OCR Text |
Show Cost Records on Ships While we are of the opinion that the construction of ships in this country, during the war, should be thoroughly investigated, investi-gated, we take the opportunity to correct an impression erroneously errone-ously created by earlier press reports. W. L. Slattery, construction finance fi-nance director, was quoted as saying that the Maritime Com-mision Com-mision had lost Its records in regard tho the construction of more than $900,000,000 worth of ships and that purchases could not be allocated. However, he makes it plain that he was referring re-ferring to book-keeping records and that resident auditors, in the various shipyards, had control of their records and that the cost of ships built will be shown in a forthcoming report. In connection with the charges of "waste and extravagance" that arise in connection with the tremendous production of war materiel, one should remember that the urgent need for haste justified expenditures that, in normal times, would have been absurd. After all, the nation was trying to build "ships faster than they were being sunk" and costs ; were, of necessity, of secondary ; importance. |