THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1915. SUPPLY OF MUNITIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16020, 11 September 1915, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1915. SUPPLY OF MUNITIONS.

It is to be hoped that Mr- Lloyd George's visit to the Trades Union j Congress at Bristol will lead to the solution of the one remaining difficulty in the way of a maximum output of munitions. Since Mr. Lloyd George took over the control of the Munitions Department he has j achieved wonders in organisation ; I public confidence in the munitions supply has been fully restored. Only in one branch of his work has the Minister fallen short of complete success; he has been unable to secure, in quite a number of factories, the suspension of the trades union regulations, which limit the output wherever they are in operation. In a statement made to the House of Commons on July 28, Mr. Lloyd George said :— We arrived at an agreement with the engineering societies that there should be a complete relaxation of trade union rules and practices in respect of establishments that were " controlled." I regret that up to the present I cannot make a very satisfactory report. I am told, and 1 can only take this upon the report that comes to me. that the men could easily turn out at least 25 per cent, more shot and shell and guns and munitions if they could shake thea> j selves during the. war from the domii nation of practices which have con- ! trolled their action in peace times. j It. is evident from the Minister's 1 speech at the Bristol Congress that • there, has been no improvement jin this respect- since he spoke jin the House of Commons six j weeks ago. He then quoted j the case of a number of copper- | smiths who were on strike {because plumbers had been ..called jin to assist them ; at- the Congress he. was able to convince the delegates that the, more recent actions of some of their fellow-unionists had been indefensible. Prior to Mr. Lloyd George's visit to Bristol the president of the Congress spoke ; of demanding from the Government '.definite guarantees that* pre-war conditions would be restored with"* peace. The Minister has anticipated this claim by offering a solemn undertaking embodied in an Act of Parliament that the fact of the men abandoning these regulations now will not prevent them from restoring the practices after the war. The other trades union grievance— profit—has, as Mr. Lloyd George states, been abolished in the 714 controlled munition factories, and these employ 95 per j cent, of the labour now engaged in j the munition industries in the j United Kingdom. Judging from , the tone of the Congress, there is good ground for the hope that the j Minister has overcome the last j obstacle in his munitions campaign.

In every other respect Mr. Lloyd George's recent statements have i been hopeful and inspiring. He had secured the help of 90 men of | first-class business experience; there Jhad been a great flow of volunteer ! workers in a month 40,000 men and women, nearly half of them J skilled, had been added to the available labour in armament works; thousands of skilled men had been recalled from the colours, and thousands more were being traced. In addition to arranging for the output of existing works, 16 national factories have been established. These are entirely owned and controlled by the State, so that nobody can suggest that profit is being made at the expense of the workmen- Arrangements have also been made to utilise two or three national factories exclusively for supplying such parts of shells as are most difficult to secure from privately-owned factories, so that at no time need there be any delay in turning out complete shells. The Department has also taken over, with the cordial consent of the owners, all the great

"machine-tool factories in the country, in order that for the next few months all machine-tool plants may be concentrated on increasing the machinery available for the output of war munitions.

An exceedingly important part of the Ministerial statement shows that not only British soldiers, but French soldiers, have been relying upon the energy of the United Kingdom in the output of munitions. In addition to the 16 new factories already established,. 11 more

j are under construction as the result ] of a conference recently held at Boulogne, where Mr. Lloyd George met the French Minister. for Munitions, and had the advantage of the advice of distinguished British and (French artillery officers- At this | conference the British Minister l undertook to embark on a munitionj making programme which he subsequently described as "gigantic." The 11 arsenals being erected as (the result of this conference are to Ibe national factories. Six weeks ago the machinery had been ordered, steps had been taken to erect the buildings, and Mr. Lloyd George hoped, in a few months at most, to be able to equip the Allied armies in such a way that " even the best armies in Europe will not be able to. claim superiority in the slightest respect as far [as war material and equipment are concerned." It is obvious that the building of factories and the installation of plants must take time, but for the completion of this initial phase of the work Mr. Lloyd George is confident that we have dot to wait many weeks. When this stage is reached the German j superiority in munitions will be at an end, and we may confidently look for a continuous output sufficient to enable our armies and the armies of our Allies to cleave their way through the German ranks till final victory is won.