Evening star., 1923-04-15

ADMIRAL SIMS.
jority would have said that after
being struck she would have floated
for hours before sinking-that being
close 10 land she would have been
besched.
81 have never believed that Ger
many had any Idea that the torpedo
ing Of that vessel would have caused
such loss. SO many hundreds of peo-
ple-eyen that II would have caused
the loss of any lives at all
! asked the admiral IL he had ever
sought in his book or elsewhere to
define our motive in entering the
war.
England Would Have Capitulated.
no" he replied. But If we had not
gone into the war England would
have to have asked for an armistice,
and undoubtedly one OF the things the
Germans would have demanded would
have been the delivery OF the British
feet, and this would have given Ger
many a naval force Of such tre-
mendous power that they could have
dominated the world.
People will say that the British
never would nave surrendered their
feet; that they would have rather
seen il go down fighting, but they
would have been given no oppor-
tunity 10 send 1t to the bottom that
way. Germany would have said, Send
us your fleet or 60 on starving; they
would not have offered them a chance
to fight. Remember that. They would
have said: AS the Price of an armi-
stice We want your feet delivered at
the place We specify
Not Serious Mt First.
"Now. Britain was approaching de-
feat through starvation. They never
have more than enough food in their
islands to keep them going more than
a few weeks, or. at the most, months.
l believe we went into the war be-
cause We were scared to stay out. II
is q matter Of historical record that
we did not go into the war at all
seriously for good while after we
had declared war. The thing was SO
badly conducted in Washington that,
as an example, It was months after
we had adopted the convoy system
before / was notified that Washington
did not approve"
Admiral Sims attention was called
to an editorial in the Nation, a weekly
published in New York. This was
printed beneath this sireading: "Ad-
miral sims Challenge to Our Press -
Then followed the brief dispatch con-
cernins the admiral's remarks in Los
Angeles.
No Challenge to Press.
Il have not challenged the press
denied the admiral. II do not blame
the newspapers. AS far as I know
the newspapers printed the truth as
they knew 1t. Their sources of in
made the passages. letters from the
other side. and naval officers on this
side. One of the sacrifices a people
necessarily must make during war
time Is OF an accurate knowledge OF
events. You have got to keep many
facts from your own people to keeI
them from the enemy. 1t would be
extremely unpatriotic for a news
paper to tell the absolute truth about
what is taking place during 4 war
absolute truth. You can't have a real
freedom Of the press during war. You
may only pretend to have 1t.
"As for propaganda most OF the
things told. / believe. were true. but
it was not all OF the truth Nc
army ever marched through an enemy
country without some thieving, with
out some violence, even without some
assaults on women. but these things
are not true OF an entire army. They
are just true enough to permit such
stories to be told. The purpose is
obvious.
Wanted to Terrify.
There is no doubt whatever tha,
Germany did carry on war brutality
She wanted to terrify civilian popu-
lations. That was a confessed part
of their doctrine OF war. They went
as far as they dared without being
outlawed. They did not go as far as
fecuy patent to ME that if they had
slaughtered the crews OF merchant
ships-they could not imprison them
they could have won the war
Admiral Sims picked up his book
once more, thumbed the pages and
then began to read:
THE mere fact that a number of
U-ships were at sea, even il they did
not succeed In sinking many sub
marines. forced the Germans to make
tactics. AS they could no longer
bring to. board and loot merchan,
ships and sink them inexpensively
and without danger by the use OF
bombs they were obliged not only
to use their precious torpedoes, but
was the only alternative except to
abandon the submarine campai EI
altogether.
Truth Neglected, He Says.
Berlin accordingly instructed the
submarine commanders not to ap-
proach on the surface any merchant
or passenger vessel closely enough
to get within range of its guns. but
to keep at a distance and shell it
Had the commanders always OBJ
served these instructions the sue
cess of the mystery ships in sinking
submarines would have ended then
and there, though the influence OF
their presence on tactics would have
! remained in force"
Putting the book aside, the admiral
resumed:
IF they had started to sink with
out warning in 1916, instead of 1917
the Germans would have won, bu,
fortunately for us they made every
diplomatic and strategic mistake that
was possible, and they did it in the
pride of intellect"
Admiral Sims picked up a handful
of newly delivered mail Then he
ripped the cover off copy Of Henry
Ford's Dearborn Independent
"' The Neglected Truth,
he read from its cover. Then he
added, ''Yes. sir. the truth is neglected
somewhat"