Norwich bulletin., 1920-02-11
What Sims Said and
 What He Meant
Conversation With Trio of Members of Congress in Paris Dissected at War Decorations Inquiry.

EdrlS OlSSeCIc0 al w oA
 Decorations Inquiry.
 Washington, Feb. 10-The contro- yersy over naval war decorations took a new turn today before the senate ln- vestigating committee, the question of just what was said in conversation be- tween Rear Admiral William s. Sims and "a trio of members of congress in
 Paris during the war, displacing to some extent inquiry into charges made by Secretary Daniels in decorations recommended by Admiral Sims.
 The officer was recalled to supple ment his previous testimony, Chair man Hale of the committee pointing out to him that the secretary had ap- peared since the admiralis first hear ing. It was in answering some of the statements made by MT. Daniels that Admiral Sims touched upon the question of conversations he had with Representatives Byrnes and Whaley If South Carolina. and Senator Glass, , then representative from Virginia. l Secretary Daniels. before the con- mittee, had referred to speech in l the house by Representative Byrnes in ! which the South Carolina representa- i tive asserted that Admoral Sims had | told him the armistice was forced on ! theN allies by failure of the American
 nrmy to break through the German 1 lines, the failure being due to col l lapse of the American service of sup 1 nly Admiral Sims today denied that | he had made such assertions, except ! as to repeating rumors then current | in France and which, he said, he warned his visitors not to believe. He | denied fiatly other statements attrib- 1 uted to him by Representative Byrnes, | said to belittle the part of the Amer l ican navy in the war, and asserted he i had not told Byrnes and his assoc1- i ntes that the American merchant ma 1 tine should not be developed and the
 s4as be left to Great Britain.
 1 At the redutst of Senator Pittman 1 of Nevada, democratic member of the l Investigating committee. Chairman
 Hale asked Representatives Byrnes i Whaley and Senator Glass to come be ! for the committee. Representative i Ryrnes the first of the three to be
 heard, not reiterated all he had pre- i Viously said, but added that he had i personally reported his conversation 1 with Admiral Sims to President Will son before MT. Wilson made his first ] trip to Paris Byrnes added that he had not repeated it to Secretary Dan- l eIs, because, since the war was over, i he did not wish to stir anything up. 1 Senator Glass. while recalling the conversation with Admiral Sims, much
 Rs Byrnes reported it, put 3. some l what different interpretation on what the officer had said. He did not under
 stand Admiral Sims to wish to dis credit the army he said, adding
 T rather believe that he was sim ! ply telling us what he had heard and
 thought to be true"
 l Admiral Sims reference to the Paris
 conversatiens which prompted the
 calling of Representatives Byrnes and I Whaley and Senator Glass was made I after he read a prepared statement reaffirming his position as to naval
 awards and asserting that MT. Daniels
 method of dealing with them had iIl- Il jected a "defeatist" policy into the
 navy department more dangerous than bolshevism to organized government
 Taking up the statements of Repre- , sentative Byrnes to the house, Ad- l miral Sims said the representative ! either misunderstood him or confus- . ed his remarks with those of others tC , whom they had talked ill France. Ht i had sought. he said, to disabuse his , visitors minds of the idea that Amer iean forces were winning the war because that was mot true" and wal "hurting us with the allies.
 It was this testimony that diverted
 the course of the hearing and wheI
 
 Glass were questioned, Admiral Sim | listened closely and subsequently wa! returned to the stand to make a brie
 statement.
 If you believed the things you sa!
 I told you" he said, turning to Repre- sentative ,Byrnes and Senator Glass
 "all of you neglected your duty in no l i putting up a howl to get me out o l there. You ought not to have rested S until VOLT got out of there," 3 You have no quarrel with me sait Representa- tive Byrnes, with some l show of feeling. T reported to Pres \ ident Wilson personally and it was hi : quarrel. not mine"
 In the couse of his testimony Repre-
 sentative Byrnes said he had been de : pressed and disappointed" at wha , Admiral Sims had told him in Pari t and found relief from that feeling 8 only when personal inquiry at Genera g Pershing's headquarters and in tn
 service of supply had convinced hin l there had been no breakdown. Com 7 menting on this statement in his re g -buttal. Admiral Sims said 'all Ameri g cans who visited me abroad Wer g shocked at what I had to tell them o s the relative amount of work done b,
 our forces" He added that tn g American press fostered at home T disproportionate idea of the par l America was playing in the war. Wis [ itors as a rule, he said. imagined tn
 i American navy was doing half the an
 ti-submarine patrol duty and alway
 were shocked" to learn that the Unit | ed States had at no time contributes
 more than about seven per cent. of tn l ] patrol craft.
 S As to the rumors heard in Franc = of an American army breakdown :, Adm.rai Sims said reports were cur f 1 rent ,hat withdrawal of allied genera n staff representatives with the arm, S had been followed by a staff break : down and collapse of the transporta s ton system behind the fighting lines V He had attributed such reports, h t said to the usual "jealousies betweel e armies" and had warned all to whom
 them.