The success of the Harvey process on the nickel steel was universally
acknowledged; other countries abandoned their previous style of armor,
and the United States set out to build a number of new ships that should
be protected with this invulnerable armor.
It was soon found that the Bethlehem Company was not able to furnish all
the armor needed, and so the Government persuaded the Carnegie Company
to go into the armor-plate business. The Carnegie people were promised
an equal share of the work, and the same prices as the Bethlehem
Company.
Matters went on peacefully until July 10th of last year, when Congress
directed the Secretary of the Navy to inquire into the cost of making
armor-plate, and to give an idea of the price he thought the Government
ought to pay for it. The result of his inquiries was to be made known on
January 1st of this year.
The Secretary did make the inquiries, and found that the actual cost of
making a ton of armor-plate was $197.78.
After an elaborate calculation of profit and loss, and the cost of the
machinery used in making the armor, he decided that the armor could be
made for $250 a ton. He suggested that the Government ought then to
allow the companies a liberal sum per ton for profit on their
enterprise, and suggested that a fair price to pay would be $400 per
ton.
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