Evening star., 1920-05-22
NAVY WAR RECORD
GLORIOUS" SIMS
TELLS GRADUATES
Newport War College Class
Hears Forces at Home
and Abroad Praised.
' the Associated Press.


NEWPORT, R l.. May 22.-Rear Ad-
miral William 9. Sims. president of
the Naval War College, in his ad-
dress at the graduation of this years
class today. said that barring very
few cases. "our Navy personnel not
only responded to all requirements.
but exceeded our most Sanguine eX-
pectations in the endurance, zeal and
loyal initiative they displayed' in the
world war
This applies" he added mot only
TO the forces in the war zone. but to
the Navy in general. and particularly
to the very Intelligent and skillfu1
handling of the transport services
in effective cooperation with the
forces abroad
He urged the members of the class
to explain to the officers under their
command the great influence they
might exert. for good or for evil"
upon the civil population in war time.
This is a matter" he said. (which
concerns the peoples confidence or
lack of confidence in their military
leaders. Much of this influence is ex-
erted through the unofficial opinions
expressed by officers to their civilian
acquaintance, and by the reflection
of these opinions in the press.
Had Influence on War.
That these opinions had marked
influence upon the conduct of the late
war there can be no doubt, nor can
there be any doubt that this influence
was detrimental. it could hardly have
been otherwise because the great
mass of such opinions must necessar-
lily have been based upon incomplete
information. and much even of thi:
information was necessarily errone-
Gus"
He said it was natural that some Off
GERS should have expressed opinions
upon the conduct of the war when ques-
toned by anxious relatives and friends
and that these opinions later appeared
in many srotesquesiy mistaken edito-
rials criticsing the strategy and con-
duct of the Army and Navy. usually
based upon the expressed authority of
so-called experts
Il believe" he went on. that. few
people knew the extent to which public
opinion was formed in this manner. or
the extent to which such necessarily
erroneous opinions actually Influenced
even many of the most important gov
ernment officials, both in our country
and in allied Countries
Admiral Sims said that during the
war he received many letters of criti-
cism from leading members of the gov
ernment' naval officers and civilians.
Showed Ignorance Of Campaign.
without exception" he said. they
showed ignorance of the conditions gov
erning the naval campaign.
He added that perhaps the most
numerous and insistent of the critics
pointed out the Grass stupidity of
hunting and fighting enemy sub
marines in the open sea. rather than
capturing and destroying their bases
or blocking their egress therefrom.
He said such criticisms were easily
refuted." but that the most disquiet-
ing feature was the number of letters
from civilians stating that such and
such naval officer had told them OF
the various fatal mistakes being
made in the conduct of the war.
zone regrettable result" of the err
roneous information circulated, he
said. was the paying of many mil
lions of insurance against losses at
sea, bomba rdments of coast cities and
even bombing of inland cities.
"One poor mother of a boy serving g
in the destroyer forces abroad wrote
a fearful letter imploring me not to
| let her beloved son starve to death
She had been Informed that the food
supply was falling.
Admiral Sims said that all officers
should be warned of the danger OF
| such n condition. and how it could
have been avoided or greatly mini
j mized If each officer had realized that
+! he did not have the necessary in
| formation to form a just opinion and
| had had the courage when asked ques-
! tions to say, Il do not know"