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Berlusconi
‘The Diplomat’
POPULISM &
FOREIGN POLICY
IN ITALY
Emidio Diodato
& Federico Niglia
Berlusconi ‘The Diplomat’
Emidio Diodato · Federico Niglia
Berlusconi
‘The Diplomat’
Populism and Foreign Policy in Italy
Emidio Diodato Federico Niglia
University for Foreigners LUISS University
Perugia, Italy Rome, Italy
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
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on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
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now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
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At what rate solver the World talks of me (for I am not ignorant what an ill
report Folly hath got, even amongst the most Foolish), yet I am that She, that
only She, whose Deity recreates both gods and men, even this is a sufficient
Argument, that I no sooner stept up to speak to this fully Assembly, than all
your faces put on a kind of new and unwonted pleasantness. […] and so
what the otherwise great Rhetoricians with their tedious and long-studied
Orations can hardly effect, to wit, to remove the trouble of the Mind, I have
done it at once, with my single look.
Desiderius Erasmus (1913 [1509], p. 8)
Contents
8 Epilogue 191
Bibliography
195
Index 223
vii
Introducing Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi was prime minister for eight months in 1994, for nearly
five years from 2001 to 2006, and three and a half years from 2008 to
2011. His historical contender Romano Prodi ruled for two and a half
years from 1996 to 1998, and two years from 2006 to 2008. Berlusconi
was in office twice as much as the years that Prodi ruled, becoming the
longest-running prime minister in republican Italy. No political leader
has marked the history of post-1992 republican Italy such as Berlusconi.
From 1994 to 2011, he was constantly either prime minister or leader of
the opposition. However, if we compare Berlusconi and Prodi the most
important thing to consider is not durability, but the fact that one of
their name indicates a historical period: Berlusconism.
During the first phase of republican Italy, important politicians of the
Democrazia Cristiana (DC—Christian Democratic Party) such as Giulio
Andreotti or Amintore Fanfani were in office for a long time. However,
their names do not indicate a historical period (Ignazi 2014, p. 7). Alcide
De Gasperi served as prime minister from 1945 to 1953, in eight con-
secutive governments. The so-called De Gasperi era is one of the most
successful moments of Italian history. Nonetheless, the substance of De
Gasperi’s public discourse did not entirely represent the spirit of postwar
Italy. On the contrary, Berlusconi’s political durability has to do with mes-
sages contained in his public discourses, in a time of political and social
transformation. As a media tycoon, he benefited from the availability of
monetary and communications resources. However, most important
were the effects of using these resources in the political sphere. The only
ix
x Introducing Silvio Berlusconi
References
Anderson, P. (2014). The Italian Disaster. London Review of Books, 36(10), 3–16.
Donovan, M., & Gilbert, M. (2015). Silvio Berlusconi and Romano Prodi. In E.
Jones & G. Pasquino (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
xii Introducing Silvio Berlusconi
xiii
xiv Prologue
most relevant facts, rather than a detailed account of all the events that
occurred between the year 1994, when Berlusconi entered into politics,
and 2011, when he dramatically resigned as prime minister. Our basic
goal is to explain whether Berlusconi has transformed and innovated not
only the style of Italian politics and society, but also the contents and
procedures of Italian foreign policy.
An assessment of Berlusconi’s international success and failures can-
not follow traditional analytical interpretations. Berlusconi is a noncon-
ventional politician. What differentiates him from his predecessors (and
partially from his successors) is the belief that Italy (and the Italians) do
not require external models and constraints. Therefore, even if Italy’s
foreign policy did not really change significantly under Berlusconi’s rule,
we decided to look at him as the one who completely reframed the pat-
terns of Italian foreign policy. Berlusconi, indeed, tried to link decisions
and actions on the international scene to the domestic situation. This
happened because he considered the Italians as the first recipients of his
foreign policy.
The acceptance of this peculiarity justifies our decision to present
Berlusconi’s foreign policy in primis as a program of reforms for the
Italians (intended as public opinion, the parliamentary institutions, and
the intellectuals framing the political debate). The fact that Berlusconi
presented his foreign policy as a program of reforms should be under-
lined. This might sound eccentric, since the conduct of international
affairs is traditionally slightly different from the domestic policy-making
process. Berlusconi, however, was not a traditional policy-maker. His
previous life as entrepreneur gave him the belief (sometimes the illusion)
that international problems could be quickly resolved, and that he could
renovate that basic pattern regulating the relations between states.
