Imperial Valley press., 1931-02-12
I RRE A I
I D SUE
BIZ | Il R
Vanderbilt Asserts Gener-
al Violated Confidence
And GarbIed Story
GIVES HIS VERSION
Writer Scores Marine For
Not Adhering To Code
OF Gentlemen

SAN DIEGO, Cal, Feb. IL. tU.P)--
Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr, may file
civil suit against Gen. Smedley
D. Butler as an aftermath of the
| Butler = Mussolini incident which
caused the United States to apolo-
gize to the Italian premier, the San
Diego Sun said today in a copy
righted interview with Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt, who mas been in San
Diego incognitio for several days,
said he would bring suit against the
famous marine general unless Ger
tain things are retracted" and 10Th
ers cleared up, according to the
Sun story.
THE Butler courtmartial may be
at an end in Washington" Wander
bilt was quoted as saying, but as
| far as I am concerned there are
still lot of other things to be
cleared up, including the statement
attributed to me by Butler over the
so-called Mussolini hit and run ep-
isode."
Pressed for details as to the cause
for a possible civil suit against But
Ter, Vanderbilt made his first pub
lie statement of the incident refer
red to by Butler in Philadelphia
and which brought about the apol-
ogy by the United States.
Secrecy Agreed
"At the original gathering of some
% of the members of the American
Affiliated Lecture Bureau in Nov
ember. 1890, it was understood and
agreed that things said by General
Butler, another speaker and my
self were not to be repeated out
side the four walls of the lecture
ROOM the Sun quoted Vanderbilt.
General Butler not only violat-
ed the confidence of this lecturing
group but repeated inaccuraUely
statement of mine before the con-
temporary club of Philadelphia in
January" Vanderbilt declared.
General Butler credited me with
saying that Musolini killed a child
while motoring and that he Mus
solinD drove on with the remark
what is one life in the affairs of
state
Il am not trying to dig up the
past but there have been so many
garbled accounts concerning this
matter that I now feel that in just
ice to my own work, which has suf-
fered considerably since the incl
dent, the public should know the
real truth in that General Butler
violated the agreement of our lec-
ture organization.
"The incident which General But
Ter incorrectly described came about
in the following manner:
Repeat Mussolini
Il was riding with Mussolini who
was driving his car At sharp Jog
in the road a small child ran in
front of the machine and was hit.
| looked back to see if the child had
been hurt and as 1 did SO Mussolini
placed his hand on my knee and
these were his very words: Never
look back, Mr. Vanderbilt, always
look ahead in life
IT wonder how General Butler
would feel if l were not to respect
his confidence and repeat some of
the very confidential things he has
said in my hearing. My position all
during this controversy has been
that gentleman should not vio-
late confidential information but
now that the court martial has
been dismissed I feel the public
should know the true state of af-
fairs"
J Vanderbilt has been to San Di-
ego several times in the past 10
days, flying here from Phoenix.
1t was learned that one of his
reasons for coming here was for
the purpose OF gathering data on
the Butler-Williams cocktail episode
| of five years ago.
The case attracted nationwide at
tention when General Butler pre-
ferred charges of intoxication and
conduct unbecoming to an officer
against Col Alexander Williams
whom he had relieved as command
ant of the U. S. marine corps base