Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-29
FRIEND Of BUTLER
HITS MEDAL STORY
Reward Not for Aiding Haiti
Against U. S. FinancierS,
Says Wise.
BY REX COLLIER.

The question of why Gen Smedley u;
Butler was awarded the Haitian medal
nilitaire took the spotlight today from
+l,a ORIGINAL controversy over Minister
Relleesrdr's doubts as to the existence
Of Fort Riviere, for the capture oil when
Butler received a Congressional Meoai
Of Honor. ,,,-..,.,,
The Haitian Minister'S implication
Yesterday that the medal milltalre was
evarded Butler not for the capture
H. the fort but as a reward 1or butlei
aid in foreStalling certain nhailciai
plans by American interests proVokeo
a prompt denial today by Col. FrtaeIlc
M. Wise u S. NJ. c., retired, VINO pre-
pared the medal citation.
Col. Wise. Argonne hero ana cioSe
friend of Butler, declared that whlle
Butler may have aided President Dal
ticuenaye in besting a group OF ne"
York financial interests who were SEEK
ING a monopoly in gold importation 1or
Haiti. the award of the medal had no
connection with the incident
Paw stopped and Restored.
The New York interests" Col. Wise
said wanted President DartlguenaVe
to approye a law giving them exclusive
privileges of importing gold, and wnen'
on Col WiSe'S advice. the President
refused to do SO, his pay was stopped;
When Gems. Lejuene and Butter arrived
at the island shortly thereafter the
Presidents salary was restored. Col.
Wise asserted
Certain New York financial inter
ests tried 10 have legislation passed that
would give one bank in particular the
exclusive franch Sc of importing golo
into Haiti" Col Wise explained.
Naturally this was considered rather
a dangerous precedent by the mer-
chants and financial men OF Haiti.
President Dartiguenave sent WORD tha9
he wanted my opinion, as an othclal
Of the Haitian government was chef
d'gendarmarie as TO wnether ne sHouIu
approve such a proposal
MY reaction was that the proposal
was q bad one for Haiti and / ADVISED
the President not TO approve II. he
followed my advice and promptly his
salary was stopped by order OF the
American financial adviser, John NC
Illhenny of Louisiana. No explanation
for this extraordinary act was forth
coming.
"The President asked me what he
should do in order to have his salary
restored. He was inclined to submit TO
the proposed franchise. told him to
stand pat.
Matter Strengthened Out.
After the arrival of Gems. Bejeune
and Butler on an inspection trip. | m
formed Butler of the Illegal action with
regard to the Presidents salary. Gen.
Lejeune. I believe, had some conversa-
ton with the brigade commander,
Col. John H Russell, who was the
senior treaty official, and the matter
was traghtened out. The Presidents
pay was restored, although he did not
change in his opposition to the gold
importation plan.
MY impression is that Gen. Lejeune
or Admiral Belknap was directly re-
sponsible for the restoration of the
Presidents salary. If Butler played a
part in it. 1 am sure President Oar
tiguenave knew nothing about it. Ger
tainlv his award of the madal militaire
to Butler had no possible relation 10
anything but the capture OF Fort
Riviere. for I wrote the citation and
advised the President in connection
with the award"
Col. Wise expressed the belief that
Minister Bellegarde erred when he told
newspaper men yesterday that the
citation for the medal was not read
during the presentation ceremony.
All such citations were prepared in
my Office by the assistant chef dgen-
darmarie, Col Richard S. Hooker" Col,
Wise stated He was familiar with the
French language At the presentation,
which always took place before the
Presidents own battalion of gendarmes,
the citation was read by Col Hooker
in a voice that could be heard by all
Minister Bellegarde attended the Butler
ceremony as member of the Presidents
cabinet"
Quotes From Book.
Minister Bellegarde and his secretary
yesterday translated for reporters por-
tons of a book which he wrote in
French in 1929 The translated version
said the Haitian cabinet was surprised
and scandalized" by the medal award
10 Butler. but President Dactinguenave
dismissed the incident by explaining TO
his cabinet the cita ton would have the
effect OF removing United States pres
sure on Haiti to pass 40 law restricting
gold importation.
After the ceremony Bellegarde quoted
the President as saying, with a laugh:
We'll, what IS the matter? The lib
erty of gold Importation is worth
medal Gen. Butler will not carry back
10 the State Department anything but
this toy Let us hope that will be suf-
ficient."