Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-05-10
DANIELS SCORES
SIMS IN REPLY TO
LATTER'S CHARGES
Tells Committee He Lacked
Vision in Criticising
Navy's Part in War.


ate Investigating committee. toda.
made his long-awaited reply to thu
criticisms of Rear Admiral Sims OF
the Nays part in the war.
The naval Secretary let go a broad
side which included charges thu
Sims lacked vision, belit,led the worl
of the American Navy in contrast t,
the British. coveted British decora
tions and aspired to become an hon
orary member of the British ad
miralty He declared that office r.
supporting the Sims charges wer,
largely people with a grievance"
possession of f1rst-hand knowledge
Secretary Daniels testified. "shoult
be accepted by all open-minded me1
as an absolute refutation of practical
ly all of Admiral Sims charges"
Six Charges Against Sims.
Sims. Secretary Daniels told the
committee, did not measure up to ex.
pectations in various ways. Of which
ne mentioned six, as follows:
He lacked vision to see that a grea,
and new project to bar the subma
rlneS from their hunting grounds
should be promptly adopted and car.
ried out no matter what the cost OF
how radical the departure from wha,
ultra prudent men regarded as inn
practicable.
He seemed to accept the views OF
the British admiralty as superior to
anything that would come from
America and urged those views even
when the Navy Department proposed
plans that proved more effective.
| I'm public speeches and other ways
he gave maximum of credit to Brit
| lsh efforts and minimized what MS
| country was doing.
He coveted British decorations and
/ seemed to place a higher value on
| honors given abroad than on honors
can government.
! He aspired to become member
of the British admiralty and wrote
complainingly when the American
| government declined to permit him to
| accept such tender by the King of
| England.
| He placed protection of merchant
| shipping as the main operation of our
| forces abroad. falling to appreciate
| that the protection of transports car
| rying troops to France was the para
mount naval duty until l felt impelled
| to cable him peremptorily that such
| was our main mission"
Didn't Know Facts In 1913.
| Secretary Daniels testified that had
had made statements rejecting upon
the contributions of the United States
Army and Navy to winning the war
to members Of Congress visiting
abroad, he would never have recon-
mended his promotion.
He had not then attacked the Irish
| people," Secretary Daniels testified.
Il thought then he had only defend
| ed American sailors, a proper thing
| to do, when attacked nnjustly by what
| he termed a lawless element in Cork.
| If had known that he proposed. un-
| der the permission granted him. to
! tell the story of what the Navy had
done overseas, to denounce the Irish
people as he did in his articles in the
| Worlds Work. the permission would
| not have been granted.
! Secretary Daniels said ne had never
| publicly or privately criticised Ad-
miral Sims for lack Of early vision in
connection with the North sea mine
barrage- project "or his other mis-
| takes or wrong views" Admiral Mayo
succeeded in convincing the British
! admiralty Of the soundness OF the
barrage scheme Wnere AuinlTdi oiMs
| had failed. he said.
"Although the department had disap-
| proyed of some of his recommendations
and denied some Of his DESIRES. said
Secretary Daniels. Il mistakenly sup
posed. until the letter OF January Z. that
he had accepted and acquiesced, with
more or less grace, in the departments
disnosition of ships and its other OFF,
c;ai actions. as a loyal officer accepts
the decisions of his superiors even
though he might personally hold other
The investigating committee. Secre.
tary Daniels said. had been wearied ano
the public nauseated with an aDortVe
attempt to ferret out the molehills ol
mistakes and exaggerate them into
mountains, to make a noble and nota'
hle accomplishment appear as the din
and fading background OF a front1s
piece Of comparatively unimportan
errors of judgment"
| ."rhe Nayy's record in the war stand.
untouched today and for all time. des
mite criticisms from within or without,
said he.
No such troop movement over so grea
an expanse of water had ever been at
tempted as the transporting OF Amer
ica.s legions to France. Secretar,
Daniels declared. adding that "in com
narison to that essential to winning thu
war nothing else counted. 1t was wei
and expcditiously done. That fact alon'
is answer to most Of the criticisms heart
by your committee
"The only man injured in public es
teem by his charges is Admiral Sim!
HIMSELF said Secretary Daniels. "Th'
that has been a feeling of deep regret a
the necessity of withdrawing approva
from Admiral Sims and replacing 1t will
deep and lasting disapproval Th'
Nayy and its service in the world wal
stand without a trace Of the mud will
which a few have sought to bespatte'
it,"
willing to Let Case Rest.
So far as his own acts were con
cerned, Secretary Daniels said, HI
would be willing to let the case rest
The Judgment and ability of th'
eleven other members Of the genera
criticism by one Of their own number
however, he said. and these officers
respecting a naval tradition tina
naval officers should never enter Int
public dispute among themselves re
garding purely mill tary matters. look
ed TO the civilian Secretary to de
There were twelve OF these higl
ranking officers charged with grea
iels. You have heard eleven. One II
the author Of these criticisms. TIL,
twelfth, Admiral Gleaves. who was ii
charge of the troopships that carried
our soldiers to France, is commander
n-chief Of the Asiatic fleet. and 1 d,
not feel justified in ordering him from
his distant station to testify. The tel
who have testified. besides the author
of the charges. have ably and fiatl,
denied the correctness or justice O
the criticisms.
"In considering the criticisms of on,
of the eleven officers referred to
think 1t surprising and gratifying
that the verdict of these officers il
ten to one as to the correctness O.
what we did. Had there been during
the war a serious difference Of opin
ion among those charged with de
termining our military actions as t.
what should be done. it would. o.