24 JANUARY 1920, Page 2

Nothing. else was expected of - Admiral Sims by Englishmen who

remembered his characteristic and warm-hearted out- burst when at the Guildhall in London in 1910 he announced that if ever the British Empire were hard pressed by enemies, America would be found at her side. That kind of " blood- is-thicker-than-water " speech is notoriously not beloved by statesmen and diplomatists who have the political conscience of their nation in their own keeping. Technically, of course, Admiral Sims committed an indiscretion, but it was an indis- cretion which nearly every one here liked. Moreover, the impulsive words, just because they were founded on an un- quenchable feeling, turned out to -be perfectly sound doctrine. Admiral Sims's emotions led him to the truth.