Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1919 — PRIED TO CHEAT UNCLE SAM [ARTICLE]

PRIED TO CHEAT UNCLE SAM

British Tried to Exact $l5O a Man for Carrying Yanka. Washington, May 80.-—Great Britain attempted to exact from the United States a charge of $l5O a man—slo more than the price of a first-class passage on an ocean liner —for the transportation of American soldiers to France. This official statement was made to the house military affairs committee by Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hines, chief of the embarkation service.

The original agreement, General Hines said, was that the United States should pay to England the actual expenses of carrying our soldiers to Europe. Included among the Items on which the cost was to be calculated, were Insurance, the cost of operation, food and the cost of alterations in the ships. It was found Impossible to speedily arrive at the actual cost on this basis, the committee was told. Great Britain submitted a bill for $152,000,000 which, General Hines said, was at the rate of $l5O a man. The war department Immediately protested against this exorbitant charge. Subsequently, the matter was placed In the hands of Lord Reading, the British ambassador, who held a conference with Secretary Baker. The agreement between the ambassador and the. secretary was that $81.75 was a<klr rate.