stated
that the fraud had been traced to
their general superintendent, himself a
stakeholder in the company The
"general superintendent was Charles
NJ. Schwab.
| The report then proceeded, as fol-
lows, to take the measure of the pa
triotism Of those responsible for the
fraud:
If the criminality of wrongful
act is to be measured by the delibera-
F.; tion with which it is committed, the
magnitude Of the evils likely to result
from its preparation, and the want Of
! provocation with which it is done. the
frauds which your committee have
found are worthy to be called crimes.
The servants of the Carnegie Steel
company (whether with or without the
knowledge of the company, to increase
their gains, deliberately continued for
many months to commit acts whose
natural and probable consequence
would be the sacrifice Of the lives Of
our seamen in time Of war, and with
them, perhaps, the dearest interests Of
the nation.
| The company was hired to make
the best possible armor plate and paid
an enormous price for SO doing. They
were hired to make an armor that
would stand the shots of an enemy.
and upon which the nation might relv
IN time of need. They were paid be
tween $500 and 500 ton and thou.
sands Of dollars a plate for so doing.
Resting under these obligations. the
company or its servants have perpe-
trated manifold frauds, the natural
tendency of which was to palm off
upon the government an inferior armor.
whose inferiority might perchance an.
pear only in the shock Of battle and
with incalculable, damage to the conn.
try.
"No fine OF mere money compensa.
tion is an adequate atonement for such
wrongs. The commission of such frauds
IS moral crime Of the 2ravest char.
acter. Your committee do not con.
slider it as within their province "a
draft a criminal statute; but they do
feel under obligation to call attention
| of the House to the imnort,noo ~