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Page 48
But to-day! Those great empty workshops that I saw in February, in the
making, or the furnishing, are now full of workers and machines; and
thousands like them all over the country. Last night (Aug. 15), the new
Minister of Munitions, Mr. Montagu, who, a few weeks ago, succeeded Mr.
Lloyd George, now Minister for War, rendered an account of his department
up to date, which amazed even the House of Commons, and will surely stir
the minds of men throughout the British Empire with a just and reasonable
pride. The "effete" and "degenerate" nation has roused herself indeed!
Here is the bare r�sum� of the Minister's statement:--
_Ammunition._--The British output of ammunition at the
beginning of the war was intended for an army of 200,000
men.
Naturally, the output rose steadily throughout the first
year of war.
_But_--the same output which in 1914-15 took 12 months to
produce could now be produced--
As to 18-pounder ammunition, in 3 weeks
" Field howitzer " in 2 weeks
" Medium gun and howitzer ammunition, in 11 days
" Heavy shell, in 4 days
We are sending over to France _every week as_ much as the
whole pre-war stock of land service ammunition in the
country.
As to _guns_, I would ask my readers to turn back to the second and third
chapters in this little book, which show something of the human side and
the daily detail of this great business, and then to look at this
summary:--
_Every month, now_, we are turning out nearly twice as many
big guns as were in existence for land service--i.e., not
naval guns--when the Ministry of Munitions came into being
(June, 1915).
Between June, 1915, and June, 1916, the monthly output of
_heavy guns_ has increased _6-fold_--and the present output
will soon be doubled.
For every 100 _eighteen-pounders_ turned out in the first 10
months of the war, we are now turning out 500.
We are producing 18 times as many _machine-guns_.
Of _rifles_--the most difficult of all war material to
produce quickly in large quantities--our weekly home
production is now 3 times as great as it was a year ago. We
are supplying our Army overseas with rifles and machine-guns
entirely from home sources.
Of _small-arms ammunition_ our output is 3 times as great as
a year ago.
We are producing 66 times as much _high explosive_ as at the
beginning of 1915; and our output of _bombs_ is 33 times as
great as it was last year.
At the same time, what is Great Britain doing _for her Allies_?
The loss of her Northern Provinces, absorbed by the German
invasion, has deprived France of three-quarters of her
steel. We are now sending to France _one-third of the whole
British production of shell-steel_.
We are also supplying the Allies with the _constituents of
high explosive_ in very large quantities, prepared by our
National factories.
We are sending to the Allies _millions of tons of coal and
coke every month_, large quantities of machinery, and 20 per
cent. of our whole production of machine tools
(indispensable to shell manufacture).
We are supplying Russia with millions of pairs of Army
boots.
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