New-York tribune., 1920-05-13
Urged Attack on Zecbrugge

Urged Attack on Zeebrugge
Admiral Sims's reply to the Presi-
cent told also of plans for combined
sea and land attack to turn the Ger
man right flank and cut off Zeebrugge
as provisioning base, Mr. Daniels
| said
That was the kind of bold and au-
caclous, thing the President and the
Navy Department had been urging
from our entry into the war;" declare d
the Secretary' But even then, Ad-
mlral Sims said, it had not been def
nltely decided on by the War Council,
though the daring and successful at
tack on Zcebrugge came much later.
1t might have been very different
story if it had been undertaken earlier,
when the Navy Department was urging
some such bold plan, all of which Ad
miral Sims thought 'impracticable
when urged by the Navy Department."
Admiral Sims told the President he
had been shown studies of the depart
ment's plan to prevent the egress of
submarines, Mr.. Daniels said, and that
he considered the scheme impracti-
cable.
"He added" the Secretary continued.
chat we should adopt an organization
similar in all respects to the British
squadron and virtually transfer all
naval dulIOIllN W MS HcduqudIteIS III
London. He was careful not to say,
though that he regarded the Queens
town base and surroundings as the
critical area and that as rapidly as
American dcstroyers arrived the Brit
!sh destroycrs were removed to another
area, although he now makes the pre-
postcrouS statement that the failure to
have more dcStroyers in shat critical
area I'VE had thirtyfour at that time
out of our total of fifty) occasioned
your loss of 100000 lives and SIS 5,000,-
100000 Of money"
"Hypnotzed by British
Two remarkable and significant
statemcnts' in Admiral Sims's reply to
President Wilson were cited by Mr..
Daniels as evidence that the admiral
was so "hypnotized by British inhu-
ences that he was willing to try to
lure the President of the United States
into the feeling that regardless of fu-
ture developments VIC can always count
upon the support of the British navy"
The first was that the views he had
expressed were in all cases IAN inde-
pendent opinion based on specific facts
collected in the admiralty and other
government departments" The second
was as follows:
"Depend upon the fact, which be-
'lievc to be true, that regardless of any
future Developments We can always
count upon the support of the British
navy have been assured of this by
important government Off cials.'
at would be interesting to know
what British government officials as
surcd him that, regardless of future
Developments, the United States can al
ways count upon the support of the
British navy" said Mr.. Daniels. at
seems inconceivablc that any admiral
could have regarded such assur-
ances as worth paying tolls to trans
NIT. Every schoolboy should know
that in democratic government no
government official could pledge his
country's navy to support another gov
ernmcnt regardless of future develop
ments.
This attitude Of acceptance of
everything British" he added, Gun
doubtedly accounts for his opposition
to the creation of an Independent
American army and his idea that
American troops sent abroad should be
used as an annex to the British army,
quoting General Bliss as recommend
ing that policy. When General Bliss
read that Admiral Sims had quoted
him as advocating such a policy he
wrote at once to the Secretary of War,
declaring the truth to be exactly the
reverse'
Admiral Simss charge that the navy
department refused to send enough an
ti-submarne vessels to the war zone
was disprovcd by the admirals own
| language. Mr.. Daniels testified He
read cable from Sims dated April 2S,
1917, stating that twenty-odd American
destroyers operating from Queenstown
would put down the submarine activ-
ty and keep it down. BY the end of
May there were twentyeight Destroy
ers and two tenders at Queenstown,
the Secretary said