available in an emergency for transfer to military purposes, and the meantime we would go right ahead and import nitrate of sou for the military purposes, and the limitation on it would be the limitation that is on everything else-ocean transport.

The CHAIRMAN. The theory was that a certain amount of nitrate of soda in the possession of the Government or the powder manu facturers could be turned over for this purpose and that thereafter they might be supplied by importation with enough necessary to be used for this purpose?

Gen. CROZIER. I do not know what the reserve stock in the hands of the powder makers is, but just now no powder makers, explosive makers, feels particularly uneasy as to the supply of sodium nitrate. I think there is more uneasiness among the agricultural people than there is among the military people, because the agricultural people are actually very much concerned about the price, whereas the mili tary people do not concern themselves so much about the price of this particular thing.

The CHAIRMAN. As they do about the supply?
Gen. CROZIER. Yes, sir.

STORAGE FACILITIES FOR AMMUNITION.

The CHAIRMAN. You are asking for $5,000,000 for storage facilities. We gave you $1,000,000 for storage facilities in the last sundry civil bill, and you are asking $500,000 additional?.

Gen. CROZIER. When we come to that particular item, Mr. Chairman, I am going to tell you that it has been provided for otherwise. and that it need not be appropriated for.

The CHAIRMAN. Maybe you will be able to say the same thing about the $25,000,000 which you are asking for storage terminal and shipping facilities; will that be dropped out?

Gen. CROZIER. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Please make some explanation about the

$5,000,000.

Gen. CROZIER. Although most of those items are for storage, they are for different purposes, and I think you had better have from Col. Hoffer an explanation of the purpose of this particular storage. The CHAIRMAN. I was wondering whether you had duplicated your request unconsciously?

Gen. CROZIER. We will divide the story between us. About the $1,000,000 that was asked for and appropriated.

The CHAIRMAN. That was for nitrate?

Gen. CROZIER. No; the storage for nitrate has been provided, you appropriated for that, and it is all right. It has been fully ex plained and allowed. What we are asking now has nothing to de with it. The million dollars to which you referred has also been appropriated and is all right. What it was intended for was to increase the permanent storage capacity at the arsenals. It would have been asked for in the course of the next four years, even if we had not gotten into war. Now that we have gotten into war it was asked for right at the beginning and was appropriated for. It is for the purpose of storing the finished product in readiness for it distribution to the troops, in storage buildings at the arsenals which will be useful after the war is over. The $5,000,000, of which Col.

Hoffer is now speaking, is for a different kind of purpose, which he will explain.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well, you may proceed, Colonel.

Col. HOFFER. In the procurement of this ammunition the manuacturers assembling the components into complete rounds will not in eneral manufacture all the components. This is especially true of the smokeless powder and high explosives. It becomes necessary, herefore, to provide storage facilities for the components in excess f those that the assembling companies can handle. In many cases t is impossible to regulate the output of a given plant to meet the ctual needs from day to day. The quantities of material required re so great that it is necessary to operate plants at the maximum capacity which involves a storage for probably several months of a arge portion of the components. For example, it is necessary to provide approximately four months' average storage for nearly 500,000,000 pounds of high explosives. These buildings must necessarily be small and placed at what are considered safe distances. To provide these storage facilities it is estimated that as much as 55,000,000 may be required.

The CHAIRMAN. That is largely a guess, I suppose, Colonel?

Col. HOFFER. Largely a guess. It is proposed to utilize wherever we can the storage capacity of the various plants manufacturing these components, and all contracts are being drawn up so as to tilize this capacity.

The CHAIRMAN. Will the storage furnished at the Government establishments be of a permanent or temporary character?

Col. HOFFER. It will be of as temporary character as possible. No more expense will be incurred than necessary to secure reasonably safe storage of the components. It is estimated that there will be required 160 powder storehouses and 900 explosive storehouses. Those buildings it is proposed to make of hollow tile with concrete floors, the cost of which will not be different materially from that of wooden buildings. For the storage of the metallic components the structures will be as simple and as inexpensive as they can be made, there being no great danger involved from fire risk. The distance that these storehouses will be separated, will, of course, necessitate that part of this money be used for proper means of communication between the storehouses so that the incoming and outgoing shipments can be properly and economically handled. We are allowing about three acres to a powder magazine and two acres to an explosive magazine, so that in case of the destruction of one, the others will not be destroyed.

