The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-28
SIMS BEGINS HIS EFFORT ID REND
 DANIELS DEFENSE
Conditions Even More Dis dressing Than Imagined Have Been Revealed,
 Declares Admiral

Washington. May 27.-Rear Admiral Sims today began efforts to scuttle Set retary Daniels defense of the navy de partments conduct of the war.
 Testifying in rebuttal before the Sen ate naval Investigating committee the acniral declared that navy department witnesses had revealed conditions in the navy ''even more distressing than I could have imagined He added that the wit nesses had presented "a much more se- we're criticism of the deplorable conditions referred to than I myself have submit ted''
 Admiral Sims declared that what Secre- tary Daniels had described as President Wilson's bold and audacious' policy for the navy was commendable, but the navy department, instead of following the presidential plan as promulgated to the officers and men of the Atlantic fleet in August, 1917, followed a "timid and hesitating course"
 The officer characterized the Presidents s advocacy of operations by the allied naval forces to bottle up the German subma- rines in their home ports as "impractica- ble'' in view of certain technical diff cuities with which he said the President was unfamiliar.
 WOULD HAVE FAILED
 "The sacrifice of half of the combined British and American fleets" he added,
  A to pay if it would have suppressed the submarine and ended the war The att | tempt would of course, have been unwise if. in the opinion of responsible naval experts. it would certainly have failed.
 Referring to President Wilson's cable gram to him in July, 1917, asking for 'in- dependent recommendations and eX- pressing the belief that the British ad- miralty was helpless almost to the point of panic" the admiral said he regarded the message as confidential, and not so much a criticism of the admiralty as an expression of dissatisfaction with the manner in which the navy department was conducting the war. He said he was surprised that the secretary had made 1t public.
 Secretary Daniels presentation before the committee, Admiral Sims asserted, as remarkable "alike for it's mistakes and rnis;nterpre ta tiens. ana for tts unre- strained assaults upon ny services during the var" He added that some s1aistatAss qege le be expectea ia Mir naniels fai- timcny beesglse is was na9osalssa fef any civilian te fe st a gardins h8iN us sronsible head of the navy should make under oath statements based on errors of facts and misinterpretations of naval matters.
 The admiral quoted from the testimony of officers called by the department which he said had s'.in almost every case completely borne out the conclusions or my letter of January ', 1920," which brought about the investigation.
 ''The testimony of these witnesses" he told the committee, "has been devoted to explaining and justifying the depart me7it's mistakes and delays; to disputing the conclusions which I drew regarding the results of these mistakes and deNys; nf these things should have been brought to public notice, and to attacks upon me for what they considered my responsibility for this publicity"
 At one point in his testimony the ad- miral estimated that the investigation had cost two or three hundred thousand dollars" He will continue his rebuttal tomorrow, and Chairman Hale said the investigation probably would be closed Saturday.