Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-09-18

the 0ovs1nnsat Industry - Th1s llae
Of q Here, Whsss Every nsans q Pre-
tsoeSoa and Accessibility nay b Hsa.
HHE announcement Of the pros-
Vk pect of . conference here in
Il the three cities between Sem
ator w. b. Allison and Gen.
d. w. Flagler, with reference to the
Establishment Of . small arms plant
at Rock Island arsenal, has aroused
considerable interest naturally. and
many inquiries are daily made % to
the prospects of such lucky streak
for the three cities. All realize the
great advantage to come from such .
move. both as to the government and
&c the community. The Davenport
Democrat, however, does not enthuse
over the immediate outlook, for in
an extended discussion Of the matter
it says: "The fact is that the United
States arms factory at Springfield,
Mass, established in 1875. and oper-
ated almost continuously ever since,
is quite capable Of making all the
arms that the congress of the United
States is likely to order for the
use of the army for the present. II
is working from $50 to zoo men on
this manufacture, and is turning out
a good many guns annually; more
than the army. at its present
strength. is consuming. While il is
true that the south row of shops of
Rock Island post was intended TO be
an arsenal-a plant devoted to the
manufacture Of small arms, ammuni-
ton, etc.-by the designers Of the post
the fact remains that Rock Island
arsenal is not ready to quickly begin
the manufacture OF small arms, and
it is not q short nor an easy tack to
make it ready. The shops will have
to be fitted with machinery, all of
which. being largely of special type,
and used for this particular purpose
only, will have to be built, so that not
only will q large sum Of money be
needed to get ready to make guns here.
but much time will be needed also.
II will take not less than q quarter
Of million OF dollars to fit up the
shops here in shape to make the first
gun-unless small arms are to be
made in q very small way. not worth
telling about. II the governmen,
means to make them to advantage,
that is as cheaply as compatible with
good workmanship, it must have q
good sized shop. be able to effect
division OF labor to the best sdvan-
tage. and be in position to buy ma
terisl in large quantities. Such q
shop Ms exists in Springfield could
not De equipped here for less than
the sum named, and probably more
would be required. After this would
come the need for another big sum Of
money. almost or quite equal to that
mentioned, for material. running ex-
Penses, wages. etc, for the first year,
and this would have to be renewed
year after year, or else the shop
would be practically a dead letter.
II would take half . million dollars
the first year to get the shop in or
der. and TWO or three hundred thou
sand each year after that to keep it
going. unless the ordnance depart
ment wants to waste money on an
experiment. This does not seem to
be its desire.
Flssler's Chsriebcd Idra.
There is no doubt that Gen. Flag
Ter would like to see the manufacture
of small arms established ut Rock
Island arsenal. He has admitted as
much to the Democrat and other
friends here. and he is otherwise on
record in this direction. He has
good reasons for this desire. The
inaccessibility Of the place to IN in
vader. the chespness of labor, the
facilities for shipping its product to
all parts of the country, the roomi-
ness and heslthfulness Of the loca-
ton. and the fact that there are mil
lions OF dollars already invested in
shops here which were built for this
express purpose, are enough to make
him wish to see such an establish
ment set up. Furthermore, it is
known that Gen. Flagler is anxious
TO see the government manufacture
arms at q more rapid rate than that
at which manufacture is now pro-
ceeding at Springfield. He wants
enough rifles in the armories Of the
country TO supply q million men, in
case the United States should ever
need another volunteer army OF that
size. He has advocated the in
creased manufacture of these guns,
and il he could get the money he
would be more than merely glad to
see the manufacture established at
Rock Island arsenal, but nothing can
be done without money, and the sum
needed is SO large that it seems
almost out OF the question that con-
gress will vote it, especially since
the country is at peace and there
now appears no particular need for
arms, small or large. When Gen.
Flagler was here few months ago
he talked this matter over privately
with friends in this city. He was
not at al hopeful then that the money
could be had. He hoped that some
day it might, but there were no signs
then that it would be Forthcoming. I"
The ARGUS. however, prefers 90