New-York tribune., 1921-05-28
Stillrnlarl Offer
To Wife Held
Guy Legitimate
Wife Tells of Negotiations
i'm Public Statement;
Says She Rejected All
Proposa Is for Exile
Parleys Are Given Up
Attorney for Banker AS
serts He Never Would
Admit Boys Parentage

Mrs. James A. Stiilman when shown
the statement issued yesterday by Cor
nelius Sullivan, of the law firm Of
Nicoll, Anable, Fuller & Sullivan, coun-
sci for Mr.. Stillman, in which Mr..
Sullivan said that attorneys for Still
man did not participate in recent ef-
forts at settlement Of the case, at first
refused to comment on it. She re-
ferred inquirers to her attorney, John
B. Stanchfield. When informed, how
ever, that Mr.. Stanchfield could not be
reached, Mrs. Stillman said:
1T seems proper under these circum-
stances for me to give out excerpts
from letter ! received from Mr..
Stanchtield on May %, which is, I
think, sufficient to cover the matter in
volved."
Mrs. Stillman then read the follow
ing extracts from Mr.. Stancnfield's
communication:
my Dear Mrs. Stillman-You will
recall that at our interview held in
your residence on the evening Of Nav
II | informed you that a proposition
had been made to me looking to a set
tlement of your case.
The proposition was that the pres
ent divorce action should be discon-
tinued, leaving the legitimacy of Guy
unquestioned; that you should be paid
substantial income for life; that you
be allowed custody of your son Alex
ander, and the society of the other
children whenever they see fit to be
with you.
The conditions attached are that you
will take up a residence in Europe,
either in England, France or Switzer-
land or any such country as may ap-
peal to you, for period of five years,
with the privilege Of coming back for
visits not exceeding thirty days in any
one year."
Mrs. Stillman said she rejected the
offer as it stood and also a second offer,
reducing the period of exile to three
years. Yesterday she received a new
offer to carry out the terms of the pro-
posal if she would go abroad for one
year. This she also rejected.
Mr.. Sullivan's statement was as fol-
lows:
"The attorneys FOR Mr.. Stillman did
tions for a settlement. That was at
tempted by counsel for Mrs. Stilman
and by friend of Mr.. Stiilman and
by members of his family.
II am Informed that they ended in
failure because no satisfactory agree
ment could be reached on the question
of Legitimacy of the child. There
never was a time, as has been repre-
sented in the public press, when Mr..
Stillman was willing to acknowledge
the parentage of the child or preclude
himself from raising the question in
another proceeding"
at would be simple madness for
James A. Stillman's attorneys not to
settle his divorce case with his wife,
Anne Urquhart Potter -Stillman. If Mr..
Stillman's attorneys are wise they will
SETTLE" said person closely identified
with Mrs. Stillman's side of the case
last night, Another authority said that
new and startling evidence had been
disclosed in the case.
It was learned yesterday that Mrs.
Stillman has paid several visits lately
to John f. Brennan, one of her attor-
noys in Yonkers. Mrs. Brennan ad-
mitted that Mrs. Stillman was in con-
ference with him on various occasions
and that he had seen her in his Office
yesterday morning. He refused to dis
cusss the purport of the conferences,
saying that was confidential matter
between attorney and client.