This program of reform, which changed significantly during his four
governments (1994–1995, 2001–2005, 2005–2006, 2008–2011), was
affected by the “reality” of international relations. Despite his plans,
Berlusconi operated in an age of global turmoil from both a political and
economic viewpoint. The emergence of new threats and the increasing
disagreement among the great powers forced him to play a game that
was not the one expected after the optimistic environment of the early
1990s, when he made his decision to enter the political arena. The over-
all and compulsory impact of international relations strongly affected the
foreign policy of Berlusconi’s governments after 2001, in particular with
Prologue xv
regard to security issues, and after 2008, given the effects of the interna-
tional financial crisis.
The legacy of Silvio Berlusconi in the field of foreign affairs is con-
troversial. The thesis advanced here, nonetheless, is that Berlusconi had
a transformative impact on the Italian way of facing international poli-
tics. It is difficult to understand the current approach of Italian govern-
ments and public opinion towards international events and problems
without bearing in mind the changes that occurred during the years
when Berlusconi was in office. This conclusion is useful not only for
gaining a clear picture of Italian foreign policy, but also for discussing
the broader nexus between populism and foreign policy. Berlusconi was
a populist leader, even though this attribution is far from being unani-
mously accepted. If we agree that in Berlusconi there was some degree of
political populism, then this book discusses, through the Italian case, the
impact that populisms have on the European and international scene.
From a methodological viewpoint, this book opens problems in terms
of substance and analytical instruments. Considering the first, one can
mention the lack of attention to the image of Italy and to the issue of
credibility affecting Italy in the years of Berlusconi. This is an issue high-
lighted by many critical observers. However, we decided to go beyond
the debate on Berlusconi’s peculiar style, and we made this choice in
order to focus on the structural aspects that have characterized his polit-
ical action.
The second potential criticism refers to the sources used to write this
book. Looking at our book from the analytical perspective of diplomatic
history, one realizes the impossibility to make use of archival sources. It
is important to underline, however, that this book capitalizes on analyt-
ical tools and theories deriving from political science and international
history. An essential advantage also came from the use of oral sources.
Interviews contributed to identifying what Jeffrey M. Berry (2002)
defined as the “grand design”. This methodological choice refers to the
technique of elite interviews in the study of foreign policy. In the last
decades, social scientists have increasingly turned their attention towards
the role of elite members. This research method allows an understanding
of perceptions, cognitions, and ideas of people responsible for identifying
policy lines. Furthermore, by conducting interviews we gathered infor-
mation and discovered particular issues.
We made all the interviews in Rome between December 2017 and
May 2018. Of course, we have recorded these meetings and, before
xvi Prologue
References
Berry, J. M. (2002). Validity and Reliability Issues in Elite Interviewing. PS:
Political Science and Politics, 35(4), 679–682.
Putnam, R. D. (1988). Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two-
Level Games. In International Organization, 42(3), 427–460.
CHAPTER 1
in the 1970s, could rule the country or even enter into a coalition gov-
ernment because of its pro-Soviet position. As a result, the debate on
Italian foreign policy was stuck in a sort of ideological trap. This condi-
tion hindered the transformation of the debate on foreign policy into a
real debate on the policies that Italy should promote on the international
scene.
In the late 1970s, Italy entered into a new and more troubled phase
of its international life. The destabilization of the Southern flank of the
Mediterranean region was not entirely a Cold War problem. The emerg-
ing security spillover effects generated by the civil war in Lebanon and,
broadly speaking, by the political instability in the MENA region could
not be solved by the Western defensive institutions. Italy was alone in
facing a number of security concerns but, in the end, the reaction was
unexpectedly positive. From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, Italy
developed its first security capabilities for addressing regional crises. The
intervention in the civil war in Lebanon was a positive experience for
Italy. The country was successful in operating out of the national terri-
tory to restore and maintain peace and stability. In the same years, two
main events shook the pacific-led foreign policy of Italy: the Euro missile
crisis and the first elections for the European parliament.
As pointed out in the literature, the Italian decision to engage in the
Atlantic response to the installation of the medium range Soviet missiles
marked a turning point for the international credibility of the country
(Nuti 2011). In 1979, the government chaired by Francesco Cossiga
adopted the decision (finally implemented in 1983) to install the Cruise
missiles in Italy as a countermeasure to the Soviet SS-20. The first elec-
tion of the European parliament on June 10, 1979 was another impor-
tant turning point, since for the first time the Italian people vote for a
member of the European Parliament. The European elections took place
only one week after the national ones. Nevertheless, 86% of the Italian
population attended the second event (ISTAT 2015, p. 9)
The national mobilization in the European elections, along with the
emergence of a harsh debate on the Euro missile crisis, were signals of
an increasing willingness to participate in the public debate on foreign
policy. As pointed out by research from the Istituto Affari Internazionali
in 1976, thirty years after the end of the World War the main challenge
for Italian foreign policy was the enlargement of public support to for-
eign policy. This mobilization of public opinion was, at the same time, an
“opportunity” and a “factor of stalemate” (Walker 1976).
