GUEST AND HOST.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 April 1926, Page 4

GUEST AND HOST.

U.F. MILITARY SENSATION. SAN FRANCISCO. .March 10, One of the biggest sensations in American military circles broke when Brigadier-General Smedley D. Butler, who topped off his war record as a " devil dog ” to light vice and liquor in Philadelphia as head of the police department there for two years, initiated a crusade in San Diego 111 Southern California when the filed charges of drunkenness and conduct unbecoming an iTftieer against. Colonel Alexander AYillinnis, of the Sail Diego marine base.

Colonel AYillinnis was placed under technical arrest at the hotel, and was summarily removed from comm,and of the 4tli .Regiment of Alnriues, to which command lie reverted when General Butler relieved him as commander of the marine base early in March. General Butler’s action followed a dinner at Colonel AA’illiams’ home in fashionable Coronado in General Butler’s honour. Cocktails, it was said, were served at the dinner, which was attended by a number of officers of the -Marine .Corps and their wives. It was stated that General Butler

made some comment regarding the cocktails. The charges against .Colonel William,s were based on a party which was held later at a hotel in Coronado, all of those at the dinner having been invited. The accusations were telegraphed to official Washington for action by the Navy Department, and they created a great sensation throughout the nation. WASHINGTON “ AGHAST."

Social Washington was literallyj aghast over the “ codctail warfare’? that Brigadier-General Butler had started on the Pacific Coast. His unprecedented action against his host- was the subject of discussion at every dinner and tea table in the capital’s official and smart set. and some of the conversation would have made the General’s ears burns had lie heard of it. The opinion was quite general among Washington hostesses that if General Butler were stationed in

Washington, he would have few invitations thereafter. One high naval officer expressed the

. opinion that “if we start court'-niar- ( tialling every officer who drinks a roek- [ tail, we won’t have any navy, any marine corps, or any army either, for ■ that matter.” That the case would be aired on the floor of Congress and add fuel to the incessant warfare between wets and drys, seemed assured from rations com-

ments made by members. Representative Black, Democrat of New York, a wet, said: “ You may quote me, as saying tiiat this incident shows what a fool prohibition will make of a man.” Representative Hill, Republican of Maryland, the wet leader of the House, said: “I don’t think anything that J can say would help matters. I’m opposed to Butler on general principles.”

Representative Coller. Democrat of New York, an avowed wet, said: “It is a distressing affair. Butler should be taught some manners and instructed in tho ordinary amenities "between men. Any man .who accepts the hospitality of another man, and then bites the hand that feeds .him, is an ingratc and a fool. I think Butler should be drummed out of the service. The marine corps does not want men of his type.” ' COMMANDANT INTERVIEWED. Under a fire of criticism from many quarters, and approval from some. General Butler stuck to his guns, and stoutly defended his action in placing the charge of intoxication against. Colonel Williams, his host at a party in the General’s honour. In an interview General Butler said that , the matter of hospitality and its possible breach, had never entered the question. “ It, was according to naval regulations. 1 simply followed naval regulations,” he asserted. “ The case is similar to hundreds that have occurred in the past.” In an address before the Daughters of the American Revolution, the officer made a vigorous attack' upon law violators. Among other things he said: “ The liquor law is the biggest piece of class legislation ever passed, and it can he cured only by rough stuff. Men of money and inlluence have come to regard laws as a joke, and the only way they can lie cured is for people like you and me to see that these laws arc enforced.” The Statement that Colonel Williams was intoxicated, was roundly contradieted by members of the party on sworn testimony. Tho witnesses .included several women of high standing in

American society, who danced with the colonel just prior to his technical arrest for “appearing in a public place in an intoxicated condition.”

At the San Diego Chamber of Commerce gathering after the memorable event , following which Colonel Williams was placed under arrest, General Butler said: “T came here to command tho Marine lia.se. and .1 intend to do it my way. .with the aid of my understanding of military laws, and with, or without the assistance of others.”

As a result of the stormy episode, the Butlers have been blacklisted by Coronado society folk, and b,v the “cut direct” in retaliation for the accusation against Colonel Williams. General Butler subsequently went into seclu-