Mr. Daniels's further disclosures of the estimation in which the President held the British Navy immediately after the United States entered the war has deepened the unfortunate impression created by the publication of Mr. Wilson's address to officers of the Atlantic Fleet in August, 1917, says the Washington correspondent of the "Morning Post." Tha Sims-Daniels controversy has become an acute political question, and the Republicans in Congress and the Republican newspapers have used the testimony of Admiral Sims to discredit not only Mr, Daniels and his administration of the Navy Department during the war but also the President. Mr. Daniels, they say, was incompetent, the President was indifferent and knew of Mr. Daniels's incompetence, and yet he did nothing and disregarded the highest professional advice, Admiral Sims has made the charge that the failure of the Navy Department to accept his advice cost the lives of 500,000 men and prolonged the war many months.
Encuaxp THE
These are serious charges, and the Republicans intend to make much use of them during the coming Pre. sidential campaign, and hope that they will convince the country that the Democrats are unfit to be entrusted with power. The charges fall if Admiral Sims can be proved to be unworthy of belief. The President's cable to Admiral Sluis and his address on the quarter-deck of the U. S. S. Pennsylvania is the evidence, however, which is relied upon to prove that it was the British Admiralty and not President Wilson that was indifferent and incompetent, and that, while the Admiralty was timid and vacillating, Mr, Wilson was courageous and did not falter. Probably Mr. Wilson has not given due consideration to the effect of his revelations on Anglo-American relations. Perhaps that does not weigh against political exigencies, but it is another unpleasant illustre, tion of England always being the anvil in American polities.
Tas ex-German ships Prince Eitel Friedrich and Leviathan (formerly the Vaterland), were to have been offered for sale by tender by the United States Shipping Board on June 30. Both the Prince Eitel Friedrich and the Leviathan were seized by the United States during the war. The Leviathan is one of the largest ships afloat, having a registered tonnage of 54,282. She is 920 feet in length and has a breadth of 100 feet. The Eitel Friedrich was a commerce raider and was well known on this coast as one of the N. D. L. fleet.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.