The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-11-10
NED BRACE SENDS ADMIRAL. SIMS ANSWERS
 TO QUESTIONS PROPOUNDED BY EDITORS

as the best future policy for the United
 States government?
 Answer-I am sure this will be rec
 ognized as a question which should bt
 answered only by the United States gov.
 ernment. I might express an opinion
 on this subject, but could not feel much
 confidence therein because the naval poll. cy of the United States must necessarily
 depend very largely, if not chiefly, upon the governments general policy.
 Question A-There have been some re- ports of friction between American and
 British sailors. Is there any basis for these rumors?
 l Answer-There is no basis for these rll. mors in the sense in which I am cure this question is meant. No cases of fric.
 ton have come to me except such as
 might be expected between the individ-
 uals of large group of men who asso. | ciate together in more or less restricted
 ports. There have been no cases what. ever of a political complexion. There | have been cases of purely personal fric. ton that have been caused by purely per. | sonal reasons. There have been cases, have no doubt, where an American
 sailor has 'icut out" a British sailor in
 the affections of his girl. There have no doubt been cases where the British
 sailor has been successful in this respect.
 In either case, the difference would prob 1 ably be settled in more or less boisterous
 manner. and possibly by personal con- flict. This has doubtless been somewhat | aggravated by the fact that our men, coming from a country where in normal times living Is more expensive, receive higher pay, and this higher pay doubtless has it's attractions, by reason of the su- perior purchasing power of ice cream soda, and so forth.
 The following are some additional questions which were not asked by the editors of the American press, but which will doubtless be asked later by others who come over on a similar mis- sion.
 1 Question-Why is it that instead of trying to protect commerce against the submarine, or in trying to run down the submarines after they are out in the ocean. the allied navies do not attack the bases where the submarines are fitted out and from which they operate? l Answer-This is a question which has been very frequently asked, though not so often now as in the beginning of the war Unfortunately, the idea was put linto the peoples mind by statement ! a ffrth fo ftt... -.t1 then first lord of the admiralty, that if the German fleet would not come out and fight, the British would "dig the rats out of their holes" Of course, it seems perfectly reasonable to untechni- cal people that the most effective way or suppressing the submarines is to destroy their bases. It seems a per- fectly reasonable argument that it is better to stop up the hole in a wasps nest rather than try and catch the wasps after they are out.
 | It is more than little unfortunate that explanations should have to be given as to why certa,n military opera tions are not carried out An educated civilian should know that the require- ments of secrecy during a war must necessarily preclude his having the in formation necessary to form sound military judgment, even assuming he had the military Knowledge and expert ence necessary to form correct judg- ment It would, therefore, seem reas- enable for such a man to say to him self: If the allied navies have not attacked the bases of the submarines it must be because there are very good reasons of which I am not informed" Unfortunately, neither the civilian, nor the naval officer who is so situated that he cannot have full information, al- ways refrains from uttering drastic crit icisms of those who are responsible for the operations. In the naval clubs on both sides of the ocean sanguinary verbal battles have been fought by un- informed officers of all grades, explain ling just how the submarine campaign could be brought to speedy end I suppose that such criticisms have al- ways been, and win always be. made during 8 war. There can be no doubt as to the harm which they do in de- stroying public confidence in the chosen military leaders and the services they represent.
 As matter of fact all possible phases of the submarine campaign are necessarily very carefully and very earnestly discussed by the responsible officials. Tho "rats" would promptly be dug out of their holes if 1t were possible to do so. It would take very long to explain all of the elements of such operations, but Q few of tho prin- loipal reasons why they are not practica- ble may be given.
 One is that the modern sea coast de- fense gun is wholly invisible from the sea. Such guns are placed either in pits or behind elevations. Their aim ing is indirect. Such guns have a range quite 50 per cent greater than any gun mounted on any battleships in the world. The battleship is clearly outlined against the sky and is 2 per- feet target The gun on shore can be aimed with perfect accuracy because the earth remains quite still. The gun on the battleship is always in motion and never can be aimed with such &C., curacy. The relative chances of suc- cess between guns of similar calibre mounted on battleship and guns |