Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-02-20
VTYE have sympathy with the as
wv saults upon Josephus Dan

iels because he advocated
building Incompatible the greatest
navy in the world" Especially do
we deplore the particularly bitter
attack of the Washington Post upon
Josephus in this connection. In this,
to be sure, the post merely follows
the traditional policy of Washington
newspapers. They always stand by
the President. If they have occa-
sion to castigate the Chief Magis-
trade they invariably do it over
somebody else's shoulders. me
Post in larruping Josephus on TINS
occasion is only true to. form. This
loyalty to the Washington tradltion
is particularly noticeable in the cast
of the Post. 1t has no reason Tor
partiality to President Wilson: On
the contrary, were 1t capable or
small resentments, it might even
hold the, President in especial dis
esteem. 1t might reciprocate the
disesteem which the President has
for the Post, which, by Presidential
order, is vigorously excluded from
all access to the White House.
So, while we admit that the Post
is in a way magnanimous in making
the Secretary of the Navy suffer
vicariously for the sins of his Mas
ter, we none the less feel that an
injustice is done to Mr.. Daniels.
When he threatened Great Britain
with a bigger navy than her own
unless she obeyed the Fourteen
Commandments with respect to in
ternational disarmament and the
precious League of Nations reverie,
he was only doing as he was told.
He said distinctly that he demand
ed the big navy as the result of con-
versions he had had with the Pres
ident before the latter left his post
of duty to go on his foreign travels.
The President, Mr.. Daniels said,
was in full accord with the big
navy idea, or, shall we say, threat?
And if that assertion were not suffi-
cient evidence of Mr.. Daniels in
dividual nonresponsibility for the
bigger-n avy-than-yours menace to
Great Britain, we have the further
authority of a wireless telegram
which the President permitted to be
sent from the George Washington
while en- route to France. That
telegram is. as follows:
TT is said that President Wilson
holds that all the powers must make
sacrifices If they sincerely desire a
just peace. The nations must fol-
low the policy of giving in,' in the
interests of such a peace, Should
the present world policy of scompeti-
tive armaments be continued, the
United States could do no more than
hold its share - a e.
Now this in itself ought to be con-
elusive as exonerating Josephus. 1t
contains the germs of the threat
which Josephus, obeying orders in
his own way, translated into terms,
cruder perhaps, but much franker
In fact Josephus, when he appeared
before the House Naval Affairs Com
mittee, carried his frankness to a
point all but pathetic in it's alert
ness. In the course of his remarks
he almost reached the limit of
touching simplicity when he made
this statement:
1T is the most powerful argu-
ment in the hands of the President
towards securing a limitation of
armame tents to permit him to go to
the Peace Conference with the as
surance that the United States is
prepared to build navy bigger
than any in the world unless the
nations agree to limit naval arma-
ments." -tE
A shade of doubt as to the dip
lomatic tactfulness of this observa-
ton seems to have crossed Josephus'
mind after he had thought 1t over
n little. AT All events, ne reQueSteQ
| that it be excluded from the printed
record. But after all 1t did not much
matter. 1t authoritatively Spilled
the beans" to be sure, but they had
been spilled anyway so far as the
world at large was considered. The
bigger navy threat was in itself so
raw and crude BLUM that 1t inn
posed upon nobody. Naturally 1t
caused some anger in Great Britain
on the score of its preposterous Of
| fensiveness, coming. as 1t did, just
fwhen England and London was Civ
| ing President Wilson a reception
that both in its elaborate formali-
| ties and spontaneous popular
warmth surpassed any similar DEM
onstration over foreign visitor ever
known before.
! But why blame Josephus for It?
If President Wilson chooses to en-
trust matters requiring ! delicate
diplomatic handling TO a rough-and-
ready old tar like Josephus, let the
President take the blame when the
old salt makes a hash, of It. as he
naturally would. Josephus was
simply obeying the orders OF his su-
perior officer. He obeyed them
literally and according to his dead
lights. he even put the. required