4 E. DIODATO AND F. NIGLIA
and the Italian right, thus paving the way for the transformation of the
post-fascist Alleanza Nazionale (AN—National Alliance) into a govern-
ing party in coalition with Berlusconi (Orsina 2013).
An interesting point of contact between Craxi and Berlusconi is pre-
cisely in the field of foreign policy. One can even argue that Craxi’s influ-
ence on Berlusconi was more radical and relevant in the field of foreign
policy than in others because of the innovations introduced. Capitalizing
on a decade of scholarship on this topic, four main areas emerge in which
Craxi operated significant changes: (1) transatlantic relations; (2) rela-
tions with the East; (3) basic values of Italian foreign policy and its con-
stituencies; and (4) Italian role in the Mediterranean.
Craxi led two governments, from August 4, 1983, to April 14, 1987,
that shaped the last political decade of the First Republic. He operated
within the traditional paradigms of the Cold War, and maintaining the
friendship with Washington was the cornerstone of his foreign policies.
Nevertheless, Craxi renewed the spirit of the Italian–American relation-
ship by looking for a third way between the traditional Atlanticism of
the DC, on the one hand, and the anti-American mantras of the PCI
and the political left, on the other. Scholars often judge Craxi’s approach
to transatlantic relations by considering two main decisions taken by
his governments. The first was to proceed with the installation of the
Pershing missiles. This choice shows the willingness of the Italian lead-
ership to confirm and enforce the commitment within the Atlantic
Alliance. According to Sergio Romano, a historian and prominent diplo-
mat of those years, the inclusion of Italy in the missile program stopped
the decadence of the Italian position in the Alliance, which had increased
during the 1960s and 1970s (Romano 2006). The second decision is
related to the so-called Sigonella crisis, an important diplomatic crisis
that occurred in 1985. Craxi refused to hand over to the US military
the terrorist Abu Abbas, responsible for the hijacking of the Italian ship
Achille Lauro and the murder of the US citizen Leon Klinghoffer. The
decision by the Italian government to resist Ronald Reagan’s muscular
and assertive approach proved to be rewarding. After a harsh confron-
tation between the White House and Palazzo Chigi, Italy gain respect
from the US administration as confirmed by the archival documents
(Gualtieri 2004).
Craxi’s contribution to transatlantic relations was not limited to the
restored commitment and increased assertiveness toward the United
States. Craxi understood that the United States was a fundamental ally
6 E. DIODATO AND F. NIGLIA
(from April 28, 1993 to May 10, 1994)—saw Italy embark on the most
transformative reforms since the 1950s. This transformation had begun
in the previous X legislature. Beyond the negotiations for the European
Union (from December 1990 to December 1991), which we will discuss
later, the years 1989–1990 saw the approval of a number of structural
reforms. Among others, the reform of the university system (1989), the
reform of local authorities (1990), and the reorganization of adminis-
trative procedures (1990). In 1993, the agreement between Beniamino
Andreatta (Italian foreign minister) and European Commissioner Karel
van Miert opened the door to the privatization of Italian public compa-
nies. In the same year, a referendum dismantled the proportional com-
ponent of the national electoral law, paving the way to a new system
(the so-called Mattarellum) in which the centrality of the political leader
replaced the centrality of the party system. Despite all these transforma-
tions, the credibility of the national political forces was questionable:
between 1992 and 1994, 16% of MPs were under investigation by the
judiciary pool of Tangentopoli and 7% by the attorney of Milan.
The years 1943–1946 and 1991–1994 marked two turning points in
Italian history. Both are benchmark dates in which political transition at
domestic political level overlapped with changes occurring at the inter-
national system (Diodato and Niglia 2017). In the post-World war,
however, the political forces were recognized and legitimized by the par-
ticipation in the Resistenza, and by the contribution to the liberation of
the country. On the contrary, the political forces of the early 1990s suf-
fered from a large discredit resulting from the judiciary investigations.
Such a discredit closed the door to a new constituent assembly, which
could have had the opportunity to rethink and rewrite the institutional
framework and to promote a renewal of the existing parties. The regime
crisis did not bring a regime change. The Second Republic was, in fact,
the beginning of an informal transition in the political and institutional
system. This transition remained partially “unaccomplished” (Negri
2000) also because the alternative interpretation of the new political sys-
tem coexisted and clashed in the following years. In those years of transi-
tion, the party system did not adapt as fast as the circumstances required.
The only novelty was the rise of a secessionist party that threatened
national unity.
