The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1917-09-08

tract from being purchased by the
Government for proving ground pur-
poses.
I Shcuid not want to be RESPONSE
ole Tor the guns and L should not
want to be responsible for the ammu-
nltiun," said General CrOzler, IL eN-
planning to he House Appropriations
omnlttee the absolute necessity for
getting ,tueIuat9 facilities for testing
guns hi ammunition. Il should not
want TO be here III this place with
complaints pouring back that the
smells " ouid not burst and that they
burst p.Hmatuiely and Killed our
own men When teiIg fred over their
heads and burst III the guns and
killed the crews, and then have 1t
develop afterward that we had not
done our best and that We had not
proved those things over here and we
did not know they would behave that
way.
Now. what would happen here
with our kind of criticism of officials,
if that kind of report came back from
the other side and it developed that
we have been hampered in our abili-
" to Try out this dangerous materl-
al? Where would We all be. simply
because d few people do not want to
move of Kent Island and have sent
in petitions with a whole lot OF sig
NATURES in the same handwriting
and | am Informed that ii lot OF
those signatures are those OF cOiOred
people who do not own any property
and are simply employed by the day
and are Squatters and would be just
as well off on the mainland as on the
island. Where would We all be when
it was aScertained that they had kept
us from properly testing the ammu-
milton that our soldiers have got to
uuse over III Europe in this war;
General CroZier declared that Kent
Island would be utilized for prov
ing ground two months after Con-
gress authorized its purchase. He
said guns and ammunition to be sent
to France this winter would be tes-
ted there within the next few
months.
1t would be criminal negligence
to send either cannon or ammunition
over to the other side which had nos
been properly proved ana tested.
General CroZier went on to say.
Kent Island, he added. l., the OfJy
place which can be tounG under the
stress oil existing circunls1 ances i'll
order to provide facilities as quickly
as possible for the testing of war
materials to be used by the American
soldiers abroad.
General Crozier denies absolutely
the report being circulated around
Congress that the War Department
mas had its eye on Kent Island for
ornIInd He said
that boards of army officers have
been securing the country for years
in search of a site. The number of
places, he said, is limited, and it does
not take but a short time 10 examine
the sites which have been proposed.
General Crozier laid stress upon the
contention that Kent Island is the
only place which the army officers,
after years of hunting. had found
which measured up to all require
mentS.
The Kent Island forces have begun
an active campaign against the TAX
ing of their property. Today there
was mailed to every member OF
Congress an appeal from the Kent
Island Home Preservation Commit
tee," asking that their homes be
preserved, and that the army officers
be required to look elsewhere for a
proving ground site. This appeal,
which is in the form of petition let
ter sets forth all the claims which
the islanders have made in regard to
the fertility of the soil, amount OF
business, its value, and the hard
ships it will work on 5000 people.
The War Budget bill will not be
reached in the House until the mid
die part of next week. As soon as
the House acts upon the war-insur-
ance measure. Chairman Fitzgerald
viii caE Up -tAs-LEar~- dget-bill,
which contains the blanket appro-
priation for the purchase of Kent
Island.