The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1913, THE PLIGHT OF THE BRITISH LIBERALS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1774, 12 June 1913, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1913, THE PLIGHT OF THE BRITISH LIBERALS.

, The uneasy feeling caused by the investments of two Cabinet Ministers and the ex-Chief Whip of the Liberal party in American Marconi Company shares appears to bo growing, and is likely to have a very damaging effect on the party's prospects. When we last discussed the matter and tho evidence concerning the transactions of Mr. LloydGeorge, Sir Itnrus Isaacs, and Lord Murray, we pointed out that, , although at the time the , shares were bought from Mr. Godfrey Isaacs (through Mr. Harry- Isaacs), the Government had not completed the terms of its proposed contract with the British Marconi Company, of which Mr. Godfrey Isaacs was managing director, it did not appear that any charge of corruption could hold against tho Ministers mentioned nor. yet against Lord Murray. The real' accusation levelled _ against .them was that in purchasing American Marconi shares at such a time—or indeed at any time —they had been guilty of a grave indiscretion and given ground for suspicion which was liable to shake public confidence in the integrity of Cabinet Ministers. The fact that the Chancellor of the Exchequer ancl Lord Murray had,'as the result of their first purchase of American Marconi shares, made a handsome profit by selling a few days later, tended to aggravate' tho suspicion by the rumours ' afloat; and the singular lack of frankness on tho part of Ministers when questions were asked in the House of Commons added''still further to the growing uneasin'ess' in the public mind when the facts of the transactions began to secure publicity. It is now well known that both Mr. Lloyd-George and Sir Rufus Isaacs indignantly repudiated any suggestion that their , dealings, in American Marconi shares had anything whatever to do with the British Marconi Company's negotiations with'tho Asquith Government; and that tho Ministers named claimed that they had made the investments on the same terms as any member of the public might have made a similar investment, and without any advantages or concessions from the Marconi Company or anyone else. Their indignation at the suggestion that they had been guilty of any impropriety has been accepted as genuine enough; but they do not appear to have been equally successful in convincing the public that in dealing in these shares, in the circumstances stated, tliey acted with the wisdom or discretion that is expected of Cabinet Ministers who owe it to themselves, to their high office, and to their colleagues, to leave, no room for suspicion that they arc using their positions for their personal pecuniary advantage in a manner which migßt provo prejudicial to the State. The fact that such suspicion could exist at all to any extent is really one of the most unpleasant and significant features of the situation.

A correspondent in tho last issue to hand of the Spectator deals with this phase of the matter very forcibly: The acutest symptom of mischief underlying the Marconi scandal, he writes, seems to have hitherto escaped notice. It is not' that Ministers have been guilty of want of delicacy; that is not so unusual in a democracy. It is not that libellous charges have been mmle; in that case the injured have their remedy. Had Ministers been guilty of actual corruption it would not have been so serious; in that case the country would have its remedy. The evil is both deeper and more diffused. It is that the country has como to think so lightly of the honour of its public men that it lends a ready ear to the accusations, innuendoes, and hints that have been in the air for so long. It seems to feel that they are the stamp of men of whom such things are to be expected. Surely it would be easy even now, when' r«.yment of members has tarnished so many scutcheons, to form in imagination a Cabinet of living politicians in regard to whom snch charges would recoil with ridicule upon the heads of ■ their framers. This has been so in the past; that it should be so no longer is, I submit, fiir more deplorable than any isolated case of corruption would be, however gross.

That there is a great deal to support the view of the writer quoted above is unquestionable, and it is a most 'unfortunate thing that British politits should have drifted to such a pass. The latest developments in connection with the Marconi transactions appear to have had an even more disturbing influence on the fortunes of the Liberal party than the disclosures regarding the dealings of Ministers themselves, but no doubt this is largely due to the cumulative effect of the revelations made. The fact that the party funds of the Liberals have been drawn on for investments in American Marconi shares would bo of minor importance, but for tho disclosures Which hare preceded it, and but for the further circumstance that the knowledge of this investment was only discovered by chance. Throughout tho whslo of this unpleasant affair the facts have only been elicited under pressure. It is true that Mr. Lloyd-George and Sir Rijfus Isaacs appeared to speak freely and fully before tho Committee of Inquiry, but they had observed a most unfortunate silence for a considerable time prior to the setting up of the Committee, and, dcppito trie rumours afloat and ques-

tions in Parliament, had neglected to admit or explain their dealings in American Maiiconi shares. Now, only after tho Committee has been sitting for many weeks, and after tho examination of Ministers, Marconi 00. officials and shareholders, and others, it is discovered by the merest chance that the Liberal party funds have also been invested in American Marconi shares by the Chief Whip of the party, and tho exact date of this transaction has yet to be learned. And despite the gravity and importance of the matter to his party and to the country, the exChief Whip continues abroad, and has not yet given evidence before the Committee of Inquiry. It is not surprising if, in view of all the circumstances, the public should imagine that there is much more behind these Marconi transactions than has yet been disclosed, and that they are, perhaps unjustly, judging Ministers and the party* guilty of more serious offences than the known facts disclose. For this Ministers have no one but themselves to blame. Their 'actions, however innocent of corrupt intention, laid them open to suspicion, and having committed this first indiscretion tney aggravated their offence by neglecting to seize the earliest opportunity to frankly and clearly state the nature of the share dealings which they had indulged in. That the Liberal party, which has already lost much ground in popular esteem, will .be further prejudiced in tho eyes of the country goes without saying. A general election to-morrow woul'd almost certainly see them defeated, and in any case that now seems likely to be their fate whether tho Parliament runs its full terra or not.