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Show ' TRIBUTE TO PERSHING. ' Vice Admiral William S. Sims' is a plain, blunt man. Ho not only says what ho thinks, but backs up what he snys. His words are not always palat-: palat-: able. to those who hold different views, j but ho has never been challenged on the score of truth. He was accused of making undiplomatic remarks at a banquet ban-quet iu Loudon some years ago becauso he assorted that in the next war the United States aud Great Britain would J be found together. Whethor undiplomatic undiplo-matic or not, his prophocy turned out I to bo true. The vice admiral delivered. ! a farewell address at the American luncheon club in London the other day, in which he stated that in 1910, when i sixteen American warships spent several weeks in European waters, he made a secret report to the admiral command- ing that, in his opinion, and that of j many American and British officers, ! , war could uot be put off more than four ; years. As this report must still be in j existence, proof of the prophecy is easily obtainable. Vice Admiral Sims had other things to say. Ho reviewed the work of the : ' uavy during the war aud spoke of co-, co-, ordination with the army, claiming that : it was the first instance in the world where an army aud navy really co-operated. A great majority of the readers of history will testify to the truth of ': his assertion that "most of the eom-1 eom-1 , nianders spent the balance of their lives ; writing how tho other fellow was mis-I mis-I ! taken." He went on to say that ,he had "the greatest admiration for John i Pershing. He had the greatest job any I; ! commander ever had, and you would be surprised if you knew the trouble we had to get tho army to the front. I not only have the greatest regard for General Pershing, but the greatest contempt con-tempt for the way certain people in the United States are criticizing him. If anyone needs praise, he does, with a lot of small things on the other side barking bark-ing at his heels." In speaking up for ' the commander-in-chief of the American Ameri-can expeditionary forces, the veteran sea warrior has touched a responsivo chord here at home. Ever since tho signing of the armistice an attempt to ftYlittle General Pershing has been noticeable. no-ticeable. Officers who were ielieved of their commands have returned to the United States and told their fancied grievances to sympathizing friends and politicians on the lookout for scandal, with the result that many malicious charges have been made for the purpose of dimming the fame of the man who not only commanded tho greatest army America ever sent into the field, but also led it to victory. There also has been a studied effort to prevent the placing of a well earned laurels upon tho victor's brow for political po-litical reasons, it being feared that if a great amount of praise was bestowed tlio people would demand tho elevation of Pershing to the presidential chair. So as little as possible is being said about the .masterly manner in which he conducted his campaign from the time the Yankee doughboys reached the front until the German high command surrendered sur-rendered in order to escape annihilation. annihila-tion. It is positively refreshing to read t tho tribute of Rear Admiral Sims, who also played a leading role in the winning win-ning of the war, to the man who commanded com-manded the fighting forces in tho other branch of tho service. Let us rcrjoice that 'we have such leaders in army and r, vy . |