New Britain herald., 1915-10-26
MUNITIONS BEING
 MADE IN IRELAND
17O Firms Now Engaged in Manu-
 featuring War Supplies

1 Dublin, Ireland, Oct. 1.-Ireland is
 now at work on 8 large scale in the
 manufacture of munitions of war. For several years past there has been only one large Irish factory of ] war material, Kynoch's in County Wicklow. It is as off-shoot of the Bir- l mingham firm of which Arthur Cham l berlain brother of the famous English | statesman, was the head. But the ne- cessities of the war have in Ireland, as in England, turned other trades i'm l to the munitions business. When the demand was made in Great Britain l for a great extension of the manufac- ture of all sorts of war materials, Mr. Redmond saw to it that Ireland should l have share in the scheme. Repre- sntatives of MT. Lloyd Georges new department came over to Ireland and got into touch with leading business
 men in Dublin and throughout the
 country. The Dublin chamber of
 commerce gave active assistance and
 formed a special munitions committee.
 ITO Firms Making Supplies.
 The work is now we'll in hand and
 
 firms in Ireland are engaged in it. Large orders have been placed in
 Dublin, and one firm has got an or der for twenty thousand pounds, small figure on the general scale of this war, but a good deal of money for city where employment is scarce and industry backward. MT. Lloyd George has established in Dublin branch office which is expected to en- sure not only the execution of war contracts but a continuance of gov ernment work after the war A cen- tral arsenal is being constructed and equipped with special machinery. Every available machine is being pressed into the service, even those used in the City of Dublin Technical schools for the training of pupils The employees at the new works are to be divided into five classes, skilled and unskilled men, skilled and unskilled women and auxilaries who will work at times when the regular hands are resting at week ends. Employment is not to be restricted to men outside military age, the idea being that the munitions worker is as useful as the soldier.
 Belfast whose main activity in the war interest has been the increase in the output of shipping from it's fla nous yards has also gone sriousIv in to the munitions business Cork and Limerick, and even some of the small Ter towns throughout the country are also employing all the machinery they can command in making shells or parts of shells.
 Order for Clothing Materials.
 Munitions are not the only branch of war trade of which Ireland has demanded and received a share. Some of the textile factoris have had good orders for clothing materials. Ireland never has 1T. the past secured a fair share of government expenditure, and at the beginning of the war was great ly hampered in competing for con- tracts by the fact that the depots for examining and receiving goods were in London. Agitation, however, led to the establishment of depot in Dublin where certain classes of goods l of Irish manufacture are dealt with. | But there are still restrictions limiting 1 the classes of goods, and an effort is l being made to widen the utility of the | depot by admitting to it all the goods l produced in Ireland which are re- quired for military and other govern | ment services.
 Ireland's chief industry is and must | remain agriculture, and one of the l most indispensable of war munitions is | food. A vigorous campaign has been | instituted under government auspices | to increase the output of food products 1 in Ireland. She used to be told that l her function was to be the fruitful l mother of flocks and herds. Now the | cry is all for tiIlage. The difficulty is l that the grazing ranch system which l belongs to the old theory has not been l abolished, and the people have not l complete access to the land. They are l puzzled by the two voices with which | they are addressed on their duty in | the war On the one hand they are l told that it is the duty of the farm l CTS to enlist, that the state has done a | good deal for the Irish farmer and that l his time has come to show his grati- | tude by shouldering rifle in the new armies. Comment is freely made on the fact that the farmers and the farmers sons have not enlisted in the same proportion as other classes The complaint is true as regards far + mers of all parts of Ireland and of all !! parties and creeds. It is true of Eng fish farmers as well. But now there is the new campaign for increased food production which cannot be worked if the men leave the land for the armies. So the recruiting ser seant and the government agricultur- sts are getting in each others way.
 May Improve Agriculture
 That there is room for a consider able development of Irish agriculture IS evident from the fact that, accord ng to the statistics given by the head If the oorioulf1,ro1 5onortxoo,,+ r.a