The Dominion. TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 1916. THE WAR INDUSTRIAL MACHINE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2749, 18 April 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 1916. THE WAR INDUSTRIAL MACHINE

The. latest information regarding the munition supplies of Great Bri- ] tain and her Allies indicates that the solution of tho all-important problem of providing the Allied armies with guns and ammunition is now well in sight. It is, at any rate, safe to say that the position in this respect has been enormously improved, and that the output is mounting up at a continually increasing rate. In Monday's issue we printed a very encouraging account of the tremendous increase in the output of the French factories, and some time ago it was asserted, on'the highest authority, that Russia had grappled with her munition difficulties in such a resolute and . businesslike manner that there was no likelihood of a recurrence of the shortage which so seriously handicapped her armies at the time of the great German offensive. A Russian Minister recently declared that the munitions crisis no longer existed. This morning we publish a cablegram from New York which provides fresh grounds for satisfaction. A representative of tho Pierpont-Mohgan firm, who has just returned to New York from a visit to Europe, states that Britain and France are now manufacturing munitions on such a vast scale that they have become independent' of the United States in this matter. He says that the immense supplies ordered in America early in the war will not bo continued. • The firm mentioned is one of the wealthiest and most influential businesses in the United States. It taken a prominent part in the export of war material.for the Allies, and its representative should be in a position to speak with a good deal of authority. Early in March the New York Evening Post stated that people who were in a position to know asserted that. most of the munitions used by the Allies, in the fighting at Verdun were produced in Franco and England, and that supplies from America were going into reserves. The Allies did not_ seem to be in a great hurry for deliveries. They had, in fact, I actually delayed shipments by frequent tests and closer scrutiny. "It is an open secret," says the Post, "that considerably mol'e business could bo done to-day in munitions if it wero not for the dilatory methods practised by some of the belligerents." This seems to bear out the view expressed by the representative of . the Pierpont-Morgan firm that the Allies have now increased their own outputs to such an extent that the need of importing supplies from the United States is not nearly so urgent as it was some months sgo. ,It is very desirable that the Allies should be in a position to meet all their own requirements as far as. munitions are concerned. Their power to win the war should not be allowed to depend upon any outside agency which might fail them at a critical moment,

/The Pierpont-Morgan representative makes the interesting remark that the "European countries will, themselves do tho reconstruction work after the war, converting their munition factories for that purpose." This problem of reconstruction is already receiving attention in Britain. The Government has set up various committees to make plans with the object of facilitating the prompt restoration of peaco conditions as soon as the conflict is over. In an article in the Edinburgh Review, Dr. Shadwell gives a graphic description of the manner in which Britain has been transformed into an arsenal, and of the absorption of the industrial energies of the- country by the war.

AU the accumulated mass of knowledge, the slow-won mastery of natural forces and materials, the skill, tho craftsmanship, the cunning manipulation and blending, the infinite variety, of tooto, the huge apparatus of world-witie transport by land and sea—all the means which nian has in the lapse of ages gradually made liis own . and applied to - maintain life, increase comfort, and servi/ his daily needs iji countless ways—all these aro suddenly turned to purely destructive purposes with an ardour and energy unknown to civil life.

The great after-war problem will consist in the diversion of the enormous industrial referred to by Dr. Shadwell back from tho work of destruction to that of construction. The great machine which has been created for war purposes will not be thrown on to the scrap heap when the struggle is finished. Much of it may be used for the creation of fresh wealth to replace the wealth which has been destroyed. Mr.' Lloyd George recently declared that scores of millions' worth of automatic •machinery had been introduced, and this would have an enormous effect upon the nation's industries when the war is over. _ The great army of skilled workers is being augmented, and they would aril bo wanted to repair the ravage that is now going on. Mr. Lloyd George contends -that the country, so far from being impoverished, will be richer in everything that constitutes real wealth. "It will be a better organised, better equipped, better trained, and a better disciplined nation—a nation, indeed, instead of a congerics of conflicting interests." The Minister of Munitions evidently believes that Britain will do her own reconstruction work. In spite of the unparalleled strain which the war is putting upon the nation's resources, he can look into the future, without dismay. Some people may consider that he is too optimistic, but his.views are endorsed by leading British economists. The pessimistic prediction that the war will be followed by a period of extreme depression, is repudiated by some of the most eminent authorities. It is by no means unreasonable to believe that the war is preparing the way for a rciv and more ftfficient industrial Britain.