The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1918-01-31
April the Lewis gun had not been sat
isfactoriiy tested with American ann

April the Lewis gun had not been sat
/ isfactoriiy tested with American ann,
! munition,
Although widely used by England,
| the FRENCH. he said, never took the
Lewis gun in any large numbers. 1.-The
board he appointed in the fall Of 1915
to test machine guns, never delayed.
for one second the procurement of ad-
ditional machine guns
He told of the navy's test OF the
! Lewis gun last April with an army Of
ficer present and added:
| AS q result sof that test an imnae-
dlate order was given to the Savage
Arms company for Lewis guns. Large
orders for Lewis guns have been given.
Pershlng that he does not desire Lewis
guns for use on land. General Pershing
land his staff desire them only for air.
craft" An
Get Guns From France.
In the meantime, Z said Mi. Baker,
!, the French government is able to sup
ply us with light French guns and
heavy Hotschkiss guns for the troops
that are abroad and that will be sent
! for the present. 81. .
| I'VE have ordered all the Lewis
guns we could get and have encourag ed
| the company to extend it's plant for in
| creased productions. 1t has not vet be-
gun to expand to the extent we would
| like. Our army abroad is provided with
the guns it has elected as adapted for
its use, and our supply is to supple
ment that"
Obviously, he said, there were not as
many machine guns for camp training
as was TO be desired. but he read a
table showing that on November /,
each camp or cantonment had been
| shipped 80 Colt, IS Lewis and AS Chau-
chat guns and in addition each regular
n
with 10 Lewis guns and each infantry
regiment with 10 Chauchat
practically all of these were shipped
before the troops We're ready for them;
that is before November L." Mr.. Baker
said.
Senator Reed asked if before the
troops were ready for them" meant
| that the men needed preliminary train
ing or before they had been modified
Secretary Baker said he believed that
| it meant that the ranges had not been
completed and also that preliminary
| training was necessary.
I Senator Kirby asked why Lewis guns
had been sent to the camps when it
had been decided not to use them with
the land forces. Secretary Baker said
it was so the men might learn the COM
plicated mechanisisms of as many types
as possible.
The Artillery Problem.
On the question of big guns, secre-
tary Baker recalled that General
Crozier head Of ordnance had urged
| congress and the various secretaries of
war continuously for larger programs
because of the time it took to make
the guns The record served, he
| thought, to show that General Crozier
had realized the delay that must be
| faced and sought to prepare in advance
Reading from letter from M. Tar
dieu, French high commissioner, Sec.
IONlr
| tered the war with more than 5000
/ pieces of heavy artillery, but only 140
quick firers. Great effort was made M.
Tardieu said, to get the slow firing
lguns from the fortresses into service for
the field, and this policy proved to be
| g mistake as quick firers We're needed
| for field work.
An appended list of orders for heavy
artillery placed by France, the secre-
tary said, showed that sit did not lie
in the imagination of any one TO real
/ ize what the ordnance programs of the
war would become-not even France,
the very seat of the conflict, with the
enemy at her throat"
We had limited amount of artil-
lery and our first STEP" the secretary
! said, was to speed up that already Or
/ dered and in in process Of mannfac-
+, ture.''
/ British and French theory of artillery
usage differs, he said, adding:
I'VE had to decide for ourselves what
/ we should use"
/ you thought it was better use the
French factories instead of waiting to
build our own?' asked Senator Reed.
1 Exactly" the secretary replied, "aso
it saved tonnage. And I'm telling no Sc
crets when l say ships are the crux of
4 this problem and every time we can
4 use French industrial resources instead
of making and sending our own pro-
ructs we are doing it.
Is that a disadvantage to France?"
| asked Senator Beckham.
Categorically answer no. said Mr..
Baker, positively. 1T has been a very
I great advantage to France"
II have seen in the newspapers" Mr.
Baker continued, that this is putting
! 4 burden on France. say to you, gem
! tlenlen, that Marshal Joffre and his as
sociates. General Bridge and all his as
sociates of Great Britain and in fact all
i persons of commissions that have come
4 to this. country with any knowled dye
! of conditions, all bring me the conf
| dence and positive assurance thai we
| are not only not taking from En- land
4 and France the things that they need,
/ but are helping their ind, ;strial
i processes and saving tonnage and MAX
/ ing proper coordinated military efforts
1 With our allies
when VIC went into the var" he
j said, 1.-THE standard Of the al ay uni
form was rs per cent wool ar | 25 per
cent cotton But that was hanged,
and now every yard is of VII lin wool,
(, with a large increase in its 8; rength.''
/ Making 60.OO00Oo she.ls.
To the report on progrc $ of shell
4 making, showing 60,000,000 bells under
4 manufacture for delivery this year.
i Senator Frelinghuysen. of New Jersey,
I said:
4 From my information l am inclined
i to challenge that statement
! Secretary Baker said it was hurried
! ly prepared by General Wheeler. acting
/, quartermaster general but he believed
4 it accurate. lat
A II want TO make one further obser-
vation, Secretary Baker proceeded.
taking UP army food. II think it is not
! unfair for me to say that in the proNis-