§ 26. Sir CHARLES HOBHOUSEasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the new trial of the Madsen gun has yet taken place; and, if so, whether he can state if, as a result of that trial, it is proposed to use this gun extensively?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONYes, Sir; the trials took place on Friday last. The members of the Trials Committee separated on the conclusion of the trials, which lasted for six hours, and each member was directed to form an Independent opinion. The Committee reassembled twenty-four hours later to record these individual opinions. It was then found that each member of the Com- 334 mittee had separately and independently come to the same conclusion, and had placed the five guns submitted to their judgment in the following order of merit:
Representatives of the firms whose guns were being tested were present, and were given facilities for explaining the qualifications of their weapons and firing them. They expressed themselves as satisfied with the conditions laid down. From what they saw at the trials, the Committee do not feel justified in recommending a change of light machine-gun armament for our Army at present. It is satisfactory, therefore, to know that our men have had the best weapon available at their disposal.
- 1. Lewis gun.
- 2. Light Hotchkiss gun.
- 3. Madsen gun.
- 4. Heavy Hotchkiss gun.
- 5. Berthier gun.
§ Sir I. PHILIPPSHas the right hon. Gentleman himself read the Report of this Committee?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI have.
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI think every single test. I was present at the trials myself.
§ Sir I. PHILIPPSWas there a test for a large number of rounds; was it a 5,000 rounds test?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI do not think there was a 5,000 rounds test, but there was certainly a 1,200 rounds test.
§ Sir I. PHILIPPSWill the right hon. Gentleman look into this matter?
§ Sir C. HOBHOUSEI beg to give notice that in consequence of the answer I have received, I shall endeavour to call attention to this matter in the Debate on the Vote of Credit.