Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-06-25
'OFFENSE FLAGRANT,
DENby TELLS SIMS
Admiral, After Scathing Public
Reprimand, Admits That He
"SpiIled the Beans
IS RECEIVED BY PRESIDENT


miral William s. Sims was publicly rep
rima nded yesterday, by Secretary DENLY
for his remarks at the luncheon Of the
English Speaking Union in London
June Z, which were declared to be "a
highly improper speech in n foreign
country"
The Secretary's letter Of reprimand
Will be published in General Orders Of
the Navy and read at the next general
muster Of officers and enlisted men at
all shore stations and on shiphoard
throughout the service
While Secretary DENLY was making
public the reprlmand, Sims was calling
at the White House. He stayed only
ten minutes and said later he only made
n courtesy call" on President Harding.
After leaving the White House Ad-
miral Sims spoke or his reprimand.
which will become historical in the
American Navy. He said:
Having spilled the beans got what
was coming to me. / think the Incl
dent is now closed. l am very sorry to
have caused the Administration any in e
convenience. ] didn't know it was
loaded with as much as II was"
The audience. it was said. was marked
by the utmost cordiality and good will
on the part of the Admiral's commander
In chief.
No Reprimand From President
irresponsible rumors flew around
Washington last night that Admiral
Sims had been summoned to the White
House to be rebukCd personally by the
President; also that he had gone to the
White House TO resign from the navy.
There is not a shadow of foundation for
either story. There positively was no
reprimand from President Harding.
Emerging from the Executives pres
encc, Admiral Sims said to newspaper
correspondents:
az told the Pres ,ent was sorry my
speech had caused any inconvenience to
the ADMINISTRATION. J. didn't know it
was loaded--so much"
Asked if the President was pleas
ant" to him the admiral. with merry
twinkle in his eye. responded:
Would you like to know just what
he said to me?"
Yes the correspondents chorused
well, I'm not going TO tell you"
said Admiral Sims with characteristic
twinkle in his eye. But you all know
the President is a very pleasant man.
The incident now Is closed. guess
got what was coming to me-a rcpri-
mand-and that's all there Is to il. -
Admiral and Mrs. Sims left Wash
ington last night for Newport. where
the Admiral will resume his duties at
the Naval War College.
Admiral Sims Explanation
Admiral Sims communication to the
secretary in part as follows:
Referring to paragraph 1, of your
letter, there Is inclosed herewith a state
ment of the remarks made by Admiral
Sims at the luncheon given by the Eng
lish Speaking Union at the Hyde Park
Hotel, London, June I, 1921. As the
speech in question was not a prepared
one, but was delivered from few head
ings, took pains, befC e leaving Lon
don, to prepare the copy Of the speech
that is inclosed herewith. This was
prepared with the assistance Of the re-
ports that were made in the London
papers and with the assistance OF Com
mander Land, assistant naval attache,
who was present when the speech was
made.
This copy or the speech will show
In what respects l was incorrectly
quoted in America. The essential incor-
rectness of the reports that were made
on this side is contaiR"d in the follow
ing paragraph from your letter:
1--WE have class Of people on the
other side who are technically Amrri.
cans. some of them born there. Scmp
naturalzed. They are at war against
America today and at war against you
The simple truth is they have the blood
Of American and English bows on their
hauds.'
"In no part of my speech did make
any such statement as that just quoted
above. Ny reference was 10 the Sim
Fein faction of the Irish people who
fought US during the war and TO Sim
Feinprs in America who assisted them
a.,
will show the essential difference be-
tween the two statements
Secretary Denby's Reply
Secretary Denby's reply to Admiral
Sims is as follows
washington, June "a, 1921:
From; The Secretary of the Navy.
$50: Rear Admiral Williams S. Sims,
L. s. Navy.
Subject: Reprimand.
First. On June S, 1921, there ap.
peared in the public press throughout
the country a report Of certain state
ments alleged to have been made hy
you on the occasion Of a luncheon Civ q
In London on the previous day at whcl
you were the guest Of the EngIisL
Speaking Union.
Second. These public statements. Il
which properly should be the subject
for comment by no high Governmental
official other than one to whom the cure
of our foreign policy Is intrusted
Third, Your letter of June %. IN
which you furnish the Department with
an abstract OF the speech delivered by
you on the occasion in question, con
firms In essential points the aforesaid
press reports and shows that on a pub
lie occasion in a foreign country you
gave utterance TO the following state
ments:
~ do not want to touch on the
Irish question, for | know nothing
about 1t. and have not run across any
body in England who does. But there
are some people in our country who
technically are Americans, some Of them
naturalized and some native born: but
some of them are not really Ameri %
cans at all. Some of these people
are now trying TO destroy the good
relations between our two countries
They are Americans when they want
money, but Sim Feiners when on the
platform. They are enemies Of ours
and yours. They are like the zebra
either white horses with black stripes
or black horses with white stripes
We know that they are not horses,
and some people think they arc
asses but each one of these asses had
a vote, and it is one of the incon
veniences of a republican form of gov
ernment that American born citizens
thought II necessary to cater to these
voteR This necessarily created a wrong
impression on this side az to the sen :
81 hn hnI q