"Not Number of Weapons, But Causes of War Vital Question," Says Admiral Sims--"Tariffs are the Fire Below Cauldron"

Speaking to a gathering in the Junior Common Room after the John Winthrop House Thursday evening dinner, Admiral W. S. Sims, U.S.N. retired, remarked "the world situation calls to my mind the picture of a cauldron of boiling oil, around which stand the so-called statesmen of the world. Every now and then they drop in a bit of ice to keep it from boiling over. They do not think of the fire below. Not the number of weapons, but the causes of war is the vital question.

"This vital fire below is the pressure of chambers of commerce and of nations of further their own individual interests. Individuals are not so much to blame, nor the oft-abused Congressmen; it is a concentration of pressure at Washington that keeps in operation a tariff which is approved by few. Such tariffs, in the opinion of Frank Simonds, lead to more deaths than wars themselves.

"The great hope as regards the military situation," the Admiral commented, "lies in the fact that warring powers such as the United States and great Britain could wreak unbearable damage on each other's commerce. People are beginning to see their mutual dependence. The freedom of the seas means the freedom of neutrals to charge from 300 to 2000 percent extra freight for carrying supplies to your enemy, and will never be observed in war, spiritual bonds notwithstanding."

The Admiral explained that no Japanese or British fleet could successfully attack our shores, because of limitations in fuel and distance. "It is commerce that is attacked, and must be protected; America is dependent on such products as manganese and rubber obtained only from abroad."