New Britain herald., 1916-07-14
INITIATIVE TAKEN
 FROM KAISER'S HAND
Lloyd George Believes Allies Will
 Hold It from Now On

London, July 14-David Lloyd George British minister of war presiding, late yesterday at an allied conference on equipment, declared that the com bined offensive of the allies had wrenched the initiative from the Ger mans, never, he trusted, to return
 We have crossed the watershed" he said, "and now victory Is beginning to flow in our direction. This change is due to the improvement in our equipment"
 Lloyd George said a million men now are engaged in building, outftting and repairing ships in the British navy.
 The conference was held at the war office and was participated in by AL bert Thomas, French minister of mu- nitions; General Belaoff, assistant minister of war of Russia; General A. Dall Olitio, member of the Italian ministry of war, and the new British minister of munitions, Edwin s. Mon- tague.
 "Since our last munitions confer ence," said Lloyd Gorge, there has
 
 fortunes of the allies. On that date the great Champagne offensive in the west had just failed to attain it's >ob- jective and the French and British armies had sustained heavy losses without the achieveme ent of any par ticular success. In the east the enemy had pressed gallant armies of Russia back some hundred miles, and the Po1 1o1 central powers.
 ''The overwhelming victories won by the valiant soldiers of Russia have struck terror into the hearts of our foes, and these, coupled with the i'm m ortal defense of Verdun by our in domitable French comrades and the brave resistance of the Italians against overwhelming odds in the southern Alps, have changed the whole complexion of the landscape.
 Equipment Is Answer
 why have our prospects inn proved? The answer Is the equipment of our armies has improved enor- mously and is continuing to improve.
 ''The British navy until recently has absorbed more than half the metal workers of this country The IdSh OI new Sn1pS ana re- pairing the old ones for the gigantic navy, and fitting and equipping them, occupies the energies of a million men. Most of our new factories are now complete; most of the machinery l has been set up. Hundreds of thou i sands of men and women, hitherto | to metal and chemical l work, have been trained for muni- 1 ions making.
 Every month we are turning out l hundreds of guns and howitzers light, medium and heavy. Our heavy guns are rolling in at a great rate and we are turning out nearly twice as"much ammunition in a single Week-and, what is more, nearly three times as much heavy shell-as we fired in the great offensive in September, although the ammunition we expended in that battle was the result of many weary weeks accumulation. The new fac tories and workshops we have set up have not yet attained one-third their full capacity, but their output Is now with great rapidity. Our main difficulties in organization, con- equipment, labor supply and readjustment have been solved. If officials, employers and workmen keep at it with the same zeal and as- siduity as they have hitherto en- ployed our supplies soon will be over- whelming.
 q cannot help thinking that the i'm improvement in the Russian ammuni- ton has been ono of the greatest and most unpleasant surprises the enemy has sustained. Still, our task is but half accomplished. Every great bat tie furnishes additional proof that this is a war of equipment. More ammuni- ton means more victories and fewer casualties