THE OUTPUT OF MUNITIONS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2478, 3 June 1915, Page 7

THE OUTPUT OF MUNITIONS

ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW.

The London representative of a local business firm, in the course of a letter to his principals, makes some interesting comments on tho situation in Britain withrespect supply of munitions. "You will have, observed," he writes, "the grave words of Earl Kitchener and other publio men have uttered as to the deficient output of shell steel and shells. This is in part due to the men and in part to the masters. This is an aspersion on both that is only in part justified: The masters and the men in the, majority of cases have done all that could be done. Much of the fault lies with War Office officials—men, mind you, on the civil side who in the attempt to glorify their office display their incompetence to grasp essentials and to get to grips with them. Instead of this makere have been harassed, to death, dancing attendance at the War Office and on French and Russian Government agents, and their bidding against each other and causing a diffusion of effort and wastage of power. Take an instance. One works I know of is supplying to tho British Government many thousands of tons of shell steel. They started two more furnaces and notified the ■ War Office that they could give a greatly increased output, and added that they would give the tonnage in shell steel, torpedo steel, or would make the shells. A week passed, and the letter remained unreplied to. Tho makers then rang up the War Office Department, and they were tolel to call at 4 p.m. They went, and were put into a waiting-toom with half a score of weary waiting men in front. Having caused an uproar, they were taken out of their turn, and saw the head man, who said he had not seen their letter, and asked them to report on the circumstances.

"I need not follow the matter further, exoept to say that they lost a weekover 1500 tons of steel—at a time when Kitchener was crying out that output was vital to the Empire."