Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1920-02-04
DANIELS ANSWERS
 CRITICISM OF SIMS
 ON NAVAL POLICIES
Continued From Page 1).

gle moment, often when his ship has been attacked, and when coolness and poise are necessary to save the lives of scores and hundreds of men. A in this emergency is faatal t oan officer in command at sea-"
 With this as an impelling reason the secretary said he dissaproved of the disparity between honors to men ashore and afloat as recommended by the Knight board and accordingly re- duced or eliminated a number of awards for shore service.
 In support of his contention that a commander of ship sunk or dam aged by submarine attack was en- titled to a medal if he showed prop CT qualifications even tho his ship was unable to combat the submarine, Secretary Daniels cited numerous ex- amples in American naval history and also pointed to instances of such awards by the French govern ment during the world war. Amer ican naval history, he told the com mittee, was filled with precedent up- holding his action in awarding the service medal to com manders of ships sunk by subma- rine or mines.
 ."1n the stilletto attack of subma- rire warfare" said Mr. Daniels, "it is not the fact that man strikes or is struck that tests true mettle and true naval leadership. The ques- tion is: Does he play the part of the man, with chivalry and thought only of others and of his country. And has he, by preparation and fore sight, done all that is possible to meet any and every emergency. And when he faces court of his broth CT officers, do they find that he has up in the terrible ordeal to the high naval traditions? Ad- mirals Gleaves and Mayo distin- guish service medals who displayed these high qualities when their ships, struck by mines or torpedoes, were sunk or damaged. If med als are not given for this sort of noble courage and coolness, and di- rection in supreme danger, what on earth are they designed for?"
 Referring to Admiral Sims state ment that he had not recommended any enlisted men for medals because i've had nothing to give them," the secretary called the committees at- tention to the act creating awards which he said made no distinction .41. listed man.
 Ut is the service he renders, the service in peril, and not his rank that counts," he added. "There are occasions when a ship is threaten ed with destruction and when for the moment, it's safety and protec- tion depends on an enlisted man and he is then in a position of great re- sponsibility,' and if he performs his duties at that moment, with courage and deyour, he is fully entitled to the recognition of his conduct by the distinguished service medal"
 Insult to Men.
 Referring to the bestowal of that medal on Admiral Benson because of his services as chief of naval oper- ations, MT. Daniels declared he would give the same medal "that goes to that great and distinguished officer to the humblest sailor lad. who, when placed in a position of great responsibility in time that tested the stuff of which a man is made, met the demands of those dut- ies and placed his life in jeopardy in order that his ship and the lives of others might be preserved.
 With that in mind, he ordered fur 5her study of navy records when he found that only 119 enlisted men of the 25o,ooo in the navy during the war had been recommended for any high honor, he explained. As the result of this study as yet in he said 13 additional en- listed men were awarded the dis service medal and 68 more men were put on the list for navy crosses.
 Emphatic denial was made by the secretary of Admiral Sims state ment, that the policy followed in awarding medals had "shot to pieces" the navy's moral.
 "It is an insult to the splendid men ,f the navy to say that the morale ,f the service could be seriously inn paired by any question of awards to individuals" the secretary said on that point. "They are made of ster- Ter stuff than to be rattled by natter so unimportant in compari- son with their devotion to their dut- es. Their loyalty is no sense de- ,endent upon medals"
 Explaining Admiral Sims men, ion of message from the secre Sary lsking what recommendation had 'een made for "Bagley," MT. Dan- els brother-in-law, and other off ers of the Jacob Jones, and other lestroyers that were attacked, MT. Daniels said the note was written ate one afternoon after all off .ers in charge of the reports had eft the department and was written IS the easiest way of getting the in- There was not at that ime and never has been, MT. Dan els declared, any question of favor tism or relationship in the matter if his relations with Commander 3agley.
 MT. Daniels said he had no criti- ism of the work of the board of wards, headed by Rear-Admiral Austin M. Knight, and that it's rec were faithfully made 'n the basis of the meagre informa-