The Washington times., 1921-02-25
FAvORs sINGLK NAVY.

various llttle ndVles, SuCn ub ohippiHS
Board vessels. army transports. and
and other services. All these should.
and eventually will. be brought under
navy control with resultant economy
and increased efficiency"
"Your famous order barring wine
from the officers mess Is said to have
aroused great deal of criticism
among officers Of the Navy. Mr.. Sec
retary. Have a majority of those Of
ficers come around to your way OF
thinking"
"I shouldn't say they had come
round to my point of view exactly"
he replied. ~ should say that 20 far
N / have learned, most Of the efflcers
Of the Navy, even those who were
opposed to the order at the time.
wouldn't 20 back to the cid systen
IL they could.
'If you had tho Job to do over
again, would you handle the Sims in
cident any differentlyT Daniels was
asked.
when an officer is determined to
break into print" said the Secretary.
ut is sometimes difficult to decide
just how he should be treated. Many
fne officers in the Navy thought Sims
should be court-martialed and urged
mo to do it They believed discipline
was hurt by the admiraPs attacks,
and at frst / thought that might be
true to some extent
MATTERS FULLY AIRED.
upon reflection, however, I am
convinced that Sims did the navy lit
tie, II any. harm. The matter was
fully aired and the truth eventually
became known both in tho navy and
out Of it If Sims had been court
martialed. he could have posed as q
martyr.
T'In . way I am grateful to Sims.
By stirring up q Congressional inves-
tigation, he was the means Of getting
into the oficial records q true account
of the work Of tho navy in the world
war.
81 have always been . great be-
Hover In the right Of free speech
Even during the war I stood cut for
that principle. II i e1red ut all In
the case Of sizs, IT was better to err
ON the siAe Fl greater freedsn."
do you still believe in the so-called
characterization OF tho navy"
Tho democratixation OF tho navy
has just begun" said the Secretary.
II have merely driven the entering
wedges. In tho past q chasm as deep
as q we'll separated the officer from
the enlisted man That chasfn must
be bridged- The ship must be an
American institution. The man shovels
ing coal must be made to feel that
he Is the equal Of an admiral in
courage and patriotism, and that he
can be an admiral II he does his duty
well and studies to qualify himself
for the greater responsibilities But
promotion must como from merit, not
from any sentimental misconception
Of the real meaning Of democratiza-
ton.
WORK Is TECHNICAL
Much Of the work Of the navy is
highly technical. Mr.. Secretary.
you still believe the Secretary Of the
Navy should be a civilian~
az have spent nearly six billion
dollars since have been Secretary OF
the Navy" he answered. Next year
the Secretary will spend three hum
dred fifty or four hundred million
more That Is a civilian task.
"The civilian secretary brings the
civilian point Of view. He Is neces-
sary to interpret the needs Of the
navy to Congress and to tho public,
He is go-between. touching the
highly technical side Of the Navy on
the ono hand and the public on the
other.
"The professional soldier or sailor
hasn't time to study outside problems
or so to relate inner problems to the
public as to be effective. He Is not
fitted by training for the task.
LIKED EXPERIENCE-
Nor would the Navy officers like
to see one OF their own members as
Secretary. They may not like the
particular man who Is on the Job,
but they wouldn't want one of their
own cloth in his place"
"On the WHOLE" said the Secretary
in summing up, 81 have had eight
very happy years. albeit eight years
of very hard work. 1t has been a
privilege to be Secretary of the Navy
in the days of preparation for the
war; IL has been a truly great priv
ilege to serve with men who have
made such splendid records during the
war. Though / shall be out of the
navy in a few days now, 1 shall al
ways be shipmates with the officers
and men OF the navy and tremendous
s.s H.. w.