The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-07-21
U. S. Can't Supply
 Guns For Our Men
 To Fight in Europe

Guns For Our Men
 To Fight in Europe
 Washington, July 21--The War De- partment yesterday announced that 1t will. be impossible for the United States to furnish artillery for the American armies abroad and that France will be called upon to otsupply them. The official statement an- nounced it would be useless for this country to try to build guns fast enoungh and that the comparatively few now on hand would be used for training the new armies. ;. In effect this means the money spent by the Ordnance Bureau of the War Department in experimenting and perfecting American guns will be wasted, because the French gun will be taken over bodily. French type of munition must be used and American , gunners must learn to handle the French field pieces. The decision of the War Department virtually elimt- mates the Ordnance Bureau as fac tor. in the field in which it was sup posed to be pre-eminent. Brig. Gen. Crozier, chief of ord-
 
 bility for this condition. The depart ment places it on the failure of Con- gross to respond to the recomenda- tions which he has been making for fifteen years.
 | : The War Bureau already has an nounced that the. Springfield rifle which this government perfected and lconsidered the best gun of its char acter, also will be thrown out of use ! immediately and the British rifle vii 1 be used, because this country has nc 1 facilities with which to turn them ou1 fast enough. -
 | The shelving of American artillery and the American rifle leaves the Col automaticj revolver virtually the only accepted weapons which the United States troops will use abroad.
 1 The statement of the War Depart ment follows, in part:
 'sThe supply of guns of American manufactnre which we have on hand or are rapidly approaching colnplei ] tion, is sufficient for equipping al the troops we can send abroad in tht next few months of the war, but 1t i. not sufficient, and cannot quickly bt made sufficient, to supply the troops which should follow tthese, nor tt leave at home any proper number O. I batteries for training the new troop which are to be raised, both for aug | menting the forces sent abroad ant 1 for keeping up their requirement. I ssUnder these circumstances solu- ttion has been found which, fortunate Fly, will go far toward meeting tht situation into which we have beer .lsetthng ever since the Spanish war EThe gun factories of France have tbeeny highly developed and have beer Iequipped and practised Afos an output meeting the requirements of the large l armies which the devotion and sac l rffces of the French people have pu l in the deld.
 | Tn the matter of machining aht assembling guns and carriages. as dis Etinct from the manufacture of ths |steel out of which they are. made tsome surplus capacity has been at 4 Etained in France which now is avail fable for other than their own neces Isities and can be used for bridging lover the gap in supply oecasioned b. our own greatly increased demand (which otherwise would have to exis luntil our newly created capacity coul, Ebe in proper operation The Ordnance EDepaFtment has taken advantage O Ethis opening and has placed with tn EFTGnCn- EOVO1HI1GnL lOFQGTSA~ LOT ttl imanufa cture of an sinitial supply O Fffeld pieces of thef/ most necessar, types, and of the most thoroughl, demonstrated efficiency, namely. tn 75 nm. gun and the 155 nm. howitze
 (about 3. inches and 6 inches, respec 4tively) in calibre. ss,s5
 s"As a good deal of the steel pro Educing territory of France is in tn , hands of the enemy, the forgings flo
 these field pieces will probably conn , from this country, but they can b supplied from the, accumula ton whicl the French orders have. procured iron , Jour steel plants, and subsequently, ca Ibe replaced either by an equivalen tonnage of other kinds of steel or b , lgun forgings from the increased ca Fl pacity which is to be provided here.
 'As this artillery can be promptl i furnished to the American troops i : Europe, and as it is desirable an > practicable to have uniformity of am : munition supply, the guns now O hand will be kept in this country fo : the training of our troops, and tn f Iawmunition for them will be expen6 led iV the necessary target practic, 5 As the wear of the riffing brings tn guns to the point where refining l l. necessary there will be made, tdurin , this process, the slight change in tn ca.libre which will be necessary to f s them for firing French ammunition
 and thereafter ammunition of un form dimensions for fitting the F'renc : calfbre will be manufactured both i this country and abroad.
 Il By this arrangement there is e1 : fected an industrial .-co-operation i i 1.-the prosecution of the war which pel , mits the correction of a condition int a (which we ought not to have fallel n bu which is merely a repetition ,
 that in which we have found oul
 selves at the beginning of every or : of our wars
 . Preparations are being made for
 great popular demonstration in hol I or of the officers and men of u