SPECULATING EVIL.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 29 February 1928, Page 6

SPECULATING EVIL.

SERVANTS DISMISSED. REPORT TABLED BY BOARD OF INQUIRY (British Official Wireless ) RUGBY. Feb. 27. The report of ‘ho Boare of Inquiry appointed to investigate email, state*, meats affecting civil servants, which were made in the recent law case of the Ironmonger Company of Bankersversus Mrs. Amenta Bradley Dyne, in respect of foreign currency transactions, was laid in the House, of Commons to-night. Accompanying the report was a miniuto stating that the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, having carefully considered the report, "are glad toobserve that, serious as wore the offences in certain cases from the service point of view, no question of corruption or of use of official informationoccurred in any one of them. " As a consequence of the findingsthe Secretary of State has directed that Mr. J. D. Gregory, Under-Secre-tary to the Foreign Office, be dismissed from the service, that Mr. O'Malley be permitted to resign, and that Lieut.Commander Max so, be severely - reprimanded and forfeit throe years' seniority. '' Dealings In Currency. The report is divided into threeparts. The first deals with the cases of the three Foreign Office officials mentioned, in connection with speculations in foreign currency. The Board came to theconclusion that while Gregory, O’MaL ley and Maxsi. neither used, nor endeavoured to use, any official information for the purpose of their transactions, such transactions ought never, tohave been undertaken by civil servants, least of all by those of whom, from, the nature of their work, the sensitiveit ess and suspicion of foreign countries with regard to such dealings in theircurrencies cannot have been, untam-

iliar. The action of the.se three- oßicials in. the view of the Board was inconsistent with their obligations as civil servant.!. Regarding Gregory the Board, .stated: '* Wo cannot doubt that he was conscious ol the impropriety of what ink was doing, end wo do not regard it as sufficient excuse that he did not at any ti ne make use of official information, for private ends." The ease of O’Malley, who initiated the business, the Board regards as distinguishable from Gregory’s only by the smaller volume and shorter duration of t.u* transactions. The- Boardthinks that extenuating circumstances/ are admissible in Maxse’s ease. The second part of the report drabs with the question whether other civilservants have been engaged in similar transactions. In two specific, cases in which officials had volunteered statement* to theBoard . regarding past investments, the view is expressed on the impropriety of their actions which, however, bora no resemblance, except in form, to the systematic operations of life otherthree offcials mentioned, and the Board' are satisfied that no question had arisen of inside information having been used. ... The third section of the report deals with the allegation that to, serve bis. own financial ends Gregory had manipulated the .publication Of *tho tZinovtcft ‘ letter and . the Note to tho Soviet charge d ’Affaires regarding it. What Bublic E*pe&ts. 1 After a caro|ul analysis ,’pf all the: circumstances anil the events rdgard-, ing that episode, the conclusion reach-: cd jis that not- the slightest fbiuidation exists ' for attaching suspicions to

Gregory. In fact, the .reportVshows that Grcgv ory, in.. Departmental minutes, advised, against the publication^ 1 of' the dbcu-. monts. Moreover, the fact that they were'published had hb effect upon tho course of foreign .exchanges.’ ■ p Dealing with the position .of civil, servants, generally, . the . report co«'eludes:— . ;•

‘ ‘ The public expects from them a standard of integrity and conduct not only inflopiblc,- but also fastidinot only inflexible, but also lastuiicd in the pas;t. Wo arc expressing tho view of the service when we say that the public has the right to expect that standard and that it is tho duty of the service to sec that this expectation is fulfilled.” Mr. J. D Gregory was Assistant Un-der-Secretary of State for Foreign Af.fairs. Mr. O. S’C O’Malloy was Counsellor to tho British Legation at Pekin,, and came into prominence in the negotiation with the Chinese Nationalist Foreign Secretary, Eugene Chen, over the Hankow affair Lieutenant-Com-mander 11. F. B. Max ho is in the list of Second -and .Third Secretaries in a lower salaried position.