MACHINE GUNS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume L, Issue 14700, 3 September 1915, Page 5

MACHINE GUNS.

CANTERBURY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MOVING. GOVERNMENT URGED TO TAKE ( ACTION. ' At.'the annual meeting of the -Canterbury Chamber of Commerce last' Friday . at Christchurch, Mr C. H, ■ Hewlett brought up the'matter of establishing a factory or factories in Now- Zealand for the manufacture of small arms, and machine-guns. ~ . In the course of a speech, he - said that New Zealand was 1 only, playing ''at the game ofvwar. If,the people of New Zealand did their best to help in- the production of supplies useful at the front they wogld appreciably .lessen the duration of the war. He moved;— ‘‘That thjs meeting strongly urges the Hon. the Minister of.''Munitions:' to establish a small arms and machine ' gun factory, and to organise the industries capable of manufacturing military supplies, such as boots, clothing, gun carriages, transport waggons, etc., with a view to enormously increasing thg present output of war- material.” • Mr W. Wood seconded the motion, and added to it a request that the. Government should take steps to utilise Now Zealand’s natural resources in the matter of iron and steel. The' Hon. W. F. Wigram said that tlie salient point of the proposal was the-manufacture of machine-guns. All recognised that machine-guns were badly wanted at the front and for" home defence. They had been told it was impossible to get machine-guns from England; ns all supplies were wanted, and all the machinery for the manufacture of machine-guns was wanted. The same position existed in America. Japan had been suggested as perhaps the only likely source of suppi v. for' the .machinery- necessary to make machine-guns in the Dominion.. The speaker had had some correspondence on the subject with Mr Hewlett; and he h«d waited on the Hon. Mr Mvers, Minister- of Munitions, . andurged upon 'him the advisability of. doing something on the lines’ suggest ixl 'in this resolution. If Japan, could send us machinery and a : few;skilled men sufficient to eouip and run a small but up-to-date factory, that; would bo a good beginning. A factory-, capable of producing 1000 rifles and 10 .machine-guns tier week..: could be established for £100:0()TP The skilled engineers sent out could train our own men to carry on the work. Material was Wanted as well as machinery, and he would like to see steps taken to provide the material within the Dominion. Mr Mvers was a practical man and a firstrate organiser, and would infuse a great 'leal of life into a work of this kind. He had no intention of reflecting in any w,’ on Mr Myers’s predecessor. ’ Mr Ah m had done splendid work, and had worked like, a Trojan during the last vear. He had given his own son to; the cause. The motion was carried unanimously. Mr A. Kavp snoke in appreciation of the efforts already made in Christchurch' to assist the Allies towards victory. The Mayor of Auckland, Mr J. H.Gunson, has been asked to support the ■proposal.--- He explained on .< Monday.he would hand all the papers 'and 1 information concerning the matter to ; the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr Robert Burns, who had air ready taken a practical interest in the proposal. The scheme, Mr Gunsqn said, seemed one worthy of consideration, for undoubtedly cue* the industry was established it would be of material assistance to the local defence forces in the future.