The sun., 1916-01-20
Secretary Daniels should Resign.

During his administration of the
Navy Department Secretary DANIELS
has done nothing that demonstrates
his Incompetence aud irresponsibility
more completely than his remarkable
performance In suppressing the an
nual report which Admiral FRANK +. !
, FLETCHER. commanding the Atlantic
Fleet. made on August l., 1919. The
report has been shroudcd in secrecy.
Until Senator LoDuL called for il in
q resolution II was kept under lock
and key. and when transmitted To the
. Naval Affairs Committee the major.
ity Of the committee decided To treat
II as confidential.
In his annual report the comman.
der Of the Atlantic Fleet complained
Of the shortage of officers aud men
ahoat. One division lacked 1850
men. Mine laying ships and DESTROY.
ers had only sevcnty-tive per cent. ~
their complement. The battle .tfi
cheney Inspection revealed that Il
chief petty officer WAS in charge of
one turret and an ensign just out Of
Annapolis nj another. The Florida
was short ~ officers, the Utah 2S. the
Michigan II and the South Carolina
18. Perhaps worst of all was the
AdmirarS discovery that n pay clerk
and yeoman We're IN charge of the
plotting room of II dreadnouCht. in
place of experienced commissioned
ohicers. Admiral fikTcHEE-thi> is
specially to be noted--said that in
January. 1918. or month after the
report ~ Secretary pA>Iti> was pub.
lished. he complained Of II >hor;ac"
Of 5000 men. and II was even greater
in the following summer.
The Admiral not only directed AZ.
tention to the deficiency of the ilce'
In fast cruisers hu' pointed our that
the submarines Were not NJ IL the
mark and dependable. Their mohil-
ity, he said, was unsatisfactory and
they had other limitations. The
craftsmanship ~ the fleet came In
for sharp criticism by ADMIRAL
FLETCHER. He urged more tim" for
big gun practice. and wanted author
ity TO increase the range and Use full
charges. Much uf the backwar,lue>>
In sea training of the enlisted men
afioat Admiral FLETCHER did not hes.
itate Ia say was due To the Se"re-
tary's fad Of establishing schools on
board Ia teach the men the three RS
and make scholars of them.
Now ley Us turn 70 the report madc
by Secretary DANIELS in December,
1914. II will he understood NJ once
why he did not want Admiral FETCH
En's annual report n few months late
to see the light. In almost the first
paragraph Mr.. DANIELS said that "in
every line OF progress and achieve
ment II 1.-THE navyl has demonstrated
IT. steady advance and efficiency"
The service. he declared. was up 10
ito prescribed quota in numbers" The
Omitted States had "a submarine 40
ellla relatively and actually very DOW
erful" Our submarines were ION Il
par with any in the world More
than ninety per cent. of the effective
fighting power of the navy is now
fully manned" was another Of the
Seeretary's positive assertions. of
the schools atioat against which All.
miral FLETCHER protested Mr.. DAN.
IKis said:
The navy is coming 10 De the Big
Sest university in America. as II has
bsen termed since the broadening and
Deepening uf its educational system.
Every ship school Is now literally
true"
In the building programme recon-.
mended not one scout cruiser was
Included, and only eight submarines.
one sea asoinc, seven coast defence.
Mr.. DANIELS interlarded his report
With verses, quoted from cARIYLE's
Hero Worship" spilled sentiment
over page after page, .loriiird the
Vera Cruz exploit, which he said has
been told In prose and poetry and
wound up by saying that this has
been a proud and solemn year for
the American navy" Bur nowhere in
his report did Mr.. DANIELS show an
intelligent knowledge "f the navy or
seem 10 realize its limitations AMI
shortcomings.
The unacceptable truth is that Jo-
sEPHrs pNNlrIS suppressed and con,
cealed ADMIRAL lltr,rrR'> report
beraus" hv contrast It would have
revealed the glariuC isuoruucc and
utter incompet"ncy ~ the official head
~ the navy. 1t WA an "urrag" upon
the people uf the United States. Mhn
ARE entitled ro ';uow the stat. "f rh,
service AT all times and 20 judge for
themselves whether the Secretary j.
L equal TO ai6 rcs possibilities anu