New Britain herald., 1918-01-24
CHAMBERLAIN HITS
 WAR DEPT. AGAIN
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(Continued From First Page). | ceived no reply and on the tollo"lhS day the presidents statement crltlz- ing him was published.
 The presidents statement and the senator's reply then were read to the 1 senate. and the Oregon senator ob- ! served
 q do not know if any reply to my | letter was necessary assume that statement is the answer.
 .The statement of the president challenges me of course for proof of the statement in the New York Times | to which statement I adhere and re- peat before this body.
 "The people of this country may | not see this as I do but as chairman of the military committee as an ! American citizen and a member of this distinguished body I felt that I ! should say the things that are in me and if I succeed in making a rift in the clouds through which the Ameri can people may see I will feel my efforts have not been in vain.'' Senator Cham berlain repeated he had not distorted the truth in his speech made in New York but that owing to the great rush of business due to the war the president has probably not been able to ascertain the truth and does not know the truth. From the lips of those closest to the president, the chief executive cannot learn the truth, not because his advisers desire to mislead him, but because they are situated in the same position as he is.
 France, bled white," he contin- ued, lis furnishing America today and the troops going abroad with heavy ordnance, machine guns and airplanes If we relied upon the ordnance department in this emer- gency (and this is a war of artillery,) the war would be completed before we ever got enough to the front. France agreed to deliver this artil- lery to win America? Did she fur nish it in order to invite America ?" It was improper, he said, to give 1 details of American purchases of ordnance from the Allies, but re- i ferred senators to the confidential 1 testimony before the committee by l Gen. Crozier, chief of ordnance. If the administration had wanted 1 to be fair to the American people," he shouted, "why didn't the dis
 
 ! have the highest regard for him, let l the people know, so that the people could assist in getting ready for this ] terrible calamity that confronts not ! only America but the whole world 2" 1 Senator Chamberlain charged that l the ordnance bureau failed in 1916 to prepare for war when it seemed 1 certain.
 1 There were omens in the sky" he continued, that Am erica could not keep out What was the ord- i nance department doing? Nothing. It was lying supinely on it's back not 1 making gauges for manufacturing 1 ordnance, nor discovering the possi- bilities of manufacturing but doing nothing, absolutely nothing.
 'Im not blaming anybody in par ! ticular," he continued. T have high ! regard for Gen. Crozier. But we i haven't been able to do what Eng 1 land, France and all our other Allies have done and that is to retire these 1 gentlemen who have not proven 1 themselves up to the mark. We ought not to dismiss them in disgrace, but in other countries they have gone into innocuous deuetude.
 This isn't question of personali- | ties Not question between the president and myself. It's a question i of America and every man ought to make it his whole purpose to see ! that America is saved.
 Take the machine gun,' said the senator Its an old controversy and ! much may be said on both sides.
 The Lewis gun has been made here for the British army and there are 1000 of them on the battlefrOnts. Every British officer I have seen has expressed approval of that gun. Amer ica was prepared to produce them but with the country standing on see- thing volcano, the ordnance depart m ent was trying to decide on a gun. The war department did not even adopt a gun until May, and finally adopted it in June (1917), I believe, and then only on paper, and it still 1 is a gun on paper. It never has had a fair test Maybe the Browning gun l is a good weapon, but the Lewis gun is doing good work and why not { manufacture the Lewis gun?'
 '"The secretary of war testified be- fore the committee" he said, that in September the United States had nine Browning guns with which to go out against the millions of Germans.' He denounced the cry that lnVeStlgatlOn
 gives information to the enemy.
 "Germany knows more about Amer
 ica today than the men could at the
 departments" the senator declared If the government would be frank with the people then we could rely
 upon the people to rally to the SUD-
 port of the president and the prose
 cution of the war" he added
 Senator Chamberlain said he pro- ! posed to show by Secretary Bakers