The absence of a strong and consolidated opposition party favored,
as already said, the appointment of Giuliano Amato and Carlo Azeglio
Ciampi as heads of government. However, the absence of politics
1 ITALY IN THE POST-COLD WAR LANDSCAPE: IN SEARCH OF A NEW IDENTITY 11
sanctioned the primacy of institutions. For the first time, the President
of the Republic and other institutions such as the Bank of Italy were able
to impose political solutions on the Italians. The premise was that polit-
ical parties were unprepared to understand and address the national and
international changes that were taking place in the country. Evidence of
the institutional approach to the crisis emerged from the negotiations of
the Maastricht Treaty. The key figure of Italian negotiators was the min-
ister of Treasury Guido Carli, former Governor of the Bank of Italy and
a symbol of the technocratic elite (Diodato 2014; 2015).
The changing global scenario that brutally affected Italy explains the
weakness of politics. As already said, three main factors explain the Italian
transition on the international stage: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the pro-
cess of globalization, and the Maastricht Treaty.
The attitude of the Italian elites toward the fall of the Berlin Wall and
the German reunification is explanatory of the inability to understand
and address the changing European landscape. Traditionally, Italy was
one of the closest political allies and economic partners of the Federal
Republic. Both countries shared a common history and were two suc-
cessful examples of democratic restoration after the respective dicta-
torships. They also shared the same orientation in terms of East–West
confrontation and European integration. In theory, Italy was a sincere
supporter of the German reunification. In 1990, the president of the car
industry FIAT and influential senator for life Giovanni Agnelli affirmed,
“I cannot envisage a strong Europe without a strong Germany” (Il Sole
24 Ore 1990). However, the political elites did not share this pro-
active attitude. The key personality to this regard was the DC leader
Giulio Andreotti, who served as prime minister from July 1989 to June
1992. As pointed out by Antonio Varsori (2013, p. 25), Andreotti’s
suspicion toward a reunified Germany had already emerged during
the 1980s. In a public convention, he echoed François Muriac saying
“I love Germany so much that I like to see two of them”. When the
Berlin Wall fell, Italian public opinion had a positive reaction and, of
course, the main political forces expressed their approval for the end
of the Cold War. The Italians saw in the German events the confirma-
tion that the shadow of the Cold War was almost over. The problems
emerged for the Italian government when the eventuality of a rapid
German reunification emerged.
The fear of a restored Germany was an old nightmare of the Italian
diplomats and foreign policy practitioners, who believed that a strong
12 E. DIODATO AND F. NIGLIA
Let the motion be in the direction from the crank. The crank now
begins insensibly, by pulling through the spring e, to arrest the
motion of the weight h. This pull will increase in intensity to the end
of the stroke, when the weight is brought to rest, and the spring will
become correspondingly elongated. Then, by a continuance of the
same pull, the crank puts the cross-head and this free weight in
motion in the reverse direction. This pull gradually relaxes, until at
the mid-stroke it has ceased. The weight h has acquired its full
velocity again; all stress is off the spring, and the spring and weight
are back in the positions in the box d from which they started. This
action is repeated during the opposite half of the revolution, but in
the reverse direction, the pull being changed to a push, and the
spring being compressed instead of elongated. Thus at every point
the position of this free weight shows the amount of the accelerating
or retarding force that is being exerted upon it at that point,
elongating or compressing the spring.
This varying accelerating or retarding force is recorded as follows:
A paper b, Fig. 2, is stretched on the surface ff. This surface is the
arc of a circle described about the center j, and is secured on the
lath B, so that as this lath vibrates by the motion of the cross-head
the different points in the length of the paper pass successively
under the pencil. This is set in the end of the long arm a of the right-
angled lever-arms 4 to 1 seen in Fig. 2, which is actuated by the rod
e passing centrally through the spring and secured in the head c.
This pencil has thus imparted to it a transverse motion four times as
great as the longitudinal motion of the weight h in the box d. The
pencil is kept lifted from the paper (as permitted by the elasticity of
the arm a) by the cord m. By letting the pencil down and turning the
engine by hand, the neutral line x, Fig. 2, is drawn. Then when the
engine is running, on letting the pencil come in contact with the
paper, the diagonal lines are drawn as shown on Fig. 2.
Edwin F. Williams
If the rotation of the shaft were uniform and there were no lost
motion in the shaft or connecting-rod, this diagonal line would repeat
itself precisely, and would be a straight line modified by the angular
vibration of the connecting-rod. On the other hand, these lost
motions and the variations in the rotative speed must be exactly
recorded, the latter being exhibited with a degree of accuracy not
attainable by computation and plotting, and their correctness would
be self-demonstrated. For this purpose this instrument must be
found highly valuable, if it is really desired to have these variations
revealed rather than concealed. Fig. 5 represents the inertia diagram
drawn by this instrument applied to a Porter-Allen engine running in
the Boston Post Office at the speed of 265 revolutions per minute.
