Arizona republican., 1918-03-21

eign construction was 1000 tons, he ! stated, giving a total output of 932 900 | tons, while the losses in the same per ! iod were 100000 tons, which were the lowest since the intensive subma- l rine war began.
 Losing 260,000 Tons Monthly
 Great Britain had lost on the aver age of 260.000 tons monthly during the last quarter of 1917 and had built 10000 tons monthly, the first lord announced. British shipping had suf- fered the most, he pointed out, but the British had contributed the great est naval effort of the allies and had sustained the greatest attack, and should not bemoan their scars.
 Sir Eric declared that the German statement of the allied shipping losses for January was an eXaggeration of 113 per cent. Since he had shown up these grossly false returns for previous months, he added. the German state ment had not been issued and was overdue.
 Figures Cover All Losses
 The first lords figures on the world tonnage were reached after deducting lake craft and a considerable amount of small craft. His figures on the ton- mage sunk included vessels damaged and ultimately abandoned. The figures on losses included those due both to enemy action and marine risks.
 The output of repair work, continued Sir Eric. had increased in February, 1918, as compared with August, 1917, by so per cent; ten times more naval craft were docked for repairs in the last quarter of last year than in peace time, and more than 5000 ships were dealt with in that period. The men so employed might have produced a half million tons of merchant shipping if they had been engaged in building.
 Three Main Factors Given
 The three main factors in the build ing problem, said the speaker, were, first, patrol and other craft to destroy submarines and safeguard ships at sea; second, salvage and repair work; third. the building of new merchant ships. It would be simply providing sheep for the butchers knife to put all the industry's energies into the building of new ships, he remarked Sir Eric admitted that the disap- pointing results for January and Feb ruary building gave justifiable cause for anxiety. He denied the charge that the admiralty was an ungenerous god mother to merchant shipping. The naval service, he declared, had often subordinated it's interests to merchant shipping.
 Efficiency of Patrol | The drop in the curve of merchant | tonnage losses was attributed by the speaker mainly to the efficiency of the patrol and anti-submarine craft and to the valuable convoy work of other ves- sels.
 ! The great effort in construction and repair work had been made. the first lord pointed out, concurrently with the enormous increase in the output of munitions. The output of guns and ammunition in 1917 was nearly double that of the previous year and the out put of airplanes was two and one- half times as large while arrangements were in progress during 1917 providing for great increases this year.
 Defends Shipping Control
 The first lord defended the shipping controller and the admiralty against charges that ship building had been delayed by changes in designs of ships on the stocks. The reasons for the changes were, he said, to secure in- creased speed that submarine attacks might be evaded, to secure greater comfort for the crews, to simplify the designs. to convert ships into oil tank CTS and to provide additional heavy gun mounting.
 The yards had suffered from a shortage of material during the sum- mer months of 1917, he admitted, but today the material position was satis- factory and the stocks in the yards were more satisfactory than for years The need today was for skilled labor He hoped within few weeks it would be for unskilled labor only.
 Delay Due to Repairs The delay in the output for January and February was largely due to re. pairs and the conversion of ships into oil tankers, which class the Germans had set themselves to sink. The net addition to labor in the last sever months had been 1S,000 men, mostly ! unskilled. During February there wa: an increase of 2,500 men, which was al many new men as the yards coult digest. Sir Eric reiterated his earnest wish that both masters and men would appreciate the seriousness of the ship ping position.
 Appointment of Pirrie After announcing the appointment O
 Lord Pirrie. the first lord mentioned the Pirrie yards as putting more thai ! lldll ttltil OulPuI lulO ships and said he hoped before long i would be possible to launch one stand ard ship every fortnight from thes' yards. He urged all concerned t
 throw themselves into the production l of the 100000 tons of shipping monthl. which was necessary to overtake th'
 present rate of loss.
 The head of the admiralty empha sized the importance of the gradua withdrawal of men from the army fo
 the shipyards, so that the army should not be impaired and that men migh be replaced by efficient substitutes The yards were gradually getting iron the army all the skilled ands semi skilled ship yards men, he said. bu there was still a considerable defici
 ency in the requirements of the ship yards which must be filled by newl. , trained men, by dilution and by grad