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Show ill Daniels Takes Sharp Issue With Sims I .1 V, t . A A tfim A nfta A fi3 & ll ISFGRETflRY OF WAVY I WITNESS li. SENATE I PROBING OF AWARDS t Importance of Service at Sea and Service on Shore are I Emphasized ; MUST ACT QUICKLY f IN ATTACK CLAIM Daniels Declares Not Enough Enlisted Men Were Rewarded for Acts During War i WASHINGTON, Feb. 3. Taking up p the contentions of Rcnr Admiral Wil- l liam S. Sims in the matter of nnval njfjdal awards. Secretary Daniels lo- day before the senate Investigating j i? ' sub-committee took emphatic issue Pf with the admiral. The secretary went i B into detail in explaining changes he I made in conferring decorations as rec-j , ommended by the commanding off i- i cers of the navy and by the Knight ! board of medal awards. :' He outlined the chief differences be j tween his views and the views held by Admiral Sims. These wore at vari-1 ' nnce as to the importance of service j at sea compared with service on shore ' and differences on the question on ' whether a distinguished service medal j ' should be awarded under any circum- 5? stances to a commander of a ship i IBS i I sun or scrIoU0, damaged by enemy , te submarines or mines. I )Sm : Asserting that Admiral Sims while j B' : on shore duty, both in the Spanish-' HH i American and world war "demonstrat- ; ed ability of a high order," Secretary j iJllr ! Daniels said "the position of Rear Ad- jm : miral Sims in placing sliore duty .S jjf above sea duty in the danger zone is. fjjS i no doubt, influenced, by his own rec- iTi 1 ord." Figures were presented by Mr. jig f Daniels showing that during the last Stir I "5 years Admiral Sims had served 1 iff Secondary Importance. . her 3 As justifying his contention that in- aw. dividual duties ashore are necessarily ja J of secondary importance, "to "duties SSI" afloat, Mr. Daniels asserted- ' ark I "On shore a man decides important I questions with time to weigh pros and mi cons, and If he makes a mistake his fl error of decision Js not immediately I followed by disastrous results. AJ 'Jjjl sea the commander is in imminen H , peril of death, lie must make mo- J f- mentous decisions in the flash of a single moment, often Avhen his ship H has been attacked, and when coolness j and poise are necessary to save the' jl 1 lives of scores and hundreds of men. i 'J : A mistake in this emergency is ratal." ftM ' With this as an impelling reason, j Wl the secretary said he disapproved of j J r the disparity between honors to men i II ashore and afloat as recommended by I im the Knight board and accordingly re-1 : duced or eliminated a number of 3 awards for shore service. B Entitled To Medal. 5 ! In support of his contention that a Tm 1 commander of a ship sunk or dam- I I aged by submarine attack was entit- U1 1 led to a medal if lie showed proper ri qualifications oven though the ship flfe? was unable to combat the submarine, Secretary Daniels cited numerous ex- 1 : amples in American naval history and V : also pointed to instances of such A ; awards by the French government dur- I Ing the world war. I f "In the stiletto attack of submarine f warfare," said Mr. Daniels, "it is not j the fact that a man strikes or is ' struck that tests true mettle and true naval leadership. The question is: ' ' 1 Docs he play the part of the man : with chivalry and thought only of oth- ; : era and of his country. And haa he by i H ' preparation and foresight done all that J ; Is possible" to meei 'any and every f i emergency. I' Rewards For Gobs. Referring to Admiral Sims' state- ' ' ment that he had not recommended t" ! ' any enlisted men for medals because , I ' wo had nothing to give them," the 1 secretary called the committee's at- J ' tention to the act creating the awards. I -which he said made no distinction be-1 " i tween an admiral, captain and en- I listed man. I "It is the service he renders, the 1 H service in peril and not his rank that counts," he added. 2 Referring to tho bestowal of the t distinguished service medal on Ad- II miral Benson because of his services . I a chief of naval operations, Mr. Dan- 1 iels declared he would give tho same 2 f medal "that goes to that, great and I 1 distinguished officer to the humblest (' sailor lad who when placed in a posi- . . 1 tion of groat responsibility in a tlm,c 1 ; that tested the stuff of which a man J ' is made, met the demands of those du- I i ties and placed his life in jeopardy in ' ' order that his ship and the lives of others might be preserved." i ; Enlisted Men Honored. 1 j f With that in mind, ho ordered fur w ther study of navy records when he i found that only 319 enlisted men of jj; the 500,000 in the navy during the war : had been recommended for any high t honor, he explained. As the result of Wm tmB study as yet incomplete ho said wm 13 additional enlisted men were award- iH ocl the dlstinguUlied service medal 2W and 68 moro ntm were put on the list f m, for navy crosses. I'VB Emphatic denial was made by the 9M secretary of Admiral Sims' statement if' tliat tlie Plicy followed in awarding MM. TOedalB had "shot to pieces" the navy's IB morale. mm ",l Is an insulL to lhc pPlcnilStl nien mm na' that mT!XlC f the service could be seriously impairod by any question of awards to Individ-; uals," the secretary said on that point. "Their loyalty Is in no sense dependent upon medals." Explaining Admiral Sims' mention of a message from the secrctnry asking ask-ing "what recommendation had" been, made for Bagiey (Mr. Daniels' brother-in-law) and other officers of the Jacob Ja-cob Jones and other destroyers that -were attacked," Mr. Daniels said the note was written late one afternoon after all officers in charge of reports had left the department and was written writ-ten as the easiest way of getting the information. There was not at that time and never has been, Mr. Daniels declared, any question of favoritism or relationship in the matter of his relations rela-tions with Commander Bagiey. Mr. Daniels said ho had no criticism criti-cism of the work of the board of awards, headed by Rear Admiral Austin Aus-tin M. Knight and that Its recommendations recommen-dations were faithfully made on tho basis of the meager information In its possession. |