Show s D I WAR DEPt I f R MIND I CHAN CHANGES Savage Rifle Co Head I Says Maker of f BrownI Browning Browning Brown Brown- I ing Machine Guns Is IsI I F Fooling Doling Government I I I By Dy United Pre Press I WASHINGTON Dec 22 V VV V Gun manufacturers sponsoring sponsoring spon spon- spon-l spon I the Browning machine gun arc are g J I I merit ment A 18 Boric ric of the e Savage Arms company told the senate Investigating investigating committee today Borie's Bories company makes the Lewis gun adopted by the allies Tho The Browning gun looks good goodenough goodenough goodenough enough on paper he testified but nobody knows what it will do Manufacturers Manufacturers Manu Manu- who say it Is a peerless arm the tho best in Ia the world he added are fooling tooling not only themselves but the government go Mr Hansen of ot the Colt company who testified before betote you that quantity delivery of ot the Browning gun is to begin soon is mistaken In my opinion All the manufacturers who think they will soon begin producing Browning Drowning Runs guns uns in large quantities are arc going to fall tall down If It you'll youn Investigate a contract contract contract con con- tract taken by one company for tor several several sev sev- everal ev- ev eral thousand Vickers guns many months ago gO you'll find they haven't all been delivered t I Boric Borle said his company declined to tomake tomake tomako make mako the Browning gun even after It had officially been adopted by the government as the tho chief machine gun for the American arm army He He lie sharply criticised war department department depart depart- ment meat officials for tor changing their minds so BO often otten CHANGE MINDS AGAIN They never knew what what they wanted ho he declared They told me last Jast August there would be no more Lewis guns made after next July Five weeks lat later r they ordered thousands more more enough enough to keep my plant busy all next net year Then in November they changed their minds again and forced me to change my whole equipment equip equip- ment to make Lewis aircraft guns in instead instead In- In stead of ot the trench tr guns they had equIP I or or- dered This policy polle of ot vacillation and and changed orders ilonie said had hall cost coat him and he he government some deliveries He lIe b lI lIes es other manufacturers manu manu- had suffered likewise He lie told how the government refused to take Lewis guns firing tiring British ammunition ammunition ammunition am am- although he ho could have de- de of ot them by this time This ho he estimated meant a loss to the American forces equivalent to f rifles as one ono machine gun Is held the equivalent of ot fifty rifles Of Ot course it was preferable to have hae havethe the tho guns uns shoot American ammunition said Boric Borle But Ive I've been told the arm army has practically no machine guns and the training camps cumps only a few These Lewis guns have been killing people right along They're perfectly effective They would have been better better better bet bet- ter than no guns And the Browning Drowning guns could have been substituted when read ready Borics Boric's testimony figured the total of ot tho the army's machine guns are aro General Crozier testified American troops in France rance are arc getting their machine machine machine ma ma- chine guns from Franco ranco and anti England while the few tew machine guns In tn cantonments can can- in this country countr arc are of ot three makes some of ot them l French rench Boric Dorio said he understood that his government govern govern- ment had paid to Browning Inventor of ot tho the gun tron ado adopted ted for tor his patent rights for tor tho the duration of ot the wa war I NEVER HAS BEEN TESTED Do you think the tho government would pay that much money for tor a a. gun gnu that had l never been tested under actual war condition conditions ho he was asked ked kedell Well ell the gun tun has never been tested an j I J k know o the money was paid wild said Bt Boric Borle d on who whose e advice I this waa wa done Bone said aid the tho chief lel of ot tho the ord- ord Continued on page 2 GRILLS U. U S. S Continued from page 1 nance fiance department and others connected connect connect- ed edwith with him Secretary of or War Val Baker Baier then in reality asked Chamberlain Boric Borie said h he supposed so sa Putting a man he in charge of ot munitions production and supply is the only way the United States government government gov gov- will solve the problem of getling getting getting get get- ting ling necessary quantities of guns and ammunition in time to win the war Borie Boric told the Investigators Cut out aut the red tape put a man he-man like Schwab or ar Farrell in charge tell him to drive the thing through In Inether Inether ether words create a ministry of munitions munitions munitions mu mu- or we will never get an anywhere declared Boric Borle Constant changes in design most of them minor but enough to raise the I devil with the manufacturer are made by the department Borio Boric said Thir Thir- I ty eight minor changes were were made within six weeks in the design of matar motor motor mo ma- mo- mo tor tar truck fr frames mes Borics Boric's compan was making malting and none of of th them m improved the frames materially Ho lIe said when the contract was let he lie supposed tho the design had been standardized and would not need to be changed |