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The Commoner
VOL. 14, NO. 11
12
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IV
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The Work of the President's Cabinet
NAVY DEPARTMENT
Of North Carolina's flvo cabinet members,
during hor oxistonco as a state, one of the great
est was James 11. Dobbins, and one of his acts
whs to abolish flogging in the navy. John Paul
Jones onco flung a cat-o-nino-tails overboard in
tho prosenco of his men, for ho believed there
"was a bettor way to preserve discipline. Tho
present secretary of tho navy has followed his
predecessor, Navy Secrotary Dobbins, by a far
reaching prison roform order.
"When Mr. Daniols became secrotary in March,
1913, tho navy was 4,100 men short in the en
listed personnel. By his interest in tho blue
jackets, as shown by his educational scheme, by
Increasing their chances to advance by confining
promotions to tho pay corps and to the marine
corps to their ranks, by securing the passage
of a bill to allow fifteen of them to enter An
napolis yearly, and in other ways, the secretary
seemed to get a hold on tho young men of the
country, and they flocked into the navy in such
numbers that tho quota of 51,500 was filled last
summer.
Tho secrotary has now issued a general order
which so modifies the navy regulations as to
permit tho greatest freedom on the part of the
enlisted mon, who for any reason have become
dissatisflod with the service, to obtain honor
able discharge It permits them to secure such
dischargo on request, by merely tho refund of
cortain allowances made by the government on
enlistment or re-enlistment. The order goes a
step further and directs as a general policy that
mon who have offended by over-staying leave of
absence, by drunkenness on shore, and similar
broaches of discipline, shall bo summarily dis
missed instead of being imprisoned. It proceeds
on tho theory, just as do all great business or
ganizations of our day, that such offenders aro
unfit for the sorvice, and it lets them go. It
proceeds still further upon the theory, which
has worked out in practice under this adminis
tration, that tho navy can get plenty of young
men who love tho service and will bo an honor
to it.
Tho order will improve discipline generally
throughout tho service, and reduce the number
of navy prisoners and tho cost of navy prisons
and disciplinary barracks, which now reaches
about $1,000,000 a year. The order was not
issued until after a referendum of many able
naval officers was had, tho majority of whom
favored tho change.
Tho secrotary of tho navy has submitted to
congross a bill by which any officer who has been
less than ten years in tho service shall roceivo
only one-fourth of tho pay of his grade upon re
tirement for physical disability in case ho is
able to enter business life; if having served over
ten years and under twenty years, one-half tho
pay of his grade. If such officers, however, aro
totally incapacitated, they Bhall receive three
fourths the pay of their grade upon retirement.
As tho law now stands, all officers. If only slight
ly incapacitated, receive three-fourths pay when
retired
The secretary has added a new member to his
official family In tho person of Capt. George R.
Clark, commandant of the naval training station
at Chicago, who Is to be aid for education, a
new position. Captain Clark is author of "A
Short History of tho United States Navy."
The relief party to aid stranded Americans In
Europe, In charge of Assistant Secretary of War
Breckonrldge, has renderod invaluable assist
ance. Tho party was carried over by the cruisers
Tennessee and North Carolina. Tho latter will
bo relieved by another Bhip yet to bo selected
during tho latter part of November, and tho
relieving vessel will carry over tho Christmas
cargo of usoful presents collected by 90-odd
newspapers of tho United States, and intended
for tho children of Europe, who aro suffering
as a result of $ho war.
Under tho act of congress of Juno 30, by which
fifteen enlisted men may enter Annapolis, if
they qualify, an examination was ordered to be
held on AuguBt 3. At this timo 120 men re
ported for examination on their ships and at
Yarioua shore stations. Although the tlmo for
preparation, was very short, live men passed the.
mental examinations. They wero: Wm. Busk,
ordinary seaman, Lincoln, Neb.; H. H. Hungate,
ataman, Fountaintown, Ind.; W.W. Warlick, sea
man, San Diego, Cal all three on the U. S. S.
Maryland; H. S. Corbett, ordinary seaman,
Franklin, Mass., on tho Venmont, and J. w.
Rowe, musician, 2nd class, Stephenson, Mich.,
on tho Kansas.
BIDS FOR BATTLESHIPS
Three new battleships tho California, Mis
sissippi, and Idaho are authorized to be built
this year, two at private yards and one at a navy
shipyard. The Newport News (Va.) Shipbuild
ing Co.'s bid Is the lowest, $7,195,000, and that
of tho New York Shipbuilding Co., at Camden,
N. J., next lowest, namely, $7,250,000. Bids
wero also submitted by the Fore River (Mass.)
Shipbuilding Corporation of $7,440,000, and
Wm. Cramp & Sons ship and engine building
company of $7,625,000. Tho estimate of tho
New York navy yard for tho vessel to bo built
thero in $7,155,300.
The previous public bids for a battleship were
made in February of last year for the battleship
Pennsylvania, and the Newport New"s Co. secured .
tho contract at $7,2G0,000, although tho Penn
sylvania is 600 tons smaller than the vessels of
tho California class. Tho contracts will be
awarded at an early date.
Bids have been opened for armor for these
three battleships, whose requirements are as fol
lows: 22,122 tons of class A (side) armor.
1,203 tons of class A-2 (turret) armor.
807 tons of class B (special treatment plates).
189 tons of class C armor (bolts and nuts).
Carnegie Steel Company: A-l $440.00, A-2
$504.00, B $471.00,0 $548.00.
Midvalo Steel Company: A-l $436.00, A-2
$486.00, B $466.00, C $376.00.
Bethlehem Steel Company: A-l $435.00,
A-2 $499.00, B $466.00, C $395.00.
Carbon Steel Company: C $431.20.
