Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-12-20
GERMAN FLEET
 PRFC|P|TATES
 A DISCUSSION
Nothing Known Officially In W ashington of Plan to Eliminate controversy.

Washington, Dec. 19.-Press dis patches from Paris saying that the American peace delegates, with Brit ish support, will urge the sinking Of the surrendered German Warshlps as the solution of the problem of thelr disposition, led to imitation of steps toaay in the senate to obtain an offl- cla statement of the facts and to wlae dlscusSlon in naval circles. At the state and navy departments no ln- tormaJlon was avallable, Secretary Daniels repeating his previous state ment that he had never heard the suggestion officially, while at the state department, it was said that so far as known there was no such project included in the American peace pro- gram.
 The first published suggestion, came some days ago, but even before that, 1t was learned, this had occurred to some naval authorities here as one possible way of settling vexlng problem.
 Admiral Benson, chief of naval op- erations and designated as naval ad- wiser to the American peace delega- tion, has been in Europe some time Ills views, worked out with Admiral Sims, and officials of the Britlsh Ad- miraity and the French ministry ot marine, will have great weight with the American delegates on naval questions arising at the conference, but there is nothing here to indicate what conclusion he may have reached on the dispositions of the surrendered craft.
 There were many indications to- day, that proposal to sink the ships would meet strong opposition in con. gress. The Paris dispatch prompted Senator Lodge to introduce today a resolution calling on the state depart ment for information as to whether the American delegates are advocat- ing destruction of the enemy ships and if so by what authority.
 The resolution was left on the table without discussion and Senator Lodge may touch unon the subject in an address he announced today he would deliver in the senate Saturday
 While the impression has been given that the navy department prob- ably would not look with favor on sending the German ships to the bot tom, some officers pointed today to practical obstacles to absorption of the surrendered vessels by the allied and American navies. They said that owing to differences in design and equipment between the capital craft of the German fleet and those of any other naval power, the military value of the ships to the victors is far from as great as might be thought. The German ships were built, it was ex- plained on theories that differ funda- mentally from British, American, French or Italian ideas of naval con- struction.
 Only in case of the modern German dreadnaughts or battle cruisers, one officer said would the extensive re- construction be necessary to make them part of homogeneous fighting fleets be justified.
 A peace time element of the navles of the associated powers, some otfl- cers were inclined to think that the chief value of the majority of the sur rendered capital craft, would be as trophies of the victory to be pointed to as an object lesson to any other power that might become swelled with ambition for world conquest.
 It was recalled however, that some o fthe Spanish ships sunk by the American 1seet at Santiago in 1898, were raised and used by the Amerl- can navy and that also Jpan made similar use of Russian ships cptured in 1904, after rebuilding them.
 At the outbreak of the world war, Great Britain commandeered num- Der of warships building in England and Scotland for Turkey and other foreign countries, including some South American republics and these were actively engaged with the grand fleet during the war.