Fig. 4 shows the same diagram with the transverse motion of the
pencil enlarged to correspond with the scale of the indicator, so
exhibiting the force actually exerted on the crank-pin at every point,
which is represented by the shaded area, and from which the
rotative effect on the crank can be computed. The steam pressure
absorbed at the commencement of the stroke by the inertia of these
parts is represented by the blank area above the atmospheric line
xx. This is not all imparted to the crank at the end on account of the
compression.
I have myself had no experience in the use of this instrument, but I
do not see why it might not be so made that the diagonal line or lines
in Fig. 4 would be drawn at once. The variations of motion would
thus be shown much more accurately than they can be by the
enlargement of these small indications. This would require the spring
e to bear the same relation to the inertia of the weight h that the
spring of the indicator bears to the steam pressure on its piston area.
The steam diagram and the inertia diagram would then be drawn to
the same scale. A separate instrument would be required for each
scale. It would seem desirable that this instrument, which is not
expensive, should be brought before the public in this practical
shape.
The 16″×30″ engine exhibited at this fair of the American Institute
was sold from the exhibition to the Arlington Mills, at Lawrence,
Mass. For a reason that will appear later, I have always regarded this
sale as the most important one that I ever made.
CHAPTER XIX
Each boiler was tested by setting its damper and its steam-valve
wide open, so burning all the coal that could be burned by it under its
draft, and delivering freely all the steam that it made. This latter
entered the condenser at the top, and the water formed by
condensation was drawn off at the bottom, while the condensing
water entered the tank at the bottom and was drawn off at the top,
the currents of steam and water being thus opposite to each other,
which was an ideal construction. The condensing water at a
temperature of 45.5 degrees flowed in under the pressure in the city
main and was measured in a Worthington meter, and the
temperature of the overflow taken. The condensed steam was drawn
off into a barrel and weighed, 300 pounds at a time, and its
temperature taken. This method was an excellent one.
Not having high chimneys, no boiler had a strong draft, as shown
by the coal burned per square foot of grate. Our draft was the
strongest of all. Only the Allen boiler and the Root boiler gave
superheated steam, and the competition between them was very
close. The valve being wide open, giving a free current into the
condenser, the superheat of our steam fell to 13.23 degrees
Fahrenheit. Root’s superheat was 16.08 degrees.
Root’s boiler, the trial of which occupied the first day, blew steam
from the open try-cock, from water at 46 degrees Fahrenheit, in
sixteen minutes from lighting the fire. Next morning our boiler blew
steam from water at the same temperature, in twelve minutes, and
Mr. Root holding his watch could not resist the ejaculation,
“Wonderful boiler!” The Allen boiler, burning 13.88 pounds of coal
per square foot of grate per hour, evaporated one cubic foot of water
per hour from each 17.41 square feet of heating surface. Root’s
boiler, burning 11.73 pounds of coal per square foot of grate per
hour, required 23.59 square feet of heating surface to evaporate one
cubic foot of water per hour.
Our stronger draft, 13.88 against 11.73, accounted for 3.2 pounds
of the above superior evaporative efficiency, leaving 3 pounds to be
accounted for by the more rapid circulation in the Allen boiler. The
great value of the inclination of the tubes was thus established. The
report contains this sentence: “The Committee desire to express
their appreciation of the excellent general arrangement and
proportions which gave to the Allen boiler its remarkably high
steaming capacity.”
The reader will observe in the plan of this boiler the pains taken to
maintain as far as possible parallel currents of the heated gases
through the boiler, and taking the flues off at the bottom, thus
bringing all the heating surfaces at the same distance from the
furnace into approximately equal efficiency.
RESULTS OF THE COMPETITIVE TRIAL OF STEAM BOILERS AT
THE FAIR OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE, NOVEMBER, 1871.
Name. Ratio of Ra
Square Feet. heating Total Weights. wa
surface pri
Grate Heating to grate Coal. Com- Feed. Steam. Primed to w
surface. surface. surface. bustible. water. eva
ra
A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H.
Root 27 876¹⁄₂ 32.5 3800 3185.5 27896 27896 0. 0.
Allen 32¹⁄₄ 920 28.5 5375 4527 39670 39670 0. 0.
Phleger 23 600 26.1 2800 2274 20428 19782.94 645.06 3.2
Lowe 37³⁄₄ 913 24.2 4400 3705 34000 31663.35 2336.65 6.9
Blanchard 8¹⁄₂ 440 51.8 1232 1047.5 10152.5 9855.6 296.9 3.
The boiler had one defect, seen in the front view, cross-section. A
straight passage 2 inches wide was given to the gases between
each pair of tubes.
