The Washington herald., 1918-06-23
PURPOSE OF ALLIES
REVEALED In BILL
Carrying Warfare to En-
emy's Country Aim Of
Five Billion Measure.
HUGE AMOUNT NECESSARY
FOR HEAVY FIELD GUNS
2o.73I.229 for Artillery Out
Of Total Ordnance Appropria-
tion of S.. .4OS.0 .065 .S45.

America IS ready to launcn
big-gun program fer three more
years of war. The guns will be
built for the primary purpose of
smashing the Germanic defenses
on the east bank of the Rhine.
They call for three field armies
\ of I.375.ooo men each, or more
than 4.ooo, 900 in all. =
This is the meaning OF the
! $5.ooo.ooo.ooo Notifications bill
which was reported to the House
yesterday. 1t reveals the pur-
pose OF Gen. Pershing and the
allied staffs to carry the warfare
clear to the German border and
assault the citadcls along the
Rhine with 10, IL and I4-inch
guns and I6-inch mortars.
Approved by War Council.
The program for carrying the war
into the enemy's country was form
u,ated by Gen. PeTshing. approved
by the allied war council in Paris
. nd by the general staff of the War
Department here.
The exact amount carried in the
hin is S5.435, ,096,224. of which S2.-
E23. 3.i65.S45 is in contract authorize
ton and s2.S11.6S0.579 in cash. For
the artillery program $500. O0O.0 is
allowed in cash aud ST29,731.295 in
authorization. making a total of ST.
80. .731. .295. Field artillery and am
nfunition are to receive the bulk
o. the total appropriations, s5,40S.-
CC5,Si5 being allowed for these pur-
poses. the balance of s27,O3O.37s be-
ing for seacoast defenses and other
purposes
The big gun program necessitates
the construction of an ordnance fac
Icy. and for this purpose $40. 0.O0O.-
900 is allowed. The plant is being
constructed at Neville Island in the
Ohio River. near Pittsburgh. 1t will
manufacture guns from the steel
iugot up to the finished weapon.
This will be a worthy rival of the
great German Krupp works at Es-
sen.
Another new departure of sig
nificance in the hill is that no ap-
preparations are made for guns or
batteries for use along the coasts
of the United States. The produc-
tion of ordnance for use in France
Is the big aim of the bill. and
everything else is subordinated to
this purpose.
BorIand Speaks on Bill.
Representative Borland. of Mis-
souri,. chairman Of the Fortifications
facts in regard to the bill after he
had presented 1t in the House. He
said:
This bill Is like no other fortihca-
! ton bill ever presented to Congress.
It b necessary to understand the the
ory upon which 1t is drawn. The
paramount need of the hour Is to
provide for an ample program Of field
artillery for the use of the army in
Europe. The other items in the bin
must be subordinated to this, not be-
cause Of lack Of merit, but because
Of relative Importance The biggest
items in the bill are the appropria-
tons for mountain. field and siege
cannon and for ammunition for the
same.
"A certain number of field guns are
allotted to each division, corps and
army, and IN addition to this there is
a program of heavy ordnance en-
bracing the ten, twelve and fourteen
inch guns and the sixteen-inch NOR
tars. Included also are number Of
guns that have been transferred from
the navy for the use Of the army.
Some Of these are spare guns Of the
most modern type which are a re-
serve stock for the feet and not ac-
tually needed for the equipment Of
any naval vessel. Others constitute
obsolete guns Of short range which
are no longer used upon American
vessels. but which are very service
able for land use
Coast Defense Guns.
In addition there are a number
of coast defense guns running from
I've to twelve-inch which will be
mounted on railway carriages and
on motorized trailers. None of
these are taken from important
fortihcations in the United States,
but are principally from the spare
guns Of the reserve stock Of the
coast artillery. The committee felt
willing to encourage the use of all
the guns which ara Immediately
available. As between the coast
the battle line in France, the i'm
portant need for guns is of course
In France
This program Of gun construc-
tion is 50 large that II has taxed
to the utmost the production re-
sources Of this country. The hear
lngs disclose that Cen Pershine Is
now purchasing in France field ar
tiiiery equipment for thirty diyi-
lions Of the American army. includ-
Ing both guns and shells. The
French are meeting these orders.
and In fact are delivering the sup
plies faster than our troops require
them.
"For the last few months the
American troops have been briRad-
ID with the British and French.
which means that they have been
asfng the ammunition Of these
iorces instead Of using our ammu-
aition and weapons. For this rea-
pon the surplus OF guns and am
nunition has been piling up in
france ready for delivery to the