Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-08-25
AN OPEN LETTER TO
THE NAVY LEAGUE
Col. Thompson Writes OF Late
Unpleasantness. "
NO REFLECTION ON DANIELS
Thanks Members For Loyal and Cor
dial Support Pledges Support
10 Administration.

TO the members OF the Navy LSoeuN'
August %. 1917,
Secretary Daniels has made the fol-
lowing statement:
ITO the Public: In view OF the
slanderous and false statement of the
Navy League, rejecting upon the non
estv of the naval administration ana
the integrity OF the officers OF the
NAVY for which responsibility is ac-
cepted by its officials, notice is here
bv given to the public that the Navy
Department has directed that no ON
Ger. agent or representative of the
Navy League will be admitted to any
naval station, naval reservation OF
shin in the Navy. Persons who con
tribute to the Navy League In the
future will do so with the under
standing that the Navy Department
will not permit the acceptance of any
thing whatever from the organlza-
ton as at present Differed and man
aged
Certainly the Navy League has not
made the slightest reflection upon the
integrity of Secretary Daniels or up
on that of any naval officer. what
il did was to draw attention to the
fact that statements We're being cir
culated that the Mare Island eXplo-
sion was the result of conspiracy
and that the inquiry into this was be-
ing blocked. We did this because
when such beliefs exist, and are un-
true. they should be publicly and au-
thoritatively denied, and If true some
one should suffer
When the history of this terrible
war comes to be written, matters oil
much less importance than an attack
by a Cabinet officer upon great pa
triotic society will be carefully IN
vestigated and every fact explaining
such a situation will be considered.
In order that the true position of the
Navy League may be fully under
stood we will in the October issue OF
"Sea Power" publish in detail all the
documents in the case.
In the meantime permit me to
thank the members and directors Tor
the loyalty and cordial support which
they have extended to me in this cri-
sis. In return permit me to assure
you that after reading the bulletin OF
which Secretary Daniels complained,
| find absolutely nothing to justify his
temper or his attack. / was at home
i'll. when | was notified by the press
of Secretary Daniels letter. / knew
nothing about the facts but have as
certained that what the bulletin COM
planned of was one of the usual bi-
weekly bulletins issued by our pub
licity department to newspapers, 1t
being the habit of the League to col
lect and furnish to the press facts
concerning the Navy. The substance
of the bulletin was that a responsible
person had charged that the magazine
at Mare Island Navy Yard had been
blown up as the result of a criminal
conspiracy end that the investigation
pointed out that 1T is clearly proper
that investigation into such an occur
ence as the Mare Island explosion
must and should be made secretly and
the League realizes that the mere
circumstances that no statements
have been made to the press regard
ing the progress of an investigation
does not warrant the assumption that
no proper investigation is being
made"
have come to Washington to fully
investigate the facts, and for the first
time have seen the bulletin. After
reading it and taking advice from q
number of citizens, amongst them
loyal party Democrats whose judg-
ment / rely upon, l do not believe
that any statement made in the bulle-
tin justifies the anger exhibited by
Secretary DaEiels. or the action thai
he has taken in directing that no
officer, agent or representative of the
Navy League will be admitted to any
naval station, naval reserve or ship"
The order is sweeping and drastic
but clearly Secretary Daniels does
not mean hat he says. He cannot
mean that if Cardinal Gibbons, Bishop
Darlington Bishop Donahue or Bishop
Mccormick be called upon to perform
the sacred offices of their church at a
naval station or on board a man-of-
war, that they ould be denied the
privilege He cannot mean that if
ex-President Roosevelt wished to pay
visit of courtesy to a nawval station
or man-of-war, he should be turn
ed back; or that If the professional
services of Judge Alton B. Parker
were required to defend an officer or
man at court martial, he could not
serve. He cannot mean that if Mrs
Dewey, President of the Woman's
Branch of the Navy League, wished to
visit one of the ships which helped TO
make her husband famous, she would
be refused admission. He may mean
that / am to be denied the privilege
Of attending next June, the fiftieth
anniversary of my graduating at the
Naval Academy, but / hereby serve
notice on him that will attend.
You have in the past cordially sup
ported the management of the Navy
League and ! believe that we have
justified your support by the work
we have done. For sometime. for rea-
sons known to himself, Secretary
Daniels has been unwilling to CO.
operate with the Navy League. When
we offered to provide a committee
and funds TO look after the dependent
families of the men who were enlist
ing in the navy, he refused us the OBJ
OnrfnnifV Whnv, -ua offaroI -. IL