The boilers having all had a preliminary trial during the first week, I
observed the vapor arising from the exposed surface of the water in
the tank, and that this unmeasured loss of heat differed considerably
in the different boilers, and was enormously greatest on the trial of
the Allen boiler. I said nothing, but went down early on next Monday
morning and on my way bought a common tin cup about 3 inches
deep and 4 inches in diameter, and secured it in one corner of the
tank, immersed to a quarter of an inch below its rim, and filled even
full of water. This was completed before the arrival of the Committee,
and was at once approved by them. I made it my business every day
to note the fall of the water level by evaporation from this cup. On the
trial of the Allen boiler only the water in the cup was all evaporated,
and I had to fill it again. The temperature of the water in the cup was
always 8 degrees below that of the surrounding water. It was thus
obvious that the evaporation from the tank was greater than the fall
of the level in the cup would indicate. The Committee considered
that this should be increased as the tension of the vapors. The result
was that the report contained the following item: Units of heat carried
away by evaporation at the surface of the tank:
Root boiler 721,390.8 units
Allen boiler 1,178,404.5 „
Phleger boiler 378,371 „
Lowe boiler 692,055 „
Blanchard boiler 268,707 „
The same Bulkley pyrometer was used in all the furnaces to
indicate the temperature of the escaping gases. On Tuesday
morning, when my boiler was to be tried, I saw that before my arrival
the pyrometer had been set in the brick chimney, where the readings
could be conveniently taken by a person standing on the brick
surface of the boiler chamber. Its readings averaged 260 degrees
Fahrenheit. I did not believe this to be true. At about half-past two
o’clock, when seven readings had been taken, one each half hour,
having got ready some bricks and mortar and tools, I pulled the
pyrometer out and filled up the hole. I then knocked a hole in the
side of the brickwork at the bottom, in front of the flue, and set the
pyrometer there. The reading rose to 405 degrees, which was the
temperature at which the gases then entered the flue, and averaged
about 385 degrees during the remainder of the sixteen readings.
Root’s average was 416 degrees, and Phleger’s (also tubular)
averaged 503. Obviously the readings taken before the pyrometer
was moved should have been rejected; but the boys who did this
kind of work added them all together, and our average temperature
is printed 345.87 degrees, giving the boiler more credit than it was
entitled to by about 40 degrees. I lost a little by this operation. While I
was bricking up the hole the fireman came around and told me I was
spoiling his fire. When I got the figures of water evaporated and coal
burned, I found that in that half hour I had only 900 pounds (three
barrels) credited to the boiler, instead of 1800 pounds (six barrels)
during every other half hour, being a loss of about .023 in water
weighed in the barrel, 38,400 pounds, instead of 39,300 pounds,
while, curiously enough, the coal burned was rather increased.
The point of interest in this incident was the fact that the gases
had lost 125 degrees of heat in traversing a distance in flues and
chimney of less than 20 feet. This seems difficult to believe, but they
did. There was no leakage as the excellent draft clearly proved, nor
any other way of accounting for the discrepancy. The length of the
pyrometer tube exposed to the heated gases was the same in both
positions. The heat had been lost by radiation through the brickwork.
I have been waiting ever since for a chance to turn this knowledge to
useful account, but it has not come yet. I will content myself with
suggesting to somebody else the idea of facing the boiler setting,
flues and chimney, not only outside but inside also after leaving the
furnace, with white encaustic tiles, which will neither absorb nor
radiate heat appreciably. This will pay in maintaining the temperature
in a large degree to the top of the chimney, so increasing, perhaps
doubling, the strength of the draft. An enormous amount of heat
must be lost through the extended surface of the brick boiler setting.
It is always observed that the hotter a boiler-room is kept the greater
the efficiency of the boiler becomes. This is a slight indication of the
great gain which might be effected by the plan I propose.
Before this boiler trial we had lost Mr. Allen. He had conceived the
idea of the pneumatic riveter and the high-speed air-compressor to
furnish this riveter with power. In the latter he utilized the inertia of
the reciprocating parts, including two pistons, the steam and the air
piston. This he did with my cordial consent, and indeed there was
nothing patentable about that feature anyway. Mr. Allen thus became
the originator of the important system of pneumatic riveting, in its two
methods, by percussion and by pressure. Mr. Allen sold out his stock
in the engine company to Mr. Hope and Mr. Smith, and built a shop
in Mott Haven for the manufacture of the riveters and compressors.
He took the boiler in the fair in part payment, and sold it directly to a
party who had erected a wood-working shop at some point on the
Harlem River.
The Croton water which had been fed to the boiler contained no
lime, but some sediment. Mr. Allen had the boiler taken down and
brought to our shop for inspection and cleaning. I determined to
improve the opportunity to observe the effect of the circulation on the
deposit of sediment, and the result of the examination proved most
interesting. Each inclined tube had been provided at the end with a
brass plug, by removing which it could be cleaned by the running out
of the water which it contained. This had not yet been done.