It will bo recalled that when the bids for tho
battleship Arizona were first opened, the sec
retary of the navy rejected all bids and re-opened
tho bidding, and about two months later a re
duction in tho estimates was obtained. Tho fol
lowing table embraces tho lowest estimates first
submitted for tho battleship Arizona; tho sec
ond bids; for tho Arizona, which were accepted,
and the lowest bids submitted:
Arizona Bids Classes
A-l
$450.00
440.00
Latest Blds-$435.00
A-2
$518.00
504.00
B
$496.00
471.00'
C
$586.00
448.00
$486.00 $466.00 $376.00
The savings thereby effected through the dif
ference between these bids and the awards
for armor on the Arizona reach the sum of $150,
222; but the results achieved by tho insist
ence of the secretary of the navy that contracts
for armor would bo awarded only in tho open
field of competition is more evident through a
comparison of today's figures with those first
submitted for armor for the Arizona. Were the
government obliged to purchase the armor pre
scribed in the specifications opened today at tho
prices submitted in tho first estimates on tho
Arizona, it would cost $517,422 more.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC
COMMERCE
A new branch office of the bureau of foreign
and domestic commerce will be opened at St.
Louis early in November. The success met by
the branch offices in other cities has caused a
strong demand on tho part of the leading com
mercial organizations and business men of St.
Louis, supplemented by requests from members
of congress for a similar office in that city. One
of the first acts of Dr. E. E. Pratt, the new chief
of the bureau, was to recommend the establish
ment of the new branch of tho bureau, and the
pian has met with the approval of Secretary
Redfleld. The new office, which is tho eighth
opened within the last fifteen months, will be in
charge of an experienced official from the bureau
at Washington, who will be prepared to bring
the business men of St. Louis into closer touch
with tho commercial activities of the department
of commerco. Tho seven branches already in
active operation aro located at New York Chi
cago, New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston, Se
attle, and Atlanta. '
The cardinal purpose of tho department in
placing representatives of the bureau in import-
ant commercial centers is to establish an un
broken line of communication between tho bus
iness man and tho department at Washington
Tho service has been found from experience to
permit more prompt and efficient distribution
of the useful trade information collected by
consular officers, commercial agents and other
government officials. Personal conferences are
arranged from timo to timo at these branch
offices with the officials in tho foreign service
department of state and the department of com
merce and as a result impractical service is elim
inated and their commercial work mado more
specific and helpful to manufacturers and ex
porters. A summary of the results of an investigation
of the cost of production of white-ware pottery
in the United States and in England made by the
bureau of foreign and domestic commerce in
pursuance of the act of congress approved Au
gust 23, 1912, has been Issued. Tho summary
includes tables giving the comparative cost of
production for both countries with an analysis
of tho difference in cost of materials, labor and
other expenses, and in establishment and iabor
efficiency. There is also included an outlino of
the subjects treated in the complete report, which
will bo published later. The bureau of stand
ards, through its clay products section, co-operated
with a study of certain technical aspects
of the industry, the results of which will appear
in tho full report.
BUREAU OF CORPORATIONS
Part V of thereport of the bureau of corpora
tions on state taxation of corporations, dealing
with the mountain and Pacific states, namely,
Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Ne
vada, Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, Ore
gon, and California, has been issued.. Parts I
to IV, already Issued, cover tho New. England,
middle Atlantic, eastern central, and western
central groups of states. Part VI, the final part,
will cover tho southern states.
-Part V, like its predecessors, is confined al
most wholly to a concise exposition of facts. It
compares the various tax systems, including the
administrative methods and financial results.
Administrative methods range from a highly
doveloped system handled centrally by state
officials appointed solely for that purpose, to an
almost complete decentralization.
California is the only state of the group which
separates the sources of state and local revenue.
Special taxes are levied on all corporations sole
ly for state purposes, and yield about 76 per
cent of the state taxes. In 1912 California col
lected more than $11,000,000 from corporations,
an amount exceeded only by Pennsylvania and
New York, and not approached by any other
state. County and other local revenue is raised
principally by means of the general property
In striking contrast to the use of special taxes
on corporations in California is the almost com
plete dependence on the general property tax in
Nevada and New Mexico. The remaining states
employ special taxes to a limited degree, as fol?
lows: A gross-receipts tax is applied to railroads
and express companies in Montana, to express
and car companies In Washington, and to express
companies only in Arizona1, Wyoming, and Idaho.
Capital stock or license taxes are applied to
all corporations in Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Wash
. ington, Oregon, and Arizona. The capital-stock
taxes of the group, unlike those of New York,
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, are for tho most
part comparatively unimportant from the point
n . J-fGW revenue- Tkey are based on authorized
capital stock and in legal view are taxes on the
right to exist or to do business as a corporation.
nvfrtiC,ally a11 of the states covered in Part V
2ifP areS f Btock in the hands of holders
X lw proePty of the corporation is taxed
nhiJ L ft ?,onds' ll0Wever, are generally tax
fhmiiS S6 holders thereof, raiding in the state,
Tn8nv iey arG ldom turned for taxation,
on nf JSJ?1! and WMWneton the ordinary meth
valuPRfK11? a uniform state rate to assessed
Iteal thfnf ?Ut tho State ,s not to"owed. In-
puTposes und tTUnt t0, bo raised for stato
purposes under the general property tax is an-
coSntii amounts are levied in the respective
standard 2? t blSlS ? the ratI whIch the
fun vail nfnSeBSed Va UG in each bear to tho
of cori SnKVT tnereIn' Assessments
SinopHoiS n8J?y the Btate central DOard are
A w t0thQ. counties on tho same basis,
th it J7 ?th leatUre of tlle tax sterns in
lions ContPntiSat.most of thQ sfcate constitu
tions contain minute provisions regarding taxa-
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