New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-07-05

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir There was a time in the history OF
the nation when certain commander set up
cannon made of wood and deceived the
enemy. Upon that precedent we have been
largely relying ever since for our defence
II we build up larger army and navy with
out also getting in motion behind them the
industrial forces Of the nation, so that we
shall have real cannon and all other materials
Of warfare. we shall deceive only ourselves
The foreign spy of to-day is not so much con-
cerned over the number of men we can mus
ter as he is over how much or how little our
factories can supply in machine guns, SHIPS
ammunition and the other necessaries OF war
Even as our national dangers have in
creased. many people have been lulled into
false sense Of security by the belief that we
were sending enormous quantities OF NUM-
tions of war to Europe; hence they have
Jumped to the conclusion that, having the
money, the men and the factories, we are
reasonably safe.
But enormous" is a relative term. ship
ment of shells that is mammoth to civilians
in America with duck shooting ideas OF am
munition requirements is only tea-time "a
ton for very small part Of one army IN
action As the true basis OF all prepared
ness is a realization of the actual needs, and
then of our present ability or inability 20
supply those needs, let US apply ourselves 20
the real crux Of national defence, which is
the industrial side for we do not want an
army or navy that shall partake of the
nature of theatre scenery without the vital.
4 ind -.~f.s
force behind it,
England has one and one-half million
trained soldiers who are drilling without
rifles. Russia though the war has been
under way two years has more than three
million soldiers who are unarmed The present
advances of Russia in the east made pos
sible only by the shipment Of rifles and NUM-
tons from Japan
Not single one OF the great quantities "
rifles ordered in this country two years ago
has yet reached the fighting fronts of the
Allies, though these rifles are at last COM
mencing TO 90 forward in large numbers
These conditions show the utter folly Of
our own people taking refuge or comfort IN
the thought that We can prepare after trouble
starts National defence is condition Of
mind. The whole theory OF defence is to be
so prepared that no one will start trouble
with US. European orders have helped
US toward preparedness by showing our in
dustrial incapacity Soon we will be able 10
turn out rifles in respectable quantities ami
shells in better quantities than would have
been otherwise possible, but-this is the vital
point there are only three concerns in the
United States that are able to make artillery
and we make so few rife cartridges that the
quantity has never been enough TO warrant
either Great Britain or Russia shipping Amer
lean cartridges to the front.
Our rife cartridges are used for target
practice only. Therefore. while We have
rifles, We have nothing TO shoot in them, and
while we have shells, we have nothing TO
shoot them out of.
/ 1t is no flight OF fancy to say tina; a regi-
ment without many machine guns now is we'll
nigh unequpped. Three motorcycle scouts
not long ago are said to have wiped out with
machine guns an entire German regiment as
it was marching into village. actually kill
ing every member Germany had 5000 ma
chine guns at the beginning Of the war Great
Britain had but 400. Compared with the
equipment OF European powers, 5000 machine
guns would be very small number for our
army. 4 machine gun of the best type shoots
700 rife cartridges a minute, or over .OOO. 900
in twenty-four hours But there are only
five concerns in the United States Which make
these cartridges, and only one firm can turn
! out 100000 . day. While it 10 true that no