The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-12-22
INVESTIGATION OF
ARMY AFFAIRS
(Continued from page ID

Continued from page II
company makes the Lewis gun, adopt
ed by the allies.
The Browning gun looks good
enough on paper, he testified, but mo.
body knows what II will do" Manu-
~facturers who say 1t is a peerless
arm, the best in the world" he added,
ARE fooling not only themselves, but
the government"
"Mr. Hansen, of the Colt company,
who testified before you hat quantity
delivery of the Browning gun is to be-
gin soon. is mistaken, in my opinion.
All the manufacturers who think they
will soon begin producing Browning
guns in large quantities are going to
fall down.
eff you'll investigate a contract
taken by one company for several
thousand Vickers guns. many months
ago., you'll find they haven't all been
delivered"
Borie said his company declined to
make the Browning gun, even If it had
been officially adopted by the govern
ment as the chief machine gun for
the American army.
He sharply criticised war depart
ment officials for the changing OF
their minds SO often.
They never knew what they
wanted" he declared. "They told ME
last August there would be no more
Lewis guns made after next July.
Five weeks later they ordered thous-
ands more, enough to keep my plant
busy all next year. Then, in Novem-
Der. they changed their minds again
and forced me to change my whole
equipment, to make Lewis air craft
guns instead of the trench guns they
had ordered"
This policy Of vacillation and
changed orders" Borie said, had cost
him $780, 600 and the government some
deliveries. He believes other manu-
facturers had suffered likewise. He
told how the government refused to
take Lewis guns firing British ammur
milton, although he could have deiiv-
cred ten thousand OF them by this
time. This, he estimated, meant a
loss to the American forces equivalent:
to 100000 rifles as one machine gun
is held the equivalent of fifty rifles.
"Of course it was preferable to have
the guns shoot American ammunition
said Borie, "but I've been told the
army has practically no machine guns
and the training camps only a few.
These Lewis guns have been killing
people right along. They're perfectly
effective. They'd have been better
than no guns. And the Browning
guns could have been substituted when
ready"
Borie's testimony figures the army's
total machine guns are $4,000. Gener-
al Crozier testified American troops in
France are getting their machine guns
from France and England, while the
few machine guns In environments In
this country are of three makes, some
of them French Rorie said he under
stood this government had paid ST.
100000 to Browning, inventor of the
guns adopted for his patent rights for
the duration OF the war.
do you think the government would
pay that much money for a gun that
had never been tested under war CON
ditions?" he was asked.
well, the u has never been
tested and / know the money was
paid said Borie.
Asked on whose advice this was
done, Borie said the chief of the ord
nance department and others con
nected with him.
Secretary of War Baker, then, in
reality?" asked Chamberlain.
Borie said Il suppose So"
Putting a "he-man' in charge of mu-
tons production and supply is the only
way the United States government
will solve the problem of getting the
necessary quantities of guns and am
munition in time to win the war"
Borie told the investigators.
Cut out the red tape, put a he-man
like Schwab or Farrell in charge, tell
him to drive the thing through. In
other words, create a ministry Of mu-
nitions or we will never get any
where" declared Borie.
Constant changes in design, most
of them minor, but enough to raise
The devil with the manufacturer
are mtde by the department, Borie
said. Thirty-eight minor changes
were made within six weeks in the
design of motor truck frames, Borie's
company was making and none of
them improved the frames materially.
He said when the contract was let,
ne supposed the design had been
standardized and would not need to be
changed.
Lewis Accuses crozier.
WASHINGTON. Dec. 22.-Responsi-
bility for ordnance and rifle shortage
IN thu M nricor 49,, xr,o JafJ -