APPROPRIATIONS FOR RIFLES ALSO COVERS THE MANUFACTURE OF PISTOLS.

The CHAIRMAN. General, it has been stated at different times that the War Department had an appropriation of $5,000,000 to provide rifles for the Army, but that, instead of providing rifles, they used the money for pistols, and that if they had used the money for rifles, as authorized, there would be an abundant supply of rifles now on hand. Will you state what you know about that situation? Gen. CROZIER. Mr. Chairman, the appropriation of $5,000,000 for rifles, which you are speaking of, must necessarily have been one

4400-17- 49

which was made only last August, and toward the end of the month. because there has not been an appropriation for as much a $5,000,000, or anything like it, made for rifles in any other act since I have been chief of Ordnance. It ought to be perfectly apparent to anybody who knows enough about the subject to criticise that there could not possibly have been many rifles made out of that $5,000,000 since the time the appropriation was made, under any circumstances, or, at least, under our existing circumstances, with any kind of effort.

Now, at the time the appropriation was made the Springfield Armory was operating at less than one-fourth of its capacity, with a corresponding number of workmen. In order to increase the capacity it was, of course, necessary to increase the number of workmen, which, under the circumstances of the tremendous demand for workmen trained in the making of rifles existing because of the large number of rifles under manufacture in the country for our allies, and the condition of retardation of that manufacture, was extremely difficult. Those men were very hard to get, and our own men who had been laid off as our manufacture dropped away in previous months and years were all in the employ of these other people, and it was impossible to get them away. The other factory which the Government has is the one at the Rock Island Arsenal, and that one was shut down altogether and had been for some time because of the lack of funds, the appropriations for some time preceding the time that this appropriation of $5,000,000 was made having been very small. The one for the year before was only $250,000. The Rock Island Armory was reopened and men were collected as rapidly as could be under the circumstances, and the manufacture was resumed there and is now going on at about as good capacity as you could expect. I think they are making there now something like 200 rifles a day.

The full capacity on a double-shift basis of 10 hours each, and doing nothing but manufacture rifles would be about 500 per day. When I said that they are making 200 per day, I mean that is the number that they assemble and get through the final stages. They are increasing that capacity right along. At all events, the capacity has been increased as rapidly as it was possible to get the work done. At the Springfield Armory there were under manufacture a number of spare parts for rifles. We have to have spare parts in great numbers to keep our rifles in the hands of the troops. Anticipating a campaign, or anticipating the possibility of it, last autumn the department gave considerable orders for the manufacture of spare parts which occupied the plant a good deal, and, of course, it interfered with an immediate increase in the output of rifles to a certain extent. but the great difficulties were in getting workmen.

Now, as far as the utilization of that money for the manufacture of pistols instead of the manufacture of rifles is concerned, the extent to which that was done was more than justified, because, although we are short of both rifles and pistols, the shortage is greater in the case of pistols than in the case of rifles. That is to say, we are more put to it for a proper number of pistols than for a proper number of rifles, with less opportunity for providing increase in the manufacture.

The CHAIRMAN. To what extent was the money used for the manuacture of pistols?

Gen. CROZIER. I have not the figures now before be, but I can tell

ou.

The CHAIRMAN. Can you put that in the record?

Gen. CROZIER. Yes, sir; I can put that in the record, if

you like.

During the period from August, 1916, until the date of the entry of the nited States into the war the Ordnance Department placed orders for 93,600 utomatic pistols at a cost of $1,303,200, which figure does not include the cost extra magazines and spare parts.

The CHAIRMAN. Were those pistols manufactured in the armories? Gen. CROZIER. They were manufactured in the armories at that ime, and we have been up to quite recently manufacturing them in he Springfield armory. Now, in order that the output of rifles and istols together may be increased, I am devoting the whole Rock sland plant to the manufacture of rifles, giving the pistols over to rivate manufacturers.