I took out the tubes on one side of one section, ten in all, five over
the furnace and five behind the bridge wall, and planed them in two
longitudinally, and had the following revelation: The tubes over the
furnace were entirely empty. In those back of the bridge wall a
deposit of sediment appeared, only about an inch deep in the first
one, and increasing regularly to a depth of 18 inches in the last one,
which was not the tube receiving the feed-water. So the water fed
into the last tube of each section deposited its sediment most largely
in the first tube it reached, in which the circulation was least active,
and had deposited it all before reaching the tubes over the furnace.
The remaining long tubes were then cleaned, the tubes cut in two
were replaced by new ones, and the boiler delivered to Mr. Allen.
The next stage in its history was very funny. The purchaser, to save
the cost of Croton water, fed his boiler from the Harlem River, and
within a month it was found to be filled solid with salt. What was
done about it I never heard.
I thought I could sell the boilers where, as in New York City, they
could be fed with water free from lime, and I made a few such sales,
but the inspiration which led me to employ the second drum for
superheating the steam had deserted me.
I came to the conclusion that by making the first drum a large one,
and not extending the nipples into the drum to trap a puddle of water,
as I had done, I could superheat the steam in one drum. That was a
blunder. I had underestimated the furious circulation, which carried a
large amount of spray into the drum. I was misled by the quiet
position of the water-level, as always shown in the glass gauge.
Instead of superheated steam, I found the boiler to give very wet
steam. That fault, of course, I could have remedied by returning to
my first design. But I was discouraged by other things. The first, of
course, was the impossibility of removing scale by any mechanical
means. The most serious discouragement was a cracked header.
The inclined tubes, on any plan for their use that I could then design,
made cast-iron headers necessary. I had taken great pains to obtain
perfect castings, making them of the best iron in baked molds in iron
flasks, of uniform thickness, ⁵⁄₈ in., and ³⁄₄ in. where threaded, with
cores held perfectly central and remarkably well vented, and felt that
I could rely on their soundness; but this defect showed that I could
not. So reluctantly I abandoned the manufacture of the boiler.
I believe, however, that there is yet a future for the inclined boiler
tube, with independent circulation in each tube, the whole made
entirely from forged steel; and that better results will be obtained
from it than any other form of boiler has as yet given. I have been
told by Chief Engineer Melville that all water admitted to the boilers
in the United States Navy is made pure enough for pharmaceutical
purposes. If this can be done in the navy, where sea water and the
mud of harbors have to be used, it can be done anywhere. Cooling
towers make it practicable to return all water to the boiler even from
non-condensing engines. Then only the waste needs to be made
good, and any water can be purified for this purpose. Oil or grease
with the feed-water is readily avoided. Only electrolysis remains to
be provided against, which can be done by avoiding the use of any
alloy of copper in contact with the water. We may then have boilers
of the most durable character and safe to carry any desired
pressure.
The following incident near the close of my experience in Harlem
would be too ridiculous to print except for its consequence. One day
Mr. Smith sent me word that he would like to see me in his office.
When I entered he asked me, “What do you pay for the castings of
your governor arms and balls?” Of course he knew perfectly well, as
he had the bills and the books, but that was his way of introducing
the subject. I replied, “Forty cents a pound.” He held up both hands
in affected amazement, and exclaimed, “Forty cents a pound! Well,
sir, I can assure you of one thing, no more of this company’s money
is going to be squandered in that way.” I overlooked his insulting
language and manner, and said quietly, “Are you sure, Mr. Smith,
that you have all the information you need to form a correct judgment
in this matter?” “I am sure,” he replied, “what the market price is of
copper and tin, and that I can get castings made from our own metal
at a price that will bring the cost to not more than 25 cents a pound.”
“This, then, I presume, is all you know about the subject,” I said,
“and you ought to know a great deal more, which I will tell you. It is
necessary that I can rely upon getting a pure copper and tin alloy, in
the proportion known as gun-metal, on account of its strength, its
rigidity, and its wearing qualities. The latter is of especial importance,
because the governor joints are in continual motion under the weight
of the heavy counterpoise. Experience shows that this purity cannot
be relied upon where it is possible that any inferior metal can
become mixed with this alloy in even the smallest proportion. This for
us, not making our own castings, must be wholly a matter of
confidence.
“Another risk must be avoided, that is, of getting bad castings. The
castings must not have the least imperfection. The time lost, through
finding defects that make it necessary to reject arms after more or
less work has been put on them, would soon wipe out all the little
gain you look for; as these castings, at 40 cents a pound, only cost
about five dollars a set, as an average of all the sizes.
