Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-04-26
BRITISH POWER
is INCREASING
DESPITE LOSSES
Army Better Equipped and Strong
er Than at Start of Germany's
Great Onslaught.
PREPARED FAR IN ADVANCE

London. April 26-Winston Spencer
Churchill. introducing IN the House of
Commons Yesterday the estimates for the
Ministry of Munitions. of which he Is
the head said that in the iivc weeks
since the battle IN France had opened
they had been passing through the great
est strain regarding the supply OF war
material that had occurred in the expert
cnce of the ministry. Not only had the
consumption and destruction of munI-
tions Of all kinds been proceeding at the
greatest rate. but there also were very
heavy losses bv capture 10y the enemy.
We lost" the Minister said nearly
a thousand guns by shell fire or capture;
between 1000 and 5000 machine guns
have been lost or destroyed. and the
quantity of ammunition, apart from that
which has been fired and that which has
been lost in the dumps. amounted TO
something between one and three weeks
total of manufacture.
Other war materials have been used
or lost in 3 great variety ot classes ana
on n similar scale. but 10y the end OF last
week all the losses had been made good
and IN many cases more than made good.
Vast quantities of small-arm ammunl-
ton have been lost or left behind. but,
great as the demand has been, the OK
pcnditure in the last month did not eX-
coed the maximum potential capacity OF
the British factories without touching
enormous reserves which had accumulated
against such contingency. The wastage
OF rifles was very great. but the losses were
quito easily and promptly made good.
PLANNED FOR \ YEAR AHEAD.
Our preparations had contemplated a
period az supreme battle intensity from
The third week of February instead OF
from the third week III March, so VIC
are AT present from one 10 three weeks
to the good Those calculations allowed
the artillery TO fire during the whole
fighting season = considerably heavier
volume cf shells than was expended weekly
duriur the offensive battles of last wear
and more than double the volume Of shells
frcd during the terrific homhardment
which characterized the Snmmc offensive
of 1916. They also provided for the carry
mo forward into 1919 Of sufficient re-
serves To allow the British total To mount
one step higher then IN power and ntens-
ity.
stances. our supply OF munitions would
enable us To carry on battle at the
supreme pitch OF intensity until winter
without compromising our requirement.
for 1919. This IS despite the fact that
1000 men were taken from munltlon
factories for service IN the army.
We arc making in single week more
alrplanes than we made IN the whole OF
Iql4: in a single month more than we
made in the whole Of 1915; in three months
more than We made In the whole OF 1916.
And we are gong 10 make tins year
several times what we made last year
Colonel Churchill SAID that, owing to
the tonnage required for Importation to
this country, coal TO france ana itaiy
and the assistance which England had
Ia give for the transportation OF the
American army. he had to accept con-
siderable reduction IN the tonnage budget.
upon which he had hoped TO build his
pians But he added: Enough 5 rs good
as a feast,
He paid tribute to the workers, say
ing that lately less than or,c-sixth the
total of the time worked had been lost
through labor disputes, while labor dur
ing the Easter holidays had more than
xrined this out. Another explanation
OF the ministry : success was that more
than threc-quartcrS Of a million women
were employed in the munitions fac
tories. More than nine-tenths OF the
whole manufacture Of shells was due 10
the labors of women who before the war
never had seen a lathe.
GUNS CATCH Up TO THE SHELLS
While every demand for steel pla,e
had been met. the minister hoped tins
wear to beat all records IN It's produc-
ton. Turning To the chemical sphere
hr announced that the government had
embarked upon the task OF extracting
nitrste from the Air on a considerable
scale and that officers had Informed
bin that the Rriti>h had killed more
GERMANS with heir gas than the Ger
mans had killed BRITISH 10y tins means.
although the Germans had caused more
Transient casualties with their lrrtants
just a. last year We had more am
rnunltlon than the guns could FIRE
continued the minister. this wear We
shall have sufficient guns to FIRE all and
morr than al the ammunition which
the tonnage. and tonnage alone, allows
US t. manufacture All the great armies in
the later stages OF these campaigns viii he
fully supplied with guns and shells but
the gunners will be the limiting factor in
artillery development. If that conclusion
should prove true, Il will afford US some
ground Tor thinking I hat the great capture
of guns which the Germans made in Rus
sla. in addition to their own supply.
viii not be Of so much service 10 them as
some people seem TO think
Huns CLAIM FALsE
Referring to the German War Minis