New-York tribune., 1920-10-16
Naval Board
TO Investigate
Hayti Scandal
Continued from paso ons)

Barnetts report this week. !! am sure
he never meant to convey what these
words have been interpreted to mean.
When he called my attention to sew
eral cases l approved his suggestion
| that the matter be gone into thor
oughly and that all guilty parties be
punished. He ordered the invcstiga-
! tion.
II supposed, of course, that the or
der for investigation and the trial OF
the guilty parties had proceeded in
accordance with my direction until
August, when inquiry was made as to
the cases. No report could be found
in the Marine Corps headquarters and
q cablegram was sent to Colonel Rus
sell in Hayti to ask about the result
Of the investigation of those cases.
"Hc wired that the report had been
mailed IN March. When it could not
be found l directed General Lejeune
and General Butler to proceed to
did so and brought back with them
copy Of Colonel RusselFs report
Report of Two Generals
The report of Major General Le-
jeune and Brgadier General Butler,
in part, follows:
During the month of august last it
came to the attention of the maj
gene raj comma ndant that the report OF
an investigation irto the alleged mis-
conduct of certain officers of the gem
tarmerie of Hayti, which the brigade
commander had been directed to make
/ by the former major general command
ant in an order approved by the Sec
retary of the Navy, under date of Jan
uary IL, 1920, could not be found at
Marine Corps headquarters.
"a searching inquiry was made and
no information in regard to the report
could be obtained from any one on
duty at headquarters Marine Corps, or
IN any Office of the Navy Department.
"The major general commandment
also communicated by radio with the
brigade commander in Hayti in regard
to the matter and learned from him
that the report in question had been
March 20, 1920. Apparently it had
been lost in transit. On August 81,
1920 just prior to our leaving Wash
ngton for Hayti, you gave us verbal
instructions to make a careful supple
mentary investigation of the whole
matter and to report in full to you on
our return to The United States
I'm compliance with your instruc-
tions every effort was made to OBJ
tain full and reliable information on
the subject. We examined all officers
of the Marine Corps and of the gendar-
merle of Hayti now serving there who
had any knowledge of the affair; also
a number Of enlisted gendarmes, Hay
tian officials, -gendarmeric officers
and the French priest at Hinche, as
we'll as two ex-gendarmerie officers
now living in Santo Domingo. Some
of the witnesses had left the island
and are now in the United States. An
! bct II
touch with them.
"In our opinion, the evidence OBJ
tanned by Us and by the board of in
vcstigation establishes the following
facts:
"rhe abolition of corvce or enforced
labor on the roads by the people of
Hayt, which had been in effect und..
the supervision of the gcnda:merie of
Hayt, in accordance with the rural
code of that country since 1916, was
directed in an order issued by the
commandant of the gendarmerie to
take effect on October 1, 1918.
"The order was not obeyed at Hinche
and Maissade
The unauthorized corvee continued
until March, 1919. when it was stopped
by Brigadicr General A. w. Catlin,
United States Marine CORPS, the then
brigade commander, who made a per
sonal investi cation of conditions at
Hnche and Maissadc at that time
During the winter of 1918 and 1919
| there WAS serious increase in the ac-
tiv;ty OF bandit bands, conditions final
~ becoming so grave that the gen
darmerie Of Hayti WAS unable to han
die the situation sirgle-handed. and in
March, 1919, the marines were brought
into tha district Of Hinchc to take
charge of the situation
NEARLY all the witnesses examined
stated it to be their opinion that the
.oEs bandit situation in the vicinity
Of Hlnche Was badly handled by the
Officer who ommondsd the gendarmerie
IN the department of North Hayti (Ma-
jor Wclis). 4 number q these wit
nosscs also stated that the above-men-
toned officer gave his subordinate' Off
GERS orders to report everything quiet
in spite Of tic fact that collisions with
The bandits were frequently taking
place.
"Ihese witnesses also stated that, IN
their opinion, this officer desired to
conceal the true state of affairs from
ms supelloHs, SO as to prevent the gen
darmes being superseded by the ma
lines, who g. that time we're conccn-
trated a. Port an Prince and Cape Hay
tan. Some evidence indicates that his
'."StS - pllcefS were partly IeSpon-
sioie tor illegal executions and CON
tlnuance OF corvee.
Illegal Executions
During the moNchs OF November aud
December, 1918, and January, 1919,
several bandit prisoners (names an
KNOWN were executed illegally at
Hlnche by gcndarmes acting under or
ders of gendarmerie officers, and there
IS strong evidence that GARNER Jean,
the notary ct Maissade, was killed by
the gendarme officer on duty at that
place.
During the investigation in March,
1919. by the then brigade commander
of the conditions existing at Hincho
and Maissade, the illegal execution Of
prisoners mentioned IN the preceding
paragraph became known to him. He
transferred the officers Of the gen
darmerie against whom charges were
made, but took no further disciplinary
action in the matter.
"We recommend that the brigade
commander be directed to institute
general court martial proceedings
against all persons implicated who can
be brought within the jurisdiction Of
The court.
"We deem it appropriate to state at
this time that the misconduct above
outlined is not Indicative Of the gen
oral state of affairs in the gendarmerie
Of Hayti. but that it constitutes an eX-
ception to the general rule of rood