Evening star., 1942-03-25
u. ). Robbed
In Navy Buying,
|GoreA5serts
Peoples Patience
Worn Thin, He Warns
Labor and Industry
Earlier Story on Page A-7.)

y
By the Associated Press.
The House Naval Affairs Com
mittee was informed today that
the compensation of officials Of
IS sample" companies with
Navy contracts had increased
tremendously" in the period be-
tween l934-l941, the increases
ranging from % to 1881 per cent.
The report came from Edmund
Toland, counsel for the committee,
and he went on to assert that he
would prove that there is a feeling
on the part of both labor and in
dustry of What do we care about
cost; the Government will foot the
bill"
Representative Gore, Democrat, of
Tennessee told the committee, II
certainly think the Government is
being filched and robbed. I warn
both the labor lords and industrial
barons, that the patience of the
American people is worn thread
bare"
Salary Increase Cited.
Mr.. Toland listed j. B Armitage.
chief engineer of Kearney g. Trecker
Corp, West Allis, Wis, as the per-
son who received the 1881 per cent
increase, reporting that in 1884 Mr..
Armitage received salary of only
s6157 as compared with one of s30,-
900 in 1941, and that he received a
bonus in 1887 of $6765, as compared
with one of $4,000 in 194l.
Mr. Toland's figures were based
upon information obtained through
questionnaires sent these Is COM
panies:
American Zinc Smelling Co. &
Subsidiaries, Babcock e. Wilcox Co.,
Bridgeport Brass Co.. E. I. du Pont
de Nemours & Co., Fulton Syphon
Co., General Steel Castings Corp,
Heppenstall Co., Hevi Duty Electric
Co., Kearney & Trecker Corp, Keuf-
fel & Esser Co., Lands Tool Co.,
LansdoWne Steel Iron Co., Lodge &
Shipley Machine Tool Co., New York
Air Brake Co., Union Carbide g.
Carbon Co.
Average Rise, 36.6 Per Cent.
Fourteen of the companies, Mr..
Toland said-all of those he listed
except the Kearney & Trecker Corp.
showed a total compensation of
81, ,30079l paid to officers in 1885,
. so-called depression year, as COM
pared with $1,420,017 in 1887,
non-depression year, an increase of
$119,226 or 90 per cent. The total
compensation paid these same off,
cials amounted to s1,269 1886 in 1888
and $1,760,470 in 1910, an increase
of $490 ,485. or 1876 per cent
Mr.. Toland maintained that while
the salaries of offlcials increased
tremendously during the first year of
the defense program, incomplete fig
ures for 1941 indicate that there will
be a much greater increase as the
program progresses"
He reported that a number OF the
companies to which the question
naires were sent made no attempt
whatsoever to give the information
requested, and many others failed to
state whether or not there were any
bonuses paid in addition to salaries. y
Three Drew S150,000.
The Union Carbide g. Carbon
Corp, Mr.. Toland said. gave its
three highest paid officers sums
amounting to over $150,0O0. He
listed those officers as Jesse J. Kicks,
director, president and general
counsel; William F. Barrett. vice
president and chairman of the
board, and Benjamin O'Shea, vice
president and a director, and said
the compensation Of the latter two
amounted to more than 100 per
cent increase over their 1884 COM
pensation.
Mr.. Toland acknowledged that the
case of Mr.. Armitage was an "iso-
lated" one, but declared that "the
general trend has been compare
lively high per cent of increase Of
compensation of most of the COM
panies"
The committee counsel said that
while the 1934-41 comparison re-
hected the increases from depression
to defense, 1T can be assumed that
most of the increases have actually
been due to defense contracts" and
argued that this opinion was borne
out by a comparison between the
normal wear" of 1898 and 1910.