El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-01-24

1 have seen has passed approval o.
that gun America was prepared Il
/ produce them. but. with the country
standing on 4 seething volcano, the
| ordnance department was trying tC
] decide on 4 gun The war department
did not even adopt gun until May
and finally adopted II in June (1SlD
believe, and then only on paper, and
it still is a gun on paper. 1t never
has had a field test.
Maybe the Browning gun is a good
weapon, but the Lewis gun is doing
good work. Why not manufacture the
I Lewis gun?
'sThe secretary of war testified be-
fore the committee" he said, that
! in SeptembeE the United States had
nine Browning guns, with which TO
90 out against the millions of Ger
| many"
Germany Already Knows.
He denounced the cry that investi-
cation gives information to the
I enemy
Germany knows more about Amer
| lea today than the men connected
] with the departments" senator Cham
! berlain declared IF the government
would be frank with the people. we
I could rely on the people to rally to
| the support Of the president and the
l prosecution Of the war.
Great Britain" he said, did not
waste time manufacturing guns. The
United States could have adopted the
same rifle used by England. as plants
in this country were equipped for
manufacturing them" he continued
While the House Burns.
But while the house burns" he
shouted. America determines through
the ordnance bureau what instrument
talities are to be adopted" He con-
coded that the rifle as finally adopted
sea-a-
sun, but declared 1T took days and
months to perfect" After engineers
Of various gunmaking plants had
been consulted, n gun finally was
agreed upon for the American army,
but the ordnance bureau. through a
very distinguished officer, ordered
that the number Of parts be increased,
which added to the delay" he added
We Are WOefuIIy Short.
why shouldn't America know these
things% the senator demanded. Some
people IN the west" he said, believe
America has all il needs. II they
only knew the actual conditions they
would give their lives. their all. to
protect America Casual reading Of
the secre tary OF wars statement gives
the impression that we had every
thing But when we get the testi-
mony OF the men on the ground, diff
ferenI information is obtained"
Shortages Mt Camp Bowie.
Citing the testimony Of an army Of
ficer fIom Camp Bowie, Texas. who
declared there was not a single trench
mortar there and that other necessary
equipment was lacking. senator
Chamberlain declared:
That is true Of every camp in the
United States If it hadn't been for
the civilian eople who have come
here and given their time and service
We wouldn't have been anywhere
Turning to the quartermaster gen.
erals department. senator Chamber
lair declared that from secretary Ba-
ker'S general statement the country
would believe that everything was
lovely and the boose hung high" so
Tar as clothing is concerned
Clothing Is Lacking.
But when you talk to the men that
command these boys you find it isn't
there he continued: "on a per capita
basis it is there. but not when it
comes TO effective distribution. They
simply haven't got the clothing.
7 realize the difficulties of the
quartermaster general He has done
the best he could under the present
system. The president inherited that
system and has done the best he
could. The president isn't response /
bic for the system. But the fact re- |
mains that we haven't the clothing"
Senator Chamberlain said he pro- |
posed to show by secretary Bakers ]
own testimony that the secretary did /
tons.
Says Somebody Lied.
That is why I say" he continued, I
that Ele president did not know the 4
truth And I did. He must have got
ten his facts from the secretary. who
in turn must have obtained them from
somebody else and somebody must
have lied And that is why I say the
president has not been given the
truth"
Striding out into the center Of the
aisle with an attitude Of defiance, he
shouted:
Allies Remedy Similar BIurders.
Il feel it my duty to my country
and my conscience to tell the truth.
have no fear OF God, man or the
1evil when my conscience prompts.
And no man in this country can keep
ne from telling the truth. The only
lear is that this discussion may have
pad effect on the country But il
he conditions exist they ought to be
corrected quickly. Great Britain found
he same conditions and corrected
hem quickly So did France"
Senator Chamberlain passed
around photographs OF wooden
machine guns, rifles and heavy
ordnance issued at eantonments
and asked senators to study them
carefully.
They are Of some use" he ex- 4
)lained.- Gin training men. But if I
lad a boy training for the battlefield
would not want him to have his
with nothing else than a
wooden cannon"
Profit By Mistakes.
England and France, he said, saw !
he mistake OF having artillery men
control the ordnance department ,
You must go to men who have
lone these things to get results" he
aid, and congress should face this
without fear of any man but with due
egard for the distinguished COM I
nander in chief" r
True. Just the Same.
The comma nder at Camp Sherman, 7
,hio. told him there was a shortage 4
Z 1000 overcoats there, the SEM tor &
aid He referred that statement to r
he secretary
In his usual placid way he said Z
that's not true remarked the SEN Q
tor.
Senator Chamberlain then read from
letter from secretary Baker saying
later report showed 1000 oyercoa is
7ere needed at Camp Sherman, but
hat they were in course Of ship
1ent-"
That's the way ever since the war
tarted, In course but not getting
here" he shouted.
Bnizer Himself shows Shortages.
Placing il the record a chart sub
lifted to the military committee by
ecretary Baker showing shortages Of
at all camps. varying from
eclared he wished that condition to
ecOmn known fo the mamie