The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-05-12
SECRETS
!, Of NAVY
| ARE TOLD
Secretary Daniels Fires An
. other Shot at Admiral
Sims, Friend of
England.
SOP FOR TILE SIMPLE
President Wilson'S Confidential Mes
sage of July 4, 1912 and Answer
Sent Him From
England. .a...
SOP FOR TILE SIMPLE

/ limited Press Leased Wire Service.
! WASHINGTON. May 12.-Great
/ Britain was helpless to the point OF
| panic" in the submarine crisis, ac-
cording to President Wilson in cable
icriticizing the British admiralty, sent
/! to Admiral Sims July 4, 1917 and read
/ to the senate naval affairs committee
/ today by Secretary Daniels.
/ This cable strictly confidential de-
! clared the British admiralty was fail.
/ ing to use it's great naval superiority
effectively and urged Sims to send a
complete report of what the admiralty
was doing together with his own rec.
concentrations. without regard to the
i judgment of any one on that side OF
i the water"
/ The cable in part follows:
| From the beginning of the war,
! have been greatly surprised at the
failure of the British admiralty to use
Great Britain's great naval superiority
! in an effective way. In the presence
| Of the present submarine emergency
| they are helpless to the point of panic.
| Every plan we suggest they reject
! for some reason of prudence. In my
view this is not time for prudence,
! but for boldness even at the cost d
great losses.
"In some of your dispatches you
! have quite properly advised US Of the
sort of aid and cooperation desired
from us by the admiralty. The trou'
BILE is that their plans and methods
do not seem to us efficacious.
| "I would be very much obliged to
you if you would report to me, con
fidentially of course, exactly what the
admiralty has been doing and what
they have accomplished, and added to
the report, your own comments and
suggestions, based upon independent
thought Of the whole situation, with
out regard to the judgments OF any
one on that side of the water
THE admiralty was very slow to
adopt the protection of conveys and
it is not now. l judge, protecting con-
voys on adequate scale within the
danger zone, seeming to Keep crastt
with the grand fleet. The absence OF
craft for convoy is even more appar-
ent on the French coast than on the
English coast and in the channel.
do not see how the necessary military
supplies of food and fuel are to be De
livered at their ports in any other
way within the next few months than
under adequate convoy. There Will
presently not be ships or tankers
enough and our ship building plans
may not begin to yield important re-
suits in less than eighteen months.
II believe that you will keep these
instructions absolutely to yourself and
that you will give me such advice as
you would give if you were handling
u 9 no nf
yoUr own"
Daniels said Sims reply was A
"long telegram of generalities of what
the British admiralty was doing and
that his mind was closed" to plans
for bottling up submarines. Sims also
cabIed, according to Daniels. that re
gardless of any future Developments
we can always count upon the sup
port of the British navy. have been
assured this by important government
Officials"
This statement, Daniels declared
showed Sims was 'hypnotized by their
Influence" willing to lure the presi
dent to rely on assurances not wort =,
paying the tolls to transmit and
which "a school boy would know
could not be binding in democratic
form of government. If Sims could
get a signed pledge to this effsct, it
ought to be filed in the archives oi
"sops for the simple" Daniels told the
committee.
! Daniels also asserted that Sims told
| c. c. CTlin. then congressm an from
! Virginia, visiting London during the
war, that las compared to the British
navy, our achievements had amounted
to little. that England had protected
us upon the seas and we could always
rely upon her to do so and that in
view of this friendship there was nc
necessity for us to desire navy
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