Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 306, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 January 1918 — Crozier Promises To Supply All Forces By February. [ARTICLE]

Crozier Promises To Supply All Forces By February.

Complete supplies of rifles within a month for all American forces under arms were premised Monday by Major General Crozier, chief of ordnance, testifying befdre the senate military committee. Springfields for -every regular and national guardsman will be ready before Feb* ruary 1, he said, and the manufacture of remodeled Enfields for the first national army will be finished within a week. As to the mahine guns the'general said a full supply of American make should be ready by July 1, next. ‘ Rifles for the next draft, he declared, would be on hand before the men were in camp. General Crozier appeared particulary to answer charges made by Col. Isaac N. Lewis, inventor of tW Levgjs machine gum. He submitted a pared statement detajUng W oflSeJjcN record of the war department's dw/jJ ings with the Lewis gun submitted to a cross several hours teresting poinb In rep.lj<»g Wlil/mrao/I ccptAthe i only bee.,lWy/wy|ll* worse off than mitted official,, document? to prove that England and France voluntarily offered to provide cannon, their ont--put having developed to toe point < where a surplus was being produced. General Crozier refused to shoulder responsibility for the failure to equip the arms adequately with ordnance before the war. He said it belonged to the country and cited the refusal of the secretary and congress in the past to approve "modest” ordnance programs. The general vigorously defended his course in regard to the Lewis machine gun. He gave the committee the record of the various tests to which the gun was put and representatives of the army experts to show that it had not been demonstrated to be a satisfactory weapon until April, 1917, after which orders for them were given by the department. When General Crozrer finished Senator Hitchcock, who has been one of his chief questioners annotttfeed that he was entirely satisfied with the records before the war, but still J did no+ understand why mope-the Lewis machine gunsjgere not cirdSr: ed afterwards. ■?' / - General Crozier replied that bfev r April, he Lewte anti ffiRBP Bffiny Tinker guns, but that the factories were unable to satisfy the demands. <