Best known armament name in all the world is perhaps the name of Krupp. The Krupp who despite early discouragements at the hands of his own government, built up the gigantic works at Essen and made his name a synonym for cannon was Alfred--a strange figure who wore wooden sabots when he visited his factory, opened his window once a month, had a bathtub in his parlor, assembled his intimates in his own devising, and carried a steel walking stick. Alfred Krupp began as a humble petitioner of governments, coming hat in hand to ministers, kings, and emperors of assorted nationalities to beg orders for his guns. By the time of his death he was an intimate of Wilhelm I, 1870 conquerer of France. He was also an officer of the French Legion of Honor (one of Napoleon III's earlier generosities) and a Knight of the Russian Order of Peter the Great.

Under his son, Friedrich Alfred Krupp, the house rose to higher and higher glories. Yet Friedrich Alfred failed in one important respect: he left no make heir to carry on. It took Kaiser Wilhelm II to solve this difficulty. When big buxom Bertha, Friedrich Alfred's daughter, came of marriageable age Wilhelm betrothed her to protege of his own selection and training; Gustav von Bohlen und Halbach--and it was the groom, not his bride whose name changed by the betrothal. He then became Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach. Under this new head of the house, who took command in 1909, Krupp went further still, supplied fifty-two countries with arms before the war, and stood all but single-handed against the world during it.

What of Krupp, now? In theory, Krupp smelts only peaceful ore, and forges its steel only into such benign shapes as locomotives, rails, bridge girders, and others purely industrial. Actually, Krupp is rearming Germany--the discoverable portion of whose annual armament bill now about $80,000,000. Germany, forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles to import armaments, receives generous supplies from Sweden (where Krupp controls the armament firm of Bofors) and Holland; forbidden to Export armaments, she ships to South America, the Far East, or to any European nation that will violate its own treaty by ordering from her. Yet for all the might of the Krupp works we must look elsewhere today to find the real heart of the armament business.

Bethlehem Steel and American Figures

To the United States, perhaps? After all, we have our Du Ponts, who at least "own" the state of Delaware. We have an army and navy whose officers, according to the statement of a former Cabinet officer, are far and away more active than the officers of any other armed forces in the world against any sort of international standings. We have an armament bill over $200,000,000 a year. We wrecked the Naval Conference at Geneva in 1927. We have our Midvale Co. (controlled by the Baldwin Locomotive Works) which prospered mightily during the war and has continued the manufacture of guns and gun forgings, armor plate and projectiles; our Colt's Patent Firearms Mfg. Co. which supplies machine guns as well as squirrel riffles, which declared an extra dividend in 1933; our Remington Arms Co. (controlled by Du Pont) whose output of firearms and ammunition together is over one third of U. S. production. And we have our Bethlehem Steel Co.

Bethlehem's Mr. Charles M. Schwab dismayed the cadets of West Point in 1927 by saying: "Today the Bethlehem Steel Company has definitely abandoned any thought of ever again engaging in the manufacture of ordinance except in times of great national emergency." Such times are apparently with us now--have, in fact been continually with us since Mr. Schwab unloosed this shaft of oratory. In the official listing of Bethlehem's products (you need only turn to Standard Statistics or Bethlehem's own most recent annual report) you will find armor plate, projectiles, gun and shell forgings, battleships, battle cruisers, destroyers, submarines and airplane carriers all listed as products of Bethlehem's plants. The site at Bethlehem where cannon and armour plate are made is separate from the rest of the plant. No outsiders are allowed, and it may be that Mr. Schwab has never been able to evade the vigilance of his watchmen. But if he could once get inside he would see a triumph of inventiveness--for Bethlehem not only makes "armor-piecing" projectiles, but "non-pierceable" armor plate--which must sometimes cause a slight confusion on the proving ground when anyone attempts to demonstrate the virtues of both at the same time.

Our own country is not, then, quite so virginally innocent in this business as we might like to suppose. But despite the size of our armament bill, our armament and munitions exports to South and Central America and the Far East, we are essentially small fry in this game.