St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-17

dition of the manufacture of ordnance
! throughout the world furnishes some light on
the question agitated ia the senate.
! The best cannon now made are from the
/ works OF Armstrong, and next in tue or
( DER OF merit Is the gun furnished BY the
/ Prussian Krupp. Following III order or ex-
cellence is the 60 ton gun invention of
Fraser superintendent of the Wolwich arse
nal and which is manufactured under the
SUPERVISION of the inventor by the English
government. There are also the Whitworth,
Rodman, PARROT and other guns, including
the machine guns all of which are the pro-
duct of private enterprise. In fine, the best
guns in use in the world, are those which are
the invention and the Manufacture by in
! dividuals as opposed togovernments. These
facts would seem to have an important bear
ing on the disposition of the question before
the senate.
As a matter of fact government in such
cases is not in the least comparable to pri-
yate ingenuity, enterprise and economy. A
work run by the government is too often an
excuse for the employment of favorites.
There are no incentives to activity and pro-
gress. There are no individual ambition to
be stimulated. a government may foster
inventions, but IL cannot invent. and the
best it can do in all such cases as the manu-
facture of fire arms, is to dependfor the high
est results on individual enterprise and
healthful competition. Germany owes its
superiority as war; power, largely to its artil-
lery, and for this arm it depends on Krupp.
The great guns of the Italian navy, the heavi-
estin use and afoat, are the manufacture of
Sir. VIM. Armstrong this Elswick fOundries.
There is yet another fact to be taken into
consideration and that is that the improve
ment in guns has not yet reached its limit.
This is certainly SO in the matter OF
dimensions, for the reason that Frazer au-
nounces that he is prepared at any moment
when the government is wiling, to double
the size of his present S0-tOn muzZle-loading
Cannon, while both Krupp and Armstrong
announce that they are ready to extend the
dimensions Of their present runs from 100
tons to $50 tons. 1t is the capabilities OF such
men as Frazer, Krupp and Armstrong that
we have to take into consideration when we
We should be able to produce as effective
results, or our efforts will be mere useless
waste. As matter of fact, the very cheap
est and most efficient way in which we can
secure heavy guns is to purchase them out
right from Krupp and Armstrong. The work
would be the best, the cost much less than it
would be, were we to erect works and enter
on their manufacture.
Our experience as to the naval capabilities
of this government to secure good result is
all to the effect that it is both dishonest and
impotent. The small arms with which we
entered in the late civil war were a genera
ton behind those in use by any other first
class power. The chances are, judging the
future by the past, that if the government at
tempts the manufacture of cannon, we
shall always be as much behind the rest of
the world in the matter of ordn ance, as we
were in SINAI. arms at the outbreak Of the
rebellion.