Great Britain

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 94, 23 April 1915, Page 5

Great Britain

AMMUNITION MATTERS! ASTONISHING FIGURES CONCERNING THE WAR. COMPARISON OF MANUFACTURERS MONTHLY OUTPUTS. United Press Association. London, April 22. Mr. W. A. S. Hewins, in the House of Commons, moved that it is urgently necessary that munition firms be controlled by a unified administration in direct touch with the linns. He said : that Mr. Asquith's speech yesterday ,vvas unfortunate. He appeared to think there was great case for contentment but that speech had not contained one vital suggestion for dealing with the situation. Mr. Lloyd George agreed to the motion, but said that Mr. Hewins took no account of the "War Office's special difficulties. It had hitherto been estimated that the expeditionary force would consist of six divisions, but the force was now more than six times as large, and adequately supplied. Every man who had dropped had been replaced. This was one of the most magnificent pieces of organisation ever devised. Ammunition was being expended on a scale never anticipated. As much had been expended at Xeuve Chapelle as in the whole war. The character of the ammunition had been changed in the middle of the war. On expert advice the system of sub-con-tracts had been extended to thirteen different firms. If the contracts had come up to time, there would have been no shortage. As a last resort, the Government had taken over suitable works. If they took the figure 20 as the amount of artillery ammunition manufactured in September, it was 00 in October and November, 156 in February, and 383 March. We were also assisting our Allies with explosives and other munitions. There were no deficiencies in ammunition at the present moment, but the Government had to prepare generally for the war policy. Mr. Bonar Law said that Mr. Lloyd George's speech showed tha he thoroughly realised the .nature of the problem. He criticised Mr. ■ Asquith's i optimism. i Mi 1 . Lloyd George paid a tribute to the services of Lord Mou] ton's committee for the production of high explosives. Lord Monitor!'s energy had placed the production beyond anxiety, and enabled us largely to supply the Allies

Newspaper comment points out a remarkable divergence between Mr Asquith's optimism—that there was not a word of truth in the statement that the army was being hampered by the failure to produce ammunition—and Lot! Kitchener's speech of March 15, saying that the progress of equipment had seriously hampered the forces.

THE HAGUE CONFERENCE. Paris April 22. Feminist organisations have denounced The Hague Conference. They regard it as a German propagandist effort. GERMAN PROPERTY IN BRITAIN WORTH £84,000,000. (Received 9.30 a.m.) London, April 22. Mr J. M. Robertson, Under-Secre-tary to the Board of Trade, in the House of Commons, said that the property in Britain belonging to Germans was worth £84,000,000, which would remain available for future disposal as seemed proper. MINERS' NATIONAL CONFERTNCE. The Miners' Conference passed a resolution asking the Government to summon a national conference. Mr Walter Runciman (President of the Board of Trade) met the coalowners at White Hall to-day., MISCELLANEOUS. London, April 22. A conference of the Miners' Fe -tration met at Westminster to discuss th ( . South Wales suggestion of u strike unless a 20 per cent, advance is tonceded. Mr Runciman, President of the Board of Trade, sent a message in viting a deputation to meet him at the Board of Trade. It is reported that the'conference is disinclined to support the Welsh recommendation. The result of the meeting at the Board of Trade is not published. Twenty women's societies have orjganised a conference to meet to-morrow Ito discuss the problem or prospective illegitimate babies, the result of the exceptional circumstances ansing out of the mobilisation of the territovials and Kitchener's army. Lord Criehton, the King's Equerry, supposed to have been a prisoner in [Germany, was killed in action. The Indian wheat committee has devised a, scheme to prevent speculation. India's surplus is estimated at two I million tons. The Indian Government has lixed a minimum price for India's requirements. The surplus will be handled by the wheat committee's bro|ker in London, and the profit arising jbetween the purchase price in fndia and the price realised in London will be handed to the Indian Government. I The first cargo under the Government's Indian wheat scheme sold at (is per bushel. 1 The captain of the submarine Rio was not killed but was made a prisoner.