“I made a careful study of this subject when I commenced the
governor manufacture about fifteen years ago, and found David
Francis, who had a small gun-metal foundry on Vestry Street, to be
just the man I wanted. No inferior metal ever goes into his place. He
enjoyed the entire confidence of manufacturers. He has made my
governor arms and balls ever since. I have never had a bad casting
from him, and always got the pure metal, and have paid him the
same price that everybody pays him for small castings. I consider
the security that I have had respecting this metal to have been
fundamental to the great success of my governors, and that I would
be crazy to make any such change as you propose.”
He made no reply, and I left him, supposing my statement to have
been perfectly satisfactory. What was my amazement when, a few
days after, he informed me that he had made a contract with a brass
molder on Rose Street for casting our governor arms, “subject to
your approval, sir,” and he asked me to visit the place and see what
its facilities were.
I told him I would go, but that my position on the subject was
already well known to him. I found the place on a little lane, and that
the business done in it was making brass castings for plumbers. The
proprietor told me he had never made gun-metal castings, but he
could make any kind of composition, and I could rely on getting them
of just the metal I furnished him.
I reported to Mr. Smith that such an arrangement would be
ruinous, that his plan of furnishing the metal was most
unbusinesslike. “What do you know about business?” he shouted
with a sneer. “I know,” said I, “that if you should propose this plan to
any well-informed, practical man, he would laugh in your face, and
tell you if you wanted to ruin your business this would be as good a
way as any to do it.” He replied, “That is not the question, sir; the
only question is, will you, or will you not, approve the contract I have
made?” “I will not,” I replied, and walked out of his office.
A few days after I received a note from Mr. Hope, asking me to call
on him. I called next day, and he told me that Mr. Smith had been to
see him, with a bitter complaint of my insubordination and defiance
of his authority, which he would not endure, and he asked me to tell
him what the trouble was about. I told him substantially as above
related. “Is that all?” said he. I assured him that it was all the trouble
that I knew of. Mr. Hope replied, “I cannot express my amazement at
his interference with your management. That must be absolutely
entrusted to you, and he ought to see it. He is a rational man and I
can easily show him his error, and that you must take the stand you
have done. I don’t think you will have any more trouble.”
I did not hear again from Mr. Hope for a fortnight, during which
time I had no occasion to meet Mr. Smith. Finally a letter came from
him, telling me that I must prepare for the worst; he had exhausted
all his efforts on Mr. Smith, and found him absolutely immovable,
declaring that I must go, I was of no use there, anyway. Mr. Hope
said he told him his conduct was outrageous and suicidal. If I went,
that I would be the end of the business. He snapped his fingers at
that, saying, “Mr. Goodfellow can make the engines, and I can sell
them; what more do you want?” He declared that no business could
succeed unless the will of the president was law. They had several
very disagreeable conferences, which Mr. Smith always closed by
saying, “Repay me my investment in this company,” which he figured
at $24,000, “and I’ll give you my stock.” He had announced to Mr.
Hope his determination to call a meeting of the directors to discharge
me, and as he had a majority of votes, having some time before
given to each of his two sons qualifying shares and had them elected
members of the board of directors, he held the power in his hands to
do it.
Directly after, I received a copy of a notice of a regular meeting of
the board, convened strictly according to law. I could see no ray of
light. The night before the meeting I walked the Third Avenue bridge
half the night. The meeting was called to order by Mr. Smith at the
appointed hour. Mr. Hope was absent. Mr. Smith said Mr. Hope had
sent word to him the day before that he might be detained, but if so
would come up on the next boat, which ran hourly, and asked Mr.
Smith to wait that time for him.
So the meeting was adjourned for an hour, when Mr. Hope arrived.
Mr. Smith prefaced the resolutions discharging me from my
position as superintendent and electing Mr. Goodfellow in my place,
by quite an oration, setting forth the solemn sense of his Christian
duty which left him no alternative, and the necessity of proper
subordination in any business, if it was to be successful, and the
especially aggravated character of my offense, and the demoralizing
nature of my example.
He was about to put the question on the adoption of the
resolutions, when Mr. Hope said, “Before you put this question to
vote, Mr. Smith, I would like to say a word. I have concluded to
accept your offer. Here is my certified check for $24,000 to your
order, and I demand from you the transfer to me of the stock in this
company standing in your name and the names of your sons.”
When the Smiths were gone (they left by the next boat) Mr. Hope
and I sat down to confer on the business of the company. When
these matters were concluded, I said to him, “Mr. Hope, if you had
determined to make this grand proof of your confidence in the engine
and in myself, why did you not tell me sooner, and save my wife and
myself a great deal of distress?”
“My dear fellow,” he replied, “I did not know till this morning that I
should be able to do it. That is why I was late.”
CHAPTER XX