The CHAIRMAN. Are those of your latest model?

Gen. CROZIER. Yes, sir. We are getting some pistols which are not f the latest adopted model-but they are good pistols-because we ave to get them so fast. We have to get them faster than we can get them of the latest adopted model with all that we can do. Of ourse they use the same ammunition.

The CHAIRMAN. Did the diversion of this money for pistols interere with the output of rifles, or has it done so up to the present time, r could you have utilized that money in view of the facts that you ave stated?

Gen. CROZIER. If so, it would have been to a very limited extent, nd, even had it been so, I would not have done it. If I had been ble to increase the output of rifles by putting less money in pistols would not have done it, because it would not have been a wise thing o do. It would not have been sensible to take money and divert it rom things of which you were short and put it in things of which you were not short. We are shorter of pistols than we are of rifles. Now, under those circumstances, what intelligence would there be using money which might be used either for rifles instead of istols?

The CHAIRMAN. This money was available for both?

Gen. CROZIER. Yes, sir; for both. It was appropriated for the manufacture of small arms.

The CHAIRMAN. The impression created is that it was available for ifles exclusively.

Gen. CROZIER. That is so erroneous that I did not understand that t was even the impression.

The CHAIRMAN. And the statement was made to me that that had een done. I said that I did not believe it was possible, because if he money was available only for rifles you could not use it for istols.

Gen. CROZIER. That is true.

The CHAIRMAN. So that under the wording of the appropriation t was available for pistols and rifles?

Gen. CROZIER. Yes, sir; and it has been so available, under the wording of that same or a similar appropriation, for the last 20 years and more.

The CHAIRMAN. In utilizing it, then, you utilized it to get thing that were required to equip this army?

Gen. CROZIER. Yes, sir; and things that were perfectly covered by the appropriation.

CONTRACT FOR MANUFACTURE OF HOWITZERS.

Mr. SISSON. General, will you please prepare a concise statement giving us the details of this peculiar contract that has been made for the manufacture of howitzers, or, if more convenient to you, you might set out the contract in the record?

Gen. CROZIER. I will do so.

Mr. SISSON. And also please prepare for the record a concise statement of the other contract made by the department for the manufac ture of cannon.

Gen. CROZIER. The contracts to which you refer are for field artil lery matériel, including guns, gun carriages, limbers, and caissons, and they provide that a fixed price shall be paid for each of these guns or vehicles, with the proviso that if the profit made by the contractor exceeds 20 per cent of the cost the difference between the profit and the 20 per cent of the cost shall not be paid. It further provides that if the profit is less than 10 per cent of the cost the amount required to make the 10 per cent shall be paid the contractor by the Government. It is further provided that an extra profit. amounting to approximately 10 per cent of the cost of all the material ordered, shall be paid the contractor for the purpose of creating additional facilities for manufacture of the articles to be delivered. but that if this 10 per cent does not equal 45 per cent of the cost of facilities the Government shall pay an additional amount sufficient to make it equal 45 per cent, and that if the 10 per cent exceeds 55 per cent of the cost of facilities the difference shall not be paid. The object of the above agreement was to insure, in the face of the very uncertain material and labor markets, that the contractor should get between 10 and 20 per cent profit on his work, and that the Gov ernment should pay for approximately 50 per cent of the increased facilities required for the production. I may add that this contract has not been executed, but is still under discussion with the contractor, although the work is well under way.

ALTERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF MOBILE ARTILLERY.

The CHAIRMAN. The next item is "For alteration and maintenance of the mobile artillery, including the purchase and manufacture of machinery, tools, and materials necessary for the work and the expenses of the mechanics engaged thereon, $206,600,000." The appropriations thus far have been $26,000,000.

Gen. CROZIER. That is intended for keeping in repair and replacing. if destroyed, during the year all of the field artillery, including that heretofore provided for and that for which the estimates are now being made. Taking into consideration the $26,000,000 which ha already been appropriated this spring, it contemplates the work of maintaining this artillery in repair and the work of manufacturing such parts in advance as are necessary for maintaining it in repair. Manufacturing in advance means, in some cases, the manufacture in